Bike computersare essential parts of serious cyclists' kits. They gather crucial ride data like speed and distance (and more if you pair a power meter) and provide navigation tools right in front of you during a ride. Althoughother companiesmake bike computers,Garminhas dominated the field for some time. The tides appear to be shifting, though, with a new player joining the game.
Coros has long been known for its highly capable fitness watches, which are commonly seen as a more budget-friendly version of Garmin devices. But beyond itswatchesand anarmband heart rate monitor, the company’s product offerings stopped there. Now, however, Coros has entered the bike computer realm for the first time with the release of the Dura.
The Dura is a bike computer built for long days. It features dual-frequency GPS navigation, an IP67 rating, and safety features. However, the most noteworthy feature of the Dura is the promised 120 consecutive hours of battery life with GPS mode on a single charge or 70 hours with dual-frequency GPS. You’ll also get an added boost from a solar panel, but more on that later. Also impressive is the low price of the Dura. It’s priced at just $250, which is very affordable for a head unit.
Coros sent over the Dura to test out, and while I’ve only had a chance to go on a handful of rides so far, which were mostly on the BETA firmware, I’m very happy with this new bike computer overall. It certainly needs some improvements, but many of those are already coming with firmware updates.
How we test and review products at Pocket-lint
We don’t do arm-chair research. We buy and test our own products, and we only publish buyer’s guides with products we’ve actually reviewed.
Price, availability, and specs
The Coros Dura is available for purchase now for $250, though it won’t begin shipping until July 15.
Coros Dura
What I liked about the Coros Dura
A simple yet powerful interface with plenty of battery life
Coros said that when it set out to make this bike computer, the goal was to make something easy to use. Indeed, they achieved just that. Navigation on the Dura is simple and intuitive. You can swipe and tap the touchscreen or use the dial and button on the side. The options on the Dura are limited, with six different ride types, access to notifications, activity data, navigation, and a few settings. There’s certainly no getting easily overwhelmed with all the different menus or settings on this head unit.
Navigation on the Dura is simple and intuitive.
While the design of the Coros doesn’t necessarily add to the functionality, I do appreciate that the company went with something more unique instead of the standard rectangular format of all other head units. It feels fresh and different, which is nice. The included out-front mount actually adds to the style as well, though, unfortunately, it’s too small for my handlebars. Speaking of mounts, Coros stuck with the commonly used quarter-turn mount, meaning it’s compatible with other head unit mounts.
The Dura’s battery life is definitely its primary selling point. As mentioned, it’s capable of up to 120 hours of life, depending on your settings. For comparison, Garmin’s top-end Edge 1040 Solar offers 70 hours of life in battery saver mode (GPS with speed and cadence data) or 35 hours of battery life in the most demanding use cases. That’s a significant difference, making the Dura the better choice for long adventures like bikepacking trips.
In case 120 hours of life isn’t enough, the Dura also features a solar panel to extend battery life by up to two hours with just one hour from solar charging. According to Coros, “this allows for uninterrupted multi-month continuous use in optimal conditions without ever needing to take the head unit off your bike.” Again, as a comparison, Garmin’s Edge 1040 Solar promises a solar battery boost of 42 minutes per hour in battery saver mode and up to 20 minutes per hour in demanding use cases. Some of that difference is likely due to the fact that the Dura uses a solar panel that’s separate from the display, while the Garmin uses Power Glass for solar charging.
I haven’t been using the Dura long enough to truly test battery life or how effective the solar charging is. The Dura does tell you how much battery you burned through and what the solar boost was at the end of each activity, but for some of my rides on a pre-release firmware version, those numbers were not accurate. I’m eager to see if and how the battery life and solar charging live up to the promised numbers, especially living in the Sunshine State, and I plan to revisit this review once I’ve had more time with the Dura.
What I didn’t like about the Coros Dura
New device woes
While the simple design is easy to use, it is also rather limiting. Most settings and features require you to use the app or even the Coros website. There aren’t many settings that you can access on the device itself or even in general. There also isn’t a ton of information provided on the device. If you want your overall training stats and status, you’ll need to open the app, as it isn’t visible on the Dura. If you want to add training plans or workouts, you’ll need a combination of the app and the Coros website, which is a rather clunky experience.
One feature I would love to see Coros add is more visibility to the status of solar charging. The activity summary after a ride on the Dura will tell you battery consumption and solar gain, but that information is not available in the activity summary in the app. There’s also no real-time status bar of solar charging on the Dura, so you may’t get a sense of how much of a boost it’s getting during a ride. While this doesn’t necessarily change anything (it’s not like you can just add more sun), I enjoy having access to that on other solar devices that I use.
A bigger issue with the Dura is navigation. You see, the Dura doesn’t support on-device rerouting like other computers in its class.
A bigger issue with the Dura is navigation. You see, the Dura doesn’t support on-device rerouting like other computers in its class. Instead, it relies on the Coros app and a cellular or Wi-Fi connection, which means it needs to sync before you get your updated route. The seconds it takes to sync could mean you miss the next turn you need. Plus, reliance on a cellular connection isn’t ideal for backcountry settings, which is where many Dura users will want to take the device. On top of rerouting issues, there are no road names on the maps and no POIs, either. that could make navigation even harder in certain situations.
My other main complaint with Dura concerns the Coros platform as a whole. While training plans and workouts are available, they aren’t adaptive to the data you collect during workouts. Also, since Coros is new to the cycling community, there are only a few cycling-specific workouts right now. More will certainly be added, but if you want access to cycling training right off the bat, you’ll want to wait to invest in the Dura.
Should you buy the Coros Dura?
If you are in the market for a simple, easy-to-use bike computer for long adventures, yes, you absolutely should buy the Coros Dura. Likewise, if you have a Coros watch and want to stick to the Coros interface for your cycling, the Dura will be great for you. With its very reasonable price, great battery life, and accurate GPS data, the Dura is a great choice for many who simply want to get out there and ride.
If you aren’t interested in being a guinea pig for Coros to work out the kinks, you should wait or go with a different, more well-established option.
However, while the simple interface certainly makes it easy to use, it may be too limited for some. Also, the Coros platform isn’t as robust when it comes to training tools. For example, as of right now, there are only a few cycling workouts and it totally lacks adaptive training plans. So, if you’re hoping to have a free virtual coach on the front of your bike, the Dura isn’t your best option. Finally, as this is a totally new product for Coros, there are quite a few things to fine-tune. That’s somewhat to be expected, but if you aren’t interested in being a guinea pig for Coros to work out the kinks, you should wait or go with a different, more well-established option.
