Suunto news ?

Goatee

@elbee I work in a running store & the amount of people switching from Garmin is becoming more popular
Alot of new Coros watches on wrists (we don’t sell Coros) would suggest they definitely are getting a better foothold
They have a big presence on social media with their accounts commenting on posts, especially on Threads
With alot of new runners being “Instagram runners” they’re reaching a different & growing audience

Steven Hambleton

Suunto desperately need a community manager to communicate with fans, athletes, developers etc.

Im not talking about general support but concerns around the roadmap, critical bug progress, development issues etc.

André Faria

@Steven-Hambleton maybe suunto doesn’t want to share? It their company, they do what they want when they want.

If I recall correctly at least in the past @dimitrios-kanellopoulos was community manager for the forum.

On youtube, telegram and other social networks we had/have @joaquin
https://www.youtube.com/@SuuntoExpert
https://t.me/suuntocommunity
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuuntoAmbit/posts/5624470314311652/

Not sure if you are new to suunto, but right now they are way more open than in the past, still they remain “safe” on what they share.
Again their business they do as they want.
You can check garmin on their beta, not sure if it is better or worse…just different
Coros idk, I know they are also active on social networks but I don’t follow much.

elbee

@Goatee said:

@elbee I work in a running store & the amount of people switching from Garmin is becoming more popular
Alot of new Coros watches on wrists (we don’t sell Coros) would suggest they definitely are getting a better foothold
They have a big presence on social media with their accounts commenting on posts, especially on Threads
With alot of new runners being “Instagram runners” they’re reaching a different & growing audience

If I look at athletes in my athletic club, on strava or at races/trailruns, almost all use a garmin and there is the occasional Polar/Suunto/Coros. Don’t see any shifts over the last couple of years. (I live in the Netherlands. It might be different for other regions.)

André Faria

@elbee said:

@Goatee said:

@elbee I work in a running store & the amount of people switching from Garmin is becoming more popular
Alot of new Coros watches on wrists (we don’t sell Coros) would suggest they definitely are getting a better foothold
They have a big presence on social media with their accounts commenting on posts, especially on Threads
With alot of new runners being “Instagram runners” they’re reaching a different & growing audience

If I look at athletes in my athletic club, on strava or at races/trailruns, almost all use a garmin and there is the occasional Polar/Suunto/Coros. Don’t see any shifts over the last couple of years. (I live in the Netherlands. It might be different for other regions.)

Same case for me, working for a sports company, in dozens of people with sports watches I believe I saw 2 suuntos, 1 polar, and like 3 coros (and like 10 coros based decathlon watches).

I belive suunto may know their “optimized size” and audience and so also don’t aim to be garmin or coros in terms of size and budget/marketing.
With all good and bad. There is no perfect brand nor watch.

elbee

@André-Faria said:

With all good and bad. There is no perfect brand nor watch.

True. Have experience with sport watches for about 15 years and know what’s important for me.

I like to record my activities, know that I hit my targets when doing intervals, keep an I on my heartrate, and use navigation for longruns, unknown area’s and enter trailruns that work with gpx.
Outside sport I use it for time/date, alarm and getting phone notifications.
Preferable in a small formfactor and not costing 1000 euro.

All other? Meh… I know a thing or 2 about training and trainingload and I know my body. I don’t need all those metrics (and I don’t trust the pseudo scientific markering behind it).

And I don’t care that much which brandname is on it.

brave_dave

@elbee I totally agree. I have owned Garmin, Polar and Suunto watches and own a Garmin bike computer.
Comparing all 3 brands, Garmin in my eyes is years ahead in terms of device software, implementation, ecosystem, connectivity to smartphone/other devices, and functions (on device music, Garmin pay, on device routing etc.). At one point though Garmin started with all these voodoo functions (body battery, stamina, hill score…) that increased the price for every new model and I was not willing to support these price-enhancing practices by inventing unproven metrics.
Suunto at that time was at a way lower price point with their Race/Race S so I made the switch and haven’t regretted it comparing the bang for the buck back then.
But over the last years, Suunto went the same route (Resources, ZoneSense, Heat strain score, Recovery Heart Rate etc.) instead of focusing on optimizing user experience, bug fixes, seamless integration, basic smart features. At the same time Suunto’s prices also drastically increased and when you compare them now and see what the FR970 delivers at 670€ vs. Race 2 Tit at 599€ or Polar V3 at 599€, then Garmin delivers the better value/€ now. I think Suunto should go back to focussing on a perfect basis at a competitive price point.
Unfortunately, if my watch brakes now there is no up-to-date Suunto model as a rational substitute in my eyes.
Maybe would need to try Coros…

2b2bff

@elbee said:

f I look at athletes in my athletic club, on strava or at races/trailruns, almost all use a garmin and there is the occasional Polar/Suunto/Coros. Don’t see any shifts over the last couple of years. (I live in the Netherlands. It might be different for other regions.)

Here in Germany I usually see Garmins all around. Occasionally a Polar or Coros. Seldom a Suunto. There are more Apple Watches in the races I take part of that Suunto and Polar, possibly even Coros combined. At least in the road running segment.

Trail running is still new to me and in the Race I took part of there has been a higher density of Suunto watches. Partly because there has been a Suunto booth, I guess.

elbee

@brave_dave

Could very well be that the suunto race and race s were sold at lower margins just to draw attention. Don’t know how that worked out. Suunto marketing hoped on “so much watch for so little” but it might be “so cheap for a decent watch”. Any successor that is more expensive might then disappoint.

Garmin is a no go for me at the moment. With the 965 they started to add voice. The damn thing announced tbt alerts via my headphone and it couldn’t be turned off. The newer forerunners also get microphones so I guess garmin focus on voice operated watches.

Coros is an interesting option. But for now I think my race s will last for many more years, beating the forerunner 935 I had for over 5 years.

brave_dave

@elbee yes, but if they sold them under margin then how is Garmin able to sell the FR970 for only 70€ more with all the additional functions in their software + hardware (microphone, torch, ECG). I rather suspect Suunto trying to maximize margins by orientating at slightly undercutting Garmin.
Coros also manages lower prices and their apex 4 & Pace Pro are very similar to Suunto Race 2 but cost 150€-200€ less and even have on device music…
I think they should rather aim for the Coros or a middle segment and not the premium segment. They cannot compete with Garmin in that segment. I mean Garmin resources, marketing, ecosystem is huge!

BTW one can of course disable the voice prompts/alerts on the FR965.

Tami999

Race 1 and Race S was perfectly fine about price. For me only OHR was poor (at least Race 1 which I used). I mostly used chest strap awnyway, but sometimes didnt use or just left it home, and it was completly *****. Race 2 solved this problem when I compared watch OHR vs. Strap. Also at launch date Race UI was so laggy (at moment Race 2 release it was speed). Didnt bothered me so much, but for new user or someone born after 2000, it could be ancient technology if we talking about speed of using it and kinda bad first impression. Anyway I think Race and Race S was one of biggest step for Suunto, especially very popular Race S from what I’ve seen.

Race 2 OHR was much better, also faster in using, and in maps., but price went up. Iam very interested what Race 3 will bring. By rumors Race 3 got no longer sapphire glass (must have for me) and AI coach subscription (which I completly dont care). If it will be main changes I’ll stick with Race 2 few more years, and who knows, maybe I’ll give a try Coros or Garmin.