Suunto Vertical battery modes
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@surfboomerang I don’t think anyone here can explain the logic behind what is in the battery profile and what in the sports mode…
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Hi,
I’m considering replacing my S9PP with a Vertical, to use in a race that will likely take me 100-120hrs. I’ll be using the watch for route navigation, but happy with breadcrumb only for most of the time (I find this clearer). I’ll also have time and distance to waypoint fields in a custom sport mode.
For those who’ve used the Vertical in Endurance or Ultra mode, is it definitely the case that it doesn’t switch to Performance when on the navigation screen or with ETA/ETE etc fields activated? The user manual and the battery mode FAQ on the Suunto website are contradictory on this point. It was/is the same with my S9PP - the manual and FAQ are contradictory and when I’ve navigated in Endurance mode battery burn rate has been closer to Performance.
If the watch does switch to Performance mode, I assume I can charge it during the activity like I can with the S9 watches - is that correct?
Thank you -
@MKPotts
I can’t answer about battery duration, but about charging it during your activity, really be aware of the real weakness of the magnet for the new charging base (and old bases with stronger magnets are not compatible).
So you might have difficulty to charge if moving. -
@MKPotts As long as you are on a 1 sec GPS fix mode this should work fine but I will ask for you as I am interested as well. I can try to do some testing on this as well but it will take awhile. I am considering some longer races (not sure yet) and I would have the same questions. I like to use ETE/ETA fields in Races but none of mine have a greater than 48h cut off so far so I will try to find out.
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@isazi In my opinion GPS accurancy (Best, Good, OK) is an independent setting from MAP availability.
I tried in custom mode and map is available with every gps settings from Best to OK.In case you select other battery mode then Performance or Custom, maps is not active. It is because the battery mode contains that setting - map off.
As Suunto defined battery modes are locked and cannot change, this is a fact.
Regarding battery consumption. I mainly use my watch with map on the screen almost for whole trailrunning or hiking exercises. The difference in estimated usage time is around 3%. I don’t think it significant.
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@Mff73
Thanks. I’ve got a S9PP, which I believe uses the same charger, so I know what you mean about the weak connection. Definitely would be difficult to use while running.
Luckily on this race, the checkpoints/aid stations are only every 60-100km, which means I’ll normally be at each for an hour or more, giving enough time to charge if needed. But I’d rather avoid charging if possible, because it’s another thing to do (or forget to do) when very tired. -
@Brad_Olwin
Thanks. I know based on the FAQ/article on the website it should be ok in Endurance and Ultra, but that doesn’t seem to be true for my S9PP (battery drain in Endurance mode - with wrist heart rate off but navigation and nav data fields on - was much faster than spec).
Please let me know if you get definite confirmation.
Which multi-day race are you planning? -
@kamarasm
Thank you, good to have confirmation that you need to be in performance or custom mode to use the map. According to the manual you can toggle the map on or off in performance mode - I don’t understand why Suunto don’t allow you to do that in endurance and ultra modes, even if default is the map off. Good also to know that map on or off doesn’t affect the battery drain much.
Ideally I’d be able to have the watch in ultra mode, navigate with breadcrumb route and eta/ete fields active, toggling the map on very occasionally if needed. It sounds like I can do this by creating a custom mode.
My main concern is thinking the watch is in ultra mode (140hrs) and then finding it’s switched to performance because I’m navigating, making it go flat after less than 60hrs. I’m assuming Suunto still don’t allow battery as a data field and you still have to pause the watch - it would be great if that’s changed! -
@MKPotts
Battery is one point, but if you plan to record such a long activity, you may consider having issues with syncing it to the app after.
https://forum.suunto.com/post/121031Maybe you should split it into small portion, and sync them during aid station pauses.
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@Mff73 said in Suunto Vertical battery modes:
@MKPotts
Battery is one point, but if you plan to record such a long activity, you may consider having issues with syncing it to the app after.
https://forum.suunto.com/post/121031Maybe you should split it into small portion, and sync them during aid station pauses.
