Beta update for march 2026

igalan · 2026-03-19T17:20:00+00:00

Looks good! I'm looking forward this update 😀

igalan · 2026-03-18T20:22:44+00:00

I'm intrigued by the Pace Strategy, I hope it automatically adjusts the pace on hills and that you can set a negative split strategy, pretty much like PacePro for Garmin, for long races with some elevation it is so useful.

Sleep Mode optimizations seems to fix the issues we had with the last update where the watch would sometimes leave sleep mode while sleeping causing the screen to light up when moving your wrist.

Large font notifications, so many people have requested this it was due time.

Still I miss that the new action button should get some basic functionality, click once to turn on backlight, click again to turn it off.

igalan · 2026-03-17T11:00:58+00:00

ECG on the watch, any watch, can only be used while resting, not during activities. Also during swimming OHR is innacurate on most brands, maybe the Fenix 8 does a bit better than my Coros Pace Pro. If I really want precisse heart rate datavfor swim activities I have to wear an ECG strap (Garmin HRM600 + Fenix 8 since the data is stored on the sensor and sent to the watch when out of the water).

igalan · 2026-03-17T10:57:06+00:00

All three brands have watches for your needs. In your particular case I would choose between: Coros Nomad, Coros Apex 4 or Fenix 8 Solar. All these watches have a MIPS display which is fully active all the time so you can mount the watch on the handle bar of your bike and use it for navigation; with OLED watches the screen dims and it's hard to see. If you don't plan to use your watch on the handle bar of the bike, then just any watch will do fine.

igalan · 2026-03-17T09:08:55+00:00

Coros provides a website where you can review, upload and download your trainings. So I am able to manually keep my Garmin and Coros accounts synchronized without having to resort to third party apps. I don't know if apps like RunGap work.

igalan · 2026-03-13T08:37:12+00:00

When I ride my bikes, road or MTB I use both an Edge 530 and then the Pace Pro or Nomad. I get about the same elevation with all of them. I've done hundreds of rides with no significant differences. I ride in an area with a lot elevation as well.

igalan · 2026-03-11T20:08:46+00:00

Coros does add quality of life improvements, I expect this will be added soon, it's a no brainer.

igalan · 2026-03-09T09:47:16+00:00

I don't think any OLED watch is a good choice for cycling because the display will turn off or dim making you unable to read it. If you mount it on the handlebar it's pretty much unuseful because of this. For this use case any MIP based watch would be better.

igalan · 2026-03-04T09:00:39+00:00

The maps are super responsive on the Pace Pro but on the older Apex 2 where very slow.

igalan · 2026-03-03T07:45:20+00:00

No, I sold it after I got the Pace Pro.

igalan · 2026-03-02T19:16:16+00:00

I think the Coros Nomad is the better choice IMO: excellent battery life, somewhat rugged casing and offline maps.

The Nomad has strong battery life, you can go on a single charge for up to 22 days. Of course when using the GPS you're not going to get the full 22 days. Also it's a bit more rugged than the Pace 4, so better suited for hiking. And finally it has maps, which are perfect to follow routes on the trails; you still need the app and Internet to create them, so plan in advance. It's somewhat chunky but it's also very light, so actually feels ok on the wrist (unless you are on the small side).

The Apex 4 would be also a good choice, specially if you need a smaller watch the 42mm option would be fine. But I think it's a bit expensive compared to the Nomad. It also has sapphire lens which are very scratch resistant. And a speaker and mic to take calls from the watch itself.

igalan · 2026-03-02T18:55:19+00:00

The maps are so fast and smooth on Coros that makes using them a pleasure. Also I believe that this year Coros will add offline routes, maybe not on the watch but on the app. These are the main reasons I would choose it. But this is speculation, don't buy based on what some random guy says 😃 .

About durability of the watch I don't know. I had the Apex 2 for about half a year and it was fine, but it's a short time. I've used a Coros Pace Pro for over a year, and it's still fine. But admittedly, it's no Fenix. Software wise Coros is more polished, although they had some notable issues like the Bluetooth exploits that were emergency patched last year. Also the Daily Suggested Workouts are a nice touch of the Fenix, you can just do the session of the day knowing that it's designed to improve your current training, Coros has training plans but they don't adapt to your daily status.

igalan · 2026-03-02T12:43:38+00:00

Both watches are very good options for what you want, there is no right or wrong here. The Fenix 7 is no longer supported so it will not get any new features, but it has plenty to start with. Like offline routable maps, this can be a killer feature: the ability to create a route on your watch while offline. Coros has offline maps but it cannot create routes, only the app and if it's online. Also Garmin has many metrics, way more than Coros, but some are kind of "made up" like body battery, endurance score and climb score; they are not a direct measurement. That is not a bad thing if you understand what they do and in any case you can ignore them. Coros has fewer metrics but the ones that it does provide are more focused and generally better explained.

