Coros introduces Nomad, and it’s the cheaper Garmin Instinct 3 rival I’ve been waiting for

(Image credit: Coros)

Coros has launched the Nomad smartwatch
It has a variety of features for hikers, climbers, anglers, and more
It goes head-to-head with the impressive Garmin Instinct 3

When it comes to smartwatches and fitness trackers, the Garmin Instinct 3 is a real favorite here at TechRadar – we gave it a near-perfect score when we reviewed it, and we’d recommend it as one of the best running watches without hesitation. Yet a rival device has just launched that could potentially give it a run for its money, all at a more affordable price.

That’s because Coros has just announced the Nomad smartwatch, and it packs in a raft of intriguing features. Coros says it’s “purpose-built for outdoor adventurers” with tools that are tailor-made for hikers, climbers, anglers, and more.

One of the key features is a new Adventure Journal within the Coros app, which can be used to tag locations, record voice notes and store photos and videos, with the idea being that you can relive the best moments of your outdoor activities at a later date.

On the hardware side, there’s an MIP display for high clarity in bright sunshine or low light, plus an aluminum and polymer bezel, hardened mineral glass, and water resistance down to 50 meters. You also get dual-frequency GPS for navigation, plus a wide range of outdoor sport modes, including eight different fishing modes.

Coros says that when you’re running the All-Systems GPS mode, you’ll get 50 hours of battery life. In standard usage, that ramps up to 22 days of juice. Both of those figures blow past the Instinct 3’s 32 hours and 18 days, respectively (although we’ll have to confirm the Nomad’s battery life in real-world testing to be sure).

When we reviewed the Garmin Instinct 3, we were really impressed by its MIP display and wide array of fitness tools. The good news here is that the Coros Nomad also comes up pretty strong in these areas yet is priced at $349/£319 – less than the most affordable Garmin Instinct 3, which starts at $399/£349.

While Coros will have its work cut out to beat the likes of the Instinct 3, the company is known to make sterling smartwatches, so it’ll be interesting to see how the two compare in everyday scenarios. If you’re after a new smartwatch and like what Coros has to offer, though, it could be worth a look.

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Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he's learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That's all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.

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