COROS Dura Palms-On: I Have Some Ideas

COROS Dura Palms-On: I Have Some Ideas
COROS has simply introduced (or quite, the second one announcement) of the COROS Dura biking GPS pc. This pc goals to take their present watch instrument, and port it right into a GPS motorcycle pc structure. Which, as you’ll see, is just about what they’ve completed. The unit’s standout characteristic is the upper claimed battery existence, with theoretical ‘perpetually energy’ in the fitting solar stipulations by means of its massive sun panel.
I’ve had the COROS Dura for slightly below a month now, which generally can be sufficient time to position in combination an in-depth evaluate – particularly the various rides I’ve placed on it. However at this level, the unit merely isn’t in a position. COROS received’t have a extra strong firmware till the following day (June 18th, an afternoon after this announcement), or even then, it feels like most of the problems I’ve raised will take weeks or longer to kind out. Which isn’t announcing COROS received’t have the ability to repair them. I’ve in fact were given a good bit of accept as true with in how briskly COROS can factor updates and soak up comments, simply as they do at the watch aspect. On the other hand, I’d warning that even with the entire fixes in position, there’s nonetheless some lovely considerable gaps right here to the contest. Inversely, there’s additionally a pair compelling options the contest doesn’t have. Regardless that, I believe there’s something we will all agree on: The fee could be very attention-grabbing.
Level being, this *IS NOT* a evaluate. That’ll come someday down the street, most probably in early July, or every time they finally end up birth transport devices (now slated for July fifteenth). With that, let’s dive into it.
The Tech Specifications:

The COROS Dura is designed in a lot the similar approach as their watches. It stocks the similar instrument, similar display screen sorts, and similar button-navigation sort format. In case you are a COROS watch person, and had been to invite whether or not or now not the Dura has a given COROS watch characteristic, the solution is sort of without a doubt going to be ‘sure’.
Right here’s the fast specifications despite the fact that:
– 2.7” MIP contact display screen
– At all times-on, like a calculator
– Virtual Crown and unmarried further button
– Weight: 97g + 44g for the incorporated mount
– Out-front mount is Garmin quarter-turn taste
– Has Twin-Frequency/Multiband GNSS
– Has WiFi & Bluetooth
– Has temp sensor, compass, barometric altimeter, accelerometer, gyroscope
– Has motorcycle alarm characteristic
– Deliberate Protection Alert, Crash Detection, Are living Monitoring, Crew Experience Options (now not but to be had/operating)
– Display mirroring to observe (now not but to be had)
– Downloadable/unfastened maps (no side road names/POI/and so on…)
– Re-routing strengthen if inside mobile vary with telephone app linked
– Has coaching load & restoration
– Has structured exercise strengthen
– Has coaching plan strengthen
– Integration with third celebration apps (e.g. Strava, Komoot, TrainingPeaks, and so on…)
– Battery existence as much as 120-hours for ‘All-Programs GPS’, and and 70-hours for ‘Twin-Frequency’ GNSS.
– Sun can prolong those battery instances, as much as 2 hours for each and every 1 hour driving
– Motorcycle profiles for Street, Indoor, Gravel, MTB, e-bike, and e-MTB
– Priced at $249/289EUR/399CAD/249GBP/449AUD/39600JPY/1799CNY
The precise specifics of probably the most options now not but applied are slightly fuzzy to me, such because the watch mirroring/handoff from watch to Dura, despite the fact that they sound kind of very similar to what Garmin & Wahoo each have, despite the fact that either one of the ones firms do issues in a different way. Thus once more, how precisely COROS implements it isn’t but transparent to me.
Almost definitely the best way to consider this machine, is slightly very similar to a Wahoo BOLT V1, when it used to be presented 7 years in the past (March 2017). The options are mainly the similar as that, excluding with longer claimed battery existence. The more moderen Wahoo BOLT V2 with all its present updates, retails for $279. So kind of in the similar ballpark.

Some Driving Ideas:

I’ve now gotten in a lot of rides throughout quite a lot of eventualities: Street driving, gravel driving, and mountain cycling. Inside that, I’ve had vivid sunny stipulations, dumping rain stipulations, blah overcast stipulations, at the side of sundown stipulations. And from a terrain perspective I’ve lined towns, flat-lands, and straight-up Colorado mountains. TDLR: I’ve lined maximum utilization eventualities, and will define the place issues paintings neatly – and the place they fall very brief.
To get a trip going, you’ll merely hit a button at the unit to wake it up. The COROS Dura doesn’t truly have a start-up length/process, it’s kinda like a calculator in that it’s only one faucet away and consistently in standby. That is lovely great to get began temporarily.
You’ll select which trip profile you need. Each and every trip profile may have distinctive knowledge fields/pages. That is a space Wahoo lacks, so it’s great to look the variations defined right here, the place you may want a unique trip setup for mountain cycling than highway cycling.