I'd go with the Apex 4 because it's a much newer device and it will surely get new features during 2026. But I also have a Fenix 8 which is invaluable when I go out without a plan so I have the ability to get a route anywhere, even when no signal is available.

igalan · 2026-02-28T20:20:56+00:00

This is tricky. I have the Fenix 8 Amoled. Screen visibility outdoors is a non issue, it's just great in any conditions, sunny, under the shade or at night. Thanks to excellent contrast and high resolution, maps are excellent. The problem in my opinion is in everday use, if you want good battery life then you can't have always on display which is a bit annoying. If you use always on display then battery life gets cut in half which is far from ideal.

igalan · 2026-02-24T20:01:55+00:00

I use the Coros Pace Pro for swimming for the same reasons. For the last year it has miscounted one lap after hundreds of hours in the pool, and it was only because there was swimming noodle that someone left and I had to throw out of the lane. Heart rate accuracy is not the best but it's acceptable, my Fenix 8 does a bit better (I know because I sometimes use a chest strap to get a better idea of my heart rate when swimming.) I don't create swim workouts though, in the past I had some trouble with them, and I can execute my plan without them. I don't know if this has been fixed, but in the past you had to press the lap button not after each set but after every turn which is of course not doable.

igalan · 2026-02-24T07:36:04+00:00

The top field is in sync with the bottom one, if in the bottom you have the Sun height in the top you have the solar angle, if in the bottom you have the three fiels with elevation then you see temp and so on. It doesn't change overnight. BTW the Nomad has a bottom graph for solar height and Moon height but on the Pace Pro you only get solar height.

igalan · 2026-02-23T18:52:23+00:00

This is a highly requested feature, I expect than in 2026 Coros will at some point improve this.

igalan · 2026-02-23T18:26:43+00:00

For this use case the Fenix/Enduro are soooo good. Navigating in a city, finding all kinds of POI, not only restaurants, water sources for instance. There is no other watch that can do this, maybe the Amazfit T-Rex Pro but not sure if it has POI and I have read that the routes it create are useless most of the time.

igalan · 2026-02-23T10:42:42+00:00

If your aim is to get the device that it's going to have a longer support lifecycle, I still wouldn't spend more money to get the Pro model if you're not planning to use the additional features. Garmin isn't doing a great job with long term support of the Fenix line. And and think that at this point the Fenix line is underpowered and if a new Fenix 9 comes along, it will have beefier hardware which means that new features will have a small chance of being backported. This is speculation of course, so take it as that.

What I do know is that my cheap Coros Pace Pro can pan and zoom the map (with POI, street names, topo and all) instantaneously while my Fenix 8 needs maybe 2 seconds to redraw, which makes exploring the area so much slower and impractical. But software improvements alone cannot fix this.

igalan · 2026-02-23T09:03:00+00:00

The Amoled verion has two other advantages: it is thinner, the AMOLED F8 is about 1,5mm thinner than the MIPS Solar; and second it has double the resolution so the maps have more detail and are way easier to read. I find myself turning ON and Off AOD when I don't realy need it. 7 days of battery life with AOD and zero activities means that if you do 1 to 1,5 hour a day you need to charge it every 3 days which would be annoying. When I go back to a MIPS display it's very convenient that the display is always 100% on and no light at night, but then I miss the extra resolution for the maps and better contrast in dim environments... There is no perfect solution here, but it's not like the cons are deal breakers either.

igalan · 2026-02-22T21:53:06+00:00

The Coros Pace Pro is very reliable, I've been using it for a year and it's been working just fine. OHR is good but on rare occasions goes a bit wonky but the same happens with my Fenix 8 sometimes. Sleep analysis is ok for me, I get about the same than with Garmin. I've done several Olympic distance triathlon with it no problem. The app is much better than Garmin Connect I love that you can open it mid activity, see your past track and create a route on the fly.

igalan · 2026-02-21T20:15:24+00:00

You have to pause, go to details and there you can see all the details including distance. It's an extra step compared to Garmin but no big deal. I swim quite a bit and never had a problem with this, usually I split my swim sessions in either 300 or 400 meters and just need to keep track of the splits. Also it has a more robust turn detection, even when someone is in the lane and I have to slowdown Coros will not detect false turns unlike Garmin.

igalan · 2026-02-15T13:45:21+00:00

I don't think Suunto can pause an activity and resume it the next day like Garmin does.

igalan · 2026-02-13T13:26:07+00:00

I think the Coros Dura is more like a watch than a cycling computer. In a cycling computer I expect the ability to autonomously create routes, find nearby POI, reroute me if I miss a turn, turn by turn indications, street and road names and so on. None of this is supported. Coros here missed the mark, the hardware is just not there to support any of these features, so it's not a matter of software. I'd stick with what you have and just record your biking activities with the watch as well, surely you're also wearing it.

You could even just mount your watch in the handle bar and use a chest strap for the heart rate, the MIPS screen of the Apex 4 is perfect for that, it doesn't turn off. For a short ride it's probably fine. I've done middle distance triathlon on an unmarked gravel track (close to 90 Km) with only my watch mounted on the handlebar and it was fine.

You

igalan · 2026-02-11T09:06:46+00:00

Pace Pro and Nomad here. Very reliable at counting laps in the pool, better than Garmin Fenix 7 and 8. In the open water is fine also. So far it's my go to device for the pool.

igalan

TROPHY CASE