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First Look: Coros Apex 4

Seeking extended battery life and solid mapping functionality, we take a first look at the Coros Apex 4 GPS watch.

By

Jason Albert

The Coros Apex 4: Up for review as a long-battery-life GPS watch.

The Coros Apex 4: Up for review as a long-battery-life GPS watch.

Setting some Context Most of the time, I don’t consider myself an early adopter. The list of tools, gear, and gadgets I eschewed is long. Dropper post (I know), took years. Deviating away from a trusty WhisperLite, again, year. The same can, perhaps, be said of modern GPS watches. Those tools that can sit like…

Responses

  1. Samuel Chaneles

    I’ve used a Coros ski touring for a few years now and really like two things about it: 1) the ability to see your existing track on your map. It really helps with re-finding your skin track or on exits during the springtime. 2) exporting your tracks to your own map to build your own run list of sorts. (yes strava does this as part of the heatmap, but that’s a whole can of worms…)

    1. Jason Albert

      Check your emails soonish, Sam, you’ll be hearing from me.

  2. Steve Bohrer

    I’ve gone through a similar evolution with watches over the years. But last year I jumped in again and got a Garmin Fenix 7. I really like the mapping functionality, especially after getting a little turned around on a super low vis ski tour a couple years ago. We weren’t in any danger, and figured things out fairly quickly, but it wouldn’t have even been a hiccup if one of us had had a track going.

    Here’s the funny thing. My friend has the same watch and he raved about the flashlight. I thought that sounded dumb, who needs a flashlight on a watch? Turns out it’s maybe my favorite feature. Midnight bathroom runs, quick flick on without trying to hold a phone, one more backup in the backcountry. But the map functions are really what I like. There’s enough detail and it’s so much easier to just glance at your wrist than pullout your phone and then burn through that battery.

  3. Chris McCaffrey

    I’ve been looking for a new watch for touring and for daily work as a ski patroller and EMT on an ambulance. I think I’ve decided the apex 4 is the best bet, though I am torn still between that and an Apple Watch. I had an Apple Watch for a while but eventually stopped wearing it as having to charge it every day was too frustrating. Will report back on the apex!

    1. Jason Albert

      Hey Chris, I hope you are doing well. We’ve got two of these out in the wild. So far they are excellent. And the huge upside has been battery life. Easy to go more than a week, the way I use the watch, without charging.

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