Days after Garmin announced its new Edge 1060 and Edge Explore computers, Coros has launched the Dura 2 Solar.
The new bike computer replaces the Coros Dura Solar, the brand’s first bike computer, which has gained popularity for its lengthy battery life and lower price compared to similarly specced models from established brands such as Garmin and Wahoo.
The Dura 2 Solar is a significant upgrade from its predecessor and comes in at £479 / $499 for the device without the standard aluminium mount, or £479 / $549 with the mount.
Razr sharp
The design of the new Dura 2 Solar is striking. Some have likened it to the Motorola Razr flip phone, with its same sleek angular lines and ultra-thin profile.
The whole thing weighs 99g and the top bevel is only 5.7mm thick, which Coros says improves aerodynamics.
The larger screen is supported by a carbon backplate and anodised alloy construction "for lighter and more durable protection", according to Coros.
The computer still features a solar panel, but it’s now at the bottom, rather than the top as seen on the Dura Solar.
Coros explains the panel is now 17% bigger and 25% more efficient, which means it’s able to provide the same 120 hours of battery life (70 hours in dual-frequency mode) as the previous model.
Coros says the panel can provide a two-to-one solar gain, which means up to two hours of battery gain for every one hour of riding. This is based on 75,000 Lux, though, so as we approach UK winter you can expect much less than this.
Haptic buttons
The panels also feature two touchscreen buttons with haptic feedback to move through menus and activity pages.
However, in initial testing, I found them difficult to use because the touchscreen area of the panel is quite small and not as responsive as I'd like. This resulted in plenty of failed attempts at moving through the pages (especially riding off-road) and opting to use the main screen for this job instead.
The main LCD display is 3.5in, the same as Garmin’s new flagship Edge 1060. However, the main talking point here is we finally have a bike computer with a significantly reduced bezel.
While that doesn’t necessarily improve performance, it significantly improves the way the unit looks on the bike, befitting of its price and closer to what we’ve come to expect from virtually any new tech with an LCD screen.
There’s no dial on the Dura 2 Solar, a feature found on the previous model. Instead, there are two large and textured external buttons.
The right-hand button opens the sidebar during an activity and acts as an OK button when scrolling through menus. The left-hand button starts a new lap by default, but can be reconfigured, for example to move from activity pages to a redesigned Media page.
No lagging
In terms of navigation, Coros promises “no lagging” when pinching to zoom on the map page, something the older model struggled with. There’s also the ability to mark a pin on the map by either configuring the left button as mentioned above or through the sidebar menu while on the Map page.
Offline re-routing is available with a sustained Bluetooth connection from the Coros app so long as the maps have been downloaded before syncing the route. Climb alerts are available on every ride.
There’s also now a digital bell, which you can activate by double-tapping the screen during an activity. The volume is controlled by the unit’s overall volume control, which means if you want a bell that other road users can hear, you’ll need to put up with all the other tones at full volume.
There are also new tones that are unique to each alert. Some are more pleasant to listen to than others with our videographer, Kai, likening one of the tones to Nintendo's Wii console.
