Hi Azlan.. did you use it on endurance mode? My problem with it is; it kept adding more miles than I had done. This was in an ultra. Did you use endurance mode and how long did the battery last?
The S9B beats all of the competition in the looks department - it feels solid, looks classy and is built like a tank. Having said that I have just traded my second one in, my first had issues with the barometer not functioning properly all of the time and my replacement suddenly developed battery issues (started using 35% per day). Neither were fixable unfortunately. Love the brand, love the watch... just not 100% convinced of the reliability and that's something which should be key when you're paying that sort of $$$. Thanks for the good, honest review Ethan
Been using my Fenix 3 for 3.5 years now and it's been amazingly solid. Battery life is still excellent although nowhere near the Suunto 9, but I'm not running ultras, so it meets my needs. I think if you can get 5+ years out of today's high-tech watches, you gotta be pretty happy.
Of all things or anything I can honestly admit I’m a suunto fanboy. I’ve had a 2 vectors, ambit 2, ambit 3 peak sapphire, and definitely eyeing this one!
Helpful review as always 👍🏻 I tend to buy things like this because, deep down, I feel they will turn me into a great runner. As soon as I wear them I realise that they don’t replace months and years of consistent effort. Sticking to my garmin 910xt that I bought off eBay for 50 quid. 😃
Coming up to 3 years with my Fenix 3 and no reason to change it. Battery life is excellent and, if you need to, you can charge it on the fly; it’s totally accurate - in all my time with it I’ve only had 1 very brief moment of GPS weirdness where it said I was running 3.30min/km for 2km in the middle of a 45 mile ultra. The only thing is the UI is starting to slow down a bit as updates come through. Love it and will wear it until it dies.
Be prepared to mourn it soon then ;-) My Fenix 3 died for no reason & no warning 2 months ago - suddenly the screen just went black. And no amount of charging nor any of the youtube videos could resurrect it.
I have had the watch for two months now. It's a great watch overall. I used it to track a 141-km ultra (27 hrs) and a 100-miler (29.5 hrs). Both times I had 20%+ battery left at 1s gps, wrist HR off, screen auto-switch off after 10 secs. They still need to work on the gps accuracy though. My Suunto Spartan Wrist HR has still a better gps accuracy. They did change the gps chip provider to Sony for the Suunto 9, so I guess they still need to do more tweaks to it.
Oops, I missed the "Trainer" part of the model name - Suunto Spartan Trainer** Wrist HR (Suunto and their long-ass names.. :P) Yeah, I can see that being the case for the Spartan Ultra. The Spartan Trainer Wrist HR has the GPS "bump" similar to the Ambits though, which seems to be the reason for the better gps accuracy.
Thanks for a great review :-) I have had the Fenix 5 before and got so tired of fawlty data when trailrunning. The Suunto 9 Baro gave me everything that I needed and wished for - almost! I hate and cannot understand the fact that you can’t make your own custome workout and the fact that you can’t edit a predefined running mode. I tried then to put in the datascreen I was missing, the graphic show on your elevation while running. Wrote to Suunto and they actually where not aware of this “glitch “ so that is supposed to come in a later update... so I have faith as what to comes to the small dislikes on the watch. Was out running with a buddy, and his watch suddenly ran out of battery - thought it was a bit funny 😂😅 haven’t therefor not regretted the switch to Suunto 9 one bit!
I have been running with the Fenix 5S for the past two years. Love it, except for battery life - which has been declining more and more the older the watch gets. Still adequate up to 50k, but not beyond that. Since Garmin switched their charger to the new universal style that is now being used across all Garmin products, it has made charging on the run extremely difficult. I just "upgraded" to the Fenix 3 to track my next 100 miler, because it charges on the go so much easier, with the flat, solid, clip-on charger. I briefly considered the Suunto 9 while looking for a solution to tracking 50+ milers, and am glad I stuck with Garmin for now, especially after watching this review! I don't think I could tolerate not having a dedicated "light" button or saving custom workouts to the watch! Thanks for the honest review!
The quality of Garmins new charging connector is terrible. I have the Fenix 5S and more often than not it stops my activity when charging on the go - not sure if the Suunto 9 is the way to go for me though. My wife and I do mostly 50-100K and the Fenix 5S just doesn't cut it. She's got the FR935 and that seems to work great on battery life.
I’m a life long runner, but new GPS watch user inspired by wanting to try ultras. Watched many of your reviews before going with the Suunto 9, and appreciate your warnings on trust issues and customer service. Took it for a 17 mile run yesterday during which the watch (1) immediately changed its time to nonsense (off by something like 9 hrs and 5 mins) and (2) refused to export the GPS track back to the app or Strava. I sat on hold for customer service for an hour before their system just hung up on me, without ever giving me a human. After many reboots, re-pairings, re-syncs, app delete/reinstalls, and test walks, today’s run went much better (eg the watch was able to tell time and record route) - which frankly affirms for me that yesterday’s issues were not user error but hardware/software induced. Frustrating, but when it works right it’s a nifty watch. Anyhow, while cursing on hold for customer service I thought of this review and how spot on you were... :)
I'm wearing a Garmin Fenix 2 as my only watch for more than 3 years. I admit that I desire to upgrade it but I'm working on consuming control. As it still works fine and has almost all features that I need, I will keep with this old buddy for more time.
I just found one of these that someone put out to the curb with the trash among a few other crappy items, figured this was one of those really cheap $20 "smart" watches.... What a nice surprise! Brand new, in the box, with the manual, charger and all!
Thanks for the review. Was really on the fence and looks like I am going to get a new Garmin. My 230 have been an epic watch and will stick with it. Thanks so much for your honesty. Thanks for the update on Gus. Happy he is doing better. 😁
I have a fenix 6pro unopened in front of me...after seeing the suunto 9 on offer for less than half the price, I'll be returning my fenix first thing Monday...fingers crossed it does what I need
I bought a fenix 6 pro and returned it the next day.. I just couldn't get over how bad the screen looked. I know its supposed to be a running watch, but for 500 quid I want it to lool nice too.. maybe the suunto 9 fits the bill, I am just worried about the app side of things.
I bought the Suunto 9 in the end, with a 20% discount, and I’m very happy with it. It’s definitely a beautiful watch and oozes quality. Also the app has obviously been very much improved over the last couple of months. I definitely does not have as many functions as the Fenix 6, but I like the simplicity of this good looking rugged sports watch.
Hey, thank you so much for the reply. I hope you dont mind me asking you a question or two? It seems to be hard to find the answer. In a DC rain review, he stated that you needed to use two seperate apps to get the most out of it, which sounds really messy. I have a fibit ionic, so used to just having a dashboard showing all of my stats and easily being able to look at my activities, auto upload to strava etc. Is that the case with the suunto app now? I just want to be able to look at my sleep and resting heart rate stats in the same app as previous activities etc. Thank you again.
Great review, Ethan. I have been a Garmin wearer for 10 years 310xt to Fenix3HR. I swapped to Suunto 9 Baro so I wouldn’t need to charge the watch for UTMB. That said, I wish I had saved my £500. I’ve experienced all the issues you mentioned, plus some additional, were custom run programs can’t be interpreted by Strava. Ie. 10k on Movescount @ 7min mile, then it transfers to Strava and it’s 10k @ 4min mile!😧 The temporary solution was to set the run as a ‘Race’ on Strava. I raised it with Suunto and their support was 100% crap. What was obviously, and I also said this in my complaint, was that Suunto released this watch with updates tracking compatibility without ever speaking to Strava!!! I mean, don’t they realise how widely used Strava is? I’m not sure if it’s ignorance or arrogance! Either way, it’s on Suunto. I’ve come to work around the issues, but with I was still using the Fenix3 and £500 richer! Thanks for the review. Happy trails 🤙🏼
Aaron Shimmons yup, run into the same issue. I think it might be on Strava as it’s brining in moving time versus elapsed time. I also brought it up with them - still not sure where fault lies. Ugh.
TheGingerRunner They should have given Strava the heads up and some developer code to minimise issues upon release. Strava didn't know it was even coming!