You’ll configure these kind of by means of the significant other app, which then sync to the Dura itself. There’s a lot of other knowledge pages and configurations to be had right here.

One distinctive one they’ve is that you’ll have a map web page displayed up most sensible, after which scroll thru partial knowledge pages down under (proven under, left). I love this concept, however similarly, there in fact isn’t a approach to have a devoted map web page with devoted show fields. Which means, it’s both alway pages-split (map/fields for all pages), or not anything break up (without a knowledge fields on it). With a bit of luck my rationalization is smart, and it does sound like COROS is open to creating this a tiny bit extra versatile.

(Left to proper: Cut up Display view for all knowledge pages, non-split display screen map web page, non-split display screen knowledge web page)
In any tournament, from a navigation perspective, you’ll push maps and routes to it. Maps will sync by means of WiFi, and you’ll simply select which map areas to obtain, which might be in great small chunks. On the other hand, the maps do *NOT* have side road names or POI on them. Right here’s the way it seems to be at the map:

You’ll create routes by means of the COROS app, or import routes from Strava & Komoot. I’ve were given a number of annoyances right here, specifically that it’s important to actually wait 3 mins every time you import a Strava/and so on direction (it’s a real timer), till it displays as much as then can help you manually sync to the Dura. It’s this loss of polish that’s irritating, particularly while you’re seeking to get out the door and feature to take a seat there and depend to 180 seconds.
As soon as a direction is imported, you’ll practice it at the map. It’ll alert you when a flip is coming near, however received’t display side road names. I in fact don’t truly care a ton about side road names. I’m repeatedly biking in overseas international locations, and will’t pronounce part the names anyway. So long as the flip instructions are right kind, then I’m just right.
Sadly, they aren’t steadily right kind. The routing parser at the COROS Dura will (very steadily) inform me with an arrow to show left (or do a U-turn), when it method to show proper (and the road displays proper). Right here’s one of the examples of this in motion (observe the chevrons appearing my upcoming direction, after which the arrows giving reverse instructions).

Now, that is the place we get to the single-biggest factor with the COROS Dura: Re-routing. The entirety and the rest to do with re-routing could be very a lot now not just right. To start out, it doesn’t in fact re-route till in most cases about 500-800m later (after a overlooked flip). That’s the primary second the place it realizes one thing is unsuitable, just about 880 yards after you’ve screwed up. It’s at this level it’ll be offering a suggested to invite should you’d love to re-route for your direction, or to the top vacation spot.

For one, motorcycle computer systems will have to realize inside 3-5 seconds of a overlooked flip. Then, they will have to simply routinely re-route to make it paintings. Identical to each and every different motorcycle pc and get in touch with mapping app do nowadays. I shouldn’t have to attend mins, then give it explicit steerage.
However that’s in fact now not the largest limiter. The most important problem is that COROS can’t re-route at the machine itself. As a substitute, it has to head by means of your mobile phone to Google Maps to get re-routing knowledge. Should you don’t have mobile connectivity, it received’t re-route. Or, if the app connection drops, it received’t re-route.
As a substitute, it’ll display a line, like this:

I’ve mentioned this so much with COROS. Their view is that during 2024, they consider that re-routing can also be higher completed by means of the cloud, than on-device. And likely, that’s most likely true should you’ve were given always-connected gadgets. However the elementary fact of a motorbike pc is that many of us transcend mobile vary. If truth be told, particularly the various gravel riders they backed for Unbound, which might often be in no-cellular protection zones.
COROS says they aren’t antagonistic to offline routing long term, nevertheless it’s now not a concern at the moment. Preserving in thoughts that when an organization begins down that offline routing/re-routing adventure, historical past with different motorcycle pc firms attempting this (Wahoo, Hammerhead, Sigma) tells us it’s a 2-3 yr procedure sooner than that’s dependable. And the ones are firms with in depth enjoy as a motorbike pc. Level being, this received’t most probably occur (reliably) in a single day.
In the case of climb similar metrics, the COROS Dura will show upcoming climb main points. However at this time, it subdivides the ones climbs right into a slate of smaller items, making it unimaginable to determine precisely how lengthy the climb truly is. This previous weekend I did a ~1,000m/3,00ft continuous climb, and it used to be subdivided into 7 random chunks at the COROS. While at the Hammerhead and Garmin gadgets it used to be correctly indexed as a unique climb. I attempted loading the famed Stelvio climb in there, and it used to be randomly subdivided into 3 chunks (with 0 portions together with any flat items that would possibly cause a destroy).

