Infinite battery life means you can leave this bike computer mounted at all times (2024)

ZDNET's key takeaways

• The Coros Dura bike computer is available now for $249, shipping on July 1st.
• The Dura has a long battery life, solar charging, a big display, and Google Maps navigation.
  
• There are no MTB dynamics and some other features will come in future software updates.

For a few years, I used my phone as my bike computer and then moved to using my GPS sports watch. Five years ago, Garmin sent me an Edge 530 bike computer to evaluate and I was hooked on riding with a dedicated bike computer. For the past several days, I have had the Coros Dura attached to the front of a couple of bikes for eMTB and road cycling.

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When I tested the first Coros smartwatch years ago, it stood out from the pack with its long battery life, which became a staple of the Coros branding. We have seen iconic battery life from all of the Coros smartwatches released since 2018 and that trend continues with the company's first bike computer. Coros advertises 120 consecutive hours of GPS ride time. The company suggests cyclists keep the Coros Dura mounted at all times to remove the pain point of charging their bike computer.

Given that I've only had a review unit for a few days, I have not been able to test the full battery life claim. However, I have observed about 1% of battery consumption for each hour of GPS tracking, so it seems that at least 100 hours of battery life is possible. While that length is sure to get you through any riding activity, theCoros Duraalso supports solar charging. One hour of riding in 75,000 or more lux generates up to two hours of additional ride time.

The Coros Dura (taken from the Spanish word 'a hard thing') comes with an out-front handlebar mount with a standard quarter-turn socket. Garmin uses this same mount format so those mounts will work with the Dura, too. You can charge the device via USB-C, but solar should hopefully keep you going for virtually unlimited battery life.

Five satellite positioning systems are supported with dual-frequency capability. ANT+, Bluetooth, and W-iFi connectivity are included, along with support for a host of sensors. I paired the Dura with my Garmin speed and cadence sensors, my Coros heart rate monitor, and even my Garmin Varia bike radar. I was impressed to see the Garmin Varia still provide vehicle traffic status moving up and down the right side of the Dura screen with colors and sounds appearing to reflect the proximity of those vehicles.

I happened to be riding in a downpour one day and the touchscreen still worked well on theCoros Durato view additional screens. As with Coros watches, you have full control over the customization of the number and data on the screens for each type of cycling, including support for e-bikes. A large scroll wheel is mounted on the right side so you can quickly spin through menus with a back/lap button positioned below this wheel. Both features are easy to manipulate as you ride and match the Coros watch approach.

The 2.7-inch memory-in-pixel display is visible while riding. There are no brightness settings, but when I ride I also do not want a brilliant AMOLED taking away from my visibility. I rode with the Dura at an MTB trail park. Unfortunately, no MTB dynamics were captured by the Dura, but the Edge 840 provided this data. It should be noted that the Garmin Edge 840 is also more than twice the price of the Dura. Coros has a long track record of software updates for its watches, so I am hopeful that we will see features like MTB dynamics eventually appear for the Dura. We should see Strava Live segments, media controls, Climb View, and more appear soon in updates.

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Another benefit of theCoros Durais the powerful Coros ecosystem, including a full-featured smartphone application and the Coros Training Hub website. The Dura can be customized on your smartphone and settings can be synched to the device. The data from your rides syncs via Wi-Fi to the Coros data center, so you can view your ride data, sync training plans, share data with coaches, and run reports to track your progress to your heart's delight.

I was excited when Coros teased me about the upcoming launch. Then, after attending the briefing and seeing all of the features with the extremely long battery life, I couldn't wait to try the device out. I have been very impressed with the computer so far. I need to spend much more time with training plans, syncing data with Coros watches that capture sleep and recovery stats, and exploring the navigation functions that include rerouting via Google Maps. The price of $249 blows me away and I will pick up one of these devices for myself.

ZDNET's buying advice

Gravel riders are a primary focus of theCoros Dura. But even if you ride on the road or explore single-track trails, there is something to like here at a low entry price. The bike alarm, crash detection, and safety alerts are also useful for keeping people informed of your cycling status. The big screen, long battery life, and Coros ecosystem make the Dura a compelling bike computer that's accessible to everyone.