Still rocking my $170 Garmin 310xt circa 2010 (they still make it). I’m envious of the looks and tech of this watch but my 310 is one of the best watches I’ve ever come across.
I continue to use the 310xt as my baseline. It is an amazing watch for its time in regards to accuracy. I had an early release of the Fenix5 and found it very inaccurate in forested trails and rainy weather. I then got the Suunto 9 in July and it has gained in accuracy with software upgrades and use. I think with software upgrades the Suunto 9 will put my use of the 310xt to rest.
I’ve had the Fenix 5s since it was released. Besides one update to the android app that briefly made a mess of notifications, I’ve had no issues with it. I can get a week or more out of the battery and it’s consistent on loops and out and back routes. Heart rate seems to be quite accurate as well. Best wishes to Gus!
Great news on the battery life as Garmin's always had longer life than Suunto so finally they are stepping up their game and the reminder to charge or tip to move to battery conserve mode is very cool. But no surprise on the data issues. Whenever I run with others ALL of our watches show differing distances, altitude, gain/loss, etc. My own Garmin watch gives me different distances and altitude on the same trails each week....
Unfortunately for me the one thing it does for me that I dont like is.....empty my wallet. Being retired and now on a fixed income....getting a $600.00 watch is way out of my spending limit. Im using an old Garmin 230...it gives me my distance, speed, elevation and time...thats all I need to tell me how slow I am.
If you dont need wrist HR the Suunto Spartan is on sale at the moment and besides wrist hr has every other feature. Same with the Spartan Sports HR that only lacks baro but has wrist hr and is much cheaper.
Totally agree with this review. In general, the watch is great, but there definitely some annoying details. As you mentioned there is the problem with the light while you are running - tipping on the touchscreen doesn't work while an activity and if you push a button to put on the light, you switch the display and see different data. Another point for me is the heart rate monitoring that works just sometimes. And I don't speak about the monitoring on my wrist - I speak about the heartrate belt as well. While workouts the heart rate jumps on 190 even if I'm running easy and then jump back to the right frequency after a few minutes. Have the feeling this problem is becoming worse as more as you use the watch. Overall the worst point for me is the App and everything around. It's just so terrible. Often I have moves on my watch but I'm not able to transfer this moves into the movescount app. Since some time there are now two apps - but for me i was not able to use both apps at the same time. If i installed the new Suunto app, movescount was not working anymore. So i had to delete the Suunto app to bring my activities on strava. All around I'm a bit disappointed about this expensive watch. If i had to choose again, I guess i would go for the Garmin Fenix 5x.
sobering cat Same here. I bought a Peak 3 about a year ago and recently purchased a Spartan Sport HR Bario for an every-day wear / workout watch. Intention was to sell my Peak 3, but after doing a number of long runs with the Spartan Sport I still held onto my Peak 3. Going to use the Peak 3 on the Javalina Jundred mile next month instead of the Spartan strictly because of the battery life / tracking accuracy. Ultimately they both have their respective places in my night stand.
@@nateyoung4869 I started from A2R, A3R and for a few months 3Peak. I hope they will continue the Ambit series, the watch with no BS no mickey mouse bling that you dont need. Its just works when u need it.
Same here. Really love the Ambit 3 Peak. Accurate, solid, only thing I need to do is replace the strap but it runs superbly and has everything I need. Not nearly near the 9’s battery life but still one of the best before the 9 came out.
sobering cat that’s actually a good point. If my 3 Peak would die now I’d mostly likely just want to buy another one. Especially at a bit reduced price of course.
Yup cant beat the price on 3 Peak right now, its super cheap! I hope Ambit will continue, No touch screen! No color screen! and please dont put social media notification.
Been using my Fenix 3 for 2,5 years now, what i hate is battery life, need to bring battery pack on ultras. Suunto is Made in Finland plus it has excellent battery life, that is why i am buying it now.
I'm really happy that you brought up trust in this review. It the #1 most important thing to me when it comes to a GPS watch and it goes far beyond just specs and GPS tracks.
Have use my S9 Baro for some time and think it´s great, had my fenix 5 Sapphire for a good while and even got the 5 Plus Sapphire. But both from time to time got some "update" problems from time to time. Like my Fenix has been slow on Gps and very very bad battery last firmwares, had to roll back a few to get it Ok, and now with firmware 11 and gps 2.30 it´s working decent again. So no watch is perfect, but the S9 after some updates do good on gps front and on HR same as many..need to move it up and sit "hard" to get decent HR. Use a strap for training anyway so don´t do much for me..:) But for a little final "verdict" i should say S9 Baro if you get decent price is easy worth the cost. The price garmin take for the new Plus is way way to overpriced tho.
Great review! I've been so far very happy having switched from an Ambit2 to Fenix 3 and looking to upgrade perhaps next year. Thought maybe Suunto was worth another look, but I'll probably stick with Garmin. Been a much better experience thus far.
The only Suunto I would be tempted to look at, from talking to friends and other runners, is the Ambit 3 Peak. I opted for the F3 too and love it, but there is something about the peak that is tempting. I said to my friend, who has the sapphire blue/black that it's like the Garmin is my wife, very trustworthy and I love her, but the Suunto is a naughty mistress on the side that tempts me! As in life, to own both would be a very expensive! :-0)
I have a similar problem with the variable heart rate with the wrist function. It goes all the way to 240 when I am walking. You can reset it to go back down by hitting "pause" and "resume". Glad to know others are having this problem. It is with my spartan ultra. I spent a lot on this watch to have this crap happen on every exercise run.
Fabulous review. Really appreciate this. Those dislikes are significant enough for me to pause. Dat battery life tho... Garmin has been killing me with poor battery life. But I do trust it. Much to consider.
I've had mine for about a month now. (1) Agree about the backlight, but didn't know about the finger tap option until watching the review. I went to the manual and got it to work.....sometimes. This definitely needs to be fixed. Works on some screens and not on others. Sometimes you have to wake the watch up first by switching screens, which negates the value of the shortcut altogether. Good idea. Bad execution. (2) Agree that not being able to upload a full custom running workout is really bad, borderline unacceptable--in fact I may not have purchased this watch had I known in advance. Having said that, I really like the pre-programmed sport modes which allow you to get up and going quickly. There are five modes for running: basic, interval, race, track, and power. Using movescount, you can remove the ones you will likely never use, speeding up the process of selecting a mode on your watch.
Runner trust! All the way! I’ve tried upgrading from the Garmin Forerunner 620 twice, and keep coming back. I rather have fewer features on a solid, never fail watch than fancy, buggy gear.
The Suunto 9 is awesome. The battery life is amazing 😮 you can run ultra marathons and still juice to spare 😊 But for my needs is kinda excessive and expensive...so I stick with my ambit 3 sport...buyed last year for 120€ and is great 👌 But is still annoying you have to use the app for programming workouts....even on my old TomTom you can create workouts and intervals...
I like my Suunto Ambit3 Peak. Ran trails with it for years. It was bombproof. Navigation worked fine, especially once I figured out how to change the scale so that I could better determine which trail to take at a fork, haha. But because I started running roads again, I took a look at Garmin and ended up with a 935. No regrets. I always thought the "But Garmin has more features" argument was a bit weak...I mean what do I need my watch to do other than track time, distance, allow me to start and stop intervals, and navigate? I still feel that way for the most part, but I love my 935, lower battery life notwithstanding. It's light, accurate, works well with all endurance sports, has long (just not super long) battery life, navigation works better than on my Suunto, Garmin Connect syncs fast every time, no silly clip-style charging cable, costs $200-$400 dollars less than some of the offerings from Suunto. If you're frustrated, check it out...
If a watch cant't create or upload intervals/workouts on it, that is a deal breaker for me. Was always wondering about this watch and your review made the decision for me. Look fw'd to your upcoming Fenix review.
Why oh why are these watched so DANG EXPENSIVE! With that being said, I wore the Garmin Forerunner 235 for a couple of years and loved it! But as more features were being released with newer watches and much better battery life (mine was beginning to not hold a charge well) it was time to upgrade. Dreaded paying the price but it has been worth it. Now wearing the Garmin Forerunner 935 which I've heard (but cannot confirm) is very similar to the Garmin Fenix 5 with a slightly lower price. I was also hesitant on the fit and tracking with the newer watch. The fit is light years better and the tracking is amazing (minus the ultra track - it sucks!). Hope you get a chance to look at both the Garmin Fenix 5 and Forerunner 935 even if just for fun. Looking forward to wearing the head wraps soon!!
