DUEL: Coros Vertix 2 vs. Fenix 7X

Tags: Fight | Garmin | Coros | Men's | Smart

8.6.2022 | 9 MIN | 7x comment

You may be wondering why we are holding a duel with the "best watch of today", the Garmin Fenix 7X. You may think that it’s unnecessary – but you'd be wrong. Coros Vertix 2 made it pretty hot for Garmin and in the end, it turned out to be a super balanced match.

The best you can buy for outdoor activities – that is how both of the two models mentioned today could be described. But just in case anyone doesn't know what watches we’re dealing with, I'll link a review of both of these models here:

12.4.2022
Garmin Fenix 7 review – I am Fenix the 7, and who is better than me?

And what makes these models the best outdoor watches? It’s this fun stuff:

• Huge battery life
• Outdoor watch design
• Built-in maps and music player
• Detailed sports metrics and training evaluations
• Almost godly route tracking

And there's surely even more of them, but let's leave that for later.

Screws everywhere

Both Vertix and Phoenix look like first-class outdoor watches. And that’s exactly what they are. Although the screws dominate both models, Garmin set the screws into the legs of the watch, which helps to achieve the clean look. Meanwhile Coros is no cheapskate and the watch has a screw in like.. everything. You will find 18 screws on the whole construction and the strap, which is a lot. And even though it’s only Garmin that meets the military standard, I wouldn’t be surprised if Coros was (unofficially) at the same level.

Of course, I must also mention their sizes. I think these models are only for men or really brave women to wear. The Fenix 7X has a diameter of 51 mm and the Vertix 2 is smaller by only a milimetre. However, it’s interesting to note that the watches have the same weight on the silicone strap. 89 g with titanium back case and bezel.

Both models are unique in design, and if anyone says that Coros is cribbing from Garmin, I would dare to disagree.

Transflective LCD touch screens

I thought this would never happen – but was I wrong! A touch screen is makes absolute sense here. And maybe even more on Coros than on Garmin. In my opinion, the Coros Magic Touch is one of the hardest blows that Coros has against Garmin. The touch screen of Coros is only activated in the graphs or maps. With Garmin, you can more or less set it yourself where you want to use it, which is sometimes not a complete advantage.

In practice, this means that you can choose whether you want to use the touch for general use, activity or sleep. You can also quickly change this setting with a preset shortcut, which is useful for maps. So, for example, I have the touch off during the activity, but I will turn it on when using maps.

The size of the display is the same 1.4 "with a resolution of 280 x 280 pixels. There is probably nothing to complain about in terms of readability and size. Beautiful readability in direct sunlight, the possibility of eight data fields when monitoring sports on both models. Just splendid. However, for me, Coros with its Magic Touch is still in the lead.

The best scanners on the market

Truth be told, there is not much more to come up with for outdoor watches when it comes to sensor equipment. Coros has an ECG (although not the same as on the Apple Watch) and a wattage measurement. Garmin has NFC payment and ANT +, the latter being a big minus for Vertix 2. By doing this, Coros has made it clear that this watch is not suitable for cyclists, as almost all cycling sensors are based on ANT+.

The accuracy is a slightly different topic. As we already know, measuring heartbeat from your wrist is never entirely accurate. Coros used to be number one in this, but with the Vertix 2, it lowered its standards a bit. When comparing both at rest and in activity, both models measured about the same number. It's also very similar with GPS and rendering. And most importantly, very similarly good. However, judge for yourself.

Coros – black, Garmin – red

Both models are pretty dope even in urban areas!

Coros – černá, Garmin – červená

And who won? Garmin rules both in sports and in city life. Coros has watt measurements, but it doesn't have NFC and ANT+ ... Therefore, Garmin can pride itself with the winner title.

"I last 30 days!" "And I last twice as long..."

This is probably what an argument between Garmin and Coros about battery life would look like. Both are titans, no arguing there, the numbers on both models are just otherworldly. And it's true that Coros can run twice as long in the smartwatch mode, but there is a catch or two. Probably the biggest one is scanning the heartbeat once in 10 minutes and not continuously every second. With GPS, it's quite balanced, so let me "toss" the numbers into the table, so it's clearer.

So you're asking for the winner of this category? I'll probably have to leave it as a tie. For mortals, this endurance is maximally unusable, so they both get an imaginary point.

Sport is all it's about

Although the word smartwatch is commonly used nowadays, these watches are of course based mainly on sports features. The rest of the functions is actually just support for the sports ones.

And speaking of sport? You might complain that Coros doesn't have as many activities as Garmin. But all the best known ones are in both watches, so you don't have to worry that there would be anything missing. For indoor sports users, Vertix 2 can be at a bit of a disadvantage because the watch doesn’t have animated exercises, but ... Hand on heart, how often do you actually use it?

