Coros Vertix 2S review: I never want to take this smartwatch off my wrist

Smartwatches are a great way to stay up to date while on the move and track your various fitness stats, like steps, sleep, and workouts. Sure, if you have an iPhone, you may opt for the Apple Watch, and Pixel owners might choose a Google Pixel Watch 2, but they’re not your only choice, as the Coros Vertix 2S gives both flagships a run for their money. 

Coros’ latest offering comes 3 years after the release of the Vertix 2, and the company has made some minor but useful improvements. With better GPS accuracy, a stellar battery life, an array of sensors to measure your heart rate, stress levels, ECG and more, we found that the Vertix 2S is a great smartwatch, whichever phone you use. 

But with a dull screen, an outdated proprietary charging cable, and a couple other hiccups, does it justify its price tag? And does it have what it takes to earn a spot amongst the best smartwatches? For the full breakdown, read our Coros Vertix 2S review.

Coros Vertix 2S review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A smartwatch with advanced and accurate fitness and sleep tracking, great battery life, customizable watch faces, and GPS.
• Who is it for? Anyone who wants to learn more about their health and track their fitness progress, with in-depth sleep analysis, record their workouts and monitor their stress.
• How much does it cost? The Coros Vertix 2S smartwatch is available for $699.
• How is the user experience? Excellent. It’s comfortable to wear for long periods — even when you’re sleeping!
• Anything missing? The LCD screen can be a bit dull as the brightness can’t be adjusted, downloading maps can be slow, and I wish it had a USB-C charging cable.

Coros Vertix 2S review: Price & availability

The Coros Vertix 2S has a retail price of $699 and is available to buy from Amazon U.S. and Amazon U.K., or from Coros itself. Its price tag sees it competing with the likes of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 ($799) and the Garmin Forerunner 965 ($599).

The Vertix 2S succeeds the Vertix 2, its 2021 predecessor, and is available in 3 new colorways: Earth (blue), Moon (gray), and Space (black).

Coros Vertix 2S review: Design & display

I took one look at the Coros Vertix 2S around my wrist and thought, “That’s a big watch.” It measures 1.98 x 1.98 x 0.62 inches, nearly identical to the Vertix 2 but bigger than the Garmin Fenix 7. It also has the same 280 x 280 display resolution as its predecessor.

The Vertix 2S isn’t heavy though, weighing only 3.06oz (with silicone band) or 2.46oz (with nylon band), and I found it comfortable to wear over long periods. There are 3 tactile buttons on the watch: a digital dial, back button, and a dedicated backlight button. But you can choose not to use these at all as the Vertix 2S has an always-on LCD touchscreen.

In my testing, the screen was very responsive. My main issue with the screen, however, is that you can’t adjust its brightness. Unlike the Garmin Fenix 7, the Vertix 2S’ LCD screen is quite dull. This made it harder for me to see the dial in bright sunlight and I found myself cupping the watch to find out how many steps I’d walked.

The level of customization is something to behold. You can choose from about 100 watch faces, so there’s something for everyone. Choose from digital and analog styles, or animated. Van Gogh’s Starry Night is my favorite artwork, so I was pleased there was a watch face for it. But my favorite (and most used) is the Dinner Time watch face, where a cute dog taps a bowl with a battery indicator every time you turn the watch towards you.

The Vertix 2S has a 10 ATM waterproof rating, which means it’s suitable for surface swimming and snorkeling. Submerging it underwater wasn’t an issue and neither was wearing it in the shower or the bath. The watch can also withstand extreme temperatures and works fine at -22°F to 122°F — the same as the Vertix 2.

Coros Vertix 2S review: Health tracking & GPS

Flip the Coros Vertix 2S and you’ll see an array of sensors: an optical heart rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an electronic compass, a temperature sensor, a pulse oximeter, and an ECG. One of the biggest differences between the Vertix 2S and the Vertix 2 is the introduction of a new improved heart rate sensor in the former. To get accurate readings, Coros recommends wearing the watch higher than your wrist bone, and also warns that tattoos or heavy hair may interfere with the readings. I wore the watch on my left wrist, over a tattoo, and I found the heart rate sensor to be mostly accurate — the results were similar to that of an Apple Watch Series 7, so I was happy with it.

The Vertix 2S also measures your stress throughout the day. I found this really handy as I could go through the colorful graph on the app and see when something triggered me and  what to look out for in the future. If you want a more in-depth analysis, you can quickly conduct a wellness check which measures your heart rate, HRV, stress, breathing rate, and SpO2. Nifty!

The smartwatch uses the aforementioned sensors to track a plethora of activities. From running, hiking and gym cardio, to windsurfing, skiing and pool swimming, you can track virtually any indoor or outdoor activity.