That stated, the climb does glance lovely alongside the ground – I in fact like the way it’s slightly small and minimum right here. If they are able to enhance the climb splitting set of rules to be helpful, this might be nice (display screen under has water on it, from rain):

Past that, knowledge fields paintings just about as you’d be expecting. I had no problems with pairing to both ANT+ or Bluetooth Good sensors, together with energy meters, moving (SRAM AXS), and middle fee sensors. Motorcycle radar (e.g. Varia) pairing/capability isn’t but operating reliably. However another way, you’ll see the knowledge identical to every other motorcycle pc:

There’s a large number of giant price tag pieces that wish to be looked after. For instance, it may pair to ANT+ & Bluetooth Good sensors, together with energy meters. But if I linked an influence meter, the knowledge is horribly unsuitable with so-called “Sticky Watts” (however the worst iteration I’ve ever observed of them), leading to repeated values for 3-4 seconds repeatedly.

You’ll use the little scrolling wheel (Virtual Crown) to iterate between pages. I’ll observe my non-public common bias towards the Virtual Crown (from any corporate), as I believe it hardly supplies a lot price in comparison to buttons on a sports activities machine, excluding for zooming maps. My non-public bias towards the sort of wheel is maintained right here, the place it’s unimaginable to make use of on bumpy roads. As the one option to trade knowledge pages, that’s nerve-racking to me. I don’t truly have any problems with devoted buttons on bumpy roads. However once more, I observe that some folks just like the Virtual Crown, so my annoyance right here would possibly now not translate to everybody.

So far as battery existence is going, the unit claims 70-120 hours, relying on GPS modes used. I’m not able to validate that declare presently. COROS says firmware that comes with battery improvements received’t come till the following day. This present day I’m getting a fragment of that length, burning kind of 3-6%/hour (in vivid sunny stipulations), so serviette math says perhaps 25 hours of battery existence in a dual-band configuration – which is on-par with their competition. I’m extremely skeptical of any person who has claimed they haven’t charged it in months and been driving repeatedly with it. That’s merely not likely to be true (or, they haven’t ridden a lot/used a lot).
Nonetheless, if they are able to kind out battery existence to their claims of two hours of battery time for each and every 1 hour of sunny driving time, that’ll be tremendous spectacular. To this point, I haven’t observed that.
Hitting Pause:

It’ll be attention-grabbing to look if/when COROS can stick the touchdown at the Dura. No doubt, they’re simply initially in their motorcycle pc adventure. Down the street in a yr or two, many may have forgotten in regards to the rushed release of it, to apparently try to hit the summer time. And most probably, they’ll have looked after out most of the early teething pains through then.
However at the moment, it’s merely now not in a position. And I don’t see the way it’s going to be in a position in 3-4 weeks for the July fifteenth date. Outdoor of the facility meter knowledge I discussed, different knowledge like Shimano Di2 or SRAM AXS/eTAP the knowledge is in large part lacking or whole. And in relation to biking radar (e.g. Varia Radar), the unit disconnects.
The listing of problems is huge, and that’s once more, simply to get it to baseline 2017 time frame.
But when there’s the rest that COROS is beautifully just right once more, it’s updating their gadgets with instrument updates. And doing so often. They’ve normally aligned to a quarterly replace cycle (kind of) for his or her watches, and traditionally have had just right longevity in the ones replace for gadgets. I might *now not* counsel purchasing this machine nowadays, however I believe if I had been to fast-forward to the autumn, it’d most probably be strong sufficient for tech geeks to toy with. After which if COROS can stay riding laborious, then I believe through subsequent Spring, they’ll be able to be extremely aggressive with the lower-priced Wahoo choices (e.g. the BOLT sequence), or different extra budget-focused devices.
I believe what COROS has envisioned might be tremendous interesting, particularly round battery existence. It’s only a query if they are able to get to there, from right here, and what sacrifices could be made.
With that – thank you for studying!
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