Got a Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR. Picked it up ridiculously cheap on a triathlon marketplace site because it was "too techy" haha love it. Always wanted a Sunnto (being ex-army) and now I do. Haven't tried anything longer than a half marathon with it. GPS is awesome (most of the time) but a tip for young players is to experiment between the 3 GPS modes (GPS only, GLONASS only or both). Found GPS only to be the most stable and accurate (in Australia). Battery life is excellent compared to many friends who have Apple Watchs (losers lol) and I think it looks good (big thing if this is your primary watch which it is :P) Major, major issue is the app. Love the new look of the Sunnto app but it's now been over 6 months with no Strava integration... really.. Anyway thanks for a great review. Love the no BS style of your reviews. Thanks mate ;)
Been amazed for over a year by my Garmin 935. Rock solid. Rarely have to recharge as well. A lot cheaper and also lighter than the Fenix 5. And in mu opinion a LOT better looking...
I spent my tax return on this watch, It's fantastic, far better than my garmin forerunner 235. Only downside is as mentioned in the video you aren't able to make custom workouts. I highly recommend this watch if you like indulging in over priced plastic toys.
Great review!! Just picked up a garmin forerunner 645 a few weeks ago so I won't be upgrading for a few years. It was good to see Gus make an appearance today :)
Thanks for calling it the way you see it. Likes and dislikes. About the Garmin 5X, isn’t that even more expensive? Regardless would be nice to see how they compare for you.
Please, people understand. Reviews are personal encounters with positive and negative issues. I just cannot see the point of "personal" comments and financial influenced writings. That is of course called trolling. The S9 will work for some, won't for others. Some meet issues constantly, others find it flawless. Many people see the OHR of the S9 as perfect, for others it is just battery consuming 3 flashing lights. I tested out the watch during many runs. 220hours and D+50000m of elevation gain in total. It gives everything I need, but I don't rely on it exclusively. It is just fine as it is. You like gadgets and have the money ? Buy it and use it. You want to keep your old 5 years old Garmin or Ambit 3 ? No one asked you to do otherwise. I think it is a great and gimmick free very usable device, what will certainly have many updates to make it even more precise.
Yay, Asparagus! I'm so glad that he's doing well and pulling through like a champ. Also...THANKS, Obama!...I bought this watch about a month ago and was hoping, before I made the purchase, that you had already done a product video on it (trusting your judgement). No worries though. It's worked well enough (yes, the wrist pulse measurements are a bit hinky) for me - I'm a former Ambit owner.
Great review, GR. I've been on the fence about trying this Suunto 9 Baro. Put off by limited features on previous Suunto's and the antenna "nubbin" thing; but I really like the look of this new one and the enhanced battery life for ultra endeavors. But your review has convinced to wait a bit. Hopefully the GPS accuracy issues and the light activation issues will be corrected thru firmware updating. The other roadblock for me is the multiple app aspect. I currently use a Fenix 5X (not 'Plus') that I've had since they came out (year and half?) and it is hands down greatest GPS watch I've used. Lots of growing pains with Garmin over years (Forerunner 405, FR735, Fenix II (sent back multiple units due to software issues, syncing issues), FR305, Fenix 3's (with and without wrist HR), etc, etc). I used to upgrade with almost every new version of several model lines, but once I settled in with the Fenix 5X, haven't felt need to change. The Plus is cool, but I don't believe O2 saturation is in any way useful, and I don't know if anyone takes Garmin Pay. I dream of a Fenix 6 (or 7) that will have independent cellular service, useful music features, awesome battery life; but until that happens I've skeptical anything will make me feel a real need to upgrade. Maybe the Suunto 9 (or 10) will get there. I'm surprised you haven't tried Fenix series. You'll like it. Hell, if Apple would make their watch little more sport oriented and durable and open up to Strava, I'd try it. See you out there.
Yeah it's interesting that this is even a discussion, hearing you talk about the additional features on this watch is like hearing the review for my Garmin from years ago except the Garmin hasn't had any accuracy issues. Why so much Suunto love when they can't push out a reliable product and especially when they have competitors that do...
Anthony Orkiolla my guess is the developer team is MUCH smaller than Garmins. They want to create something stellar that just works without all the fluff. This is their best attempt, and meets all my needs (and then some) but there will always be a fancier watch out there :)
I've had similar GPS issues with the Spartan Sport HR. Most days it's awesome and is very accurate, but there are a few days when it's just off. Like you mentioned, there's a slight trust issue with it that I never really had with my Ambit 3. I think the watch is awesome, but a $400-500 GPS watch with a finicky GPS isn't doing it's job.
Thanks for another great review Ethan. I have a Spartan Ultra with chest strap HR that I bought new back in March (with credit card reward points so no cash exchanged). I have the same HR data issue as you. On an easy, flat run my HR shows anything from 150 to 210 and can stay at 210 even if I begin walking. In my last ultra it jammed on 138 for 10k's. It makes training to heart rate impossible. I had it serviced and they said it was sweet. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them. Cheers. Steely.
I have a Fenix 5+ and I’m starting to hate it. The build and feel is great, but the accuracy of the GPS is ridiculous 80% of my runs are over mileage. For an example I ran a trail the other day and it has mile markers and it started out at .02 at the first marker then it was .05 at the next. I ended up with .5 over a whole half mile over. And this is not the only issue most of my runs ( road ) 70+% has me running on a lake or through people’s houses or at least 15-20 feet from where I’m actually at. So yeah I’d say stay away from anything Fenix 5’s
Interesting, I was testing a suunto 9 and 5x+ today on a run and the garmin got 19.5k and the S9 said 20k. The garmin got a bit over 600m of gain and the suunto got around 570m. I wore one on each wrist.
Owner of Fenix 5 Sapphire and have the same problem with the GPS accuracy even when I'm doing my run not among tall trees but on a road. Thinking about to change Garmin on Suunto 9.
Great review as per usual. As a triathlete, I've been quite happy with the fenix 3 HR. The only thing I'd like it's better battery life. I might be upgrading at a not so distance future. Could you throw the new Polar watches in the mix of your comparison, too?
Hey, great Review Eathan! Looking forward for the comparison with the Fenix 5 or 5+ series. I really think that Suunto has some solid products but lacks refinement in some features, and thats why i'm thinking about geting a fênix 5. Keep up the good job with sincerity and good humor! Cheers from a fan from Brasil!( With an S not Z)
I totally agree to the light issue. Should not be to complicated to use the giros to switch the light on if you turn the watch to look at it like other smartwatches do. Other than that I tested it against my V800 pace and GPS wise and both are showing nearly similar values, as well comparing the pace with the Stryd. Well the app is very poor...
A wild guess on how they fill in the points in the mode where GPS data updates once per minute: they most likely use Kalman filtering with accelerometer (plus barometer) data.
Před 5 lety+1
On the night you can simply tap the screen and the light turns on! Simple as that...
The fact you said Suunto stopped messaging you back tells me customer service is crap and for that im out! customer service and taking responsibility for a product is my number one when buying something
Mhhh a lot of the Problems you mention are no Problem with my Fenix 5 and with the Fenix I get a Battery Live of one week with 5 runs and 5 bike excercices. My Fenix is very accurate and the HR and Training features are awesome .Maybe you should at least try a Fenix (not even the plus). Greetings from Germany
Poor puppy! Finally gets into a video but wearing a cone of shame! How humiliating. Now all his friends are laughing at him. I won't be in the market for a new watch anytime soon (Garmin Forerunner 235 does everything I need) yet it's nice to see what the cutting edge is these days. As an early morning runner (4 am usually) I run in the dark so back lighting is a major pain in the ass and apparently, this watch hasn't solved it yet. One feature that would get me to think about upgrading would be mapping on the watch itself in the event I was running while traveling and was at risk of getting lost. Update 9:50 am: This video motivated me to actually look up back lighting in my manual and TADA! the problem turns out to be that I don't read my manual! Maps, assembly instructions, product manuals,.... who needs them? I'm a guy! We know all this stuff by instinct! Never EVER stop to ask for instructions....