Coros also claims that the GPS tracking is more accurate in the Vertix 2S, thanks to the redesigned antennae. The watch uses five satellite systems: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou, and QZSS. It also features screen mirroring, which means you can see the navigation screen on your phone if you’re following a specific route.

After an outdoor run or walk, you can view a very accurate depiction of the route and an in-depth analysis of variation in elevation, pace, heart rate, cadence, stride length, and more, via the smartphone app (more on that later). Having used an Apple Watch Series 7, I found the Vertix 2S more accurate in this aspect.

Coros Vertix 2S review: Sleep tracking

For years now, I have struggled with sleeping. I either sleep too much or too little, so I really appreciated being able to track my sleep patterns using the Coros Vertix 2S. I didn’t find the silicone strap too comfortable, but that changed when I swapped to the nylon strap, and I barely noticed it while sleeping or even tossing and turning in bed.

You can choose your bedtime either via the app or the smartwatch itself. An hour prior to your bedtime, the watch will start checking if you’ve fallen asleep. It will then track 4 things: when you were awake, in light sleep, in deep sleep, and in REM (the deepest sleep stage). 

Additionally, you’ll get a heart rate variability (HRV) score in the morning which is compared to your baseline (if you’ve been wearing the watch for 5 continuous nights). This tells you how stressed your body is and you can use this to determine how you should exercise.

Wearing the Vertix 2S to sleep and looking at the graph the next morning is slowly but surely making a difference to how I sleep. I’m becoming more conscious of my sleep quality and trying to go to bed early and waking up at the same time every morning. When there have been more periods of light sleep during a night, I’ve thought about the factors that may have played a role: alcohol consumption, stress, or anxiety. In a way, I’m motivated to improve my sleep quality just to see more periods of REM and deep sleep on the graph!

Coros Vertix 2S review: App

The free Coros app for iOS and Android is very easy to use. While you can access a lot of stats on the Vertix 2S itself, the app provides detailed information about your sleep patterns, workouts, wellness checks, and stress levels, alongside a load of other informative data.

You can also customize your watch, including changing the watch face, adding routes, changing the activities displayed, and more. It also has a handy Find My Watch feature, while the watch has a Find My Phone feature (it’ll even tell you what direction to walk in).

You can also use the app to download maps onto your watch to access them when you’re offline, but I wish it wasn’t so slow. I tried downloading maps of the UK, the Netherlands, and Spain. While the Dutch and Spanish maps downloaded in 5 minutes, the UK map took an hour to download. I had to pause, resume and cancel the download thrice before it finally happened. Not a massive issue, but it shouldn’t be an issue in the first place.

You can connect the watch to a variety of third-party apps too, such as Strava, Apple Health and Nike Run Club. And if you own one of the best action cameras from GoPro or Insta360, you can control the camera via the watch. However, the Vertix 2S does not support the best streaming services, such as Spotify or Apple Music. You can connect the watch to your laptop and store songs on it, but you might feel short changed not having an online music library at your disposal.

Coros Vertix 2S review: Battery life

The Coros Vertix 2S has an outstanding battery life, but how long the watch lasts on a full charge depends on the features you’re using. Here’s what Coros claims:

I tested the Vertix 2S for 12 days in daily use mode with sleep and stress tracking on, rarely taking it off, and the battery dipped to 67%. The Garmin Enduro 2 has a similar battery life but it will cost you an eye-watering sum of $999. And the Garmin Forerunner 965 will last you just 23 days in smartwatch mode. The Vertix 2S is the winner here for us.

The watch took just under 2 hours to fully charge via a 30W adapter. A downside of this watch is that it uses Coros’ proprietary cable. I would have much preferred a USB-C cable because then you don’t have to worry about losing the dedicated cable. Meanwhile, the Garmin Forerunner 265 uses the now-standard USB-C cable.

Should you buy the Coros Vertix 2S?

The Coros Vertix 2S definitely warrants a recommendation. It takes what the Vertix 2 did right and improves on it. The more I used this watch, the more I loved it. Although the screen can be a bit dull and maps can be slow to download, these feel like minor issues to me because of everything else the watch has to offer.

The accurate GPS, incredible battery life, beautiful build quality, and the fact that you can track any stat you want, such as your stress levels, and even monitor your breathing, make the Vertix 2S the ideal fitness-focused smartwatch.

Of course, if you have a device that’s part of another brand’s ecosystem, like one of the best Garmin watches, it might be a more practical option, but you’d take a hit on the battery front. If you’re more platform-agnostic, then the Vertix 2S is a great choice; I don’t want to take it off my wrist.