I’ve been running regularly for several years (since reluctantly hanging up my soccer boots), generally hitting the trails around me every other day. And while I’ve kitted myself out with some of the best running shoes to enhance that experience, I’ve never fully embraced a running watch.
Instead, I have relied on my phone to track my runs, using the Strava app. I don’t need to track my runs, but I do enjoy the stats – I find competing against myself is a big motivator.
1. I’ve been properly enjoying the outdoors
I have a full-time screen job, and I’m a father of three young ones, which means I get very little time to myself (besides the refuge of a peaceful toilet break). So, besides simply keeping myself fit, going out for a run is my ‘me time’ and helps keep me grounded.
I’ve found that swapping my phone for a running watch has enabled me to properly switch off in a way that I wasn’t before. When I go out for a run with my phone, I’m still connected to all those tasks and distractions. Leaving it behind has been truly freeing.
I wrote about this sort of experience as a photographer – taking just my camera and leaving my phone behind to properly enjoy photo walks in my local area – and the same applies here with running. And it’s also why I prefer a running watch over a smartwatch which can, unhelpfully in this context, keep me connected.
I’m getting outdoors and all the running stats that help keep me focused, while giving myself a break from the tech that otherwise devours my time.
2. I wish it had this one feature
You might have twigged already that I’m TechRadar’s Cameras Editor, which means I have a big interest in photography.
One thing I like about taking my phone for running is that I also have a camera with me. Sometimes I’ll be out on a frosty, misty morning in my local woodland and the conditions are amazing for photos.
Or maybe I’m exploring somewhere new – going out for a run is a great way to do that – and naturally the photographer in me is buzzing with photo possibilities of that unfamiliar place or culture.
If I leave my phone behind (and I hardly want to pack a proper camera for running), I miss out on the photography side of being outdoors. I love combining running and photography – I’ve found superb viewpoints and compositions to return to with my proper camera gear for landscape photography.
If I could add one feature to a running watch, it would be a built-in camera. Sure, I wouldn’t expect much of its quality realistically, but it sure would be a nice to pack a fitness tool and camera in one.
3. It’s the ideal choice for regular routes
Contrasting the previous point – if I’m running a regular route, on a regular day, with regular weather, outside of what’s the best time for outdoor photography, I’m simply not going to be taking pictures as it’s less about exploration and more about perspiration. It’s pure running, I’m on autopilot, and I really don’t need my phone.
I’ve been running more than usual recently, and increasingly doing the same routes. I don’t need the camera, but I still want to track my progress and keep myself motivated.
And it’s for this reason that I’ve never been happier using a running watch. I’m missing my phone less and less, and enjoying the environment around me more and more. The running watch has truly enabled me to switch off and hit my local routes with new passion.
The Apex 4 is also able to store routes and maps for me to follow, which also makes it a great option for entirely new or deviations to my usual routes. That said, I personally prefer discovering new trails for myself, even if that does mean getting a little lost from time to time.
4. I can track a range of activities
Most running watches, including the Coros Apex 4, can track multiple types of activities besides running. The same can be said of my phone and the Strava app, but there are plenty of activities that I really can’t use my phone for.
I said I hung up my soccer boots. That’s true in a competitive sense, but I still play a little casually and I’m not taking my phone onto the pitch, but I can a running watch.
I also try to get a swim in most weeks. Again, I’m not taking my phone into the water, but it’s a different story with a running watch. I can get my stats for running, soccer, swimming, road cycling and more, and that’s why I am increasingly relying on the Apex 4. I feel a triathlon beckoning.
5. My phone is surprisingly accurate
It wasn’t my intention to take a deep dive into the accuracy of the tech, and how reliable the stats are on my phone versus a running watch. However, since I had both, I was keen to see how seriously I could take the data accrued using my phone to track my runs these last years.
Coros has built a solid reputation among seasoned athletes for data accuracy, and so I was trusting its numbers and hoping that my phone’s came close.
So, I recorded several hilly runs over mixed terrain with both the Coros Apex 4 and my Pixel 8 Pro logged through the Strava app, to see how they compared. No flats, varied stride length and spanning between 6 and 13 km – these were proper tests.
The short answer, is that I can, thankfully, trust my phone. The data was consistent across both devices. Distance, elevation gain and pace are the main stats I wanted to check, and they were identical in every case, to the the meter / second.
I’m getting a whole other set of stats with the running watch, mind you; time spent in each zone (exertion levels), heart rate, average power and more.
Notes on the Coros Apex 4
Ahead of my in-depth review, some brief observations on the (larger) 46mm version of the Coros Apex 4:
Its battery life is incredible. Coros says it lasts 65 hours in All-Systems GNSS mode, and 24 days in daily use. The reality? Those numbers are conservative – after a month using the Apex 4 recording activities for an average of 30 minutes per day, I still had around 10% juice remaining. (Battery life in the 42mm version is around 30% less, according to Coros.)
It’s build quality is superb, while the touch function of the screen works happily even when wet for swimming. I like the UI variety available in the app, too, especially the traditional watch face.
A personal note, and one that no doubt applies to all running watches – the design is primarily for left-wristed users, which is less ideal for me becuase I have always put a watch on my right wrist. I know I’m in the minority, but the button placement is a little fiddly. Still, I’ve never had an issue that there are no cameras designed for left-handed people(!), and it’s still easy enough to adjust and operate the device.
Final word
I’ll still take my phone with me for various runs, especially in new locations. But it’s for the range of activities and the regular grind of running where a running watch, in this case the excellent Coros Apex 4, will become an essential accessory. I just can’t believe it has taken me this long to adopt one.
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