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In this weekly columnAndroid Central Wearables editor Michael Hicks talks about the world of running- and health-related wearables, apps, and fitness tech, in his quest to get faster and more fit.
Over the past week, I’ve pitted the new COROS VERTIX 2S against two other leading fitness watches – the Garmin Forerunner 965 and the Polar Vantage V3 – to see how they compare in terms of GPS, heart rate and altitude accuracy .
koros gave vertex 2s Two major upgrades: a new satellite antenna for better “positioning accuracy in dense city/mountain environments” and an upgraded optical heart rate monitor with more LEDs. Since these are the only major differences from the 2021 VERTIX 2, I decided to test how much better they really are.
I have used herald 965 As my primary running watch for the last year and as a benchmark for other watch reviews. As for the Polar Vantage V3, my first model crashed during a long workout, delaying my review until Polar sent a replacement. There are no issues with the option, but I was curious if it could match the others in terms of accuracy and overcome my first poor impression.
Without further preamble, let’s look at the Coros vs. Garmin vs. Polar fitness test accuracy results best fitness watches That Coros, Garmin and Polar offer!
Coros vs. Garmin vs. Polar: GPS and elevation accuracy
For this test, I wore all three fitness watches for a 5K urban run, a 2-mile track sprint workout, and an eight-mile hike on Mount Diablo trails with steep climbs and dense foliage. Here are the results starting with the 5K race:
- Qoros Vertex 2S: 3.19 miles, 8:27/mile pace, 318W power, 167 cadence
- garmin forerunner 965: 3.16 miles, 8:31/mile speed, 406W power, 166 cadence
- Polar Vantage V3: 3.12 miles, 8:37/mile pace, 384W, 84 cadence
Before analyzing this, let’s take a look at the GPS map. The slideshow below shows some key close-ups of how the Coros (orange), Garmin (brown), and Polar (pink) performed:
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Despite dual-frequency tracking, there was definitely something going on with the Polar Vantage V3’s results here. It forced me to crash into buildings and houses like the Hulk for half the race, then recovered itself and kept me on track for most of the rest of the race. This significantly reduced the results compared to its rival watches.
Coros and Garmin were close to each other. Of the two, the Coros was initially more accurate to my situation, while the Garmin was a bit off (though not as cartoonish as the Polar). As the race progressed, the two were either in sync or parallel, with Forerunner (left wrist) and Vertex (right wrist) matching their body positions.
As I closed on the track, the Garmin fell a bit, forcing me to weave between cars in the parking lot – perhaps the trees above were to blame. On the track, all three watches were extremely consistent, although the Garmin did the best job matching my second lane position.
Moving on to my dedicated track workout in the first lane – I did eight laps of a 100m sprint followed by a 100m jog – these were the results:
- Qoros Vertix 2S: 2.01 miles, 7:27/mile speed, 353W power, 174 cadence
- garmin forerunner 965: 2.01 miles, 7:28/mile speed, 445W power, 170 cadence
- Polar Vantage V3: 2.02 miles, 7:24/mile pace, 457W, 88 cadences
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I’ve noticed in previous review tests that the watch’s Track Run activity actively makes the GPS map look worse than when you use the standard Run activity. I’m not sure how the Garmin (brown line) made me run on the grass for eight laps and the Coros (blue line) made me run across the inside track, but both gave me similar distances.
polar (pink line) technically It did the best job of matching my one-lane placement, but it forced me to drunkenly weave between lanes on the closing stretch, so I can’t even praise it. I’m also unsure how Polar thinks I’m averaging 80-90 steps per minute while running, no matter what my speed…
Overall, no one wins here, but because Track Workout can detect when you return to the starting point, lap results should be accurate across all brands, no matter how weird the lines look.
Finally, since COROS is marketing the VERTIX 2S as an adventure watch, I wanted to test how it handled hikes, since I’ve been unable to test its rock climbing accuracy without stopping. Here is the summary:
- Qoros Vertex 2S: 7.81 miles, 17:45/mile pace, 2,438 feet elevation gain
- garmin forerunner 965: 7.84 miles, 17:41/mile pace, 2,329 feet elevation gain
- Polar Vantage V3: 7.82 miles, 17:44/mile pace, 2,297 feet elevation gain
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Distance wise, all three watches were pretty comparable, which is encouraging! It was difficult to assess accuracy by looking at a zoomed-out satellite map.
I noticed a few moments where the Corrosion (orange) seemed to take a straight line on back-and-forth parts of the path, where the Garmin (blue) and Polar (brown) remained accurate. The Garmin threw me into the bushes a couple of times, probably because of the leaves. But I’m finding faults and I don’t have much to complain about.
The biggest difference is in the upgrade benefits. AllTrails estimates that my path height The gain is 2,208 feet, which suggests that all three have greatly overestimated my elevation gain, with Polar exaggerating the least and Coros the furthest.
precursor 965 and Qoros Pace 3 Both performed better in my previous upgrade testSo I’m not sure if it’s a case of AllTrails being closed or all three watches gaining “altitude” when my GPS map goes off slope and back on the path.
Coros vs. Garmin vs. Polar: Heart Rate Accuracy
To test the accuracy of these watches, I wore the Polar H10 chest strap during my first two hours to see how they handle sudden changes in heart rate. Here’s what I learned:
For the first 5K run of my race, all three watches averaged 159 bpm, while the Polar H10 (violet) averaged 160 bpm. As you can see in the chart below, all three watches showed regular, minute changes in heart rate that matched each other fairly well, while the Polar (red) had a few moments where its data came back to the pack. Before the clocks had gone up.
To be honest, I’m a little skeptical that I went from pedestrian speeds to 170 bpm so early in my race, so I’m here looking at Polar’s chest strap curiously. As for the rest, all the watches were more of a match, which I’m happy with.
For track workouts, the Polar H10’s heart rate chart went haywire for logical reasons I won’t bore you with, but I can at least share the averages: The H10 measured 172 bpm, while the Vantage V3 measured 173 bpm. The VERTIX 2S had 170 bpm, and the Forerunner 965 had 171 bpm.
It appears that all three watches had their own problems during this workout. The Garmin skewed heart rate data during the first lap, the Corros deflated the numbers during laps five and six, and the Polar apparently doesn’t track your heart rate when you stop the workout. Keeps a flat result until you start again.
Overall, I’d say the Garmin and Polar performed the best in overall accuracy, while the Corros struggled a bit during hard sprints as the bulky design can cause it to wobble on your wrist.
Again, people aren’t buying the VERTIX 2S for sprints, but for more deliberate, slower-paced activities. And in other activities like hiking, the VERTIX 2S performed very well for heart rate data.
analysis of results
I can’t tell you what the original VERTIX 2 was particularly wrong about, but so far, I’m satisfied with the improved HR and dual-frequency GPS results for the VERTIX 2S.
For general fitness comparisons, the Corros Vertex 2S performed best for GPS accuracy, the Garmin Forerunner 965 performed best (or least iffy) for heart rate, and the Polar Vantage V3 performed best for altitude accuracy. Still, none of the results were certain, and I’d say they’re all in the same ballpark.
In theory, more testing could change this. But wearing three smartwatches repeatedly for workouts is an annoying hassle, so I’ll focus exclusively on the Corros Vertex 2S and Polar Vantage V3 for their respective reviews in the coming days to provide more context.
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