I was loving my Fenix 3 until the latest firmware update...worse I can't go back to a previous firmware. I used to love getting ALL my notifications on my watch, especially at work where I keep my phone on silent. Now is a guessing game which notifications I get, and text message completely ceased to notify. Additionally, I noticed the battery life keeps getting worse after 2.5 years. Also, connecting to the app (iPhone) is buggy at best. I have to constantly turn on/off Bluetooth to get a connection. Lastly, HR monitor is a good 5 to 10 beats off and at least once a week it basically says I'm having a heart attack on an easy run...but then again, wrist HR monitor is not meant to be 100% accurate. For the things that matter, like pace, distance, etc. I would say it is still doing a good job...every now and again, it goes haywire and has me doing mile splits faster than Kipchoge LOL. Cheers Ps. I absolutely detest that the screens are so limited with data displayed while on a workout...I have to keep toggling between screens to see more than three stats on any given screen...
My fenix 5 has issues but the backlight is one area it's impressive. A dedicated button but also it automatically comes on if you tilt your wrist to look at the watch, and it only does that between sunset & sunrise. That Suunto light sounds like it's going to be very annoying as we get into the dark of winter.
My Fenix 2 was great, my Fenix 3 is garbage. The distance is nowhere near accurate, usually 15 to 20% off accurately measured distance, sometimes as high as 30%. I'm seriously considering switching to a Suunto for this reason.... Edit after watching: the Suunto sounds a lot less appealing now.
Sounds bloody annoying mate. I got sort'a luck and went directly from my 910xt to Fenix 5x as I had some spare cash (almost never happens) so I never had the infamous Fenix 3 experience. A friend is using the garmin 235 and loves it. It seems to do basically everything my watch does with just a few exceptions. My biggest problem with garmin is their garbage 'garmin connect' page. Every time they change it, it becomes a mess. Total sensory overload and not very user friendly. Good luck with finding the right watch mate !
My first fenix was garbaaaaage. Customer service and overall experience was worse. Always wanted to give the new models a shot. Will do my best to source a 5
My experience with Suunto was annoying. Wrist HR and altitude measurements are highly inaccurate. Customizing intervals, eh? Suunto app, I hate it. And after swimming in a cold pool the screen got fogged, even though the warranty didn't expired I couldn't get proper help from Suunto distributor. Finally I got rid of it and gonna buy Garmin this week.
The main thing that puts me off suunto watches is that they are so. big. I briefly looked at the suuntos when finding a replacement for my beloved garmin forerunner 220 recently. but like, the forerunner already is the size of my entire wrist. i don't need a freakin' boat anchor hanging off of my lil' t-rex arms.
Did you read the manual? In Training, press the lower button for a few secs and the buttons are locked and there only function is to turn on the lights
You need to try the Fenix 5!!! I’ve had it for over a year, it is such an amazing piece of kit. Every time I watch another Suunto review I am so glad I bought the Garmin....
Did you register your Suunto 9 with warranty? I haven’t been able to. I contacted them but they didn’t reply. My last Suunto core they killed it and replaced the entire watch under warranty even though I didn’t register. Back when they were responsive lol. But I’m trying to get this one set so I can not have to think about replacing it.
Hi Ethan, out of curiosity have you seen or used the Coros Apex? I'm having a hard time finding much info on it, but holy cow, it feels like a lot of elites have switched to it: Sally, Camille, Tim Olson, Cody Reed, Dom Grossman, Hayden Hawks, and probably others I haven't yet heard about. Is it pure marketing? The price is about half of the Suunto 9/Garmin Fenix5, and the battery life can stretch to 100hrs of power-saver GPS tracking. Does it sound too good to be true for middle-of-the-pack runners starting to go for 50M-100K-100M?
Suunto's parent company which also owns Salomon, Wilson, Arc'teryx, etc. has just been acquired by Chinese sports company Anta. The dark age is here. EDIT: Juha down there is no longer correct. Deal has been made.
I have a daughter with a shunt that is effected by magnets. Can you please let me know if the Suunto 9 watch, itself, has magnets? I am aware that the charger has magnets. I appreciate your help.
Re your issue that an out-and-back workout doesn't begin & end at the same altitude. If you're using barometer for the altitude, then the weather change would explain a lot of the discrepancy. Can't you use GPS-based altitude (I don't have the watch)?
I Loathe the Apple watches, all the functions are a waste of time due to the appalling battery life, I've just sold my series 6 which was my second - the battery life was just as useless as my series 3. I do love the big batteries and big displays of the Suunto , my only issue is on all the videos I've watched - the Suunto display always seems very dim?
FusedTrack (or what they call it) would be hard/impossible to implement for the 1s tracking mode. Imagine it uses things like gyroscope to figure out the direction, and stopwatch to figure out how long you went in that direction. Then they fit it back together with the two endpoints 1-2mins apart. Now... How would they improve 1s tracking with this? For 10s tracking, that may be a harder call, but I assume they thought about it :).
Are you still running with this watch? With the updates that have come out since your video, how do you like it? I'm still rocking an Ambit3 Peak and was looking to upgrade. Debating on this or the Fenix 6.
@TheGingerRunner have you tried Standby backlight mode? It works both in watch and exercise mode. Watch then keeps backlight on 2% level which works amazingly well from mid-dark and dark.
The double tap for light on or off is done by taping two fingers on the screen, not tapping it twice, the function is great.
Thank you for this!
Never works
How?
Mine never works that way
I ran with the Suunto 9 at the UTMB. Tracked excellently, no issue at all. The navigation was spot on. I have more issues with the App tho.
Hi Azlan.. did you use it on endurance mode? My problem with it is; it kept adding more miles than I had done. This was in an ultra. Did you use endurance mode and how long did the battery last?
The S9B beats all of the competition in the looks department - it feels solid, looks classy and is built like a tank. Having said that I have just traded my second one in, my first had issues with the barometer not functioning properly all of the time and my replacement suddenly developed battery issues (started using 35% per day). Neither were fixable unfortunately. Love the brand, love the watch... just not 100% convinced of the reliability and that's something which should be key when you're paying that sort of $$$. Thanks for the good, honest review Ethan
Been using my Fenix 3 for 3.5 years now and it's been amazingly solid. Battery life is still excellent although nowhere near the Suunto 9, but I'm not running ultras, so it meets my needs. I think if you can get 5+ years out of today's high-tech watches, you gotta be pretty happy.
Robert Langer yup, agreed! I was using my ambit3 peak for yeeeears without issue. This is certainly an upgrade, but won’t be for everyone
Of all things or anything I can honestly admit I’m a suunto fanboy. I’ve had a 2 vectors, ambit 2, ambit 3 peak sapphire, and definitely eyeing this one!
Helpful review as always 👍🏻
I tend to buy things like this because, deep down, I feel they will turn me into a great runner. As soon as I wear them I realise that they don’t replace months and years of consistent effort.
Sticking to my garmin 910xt that I bought off eBay for 50 quid. 😃
Coming up to 3 years with my Fenix 3 and no reason to change it. Battery life is excellent and, if you need to, you can charge it on the fly; it’s totally accurate - in all my time with it I’ve only had 1 very brief moment of GPS weirdness where it said I was running 3.30min/km for 2km in the middle of a 45 mile ultra. The only thing is the UI is starting to slow down a bit as updates come through. Love it and will wear it until it dies.
Be prepared to mourn it soon then ;-) My Fenix 3 died for no reason & no warning 2 months ago - suddenly the screen just went black. And no amount of charging nor any of the youtube videos could resurrect it.
definitely agree. my fenix 3hr does everything.
Speed and heart rate you get from a gps watch are NOT accurate!
I have had the watch for two months now. It's a great watch overall. I used it to track a 141-km ultra (27 hrs) and a 100-miler (29.5 hrs). Both times I had 20%+ battery left at 1s gps, wrist HR off, screen auto-switch off after 10 secs. They still need to work on the gps accuracy though. My Suunto Spartan Wrist HR has still a better gps accuracy. They did change the gps chip provider to Sony for the Suunto 9, so I guess they still need to do more tweaks to it.
