Coospo’s new Realroad CS600 cycling GPS computer is an evolution of their popular CS lineup of computers. It’s designed to be a high-value computer that offers premium features such as a color touch screen, navigation and sensor connectivity at an affordable price point. This is the latest computer in the lineup that is one level up from the existing CS500 GPS cycling computer. Retail price for the computer is $129.99 and features a 2.4” color TFT touch screen. The computer has a relatively large 1090 mAh battery that is capable of 36 hour runtime with a USB-C charging port. The CS600 also has a standard Garmin quarter-turn style mount with premium features such as a resume ride later for multi-day rides.
The Coospo CS600 GPS cycling computer combines offers a premium experience with color touchscreen and navigation at an affordable price point.
| Retail Price | $129.99 |
| Rating | 9.0 / 10 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 67 (GPS) / 8 (mount) |
| Likes | + Affordable price for a color touch screen GPS + Wide variety of data field options and layouts + Compatible with a variety of sensors including Di2 buttons |
| Dislikes | – 2.4″ screen is on the small side for a color touch screen – Graphic displays like radial view feel cluttered compared to other brands |
| Where to Buy (US) | Coospo |
UNBOXING
The Coospo CS600 comes in a small Coospo branded cardboard box with map view graphics printed onto it. There is a large graphic of the GPS computer on the front and basic specs written on sides and back. Inside you’ll find:
- CS600 GPS computer
- Plastic handlebar mount + rubber strap
- Screen protector w/ cleaning kit
- Safety tether
- USB-C charging cable
- User manual
The overall packaging is well done with cardboard center dividers and even a screen protector with cleaning wipes to help protect the screen from damage.
MOUNTING
The Coospo CS600 uses a standard Garmin quarter turn style mount that is molded into the base of the computer. It uses two tabs that extend out the sides which slide into a corresponding slot on a mount to securely hold the computer in place. The mount design is very common so you can find a wide variety of third-party mounts like the KOM Cycling or the Topeak UTF mount mounts or use the included plastic handlebar mount. It uses two rubber rings to hold the computer onto handlebars which is convenient to use on a stem as well. We’d recommend an out-front mount for a cleaner installation as it places the computer in front of the stem instead of an offset spot.
FIT & FINISH
Visually, the Coospo CS600 is an upgraded version of the popular CS500 computer and shares the same exterior design. It’s a relatively small computer with a 2.4” TFT color screen and rounded edges. The big upgrade with the CS600 is the color touch screen which provides a more vibrant display and graphical data field options. In terms of dimensions, the computer is only 84 × 53 × 18 mm which makes it compact and installed on a handlebar or outfront mount. COOSPO has added topographical style graphics around the bezel around the computer that only become fully visible in direct sunlight. There are also standard Coospo logos above the computer and on the front edge in white.
While the CS600 has a responsive touch screen, there are also six physical buttons placed on the edges of the computer which allow you to navigate the full user interface. Each button has a label printed above it with nice texturing on the buttons themselves to make them easy to feel and operate. On the backside of the computer there is a rubber cover for the USB-C port on the base of the computer which provides a fast 2 hour charge for the relatively large 1090 mAh internal battery. The body of the computer is constructed from plastic with no visible hardware and glossy edge detailing to provide contrast.
USER INTERFACE
Coospo has designed the CS600 with an intuitive user interface that can be operated with the six labeled physical buttons or the touchscreen. Powering up the computer brings it to a landing page with Windows-style tile screen that shows cycling, navigation, training and settings tiles as well as smaller history and a repeated cycling tab. Unlike higher-end computers like the Garmin Edge 850, there are no health metrics or AI coaching displays, instead you simple have a full range of sensor connectivity and standard ride metrics. There are several touch screen gestures supported: sliding down shows a status menu (i.e. current time, battery, screen brightness, sensors), swiping left/right to change screen and a single press to bring up a quick status screen (i.e. menu, time, home screen shortcuts). The screen itself is responsive but lacks the fancier sliding screen animation you’ll find on higher end computers like the Bryton S510, instead page simply change once you swipe far enough.
