Why you bought Suunto ocean?
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Thought it would be interessting to see what the Community expects
Sure we all expected a great watch. But clearly decisions to buy the ocean are very different. -
Hey @tinten.addi
I had the same motivations as you did.
I needed a new dive computer and was looking at the Garmin Descent Mk3 (quite expensive and too big for my wrist for an everyday watch) and the Suunto D5, because i wanted a computer I could wear like my previous Garmin Fenix 5 everyday.
I was just about to order the D5, when the Ocean was announced. I bought it the next day and received it in no time
Some features were disappointing at the beginning (e.g. not having a compass while diving, although the watch had a compass builtin), but the major issues have been fixed with the latest firmware. Nevertheless there are more feature reqeusts pending and I assume, you read the discussions about Suunto not updating the Ocean for over half a year now (I would for example love to customize was is shown in the dive screen, esp. in the switch window or to have tank pressure and heading direction available simualtanousely)…
Over all, in my opinion, it’s a decent dive computer, an pretty device with potential for software making it great.
Frank
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Similar to you guys. I used to have the D5 which was a great dive computer but had 2 major problems:
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It’s just a dive computer so it has next to no use for anything else. Even as a general watch, it’s too bulky. I had a separate Garmin sport watch to monitor my other activities.
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Battery life was generally quite poor. The screen isnt very bright so you need it set on high in certain situations and with that, the battery would only last about a day when diving. Forget to charge it and you won’t be using it tomorrow.
On top of that, it just felt like support for it was dropping. The latest software update was released in 2022.
Then the Ocean was released that solved all of these issues plus had a much brighter and clearer screen, incredible battery life, all the sports features I could ever want, was more compact so it could be worn as an every day and on top of that, it was compatible with Air Integration! It’s only real competition is the Garmin Descent which is twice its price!
So for me it was a bit of a no brainer. Very happy with it. Just hope they keep supporting it with updates and new features, it’s currently leagues ahead of the competition but will quickly fall behind if they don’t keep up.
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Because it was an AMOLED Vertical with a proficient rec diving function and air integration for a price you can’t beat. Funny enough, I’m yet to put a single dive on this thing. The closest it got to water are long runs on Sanibel Island and open water swimming in the gulf.
I always understood the watch will be behind other Suunto flagships on features (just like Descent is 3-6 months behind their branch of Fenix), but no updates in 9 months and measly helpings yesterday is superbly disappointing.
At least, Suunto could have brought ZoneSense as intensity target and multiple sensors support if nothing else. I’m sure these were developed on some Git branch somewhere. For the love of blue sky and all that’s wet, just do a PR and a merge man! It doesn’t take long.
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@S7ewie Updates for the Ocean will be behind the other sports watches as has been clearly stated but the watch support continues. I suspect but have no direct knowledge that firmware development will continue.
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@Brad_Olwin Yes I’m well aware that updates will be behind other watches and I generally have no issue wirh that as its the dive features I care most about. However, I was under the impression that the main reason for the delay was the added complexity and importance of testing dive features and yet, one year after their last update, the most recent update has very little in the way of diving features which is disappointing.
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@S7ewie
True -
Hello Brad,
it seems to me that I’ve read this sentence here several times before…
However, I cannot recall seeing any clear or explicit note about this in the product description when purchasing the watch. To be precise, there was nothing mentioned about updates. Could you please provide me with an official source for your statement?
Allow me to ask: are you an employee, ambassador, or otherwise affiliated with Suunto?
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Bought to combine my sports and dive watches.
9PP and D5.
Waited ages for the announcement of the ocean. Had been toying with going to the Garmin descent but after 10+ year of Suunto dive watches and sports it made sense to wait.
Now regretting that decision. Like the d5 it seems to be the neglected red headed step child for Suunto, the premium most expensive product running multiple versions behind the cheaper units.
Then to cap that off my Ocean has completely died.
Should stayed with the D5 for diving and upgraded to the race/vertical for everything else.
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@tinten.addi Hi! I do freediving, open-water swimming, and occasionally scuba diving. That’s why I wanted a year-round watch with features tailored to these activities. I’m starting to miss my Garmin Instinct, which offered many more options for custom alarms, timers, and similar functions. Unfortunately, I’ve realized this watch is designed more like the Apple version than the Garmin one. Hopefully, Suunto will improve these features in future updates.
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@mcardlejon I thought for the price of an Ocean I can buy the Race S plus the EON core. I have the Race S, but hesitate to buy the EON Core as it is quite old and I would not bet my money that Suunto is continuing to develop Dive products. Fortunatly my current dive computer is fine, so I can wait and see…
Are there any signs in this direction? Don’t know when the release of the last diving product was -
I was looking for a watch to combine multisport (run / trail ) and diving, like Fenix 8 but that can go deeper for my lvl 4 / init master.
From now I mainly test the multisport capabilities and I can say that I am so disappointed, day after day I discover another limitation/ bug / lack of functionalities…
Imagine that I had to buy an HRM belt because in 2025 Suunto is not able to proviseur accurate HR data but also Suunto is not able to tell you when your belt is on low battery… Enjoy my last training from this morning with a warmup session reaching 170 plus bpm instead of my actual 120/130… And with spikes all along.
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@tinten.addi I field test for Suunto but not an employee. I believe a Suunto employee commented on the forum that the Ocean would be slower to update.
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@Jean-Philippe-REY If you are using OHR it is quite variable on an individual basis. I would use an HR belt if you care about reliable HR. OHR for me on the Ocean is not great for me when running but good when not exercising. I almost always wear a belt when exercising.
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@Brad_Olwin btw I was wearing my belt, but my previous Garmin low cost would tell me when it is low on battery.
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@Brad_Olwin
Thanks for sharing. I thought you might have an official statement from Suunto in an official post -
@tinten.addi Let me see if I can dig something up.
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@tinten.addi said in Why you bought Suunto ocean?:
@Brad_Olwin
Thanks for sharing. I thought you might have an official statement from Suunto in an official postNot an official statement but from someone that has more knowledge than me.
https://forum.suunto.com/post/146167 -
Bought Suunto Ocean & Pod to replace an ageing Suunto D4i & SPG as a wristwatch sized dive computer and pressure gauge.
I don’t want the sports, GPS and health tracking stuff and so turned off everything like that I could find in the menus to avoid messages and maintain battery life.
I put it on when I wake on diving days and then wear it until the next night, so I can see the no-fly time has safely passed. I have also used it as a dual time zone watch when on holiday in a significantly different time zone. Otherwise, I prefer an analogue wristwatch in daily life.
For diving the battery life seems fine, maybe needing one charge on a one-week liveaboard depending on the number of dives. The AMOLED screen is excellent and easy to read underwater in poor visibility and at night. While diving I turn the “arches” off, or use the compass “arch”. -
I thought it was Suunto’s flagship dive computer.
