is a reporter who writes about tech, money, and human behavior. She joined The Verge in 2014 as science editor. Previously, she was a reporter at Bloomberg.
Coros’ Nomad is marketed as a “go-anywhere, do-anything” adventure watch. It’s got GPS and offline maps and will track a lot of activities, from yoga to bouldering. There’s an “Adventure Journal,” which the marketing copy promises will help you record “every step, catch, and summit.” While it doesn’t have some of the bells and whistles of a more expensive competitor like Garmin, it’s a product seemingly aimed at campers, backpackers, and other outdoorsy types who aren’t satisfied with something all-purpose like an Apple Watch. So when my colleague Victoria Song flagged the Nomad to me, I took Coros at its word — and, as The Verge’s resident dirtbag, took the Nomad on the Tahoe Rim Trail.
Outdoor recreation is a growing market. Notably, the market can afford smartwatches — the number of participants who make more than $100,000 a year is increasing, according to the Outdoor Industry Association. Hiking is the most popular activity.
Why aren’t hikers and trail runners demanding more from these products?
And backpackers, especially weight-obsessed thru-hikers, are absolutely deranged gearheads. Gear was the most common subject of discussion among hikers when I was on the Appalachian Trail earlier this year. Go to any backpacker forum and you’ll see the same thing. A really well-designed device isn’t going to need much marketing — word of mouth was enough to get me to try out the Haribo Mini Power Bank, the lightest 20,000mAh battery on the market and possibly also the cutest. There’s also lots of room to beat the price of Garmin smartwatches — the high-end models cost more than a grand. The Instinct 3, a comparable Garmin watch, is $399 at the absolute cheapest, even though you can’t download maps for navigation on that watch like you can with the Nomad. I haven’t owned a Garmin watch in about 10 years, largely because I just didn’t find the watches to be worth the price tag.
Photo by Liz Lopatto / The Verge
I used the Coros Nomad, which costs $349, on my hike and for a month of training beforehand. I am about to identify a bunch of limitations for my specific very outdoors sports, but before I do that, I want to be clear: this is a good watch at a great price. But I got the sense it was designed by and for weekend warriors (or maybe just suburban distance runners?).
There’s a world where someone delivers everything the Nomad promises — but the Nomad itself doesn’t. This is a failure of marketing, obviously, but it got me thinking. Why aren’t hikers and trail runners demanding more from these products? Even the most “outdoorsy” ones are still primarily meant for road runners.
Features
Let’s just get it out of the way: the battery life kicks ass, especially in comparison to my Apple Watch Series 6. (Unlike some of our reviews team, I am a technology normal and use things until they break, pretty much.) The Tahoe Rim Trail is officially 165 miles, though the FarOut map I used for navigation put it at 174. I created — and mostly stuck to — an 11-day itinerary. I charged the Coros Nomad before I left, then wore it nonstop for the entirety of the hike. It ran out of battery once, near the end of day 6, at mile 19 of 25, after more than 40 hours of actively tracking my hikes. After a recharge, I didn’t need to charge it again for the rest of the hike. Not bad.
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