Offline music playback
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@kl-peintner I run with my phone, an Apple 13mini. Garmin implementation of Apple Music is worse than horrible! I am unsure whether any current hardware will have music storage. There is a lot of mixed opinion on this. Playing music and streaming to headphones has a major battery hit and Suunto has worked hard to optimize battery life. The only Suunto with music storage is the Suunto 7, which was a WearOS watch, my experience with music storage on that watch was better than Garmin but not by much.
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Even if I was once a mp3 man, one must admit that this age is over. And I don’t want to listen to the same music all the time.
Streaming is now the use.
Unless we got OTA music listening with awesome battery (I mean that would not affect exercice battery life) I beg that we never got music on our suunto’s.
If I want to listen to music I take my phone and my wings. I use a belt the phone doesn’t move at all. -
Other manufacturers have figured out how to have playlists imported from Spotify or Apple music and streamed from the device. A simple manual update or sync keeps the playlists updated and fresh.
It’s a bit of a laugh that Suunto can’t implement even basic mp3 support, let alone syncing capabilities at this stage when you can find the functionality in even $20 devices these days.
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@Roox911
other manufacturers might focus on smart watch features while Suunto apparently focuses on adventure and multisport features (thank you for that, Suunto) -
@freeheeler @Tieutieu @Roox911 I think Suunto choose to put forth what their core demographic wants. I have seen it time and time again where companies dilute their products and it becomes a “jack of all trades, master of none” scenario.
I look at the Suunto 7 which did not meet mine (and I bet most) expectation of an adventure/sport watch. It was way too similar to a galaxy pixel watch in features to stand out. Well, Suunto killed it, went back to “its roots” with the Peak 9/Vertical/Race.
To me they are like a good restaurant that focus on a few dishes but executes well on all of them.
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Offline playback from Spotify is mandatory. Full stop.
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@outdoorrama Yeah that’s why we are lucky to already have it on so many devices that we don’t really need it on our outdoor watch
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@Zdeněk-Hruška You don’t have to like it, but it is a must criterion for many potential consumers. And it has to be included in the expensive top-of-the-range models. Otherwise there is a (justified) feeling that the manufacturer is not keeping up with software development.
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@Zdeněk-Hruška PS For me, this is an indicator of problematic developments at companies. Not a statement in the sense of focussing. If it were, the inadequate turn-by-turn navigation would have been fixed long ago. Because that is the core.
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@outdoorrama I believe that there are many much more important functions which could be implemented into the watch (and many improvements) and which many more people would prefer rather than a music playback. It could be there, of course. But it’s definitely not “mandatory. Full stop.”
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@Zdeněk-Hruška As a new user with a developer background, I was simply disappointed by many things in the Suunto clocks in terms of usability and functionality (a view from the outside, so to speak). Since this thread is about MP3, my statement was accordingly clear. But I personally don’t need music and I agree with you that there are more important tasks.
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@Todd-Danielczyk Then you get something like the Fenix Pro and Epix Pro that can do everything very well. Including offline and streaming service music playback. I can CHOOSE battery life, or music playback. Charging isn’t something you’re limited to do once a month so the argument that Suunto chooses battery life makes no sense, it’s not like having the option to play music decreases battery life if you don’t use it…
Sometimes I run with my phone, but for example when racing, I don’t want to, yet I still want music. It’s a fantastic feature to have the option to use.
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@Shuhite glad you are happy with Garmin. I would argue that they don’t do charging pins all that great. Yes, they corrode. Yes, it has been known for some time. That pushed me out of their camp.
You and I might use our products differently (guessing from your comment about charging not being a big deal and the need for onboard music being a big deal). That is the beauty of having options, we buy what we like.
For me I did my research on what my Vertical could and could not do as it was bought, it ticked most of the needs for me; Garmin products do not.
(and for the record, when I am out in the wilderness, I rather be aware of my surroundings than distracted by music; hence why I did not choose a watch on that criteria. So there is also that.)
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@Todd-Danielczyk I’ve been drooling at Suunto watches for years, but I have been using Garmin for even longer. I bought the Race, it dug holes in my wrist so that was the reason I returned it. I WISH Suunto made a watch that doesn’t have lugs pointing down like they do on the Race and Vertical. I am way more partial to Suunto’s designs than Garmins, but Race vs Epix was just no comparison (price doesn’t matter to me, comfort and functionality does).
For curiosity sake, what does the Suunto Vertical provide that a Fenix doesn’t? Outside of design that’s subjective. Was battery life it? Because yea the Vertical a big improvement in that use case only as far as I can tell.
I’ve had Garmin watches for the last 6 years, never had any issues with corrosion on the pins. I clean the watch before it gets gross, and don’t charge it while the pins are wet, issue avoided. That said, I would like them to switch to magnetic charging, it would be nicer for sure.
I can’t handle the loud road noises in cities, so I use earphones for reducing it while listening to music that I like. On trails I don’t care. I still like to have the option.
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@outdoorrama I don’t use Spotify, I use Qobuz. Does that mean Qobuz is mandatory, Full Stop as well? I certainly don’t want Suunto wasting their time on a service like Spotify that I don’t use. What about amazon music, google music, tidal, deezer…
Prob. best Suunto focus on being an activity watch company rather than an iPhone clone, in my opinion. There are lots of companies that will sell you a 20 gram mp3 player you can put in your pocket, clip on your waist belt or stick in your ear if you don’t want to take your phone, with the added advantage they have their own battery so won’t drain your watch.
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@Shuhite my top priorities are as follows:
- build quality
- battery life
- support/future proofing
Apple has quality but a battery that will not cut it for me. Garmin always hides their newest features behind the next generation of hardware (Suunto rolls features out as long as the hardware supports it).
The milivolt handshake signal from the 2nd pin. Add in water and salt and you got yourself an etching cell. To me that’s a deal breaker for Garmin. Can’t trust it won’t fail with how I use things.
Don’t get me wrong I’m obsessed with music, go to 20+ concerts a year level of love for music but my phone is with me in all instances where I listen. Having it on the watch would be redundant in my case and wouldn’t have the ability to EQ like I could on a watch or dedicated mixer at home/office. Music off my watch would actually be a downgrade (support Lossless? FLAC?) compared to how I currently listen.
I have a Swiss army knife, can open a box and has some scissors in there as well. It’s a bad choice for back country and wouldn’t trust it. I have a purpose built fixed blade for that. Same with my Vertical.