GhostlyBG yeah the new chipset is iffy but better than what I was getting in the spartan ultra that’d for sure
Oops, I missed the "Trainer" part of the model name - Suunto Spartan Trainer** Wrist HR (Suunto and their long-ass names.. :P)
Yeah, I can see that being the case for the Spartan Ultra. The Spartan Trainer Wrist HR has the GPS "bump" similar to the Ambits though, which seems to be the reason for the better gps accuracy.
Thanks for a great review :-) I have had the Fenix 5 before and got so tired of fawlty data when trailrunning. The Suunto 9 Baro gave me everything that I needed and wished for - almost! I hate and cannot understand the fact that you can’t make your own custome workout and the fact that you can’t edit a predefined running mode. I tried then to put in the datascreen I was missing, the graphic show on your elevation while running. Wrote to Suunto and they actually where not aware of this “glitch “ so that is supposed to come in a later update... so I have faith as what to comes to the small dislikes on the watch. Was out running with a buddy, and his watch suddenly ran out of battery - thought it was a bit funny 😂😅 haven’t therefor not regretted the switch to Suunto 9 one bit!
I have been running with the Fenix 5S for the past two years. Love it, except for battery life - which has been declining more and more the older the watch gets. Still adequate up to 50k, but not beyond that. Since Garmin switched their charger to the new universal style that is now being used across all Garmin products, it has made charging on the run extremely difficult. I just "upgraded" to the Fenix 3 to track my next 100 miler, because it charges on the go so much easier, with the flat, solid, clip-on charger. I briefly considered the Suunto 9 while looking for a solution to tracking 50+ milers, and am glad I stuck with Garmin for now, especially after watching this review! I don't think I could tolerate not having a dedicated "light" button or saving custom workouts to the watch! Thanks for the honest review!
5x plus mate 20 days!
The quality of Garmins new charging connector is terrible. I have the Fenix 5S and more often than not it stops my activity when charging on the go - not sure if the Suunto 9 is the way to go for me though. My wife and I do mostly 50-100K and the Fenix 5S just doesn't cut it. She's got the FR935 and that seems to work great on battery life.
Glad I have my old Garmin 920XT. Not as fancy, but solid.
I’m a life long runner, but new GPS watch user inspired by wanting to try ultras. Watched many of your reviews before going with the Suunto 9, and appreciate your warnings on trust issues and customer service. Took it for a 17 mile run yesterday during which the watch (1) immediately changed its time to nonsense (off by something like 9 hrs and 5 mins) and (2) refused to export the GPS track back to the app or Strava. I sat on hold for customer service for an hour before their system just hung up on me, without ever giving me a human. After many reboots, re-pairings, re-syncs, app delete/reinstalls, and test walks, today’s run went much better (eg the watch was able to tell time and record route) - which frankly affirms for me that yesterday’s issues were not user error but hardware/software induced. Frustrating, but when it works right it’s a nifty watch. Anyhow, while cursing on hold for customer service I thought of this review and how spot on you were... :)
I'm wearing a Garmin Fenix 2 as my only watch for more than 3 years. I admit that I desire to upgrade it but I'm working on consuming control. As it still works fine and has almost all features that I need, I will keep with this old buddy for more time.
Thanks Ethan for your review! I think I'll continue wearing my trusted ambit3 peak for a long while. Cheers
I still use my very reliable Ambit 2 HR ;-)
Awesome honest review !
Have no trust issues with your channel ever.
Sticking to my Garmin
Peekingduck 🙄
I just found one of these that someone put out to the curb with the trash among a few other crappy items, figured this was one of those really cheap $20 "smart" watches.... What a nice surprise! Brand new, in the box, with the manual, charger and all!
Thanks for the review. Was really on the fence and looks like I am going to get a new Garmin. My 230 have been an epic watch and will stick with it. Thanks so much for your honesty. Thanks for the update on Gus. Happy he is doing better. 😁
For backlight, it is toggle using two finger instead of double tap, and you can turn on standby as well
Thank you for the review. You helped me as I was going back and forth between the Suunto 9 and the Garmin Fenix 6. This level of detail was perfect!
What was your decision in the end, Shannon? Facing that same decision right now :-)
I have a fenix 6pro unopened in front of me...after seeing the suunto 9 on offer for less than half the price, I'll be returning my fenix first thing Monday...fingers crossed it does what I need
I bought a fenix 6 pro and returned it the next day.. I just couldn't get over how bad the screen looked. I know its supposed to be a running watch, but for 500 quid I want it to lool nice too.. maybe the suunto 9 fits the bill, I am just worried about the app side of things.
I bought the Suunto 9 in the end, with a 20% discount, and I’m very happy with it. It’s definitely a beautiful watch and oozes quality. Also the app has obviously been very much improved over the last couple of months. I definitely does not have as many functions as the Fenix 6, but I like the simplicity of this good looking rugged sports watch.
Hey, thank you so much for the reply. I hope you dont mind me asking you a question or two? It seems to be hard to find the answer.
In a DC rain review, he stated that you needed to use two seperate apps to get the most out of it, which sounds really messy. I have a fibit ionic, so used to just having a dashboard showing all of my stats and easily being able to look at my activities, auto upload to strava etc. Is that the case with the suunto app now? I just want to be able to look at my sleep and resting heart rate stats in the same app as previous activities etc.
Thank you again.
Haha I feel you on the Suunto custumer service... Standard answer becomes: ow shit can't help you
Great review, Ethan. I have been a Garmin wearer for 10 years 310xt to Fenix3HR. I swapped to Suunto 9 Baro so I wouldn’t need to charge the watch for UTMB. That said, I wish I had saved my £500. I’ve experienced all the issues you mentioned, plus some additional, were custom run programs can’t be interpreted by Strava. Ie. 10k on Movescount @ 7min mile, then it transfers to Strava and it’s 10k @ 4min mile!😧 The temporary solution was to set the run as a ‘Race’ on Strava. I raised it with Suunto and their support was 100% crap. What was obviously, and I also said this in my complaint, was that Suunto released this watch with updates tracking compatibility without ever speaking to Strava!!! I mean, don’t they realise how widely used Strava is? I’m not sure if it’s ignorance or arrogance! Either way, it’s on Suunto.
I’ve come to work around the issues, but with I was still using the Fenix3 and £500 richer!
Thanks for the review. Happy trails 🤙🏼
Aaron Shimmons yup, run into the same issue. I think it might be on Strava as it’s brining in moving time versus elapsed time. I also brought it up with them - still not sure where fault lies. Ugh.
TheGingerRunner They should have given Strava the heads up and some developer code to minimise issues upon release. Strava didn't know it was even coming!
Still rocking my $170 Garmin 310xt circa 2010 (they still make it). I’m envious of the looks and tech of this watch but my 310 is one of the best watches I’ve ever come across.
Erik L Had 2 of them. Only changed for ultra battery life. Great watch
I continue to use the 310xt as my baseline. It is an amazing watch for its time in regards to accuracy. I had an early release of the Fenix5 and found it very inaccurate in forested trails and rainy weather. I then got the Suunto 9 in July and it has gained in accuracy with software upgrades and use. I think with software upgrades the Suunto 9 will put my use of the 310xt to rest.
mindapaul I used a 310xt for CCC in 2015. I turned off GPS and used it to track time. It worked perfectly.
I’ve had the Fenix 5s since it was released. Besides one update to the android app that briefly made a mess of notifications, I’ve had no issues with it. I can get a week or more out of the battery and it’s consistent on loops and out and back routes. Heart rate seems to be quite accurate as well. Best wishes to Gus!
Great news on the battery life as Garmin's always had longer life than Suunto so finally they are stepping up their game and the reminder to charge or tip to move to battery conserve mode is very cool. But no surprise on the data issues. Whenever I run with others ALL of our watches show differing distances, altitude, gain/loss, etc. My own Garmin watch gives me different distances and altitude on the same trails each week....