Now let's compare the values you get from the watch during running training. VO₂ Max, time prediction, regeneration assistant and training load are present at each model. But let's just quickly take a look at all the values Coros has to offer:

• Marathon Level – A numerical expression of your ability to run a marathon distance. This value takes into account VO₂ Max, the lactate threshold and your running efficiency. The higher the score, the faster you will be able to complete the marathon at the said point.
• Training Load – Numerical expression of the impact of training on your body based on the intensity and length of exercise.
• VO₂ Max – The maximum amount of oxygen that an athlete can use in a sports activity.
• Running performance – An expression of how good your run was given your fitness on a scale of 80 to 120.
• Lactate threshold – The heart rate or tempo at which lactate begins to accumulate in your body and fatigue kicks in quicker.
• Resting heart rate
• Base Fitness – Numerical expression of the body's ability to train longer and more often at a higher intensity
• Load Impact – The higher the number, the greater the impact on your body and the limitations of fatigue-based training.
• Fatique – The difference between Base Fitness and Load Impact. The larger the number, the greater the overtraining (values ​​above 60 already indicate overtraining).
• Race Predictor – Forecast results for 5 km, 10 km, half marathon and marathon based on your fitness.
• Recovery time – The percentage of your regeneration since the last workout.

Garmin then adds daily training recommendations to the basics, a verbal training status that tells you how you're doing and what you should do to improve, and a new Stamina feature (an estimate of your actual physical activity; the watch tells you how long you can still run) and it will also set separate the periods when you walked from those when you ran.

What I really like about Coros is their focus on the long run, which they themselves take pride in. And so if the watch can run the ultramarathon, they should also have access to training at this distance – that's exactly what you'll find in Coros. Structured training for 100 miles. You will also find a lot of training sessions at various distances at Garmin, too, but Garmin doesn't go ultra yet.

It's quite fun to watch the flow of time. Coros had the first Stamina feature, which showed how many kilometres you can still run. And surprise surprise, that's also what Garmin came up with this year too. We could also see the dual band satellite reception at Coros for the first time, which Garmin made use of later on ... Coincidence, or is everyone copying everyone?

Another tie.

Training evaluation in the app

One of the most important things (after the training itself) is the evaluation of our training. And here I have to say, both companies sure do know what are they doing. Coros, as it is all coded in English so we probably won't see much Czech around here, can cause some problems for less skilled English speakers. Words appear here and there that are not entirely common, but I think it can be done. Well, enough talking, here's a picture.

In the sidebar you can see all the necessary information about your training. On the main screen you have the individual kilometers set and units that relate to these kilometers. You can then enrich these units by clicking on the red circle, where other metrics will open.

At Garmin, everything is in Czech and somewhat better put together. Or maybe I'm just more used to it. At the beginning you see all the basics, i.e. the map, how much you ran, for what time, pace and so on. Then begins the graph tornado, where all the metrics are recorded in the graph and below you can see the altitude meters (green graph).

Well and below you can see all the numeric data recorded individually in the columns to which they belong.

Both evaluations have something in common. If you are handy, you can learn more at Coros, but the ageless Garmin classic is still amazing and all the values from Garmin are sufficient for a professional athlete. Lastly, for some relief, if you like none of the platforms, try Strava. :-)

Topographic maps of the whole wide world

Coros, along with the Vertix 2, introduced pre-installed topographic maps of the whole world. And Garmin responded with TopoActive maps. So, to put it simply, both models offer Topomaps from all over the world. Garmin leads a bit when it comes to detailing of all the maps – after all, it's a bigger company – but as you can see in the picture below, you will find yourself well with both.

But yes, I have to give the point to Garmin, due to the greater possibility of navigating directly from the watch, when you do not need to click through the route on Mapy.cz, but you can also create it comfortably right in the watch.

Dumb and dumber

No, okay. Just kidding. This statement, of course, does not apply to these two models at all. Phone notifications (Garmin can reply, Coros can't), answer / reject calls (Coros can also "mute"), music (Coros only MP3s without streaming services) and so on ... Garmin then undoubtedly takes the lead with those streaming services and the NFC payment, which Coros unfortunately lacks. It's true that Coros has the control of GoPro outdoor cameras, which I take as a nice feature, but not everyone will make use of that unlike paying.

The basics in the form of an alarm clock, stopwatch, compass and other such features can be found in both models. Well, and it's probably time to evaluate this category, where, in my opinion, Garmin has a slightadvantage due to the better handling of city life.

Final verdict

It's hard to judge two titans, basically the best that there is as of now. The match is really balanced and with a calm heart, I can say that we have not one, but two winners. The Garmin Fenix 7X is after all a little more accessible to people due to greater versatility of use. You can wear Phoenix's with a suit, to a pub, a theater or sports, and everyone will know you have a cult model watch. With Coros, it's more difficult to style around them as it's a little more of an outdoor watch. Wearing them will immediately let everyone know you're a hiker.

Nice gadget of the Vertix 2, don't you think? :-)

From a functional point of view, it's a tie. Someone will choose Garmin because they can do NFC payments and have streaming services. And someone will go for Coros because they have watts right from their wrists and slightly better sports metrics. Both models are super interesting and both are rightfully rated the highest when it comes to outdoor watches. So, whatever you choose, you will definitely not make a mistake.