COROS has announced the introduction of a new firmware update, currently available in public beta, with an official release scheduled for early February. This update affects various COROS watch models, including the Vertex 1 and 2, APEX 2 and APEX 2 Pro, and Pace 2 and 3, but excludes older versions of the APEX and Pace models.
The new COROS firmware update aims to provide users with more advanced tools to monitor and improve their fitness and well-being. While some features are still being refined, the update represents a significant step towards more detailed and personalized analysis of your running performance and overall well-being.
The update introduces several new features, focused on improving running form and tracking wellness. One of these is the “Running Form Test”, which, more correctly, could be defined as an analysis of running form. This test requires users to take a run, even a short one (minimum 10 minutes), on flat terrain. At the end of the run, the watch provides a series of detailed statistics relating to your performance. It is important to note that for complete data collection you need to use COROS Pod 1 or COROS Pod 2.
To start the test, users need to select it from the Fitness Test menu. The length of the test varies based on the user’s existing running score and includes a warm-up phase followed by a main test section, which generally takes place at a comfortable pace. Once the test is complete, the watch displays a score and some summary statistics, which can then be examined in more detail in the COROS app.
However, as some have pointed out, while the data collected can be interesting, it often lacks practical guidance on how to actually improve your running form. Another criticality of the COROS approach is the need to carry out a separate test for each analysis, rather than integrating this function into each running session.
The update also includes stress monitoring, which tracks the user’s stress levels throughout the day. This feature, however, increases the refresh rate of the optical HR sensor, thereby affecting battery life. An interesting aspect is that COROS stress monitoring also includes time spent in physical activity, unlike other devices that exclude these periods from the calculations.
COROS also introduced the “Wellness Check” function, similar to Garmin’s “Health Snapshot”. This check, initiated manually, records various parameters such as heart rate, HRV value, stress, respiratory rate and SpO2 values in approximately 30 seconds. This data can be useful for a quick analysis of well-being, but does not provide trends or graphs over time.
Another important new feature is the addition of personalized marathon training plans in the COROS app. These plans are based on data collected from the user’s COROS account, such as weekly distance traveled and baseline fitness level, to create a tailored marathon training plan. This feature, however, appears to be tied to the ability to have a sub-3:30 hour EvoLab marathon score.
2024-01-28 07:36:50
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