Unfortunately for me the one thing it does for me that I dont like is.....empty my wallet. Being retired and now on a fixed income....getting a $600.00 watch is way out of my spending limit. Im using an old Garmin 230...it gives me my distance, speed, elevation and time...thats all I need to tell me how slow I am.
`Randy Cuffaro if u want an alternative sport watch , cheaper yet reliable..maybe u should take a look Amazifit Statratos...its around $200
Traduzir traduzir
Maybe check out the new Garmin Instinct. It has all the things you need (gps and baro), yet it costs "only" 300$.
`Randy Cuffaro Lol 😂 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 yeah my Garmin also tells me how slow i am too
If you dont need wrist HR the Suunto Spartan is on sale at the moment and besides wrist hr has every other feature. Same with the Spartan Sports HR that only lacks baro but has wrist hr and is much cheaper.
Totally agree with this review. In general, the watch is great, but there definitely some annoying details. As you mentioned there is the problem with the light while you are running - tipping on the touchscreen doesn't work while an activity and if you push a button to put on the light, you switch the display and see different data. Another point for me is the heart rate monitoring that works just sometimes. And I don't speak about the monitoring on my wrist - I speak about the heartrate belt as well. While workouts the heart rate jumps on 190 even if I'm running easy and then jump back to the right frequency after a few minutes. Have the feeling this problem is becoming worse as more as you use the watch.
Overall the worst point for me is the App and everything around. It's just so terrible. Often I have moves on my watch but I'm not able to transfer this moves into the movescount app. Since some time there are now two apps - but for me i was not able to use both apps at the same time. If i installed the new Suunto app, movescount was not working anymore. So i had to delete the Suunto app to bring my activities on strava.
All around I'm a bit disappointed about this expensive watch. If i had to choose again, I guess i would go for the Garmin Fenix 5x.
'Watching' this with my Peak 3. Im happily not going to move from it :)
sobering cat Same here. I bought a Peak 3 about a year ago and recently purchased a Spartan Sport HR Bario for an every-day wear / workout watch. Intention was to sell my Peak 3, but after doing a number of long runs with the Spartan Sport I still held onto my Peak 3. Going to use the Peak 3 on the Javalina Jundred mile next month instead of the Spartan strictly because of the battery life / tracking accuracy. Ultimately they both have their respective places in my night stand.
@@nateyoung4869 I started from A2R, A3R and for a few months 3Peak. I hope they will continue the Ambit series, the watch with no BS no mickey mouse bling that you dont need. Its just works when u need it.
Same here. Really love the Ambit 3 Peak. Accurate, solid, only thing I need to do is replace the strap but it runs superbly and has everything I need. Not nearly near the 9’s battery life but still one of the best before the 9 came out.
sobering cat that’s actually a good point. If my 3 Peak would die now I’d mostly likely just want to buy another one. Especially at a bit reduced price of course.
Yup cant beat the price on 3 Peak right now, its super cheap! I hope Ambit will continue, No touch screen! No color screen! and please dont put social media notification.
Been using my Fenix 3 for 2,5 years now, what i hate is battery life, need to bring battery pack on ultras. Suunto is Made in Finland plus it has excellent battery life, that is why i am buying it now.
I'm really happy that you brought up trust in this review. It the #1 most important thing to me when it comes to a GPS watch and it goes far beyond just specs and GPS tracks.
Have use my S9 Baro for some time and think it´s great, had my fenix 5 Sapphire for a good while and even got the 5 Plus Sapphire. But both from time to time got some "update" problems from time to time. Like my Fenix has been slow on Gps and very very bad battery last firmwares, had to roll back a few to get it Ok, and now with firmware 11 and gps 2.30 it´s working decent again. So no watch is perfect, but the S9 after some updates do good on gps front and on HR same as many..need to move it up and sit "hard" to get decent HR. Use a strap for training anyway so don´t do much for me..:) But for a little final "verdict" i should say S9 Baro if you get decent price is easy worth the cost. The price garmin take for the new Plus is way way to overpriced tho.
My running watch is a $10 Casio, which works fine. I got no plans to change.
lol
Cool man
James Frost you are equally pretentious as those wearing fancy GPS watch to walk.
Great review! I've been so far very happy having switched from an Ambit2 to Fenix 3 and looking to upgrade perhaps next year. Thought maybe Suunto was worth another look, but I'll probably stick with Garmin. Been a much better experience thus far.
The only Suunto I would be tempted to look at, from talking to friends and other runners, is the Ambit 3 Peak. I opted for the F3 too and love it, but there is something about the peak that is tempting. I said to my friend, who has the sapphire blue/black that it's like the Garmin is my wife, very trustworthy and I love her, but the Suunto is a naughty mistress on the side that tempts me! As in life, to own both would be a very expensive! :-0)
I have a similar problem with the variable heart rate with the wrist function. It goes all the way to 240 when I am walking. You can reset it to go back down by hitting "pause" and "resume". Glad to know others are having this problem. It is with my spartan ultra. I spent a lot on this watch to have this crap happen on every exercise run.
Fabulous review. Really appreciate this. Those dislikes are significant enough for me to pause. Dat battery life tho... Garmin has been killing me with poor battery life. But I do trust it. Much to consider.
Pro tip: you can watch series on flixzone. Me and my gf have been using them for watching loads of movies these days.
@Jaxon Jerry yup, I have been using flixzone} for since december myself :)
I've had mine for about a month now.
(1) Agree about the backlight, but didn't know about the finger tap option until watching the review. I went to the manual and got it to work.....sometimes. This definitely needs to be fixed. Works on some screens and not on others. Sometimes you have to wake the watch up first by switching screens, which negates the value of the shortcut altogether. Good idea. Bad execution.
(2) Agree that not being able to upload a full custom running workout is really bad, borderline unacceptable--in fact I may not have purchased this watch had I known in advance. Having said that, I really like the pre-programmed sport modes which allow you to get up and going quickly. There are five modes for running: basic, interval, race, track, and power. Using movescount, you can remove the ones you will likely never use, speeding up the process of selecting a mode on your watch.
Randall Flagg yeah I just created my own sport mode and love the “set and forget” quickness of it!
Runner trust! All the way! I’ve tried upgrading from the Garmin Forerunner 620 twice, and keep coming back. I rather have fewer features on a solid, never fail watch than fancy, buggy gear.
The Suunto 9 is awesome. The battery life is amazing 😮 you can run ultra marathons and still juice to spare 😊
But for my needs is kinda excessive and expensive...so I stick with my ambit 3 sport...buyed last year for 120€ and is great 👌
But is still annoying you have to use the app for programming workouts....even on my old TomTom you can create workouts and intervals...
w
I like my Suunto Ambit3 Peak. Ran trails with it for years. It was bombproof. Navigation worked fine, especially once I figured out how to change the scale so that I could better determine which trail to take at a fork, haha. But because I started running roads again, I took a look at Garmin and ended up with a 935. No regrets. I always thought the "But Garmin has more features" argument was a bit weak...I mean what do I need my watch to do other than track time, distance, allow me to start and stop intervals, and navigate? I still feel that way for the most part, but I love my 935, lower battery life notwithstanding. It's light, accurate, works well with all endurance sports, has long (just not super long) battery life, navigation works better than on my Suunto, Garmin Connect syncs fast every time, no silly clip-style charging cable, costs $200-$400 dollars less than some of the offerings from Suunto. If you're frustrated, check it out...
Curt Bentley I have also gone from an Ambit3 Peak to the 935, and I have to agree with you, other than battery life I’m very happy.
If a watch cant't create or upload intervals/workouts on it, that is a deal breaker for me. Was always wondering about this watch and your review made the decision for me. Look fw'd to your upcoming Fenix review.
Peter Houghton it does do intervals - you program them in-watch, but you can’t load workouts like previous models, which is a bummer :(
Why oh why are these watched so DANG EXPENSIVE! With that being said, I wore the Garmin Forerunner 235 for a couple of years and loved it! But as more features were being released with newer watches and much better battery life (mine was beginning to not hold a charge well) it was time to upgrade. Dreaded paying the price but it has been worth it. Now wearing the Garmin Forerunner 935 which I've heard (but cannot confirm) is very similar to the Garmin Fenix 5 with a slightly lower price. I was also hesitant on the fit and tracking with the newer watch. The fit is light years better and the tracking is amazing (minus the ultra track - it sucks!). Hope you get a chance to look at both the Garmin Fenix 5 and Forerunner 935 even if just for fun. Looking forward to wearing the head wraps soon!!