This has been fixed as eMMC memory is now used to record long events. This change occurred in the latest update. I tested this with a drive from Colorado to California this last summer on field test firmware when released with no issues.
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@Brad_Olwin
@Mff73
Thanks for the further info. And pleased to hear that storage space for activities is no longer an issue. I just assumed it wouldn’t be given the size of even a very long activity file (about 10MB) compared to available storage in the Vertical.When buying my S9PP, Suunto confirmed that it would have enough memory to, at the very least, store an activity as long as the claimed battery life (so 70hrs in Endurance). I assumed that would also be true for the Vertical, meaning 140hrs in Ultra mode, so good to have it confirmed.
I know about the limits with the S9B. Like the original poster in that thread, I found out the hard way by being unable to sync a long race, after recharging as I went.
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@Spree if i activate Performance (estimation to 60h) mode in suunto vertical and route navigation and if i switch to an another screen than navigation during my workout, will the autonomy stay at 60h (without suunto plus) ?
It is just to sometimes the screen map and waypoints, ETA but not all the times in an ultra.Watch: Suunto vertical solar
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@Antoine said in Suunto Vertical battery modes:
@Spree if i activate Performance (estimation to 60h) mode in suunto vertical and route navigation and if i switch to an another screen than navigation during my workout, will the autonomy stay at 60h (without suunto plus) ?
It is just to sometimes the screen map and waypoints, ETA but not all the times in an ultra.Yes I believe that is correct, additional battery life is only consumed when you have the map screen displayed. Once you come out of navigation and are back on your normal data fields screen, whatever battery option you have selected will kick back in. Hopefully that makes sense
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@MKPotts Here are my recommendations. In any mode that uses low power for GPS, Ultra in Vertical and Endurance in S9PP I would avoid using any ETE/ETA fields in Custom Sport modes. I will try to test this with some SkiMo but it will not occur for a few weeks. It is not reliable to test short ~3h events. Anything using 1s GPS on full power mode should be fine. Maps are off in low power modes so maps will not be an issue and loaded routes should not be a problem.
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@Antoine this is correct; the map display itself consumed more battery, not the possibility of scrolling to it
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@Brad_Olwin
I’ll post back if I get a chance to test it on my S9PP. Agree it needs a long activity to get an accurate assessment, given how close the per hour burn rates are.
I meant to test it at a race last weekend that took me 14hrs but I got distracted on the start line and forgot to change the battery mode. Though in performance, using an external HR sensor, my battery only drained 27% points, which suggests about 50hrs is possible with the S9PP. Based on this, I’m guessing the Vertical might go past 100hrs in Endurance with the wrist HR off. -
@MKPotts That sounds good and inline with my testing.
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@Brad_Olwin
I’ve not been able to do any very long activities but based on testing endurance mode on the S9PP on 6-7 hour runs my conclusions are:In endurance mode (half power), navigating a route but with no ETE/ETA/distance to waypoint fields in the sport mode, the S9PP stays in endurance mode for gnss fix. Battery burn rate was equivalent to 65-70hrs.
In endurance mode, navigating a route and with ETE etc fields in the sport mode, the S9PP switches to performance mode for gnss fix. Battery burn rate was equivalent to 40-45hrs.
Further supporting these conclusions was the comparison to the Garmin Enduro I wore at the same time. In the second case, distance measured agreed to within 0.1% compared to the Enduro, which is similar to what I normally see based on many comparisons in performance mode. In the first case, the difference increased to 2.5%, which is not surprising if the S9PP remained in Endurance mode.
I don’t know if this is the same in the Vertical in the equivalent low power mode (ultra?) or why the S9PP switches when ETE/ETA fields are included. It’s not necessary given it’s accurate enough to navigate a route in endurance mode. There were no other differences that would account for the change in burn rate.
If you’ve done any testing with your watches or had any feedback from Suunto, I’d be interested to hear. I’m not going to buy a Vertical yet because the replacement HR sensor on my S9PP is bubbling a second time. So I want to wait until I’m sure Suunto has fixed the sensor bubbling issue (3rd time lucky for me hopefully!) before considering another watch.
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@MKPotts I am going to send you a PM in chat.
