Suunto9 Peak Pro or Garmin Fenix7?
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@dmn23 That’s a good advice! I hadn’t considered looking at the Forerunner yet. I certainly will take a look at it.
Too bad the OHR sensor didn’t work. It would have saved you a lot of money, because the Garmins are not very cheap…
Thanks for sharing your experience with both watches. Really helpful! -
@Brad_Olwin Is the display size of the Suunto not too small if you’re used to the Epix’s large screen?
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@awinkel
what you need to consider: you’ll hear unhappy customers the best. only few people who are happy will shout it out loud. I have tried several watches.
the worst OHR were S9B and Polar Grit X Pro.
S7, peak and pro were the most accurate in my case and close or equal to chest strap measurements. -
@awinkel said in Suunto9 Peak Pro or Garmin Fenix7?:
@Brad_Olwin Is the display size of the Suunto not too small if you’re used to the Epix’s large screen?
The Epix screen is far brighter and easier to read. It is AMOLED and there is no comparison to the Suunto screen. Battery life is 42h max on Epix2 with only GPS enabled, which is a bit less overall than I need. So the battery life for me is a big issue if it isn’t for you the Epix2 screen is amazing. The fenix line is no different than the Suunto in terms of readability. I prefer a smaller watch, the baro and Ambits were too big for me, I cannot sleep with them and they are large to wear as a daily watch. So for me, the 9PP is perfect, although if I do a 200 mi (320k)+ race the battery and storage won’t be enough.
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@awinkel I own an ambit3 Peak. In the last 3 years I had some skimo trips and trail runs with some guys who have a fenix 6. When we checked the altitude accuracy the fenix was in most cases 40m to high or too low. In my life I had three withe outs and the really good altitude accuracy of the ambit saved me for lots of problems (with compass and paper map). I don‘t know if the fenix 7 is better in altitude accuracy than the fenix 6, but for me that‘s the reason to stay with Suunto. If my ambit would die, I would buy the S9PP.
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I was in this situation last year where I was looking to upgrade from my aging Suunto 9. On paper the Coros and Garmin watches look like a huge leap over Suunto. So I signed up to their online platforms and imported historical data to demo them. I then had a play of some friends Coros Vertix & Apex and Garmin Fenix & Epix. I even preordered the Apex Pro 2!
Whilst they are great sports watches in their own right, ultimately I found the software on both the devices themselves and online just not for me. Personally, I really like Suuntos iOS app for route creation and the minimalist design of the Peak Pro. I still have my issues with Suunto (lack of maps, small screen, etc), but the competition’s bells and whistles felt superfluous to my specific needs.
I would highly recommend having a play with the Fenix 7 and Garmins platform before deciding on the switch, and if it works for you then great!
(NOTE: I also wear an Apple Watch Ultra so a lot of the smartwatch functionality was already catered for)
Suunto: Ambit 3 Peak > Spartan Ultra > 9 > 9PP > Vertical > Race
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@jasoncuddy Good point! I have already created a Garmin account. I will upload some data and see what it will brings.
The disadvantage of Suunto is the lack of many data. For example, on movescount we could see the respiration rate, vo2 max and so on.
After their move to the new digital platform we are missing all these data and I really miss you it. -
@jasoncuddy
that’s exactly what I did when I moved from Fenix 3 and Connect to A3PS and Movescount.@awinkel
I think you’re doing it right and you will find the watch and platform that suits you best.
I know that Garmin has more features and more data. It’s a personal thing. -
@awinkel btw I don’t know if you paid attention to surveys and/or if you have suunto app beta, but there’s plenty going on right now in the feature department.
Currently beta has a lot of new suunto apps and a lot more will be coming soon.
Some time ago we filled out a survey regarding smth like a training hub from suunto, I bet you can find this thread in the forum, also with attached screenshots.Still, trying out what Garmin has to offer is a good idea, but maybe wait a month or two before making the final call - no idea when the new features are going to arrive tho.
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If you speak German, feel free to listen to our podcast RunCookEatRepeat https://runcookeatrepeat.de/magazin-2/ in which we are talking about some watches like Fenix Enduro 2, S9PP, Coros Vertix 2 ans Apple Watch Ultra.
I always try out a new Suunto watch hoping that we get together again, but I sold my S9PP again because of just some little things. One point is the vibration. It feels cheep and rattles (and not only with my watch, also my friends one had this), this doesn’t meet the overall nearly perfect assembly of the S9PP.
The other one is: I use a flashlight quite often (which I realised when I had none) and both Enduro 2 and Apple Watch Ultra have that option. Just convenience, but made the difference.
Another one is the bug with iOS focus mode as described in here:
https://forum.suunto.com/topic/8400/ios-notifications-focus-mode?_=1673164798569I don’t care about the platform itself, because I use TrainingPeaks/WKO and Strava.
I wish you luck finding the watch fitting your needs
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@trailcafe I agree about the vibration issue on the S9PP.
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Every watch brand has different strengths. It all depends on what best suits the way you workout and the way you track your metrics. Fortunately, generous return policies give users an opportunity to ‘try’ and ‘keep’ or ‘return’. The funny thing is that lately I’ve ended up ‘keeping’ them anyway. I tell my wife that it’s a cheaper hobby than sports cars.