So glad to see Gus is doing better, great review btw.
Got a Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR. Picked it up ridiculously cheap on a triathlon marketplace site because it was "too techy" haha love it. Always wanted a Sunnto (being ex-army) and now I do. Haven't tried anything longer than a half marathon with it. GPS is awesome (most of the time) but a tip for young players is to experiment between the 3 GPS modes (GPS only, GLONASS only or both). Found GPS only to be the most stable and accurate (in Australia). Battery life is excellent compared to many friends who have Apple Watchs (losers lol) and I think it looks good (big thing if this is your primary watch which it is :P) Major, major issue is the app. Love the new look of the Sunnto app but it's now been over 6 months with no Strava integration... really.. Anyway thanks for a great review. Love the no BS style of your reviews. Thanks mate ;)
Garmin vivofit. $75 refurbished. I have used it for 3 years. Minimal problems.
Been amazed for over a year by my Garmin 935. Rock solid. Rarely have to recharge as well. A lot cheaper and also lighter than the Fenix 5. And in mu opinion a LOT better looking...
I spent my tax return on this watch, It's fantastic, far better than my garmin forerunner 235. Only downside is as mentioned in the video you aren't able to make custom workouts. I highly recommend this watch if you like indulging in over priced plastic toys.
Wanted to switch to it from my current "Ambit 3 Peak Sapphire" but honestly i don't feel convinced that I should do so :)
Great review!!
Just picked up a garmin forerunner 645 a few weeks ago so I won't be upgrading for a few years.
It was good to see Gus make an appearance today :)
Thanks for calling it the way you see it. Likes and dislikes. About the Garmin 5X, isn’t that even more expensive? Regardless would be nice to see how they compare for you.
Please, people understand. Reviews are personal encounters with positive and negative issues. I just cannot see the point of "personal" comments and financial influenced writings. That is of course called trolling.
The S9 will work for some, won't for others. Some meet issues constantly, others find it flawless. Many people see the OHR of the S9 as perfect, for others it is just battery consuming 3 flashing lights.
I tested out the watch during many runs. 220hours and D+50000m of elevation gain in total. It gives everything I need, but I don't rely on it exclusively. It is just fine as it is.
You like gadgets and have the money ? Buy it and use it. You want to keep your old 5 years old Garmin or Ambit 3 ? No one asked you to do otherwise.
I think it is a great and gimmick free very usable device, what will certainly have many updates to make it even more precise.
Yay, Asparagus! I'm so glad that he's doing well and pulling through like a champ. Also...THANKS, Obama!...I bought this watch about a month ago and was hoping, before I made the purchase, that you had already done a product video on it (trusting your judgement). No worries though. It's worked well enough (yes, the wrist pulse measurements are a bit hinky) for me - I'm a former Ambit owner.
And glad to see Gus is doing better! 🐶
Great review, GR. I've been on the fence about trying this Suunto 9 Baro. Put off by limited features on previous Suunto's and the antenna "nubbin" thing; but I really like the look of this new one and the enhanced battery life for ultra endeavors. But your review has convinced to wait a bit. Hopefully the GPS accuracy issues and the light activation issues will be corrected thru firmware updating. The other roadblock for me is the multiple app aspect. I currently use a Fenix 5X (not 'Plus') that I've had since they came out (year and half?) and it is hands down greatest GPS watch I've used. Lots of growing pains with Garmin over years (Forerunner 405, FR735, Fenix II (sent back multiple units due to software issues, syncing issues), FR305, Fenix 3's (with and without wrist HR), etc, etc). I used to upgrade with almost every new version of several model lines, but once I settled in with the Fenix 5X, haven't felt need to change. The Plus is cool, but I don't believe O2 saturation is in any way useful, and I don't know if anyone takes Garmin Pay. I dream of a Fenix 6 (or 7) that will have independent cellular service, useful music features, awesome battery life; but until that happens I've skeptical anything will make me feel a real need to upgrade. Maybe the Suunto 9 (or 10) will get there.
I'm surprised you haven't tried Fenix series. You'll like it. Hell, if Apple would make their watch little more sport oriented and durable and open up to Strava, I'd try it.
See you out there.
I'll most likely be replacing my Garmin 220 with the 935 this Christmas! Walmsley approved.
Yeah it's interesting that this is even a discussion, hearing you talk about the additional features on this watch is like hearing the review for my Garmin from years ago except the Garmin hasn't had any accuracy issues. Why so much Suunto love when they can't push out a reliable product and especially when they have competitors that do...
Anthony Orkiolla my guess is the developer team is MUCH smaller than Garmins. They want to create something stellar that just works without all the fluff. This is their best attempt, and meets all my needs (and then some) but there will always be a fancier watch out there :)
Those are pretty watches however, I don’t have a single scratch on my Garmin Fenix...Good report on this watch. Sticking to my Garmin
I've had similar GPS issues with the Spartan Sport HR. Most days it's awesome and is very accurate, but there are a few days when it's just off. Like you mentioned, there's a slight trust issue with it that I never really had with my Ambit 3. I think the watch is awesome, but a $400-500 GPS watch with a finicky GPS isn't doing it's job.
Thanks for another great review Ethan. I have a Spartan Ultra with chest strap HR that I bought new back in March (with credit card reward points so no cash exchanged). I have the same HR data issue as you. On an easy, flat run my HR shows anything from 150 to 210 and can stay at 210 even if I begin walking. In my last ultra it jammed on 138 for 10k's. It makes training to heart rate impossible. I had it serviced and they said it was sweet. If anyone has any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them. Cheers.
Steely.
to turn the light on : tap with 2 fingers on the screen.
trust is my biggest issue too
Now I know why you havent been on Strava as much.
Im using the VivoActive 3 and LOVE it.
My Vivoactive 3 has been good to me too.
Downside is no navigation
I’m on Strava every day, all my activities default to private and I get lazy :)
@@TheGingerRunner ahhhh, things are all starting to make sense.
@@RowOfMushyTiT it has navigation
I have a Fenix 5+ and I’m starting to hate it. The build and feel is great, but the accuracy of the GPS is ridiculous 80% of my runs are over mileage.
For an example I ran a trail the other day and it has mile markers and it started out at .02 at the first marker then it was .05 at the next. I ended up with .5 over a whole half mile over. And this is not the only issue most of my runs ( road ) 70+% has me running on a lake or through people’s houses or at least 15-20 feet from where I’m actually at. So yeah I’d say stay away from anything Fenix 5’s
Brian Rundel interesting feedback! Thank you, sorry it’s not working for you
Interesting, I was testing a suunto 9 and 5x+ today on a run and the garmin got 19.5k and the S9 said 20k. The garmin got a bit over 600m of gain and the suunto got around 570m. I wore one on each wrist.
Owner of Fenix 5 Sapphire and have the same problem with the GPS accuracy even when I'm doing my run not among tall trees but on a road. Thinking about to change Garmin on Suunto 9.
I love the final conclusion
Great review as per usual. As a triathlete, I've been quite happy with the fenix 3 HR. The only thing I'd like it's better battery life. I might be upgrading at a not so distance future.
Could you throw the new Polar watches in the mix of your comparison, too?
Hey, great Review Eathan!
Looking forward for the comparison with the Fenix 5 or 5+ series. I really think that Suunto has some solid products but lacks refinement in some features, and thats why i'm thinking about geting a fênix 5.
Keep up the good job with sincerity and good humor!
Cheers from a fan from Brasil!( With an S not Z)
I totally agree to the light issue. Should not be to complicated to use the giros to switch the light on if you turn the watch to look at it like other smartwatches do.
Other than that I tested it against my V800 pace and GPS wise and both are showing nearly similar values, as well comparing the pace with the Stryd.
Well the app is very poor...
A wild guess on how they fill in the points in the mode where GPS data updates once per minute: they most likely use Kalman filtering with accelerometer (plus barometer) data.
