Coros, the sports tech company best known in triathlon circles for its smartwatches and heart rate monitors, today took a step into the cycling market, with the launch of an all-new GPS head unit that looks set to challenge the best cycling computers .
Called the Dura, it measures a similar size to the Wahoo Elemnt Roam and mounts using a Garmin-style quarter-turn mount, but it does things a little differently than we expected.
Instead of filling the available space with the largest screen possible, Corus intentionally used a smaller screen — measuring 2.7 inches from corner to corner — and filled the upper third of the upper face with highly efficient solar panels. The result, Corus says, is a battery life that lasts 120 hours of consecutive riding.
In fact, in the right conditions, a trip can be finished with more charge than when it started, as the solar panels generate up to two hours of battery life for every hour of direct sunlight.
The display itself is a pixel-memory color touchscreen with adaptive backlighting. It features fully customizable fields with all the data you’d expect to see in a high-end GPS bike computer, such as speed, distance, time, power, heart rate, routing functions, and hundreds of advanced metrics.
Visually, it’s a striking unit with an aerodynamically shaped black plastic casing, which is narrower and shallower at the front edge. It measures 3.92 inches x 2.39 inches x 0.62 inches and weighs 97 grams. There’s a USB-C charging port on the back edge under a weather-sealed cover.
The biggest point of aesthetic difference compared to the competition is the large digital dial on the right side, which mimics the functionality of similar dials found in the brand’s smartwatch range. This also doubles as an OK button, and is joined by the Back/Roll button directly below it.
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It can access GPS, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou and OZSS satellite systems for positioning, and built-in algorithms will turn on and off necessary functions to improve battery life. It runs native L1 and newer L5 GPS signals to balance reliability and accuracy in dense cover or built-up areas.
Additional features include a built-in bike alarm and collision detection function, an overview of upcoming climbs, intelligent rerouting during the ride using Google Maps (via phone connection), and taking advantage of live data such as traffic and road closures.
It can connect to the usual apps, including TrainingPeaks, Strava, Komoot and RideWithGPS to download routes or workouts and then upload rides.
As expected, it is also paired with the Coros app, which allows users to configure the device and perform firmware updates. The Coros app also has a free-to-use built-in coaching center, which when paired with a Coros smartwatch, connects your rides to bigger-picture health data, including sleep, heart rate, and recovery.
Pricing and availability
The Coros Dura is priced at £249.00 / AU$249.00 / €289.00 / AU$449.00. This puts it in line with the Roam’s smaller, cheaper Wahoo Elemnt Bolt. This also means it’s cheaper than Garmin’s non-touchable Edge 540, as well as the Hammerhead Karoo.
Orders can be placed immediately at launch, but units won’t start shipping until July 15.
At this competitive price, with its extensive feature list and strong battery life, the Dura looks highly competitive in this space. It is the cheapest touch screen bicycle computer. We’ve taken it one round so far, and the early signs are positive.
Coros is still rolling out regular firmware updates as it moves from beta to a fully-functional consumer-oriented product, so there’s not much value in a comprehensive review at this point, as the feature list will continually expand and battery life will be tweaked slightly. So, we’ll be sure to bring a full review to our readers once the firmware updates slow down and the product becomes a better reflection of the final product.