The CS600 supports two riding profiles: indoor and outdoor which allow you to create custom data layouts to suit the different ride modes. A variety of data fields are supported with up to 8 fields, with 4 rows and 2 columns, per page with graphical field options. There are radial views, curves and something called a “diagram” view that is actually just a text display. As other reviewers have pointed out, the radial display is cluttered with a large ring graphic with the current, max, average speeds displayed to the right of it. It’s a poor use of space compared to other computers we’ve used which integrate the text into the ring. Similarly, the curve view requires a large amount of space to display the sliding graph. We also tried out the Di2 screens which can display a bar graph display of the front/rear gear as well as the battery status of the system and even the shifters with simple color indicators.
You can change the screen layouts and even the data fields directly through the menus on the device, but it’s a bit time consuming compared to other computers that let you do direct field changes by clicking and holding on a field. Otherwise, the displays are intuitive with map views, altitude graphs and even the climbing profile display for preloaded navigation routes. The display supports day or night modes and is easy to read despite the relatively small 2.4″ size, but the colors are not as vibrant as higher end computers on the market. Coospo has done a nice job keeping standard interactions like starting and stopping rides simple with the large play/pause button and the ability to add sensors or change settings mid ride.
COOSPO RIDE APP
Coospo offers a free app called CoospoRide for both Andriod and iOS systems for downloading riding history, syncing with third party apps (i.e. Strava, Training Peaks and Komoot currently) and viewing ride history. It’s a simple app with four tabs on the bottom of the screen: home, cycling, training, and me. The home page shows a history of your downloaded rides, graphical overviews and trends over the week, month or year. It’s a well designed app with nice graphical representations of your routes and graphs that display accumulated riding history. The cycling page is a stand-alone riding computer view that lets you record rides directly on the app which could be helpful for commuters or riders who prefer to use a phone instead of a GPS. The training page offers a variety of pre-defined interval templates or integration with workouts created on Training Peaks which can be uploaded to the GPS.
The main purpose of the app is to connect to the CS600 or other Coospo GPS computers on the “me” page. Here you can adjust all the settings, update firmware and download any recording apps. All the on-device settings are duplicated here but it’s faster to use as you have a larger screen. Customizing the data layouts for example is a lot more streamlined as you can see a real-time simulated view of the page as you change the layout or add/remove fields. You can also re-order or remove pages to customize the display to your preferences. For route navigation you can either download routes from the synced third-party apps, or create routes from previous rides or create them directly on the app. Unlike Garmin devices which sync routes almost instaneously, the Coopso requires manually downloading the route to your device before you can use it for navigation.
RIDING IMPRESSIONS
The last Coospo cycling computer we reviewed was their entry-level BC26 GPS computer which retailed for under $36 at the time so we were excited to see Coospo offer a higher-end option. Unlike sub $100 computers which typically have predefined grid layouts, the CS600 has a full color touch screen with flexible user interface. Using the dark mode, the screen looks good and is easy to read in full sunlight or low visibility conditions thanks to the bright backlight. The display resolution looks good, but the colors felt a bit muted and not as vivid as Garmin or Bryton displays which is not surprising at this price point. We found the user interface to be intuitive to use with a single press start ride workflow and easy pause and save functions.
While the computer lacks health metrics, coaching, weather data or other higher-end functions, the features that matter most like sensor connectivity and auto-start/stop are all there. We’ve also been spoiled by larger screen displays so like the iGPSPORT BSC300T, we would say this 2.4″ screen is on the small side but still easy to read. The only minor annoyances are the ride history which doesn’t show much in the way of a route overview if you want to see the data on the device. Otherwise, the climb profile (with a preloaded route only) and basic navigation prompts (no street names) all are executed well and are great to see at this lower price point.
THE VERDICT
Overall we found the Coospo CS600 to be a well designed cycling computer with premium features. Coospo has incorporated a color touch screen and full sensor connectivity in to the CS600 while still maintaining an affordable price point. The touch screen is responsive with a bright automatic backlight with intuitive controls for swiping between pages or displaying quick status menus. We were happy to see graphical display field options and the full electronic shifting and radar displays that can even show the battery status of individual shifters. The navigation also was reliable with large turn prompts and climb profiles for pre-loaded routes. As far as negatives, the display is relatively small at 2.4″ and the radial views feel cluttered with a stacked text layout. That said, the Coospo CS600 GPS cycling offers a premium experience at an accessible price point
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Coospo. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.