On the night you can simply tap the screen and the light turns on! Simple as that...
Ah ok, then there has been a new update
The fact you said Suunto stopped messaging you back tells me customer service is crap and for that im out! customer service and taking responsibility for a product is my number one when buying something
Mhhh a lot of the Problems you mention are no Problem with my Fenix 5 and with the Fenix I get a Battery Live of one week with 5 runs and 5 bike excercices. My Fenix is very accurate and the HR and Training features are awesome .Maybe you should at least try a Fenix (not even the plus). Greetings from Germany
Poor puppy! Finally gets into a video but wearing a cone of shame! How humiliating. Now all his friends are laughing at him.
I won't be in the market for a new watch anytime soon (Garmin Forerunner 235 does everything I need) yet it's nice to see what the cutting edge is these days. As an early morning runner (4 am usually) I run in the dark so back lighting is a major pain in the ass and apparently, this watch hasn't solved it yet. One feature that would get me to think about upgrading would be mapping on the watch itself in the event I was running while traveling and was at risk of getting lost.
Update 9:50 am: This video motivated me to actually look up back lighting in my manual and TADA! the problem turns out to be that I don't read my manual! Maps, assembly instructions, product manuals,.... who needs them? I'm a guy! We know all this stuff by instinct! Never EVER stop to ask for instructions....
I was loving my Fenix 3 until the latest firmware update...worse I can't go back to a previous firmware. I used to love getting ALL my notifications on my watch, especially at work where I keep my phone on silent. Now is a guessing game which notifications I get, and text message completely ceased to notify.
Additionally, I noticed the battery life keeps getting worse after 2.5 years. Also, connecting to the app (iPhone) is buggy at best. I have to constantly turn on/off Bluetooth to get a connection. Lastly, HR monitor is a good 5 to 10 beats off and at least once a week it basically says I'm having a heart attack on an easy run...but then again, wrist HR monitor is not meant to be 100% accurate.
For the things that matter, like pace, distance, etc. I would say it is still doing a good job...every now and again, it goes haywire and has me doing mile splits faster than Kipchoge LOL.
Cheers
Ps. I absolutely detest that the screens are so limited with data displayed while on a workout...I have to keep toggling between screens to see more than three stats on any given screen...
Go Get Em Gus!
Suunto cutting prices on most of their watches atm. Was a easy buy.
My fenix 5 has issues but the backlight is one area it's impressive. A dedicated button but also it automatically comes on if you tilt your wrist to look at the watch, and it only does that between sunset & sunrise. That Suunto light sounds like it's going to be very annoying as we get into the dark of winter.
No idea why you didn’t convert to a Garmin Fenix model years ago.
My Fenix 5x is bombproof and the mapping is excellent
Same here.
Best watch I've ever owned !
My Fenix 2 was great, my Fenix 3 is garbage. The distance is nowhere near accurate, usually 15 to 20% off accurately measured distance, sometimes as high as 30%. I'm seriously considering switching to a Suunto for this reason.... Edit after watching: the Suunto sounds a lot less appealing now.
Sounds bloody annoying mate.
I got sort'a luck and went directly from my 910xt to Fenix 5x as I had some spare cash (almost never happens) so I never had the infamous Fenix 3 experience.
A friend is using the garmin 235 and loves it. It seems to do basically everything my watch does with just a few exceptions.
My biggest problem with garmin is their garbage 'garmin connect' page.
Every time they change it, it becomes a mess. Total sensory overload and not very user friendly.
Good luck with finding the right watch mate !
My first fenix was garbaaaaage. Customer service and overall experience was worse. Always wanted to give the new models a shot. Will do my best to source a 5
Thanks.
Think you will like it more than you expect.
Got my geometric design GR wrap today. Hope it arrives before the GRGR...whatya say Ethan...?
My experience with Suunto was annoying. Wrist HR and altitude measurements are highly inaccurate. Customizing intervals, eh? Suunto app, I hate it. And after swimming in a cold pool the screen got fogged, even though the warranty didn't expired I couldn't get proper help from Suunto distributor. Finally I got rid of it and gonna buy Garmin this week.
The main thing that puts me off suunto watches is that they are so. big. I briefly looked at the suuntos when finding a replacement for my beloved garmin forerunner 220 recently. but like, the forerunner already is the size of my entire wrist. i don't need a freakin' boat anchor hanging off of my lil' t-rex arms.
Did you read the manual? In Training, press the lower button for a few secs and the buttons are locked and there only function is to turn on the lights
You need to try the Fenix 5!!! I’ve had it for over a year, it is such an amazing piece of kit. Every time I watch another Suunto review I am so glad I bought the Garmin....
Thank you very much Ginger Runner for this review! I will keep my ambit 3! :)
Did you register your Suunto 9 with warranty? I haven’t been able to. I contacted them but they didn’t reply.
My last Suunto core they killed it and replaced the entire watch under warranty even though I didn’t register. Back when they were responsive lol. But I’m trying to get this one set so I can not have to think about replacing it.
are you still having trust issues with the suunto 9 baro?
Mine failed!
Hi Ethan, out of curiosity have you seen or used the Coros Apex? I'm having a hard time finding much info on it, but holy cow, it feels like a lot of elites have switched to it: Sally, Camille, Tim Olson, Cody Reed, Dom Grossman, Hayden Hawks, and probably others I haven't yet heard about. Is it pure marketing? The price is about half of the Suunto 9/Garmin Fenix5, and the battery life can stretch to 100hrs of power-saver GPS tracking. Does it sound too good to be true for middle-of-the-pack runners starting to go for 50M-100K-100M?
My friend who finished UTMB about same time as I clocked over 600km on Sunnto 9 with max accuracy setting. I stopped considering it since then...
victordesabata whoa. There’s something wrong there haha! This thing was calibrated and tested in those mountains!
Suunto's parent company which also owns Salomon, Wilson, Arc'teryx, etc. has just been acquired by Chinese sports company Anta. The dark age is here.
EDIT: Juha down there is no longer correct. Deal has been made.
Not acquired. Anta just expressed its potential interest in acquiring it. No formal offer made as of yet.
How's that GPS trust going? (I'm really thinking about upgrading to this from my ambit 2, but accuracy is a must!)
First thing I noticed is the bottle of Russian River Pliny the Elder in the background Mmmmmm Beeeeer. My blood type is +IPA.
I have a daughter with a shunt that is effected by magnets. Can you please let me know if the Suunto 9 watch, itself, has magnets? I am aware that the charger has magnets. I appreciate your help.
I hope they are accurate enough for my skiing
Re your issue that an out-and-back workout doesn't begin & end at the same altitude. If you're using barometer for the altitude, then the weather change would explain a lot of the discrepancy. Can't you use GPS-based altitude (I don't have the watch)?
thanks for the review... after watching this im sticking to my ambit3 peak...
nice to see Conan got fit~
Fantastic review thanks Ethan 👍🏻
I Loathe the Apple watches, all the functions are a waste of time due to the appalling battery life, I've just sold my series 6 which was my second - the battery life was just as useless as my series 3. I do love the big batteries and big displays of the Suunto , my only issue is on all the videos I've watched - the Suunto display always seems very dim?
FusedTrack (or what they call it) would be hard/impossible to implement for the 1s tracking mode. Imagine it uses things like gyroscope to figure out the direction, and stopwatch to figure out how long you went in that direction. Then they fit it back together with the two endpoints 1-2mins apart. Now... How would they improve 1s tracking with this? For 10s tracking, that may be a harder call, but I assume they thought about it :).
When’s the Gus review coming out?? I can’t wait for a 20/20 finally 😉
Are you still running with this watch? With the updates that have come out since your video, how do you like it? I'm still rocking an Ambit3 Peak and was looking to upgrade. Debating on this or the Fenix 6.
Suunto always wins in battery life and in some models navigation. That's pretty much it from my experience.
Great honest review! I will stick to my Ambit Peak 3 for another year or so.
@TheGingerRunner have you tried Standby backlight mode? It works both in watch and exercise mode. Watch then keeps backlight on 2% level which works amazingly well from mid-dark and dark.