When Garmin released the Fenix 8 last summer and the Amazfit T-Rex 3 came along a few months later, Coros clearly identified a glaring omission in its GPS watch lineup: a rugged adventure watch. According to Coros, that ends today, with the release of the Nomad, a watch that's purpose-built for your outdoor expeditions.
The Irvine, CA-based brand came to life with the Coros Pace watch back in 2018, entering the market with a lightweight, budget-friendly but reliable multi-sports watch. The first Coros Apex came along the same year with a higher quality build but similar performance, and in 2019 the brand launched its premium sports watch in the Coros Vertix, intended primarily for elite athletes.
Now, the Coros Nomad is here to carve out a new vertical in the Coros watch ecosystem that's specifically built for those who hike, trail run and fish in wild spaces. Keep reading for everything we know about this new release.
Starting with the nuts and bolts, the Nomad promises a higher quality bezel than the Pace or the Apex, with a dual-layer aluminum and polymer bezel. It comes with a hardened mineral glass screen rather than sapphire, which isn't quite as scratch-resistant, but is far less likely to shatter, arguably making it a better choice for outdoor environments, and we've found the mineral glass screen on the Pace 3 to be pretty bulletproof.
While most new releases lately, from the Amazfit Active 2 to the Garmin Forerunner 570, are focusing on bigger and brighter AMOLED screens than ever before, Coros has gone with a new high-contrast 1.3in Memory-In-Pixel display, which the company says improves color saturation and ensures clear visibility in both bright and low light conditions. The real benefit of this is of course is an incredible battery life – up to 50 hours in All-Systems GPS mode and up to 22 days in standard use according to the specs, which is key if you're on a multi-day mission.
For navigating in the backcountry, there's, of course, dual-frequency GPS as well as global maps with street names, waypoints, and save locations powered by a new, faster Gen 3 processor.
The most intriguing new feature is what Coros calls Adventure Journal, which allows you to record voice notes, upload photos and videos to your activities, which sounds great for reliving your adventure or for outdoor bloggers and influencers.
“We built NOMAD to help adventurers have a new way to capture memories and experiences, without compromising the high-performance hardware COROS users expect," says Coros CEO Lewis Wu.
"It can't replace being outdoors, but it can help you remember what it felt like to be there."
If your adventures tend to take you into deep or shallow waters, there's great news. The Nomad features eight dedicated fishing modes, including fly, lure and boat, and if you're an angler, environmental insights like Moon/Tide phases, air pressure can help you fish smarter. You can also log your catches and document species. Like most watches these days, it's rated 5 ATM water-resistant, which is more than enough for swimming and water sports.
As with other Coros watches, you have your choice of nylon and silicone bands, and the lightest option is a reasonable 49g. The Coros Nomad is available for $349 / £319 in three colorways: Green, Brown, and Dark Grey via Coros.
