The Kiprun GPS 500 by Coros is sports retailer Decathlon’s first own-brand sportswatch. It is designed and made by Coros and is based on the brand's pace model, so it has good GPS watch lineage behind it, but like most things Decathlon it's the price point that is the biggest draw as it's one of the cheapest GPS running watches on the market. To find out if the performance matches its value, we ran with it for a few months. Here’s what we found.
Look and feel
It’s a pretty simple watch to operate – there are four buttons (select, back, up and down) to allow you to navigate menus easily and operate the watch on the go. The 2.4cm colour screen is just the right size to be easily readable without looking like a wall clock on your wrist, while the display is crisp without being super bright (which helps with battery life, below). The rubber strap has plenty of slots and a bit of stretch which, combined with the 48g weight, means it’s comfortable and you don’t really feel it once it’s on. There are plenty of home and data screen customisation options available via the Coros mobile app, which the watch pairs with.
Good GPS strength
The watch uses three systems (GPS, GLONASS and Beidou) which means it can use more satellites for its signal, so your position can be fixed more quickly and accurately. In testing the signal was acquired quickly (usually in less than 15 seconds) and rarely dropped out. Distance measurements were accurate and consistent. The watch gives you an alert when the signal drops out, but during testing this only happened when completely cut off from the sky above, such as when running through a tunnel or under bridges – the signal was solid otherwise, even when under thick tree cover.
Running features
You might not expect a watch at the lower end of the price range to be feature-packed, but the GPS 500 has enough for the vast majority of running needs – it measures distance, pace, speed, cadence, stride length, VO2 max, training load, and features a wrist-based heart rate sensor. It also has indoor and track run modes, as well as multisport options including indoor and outdoor swimming (it’s waterproof), cycling, triathlon and hiking. You can set alerts for distance, pace, cadence, heart rate and also a nutrition timer, which was an easy way to remind me to take on gels regularly during a marathon.
Other features
The GPS 500 can also be used as an everyday activity tracker, recording your steps, distance, activity time, calories and measure the quality of your sleep, though realistically you’re probably not going to wear a watch this size, as comfortable as it is, during the night. The watch allows you to receive app, text and call notifications.
Impressive battery life
Stated battery life is 30 days in standard mode, and 25 hours in GPS mode, which makes it suitable for runs up to and including most ultras, short of crazy ultra distances or multi-day epics. Using the watch for running on most days while marathon training, I usually only needed to charge it about once a week, and it was great to just strap it on and go without worrying about charge level. It takes 2.5 hours to fully charge the watch from empty, which is certainly acceptable if you’re only doing it every so often.
Compatible with Coros app
The watch transfers your data via a reliable Bluetooth link to the excellent Coros app. As well as storing your running data and routes, the app offers a plethora of useful features – such as estimates of your running performance, fatigue and training load level and a race time predictor. The app also allows you to create and download workouts and plans, and it’s also simple to create a basic interval workout using just the watch itself. The app is compatible with a selection of third party running apps, We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
RW verdict
The range of run tracking features, strong GPS signal, excellent battery life, reliability and the price make this a strong contender for the best value GPS watch on the market right now.
Sure, it doesn’t have everything – there’s no altimeter function for in-run elevation measurement, but you can still review that in Strava afterwards thanks to the GPS mapping. Similarly, it doesn’t have route mapping or advanced running metrics like power or vertical oscillation, or smartwatch features like music or payment. But these are really cherry on the cake features that are generally included in watches costing two or three times the price, so this feels like nitpicking. And although it’s light and comfortable, it’s also a bit plasticky, which might be a factor if you wanted to wear it all the time and use it as a daily activity tracker.
Judged as a running watch you use for workouts rather than an all-day smartwatch or activity tracker, it’s hard to beat. I used it for all my London Marathon training and it did everything I needed, including during the race itself. Whether it’s right for you depends on your running needs (for example, ultra and trail runners should probably look elsewhere), but for most this is all the running watch you need, at a hard-to-beat price.