I own a Suunto 9 Peak and just picked up a Suunto 9 Peak Pro. I also own a Garmin Fenix and Forerunner. My daily driver has been the Fenix. I just got the Suunto 9PP and will be sharing my thoughts in a week or two.
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@seanvk said in Suunto9 Peak Pro or Garmin Fenix7?:
I tell my wife that it’s a cheaper hobby than sports cars.
and much more reasonable and sustainable
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I‘m also torn between my Fenix 7sSS and the S9PP.
I personally think that the S9PP is one of the most beautiful sports watches on the market at the moment and I could live without all the bells and whistles the fenix offers.
But it’s the little things that start to annoy me with the S9PP.
I do not care about sleep tracking or steps BUT if a watch offers such functionality I expect it to be reasonable. Last night I was awake at least an hour trying to get my son back to sleep. However, this morning the Suunto App tells me that I have a sleep quality of 100% without a single minute awake, despite the fact I was feeling like sh*t
Backlight is another topic. Sometimes I can tap on the display to activate the backlight sometimes I have to press the middle button. Pressing Up or Down will get you straight to some menu and you have to go back to see the time.
What bothers me the most is that the system is still sluggish or slow. This morning I did a 10k and when ending the session I saw an empty screen for appr. 10 seconds before the saving screen appeared.
Even going to the overview screen (middle button) lags.
Coming from Garmin I also miss shortcuts such as flashlight, Alarm, Timer, Device locking or toggling DND. With a toddler on the arm it can be useful to lock the device
I don’t get the logic to lock the device mid activity and the fact that you press a button long but you have to confirm it additionally. So, locking and unlocking the device takes four clicks. If you‘d lock it by accident you simply do a long click again and it’s unlocked.
As I said, it’s the little things …
Built quality is awesome, I like the design and the GPS is very accurate. OHR might need some improvement.
That being said, I think the Garmin is the device I’ll stick with for now. -
@lessthanmore Little things can be annoying
but upcoming updates will improve your experience. -
@dulko79 Is there a timeline or roadmap available?
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@lessthanmore
Suunto does not publish plans and roadmaps… it always a big surprise -
never had the S9PP, only had the S7, but have had the F6x solar and now have the Epix 2. I would say that if you don’t need the sligthly extra battery life of the F7 - go the Epix 2 (screen is amazing - vibrancy also makes it easier to read charts on the watch, and its extra resolution makes it easier to read the screen), plus have slightly more data fields).
From an app perspective the Suunto app is much cleaner looking, but pales in comparison to the level of detail and customization that you can do with the Garmin app, especially now that Garmin have closed some gaps (like being able to customize your watch via the app / improving their route creation); added bonus is the Garmin web. So overall from an app perspective despite its old school looks I give the edge to Garmin from an app perspective.
Eco system - garmins is much more comprehensive and its health, fitness and training metrics interact with each other and really like that. For example was badly ill in the early hours of 2nd - so much so though it was food poisioning, but health metrics show it building up on the 30th and started clearing up on 7th (despite feeling OK on the 5th) - my watch is reflecting all of this and has adjusted its training suggestiong, training status and training readiness (HRV status is slowly picking up again too) - (might have had food poisioning on top of virus as that was the last time I was that violently ill - but definitely had virus too).
Like Training peaks - but none of your metrics other than your activity feed into it.
And yes for some people this doesn’t work but per the forums for the vast majority it does / And yes none of these features are designed for specific serious training - but find it interesting how many serious atheletes resort to it outside of their normal training.Smarts - Suunto can’t compete - no NFC pay / no offline music / no 3rd party apps/watch faces (closest to this is suunto plus).
No offline maps and offline TBT directions. No strength app with strength workouts / yoga/pilaties/golf/surfing/wind surfing etc (these are not just time and HR with a different calorie MET value like a lot of other manufacturers offer - i.e. more of a categorization - these all have special tracking features like rep counting, exercise detection, ability to edit reps & weight, run workouts / showing the actual movements for yoga/pilaties and run workouts/ host of golf functions from showing course, to showing distance to hazards front middle back green, to tracking shot distance to suggesting clube to use etc etc / surfing tracks your waves and shows them in the app / special speed readings among other features.
Of course your milage is going to vary depending on how many of these features you would use.
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@Jamie-BG Great overview!
I agree with a lot of your comments. I switched from the same Garmin 6X solar but back to Suunto. Im simple, and just trail run/road bike/gravel bike/SUP and hike. I dont golf, do yoga or pilates and bothered me I both couldnt delete something like golf, along with its many maps, from my watch, and got tired of updates for things like golf or dog tracking. I also couldnt see the maps on the watch anyhow without glasses and ended up buying a Hammerhead Karoo 2 (with the $500 I saved over what either the Epix or Fenix 7 cost in Canada compared with the Suunto 9PP) which can also be used as a handheld for hiking. Lastly my grand grandparents were from Finland so am partial to the Suunto brand. Overall, its nice to have choice.FYI I handed my Fenix 6 to my dad who golfs and he loves it!
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@mikekoski490 said in Suunto9 Peak Pro or Garmin Fenix7?:
bothered me I both couldnt delete something like golf
now that you mention it… that was so annoying and I really hope that things like that are never going to happen with Suunto
living sideways
