Sunnto 7 Sensor Support
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As the weather here in the UK is getting colder and wetter, it would be hugely beneficial for me to have external sensor support, simply so that I can wear the S7 on the outside of my sleeve.
I am also considering getting back into cycling later this year, and it would be nice to mount the S7 on the handlebars.
External sensor support seems like a simple software update (this is just my opinion as I am NOT a software developer) and it is my only real frustration with the S7.
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Because it was discussed here.
Today I did a cardio test on the ergometer. Ten electrodes and cables, measuring all kind of data.
I started my S7 with the activity indoor cycling to have a comparison to the machine of the cardiologist. The doctor was very interested and astonished, that the difference of the Suunto 7 OHR at no point of the test was bigger than 2 bpm.
That’s indeed a great result and worth to report here in the forum.
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@pilleus would have been really interesting to have seen the result against something more challenging for the sensor i.e. a HIIT session.
I think based on most peoples experience the optical HR is good for hiking/walking, running and cycling (which will be fine for most) - but doesn’t distract from where an external sensor would be beneficial i.e. cold weather etc, HIIT sessions, swimming (though when I go a chance it looked fine, but difficult to tell as no comparison so basing it on feeling and how my body feels against other activities). etc. -
@jamie-bg I have dozens of HIIT Interval runs wearing an S7 and S9baro with smartsensor to compare. The S7 OHR does very well and well enough for me that it doesn’t typically matter which I post to Training Peaks. In winter if very cold out the OHR can be less accurate.
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@brad_olwin I’m glad to hear you had success in the numbers matching. Mine wasn’t even close. During a CrossFit workout it was about 20 plus beats behind the Apple Watch 6 and 25 beats behind the H10 chest strap I had on. I would be in the 140s for the Apple Watch and H10 and sitting in the high 110s or low 120s with the Suunto. It was honestly one of the worst I’ve seen. Which doesn’t surprise me given the light arrangement and what appears to be much lower light output compared to the Apple Watch and even the Suunto 5/9.
I’m glad still it worked well for you but reviewing professional testing reviews it doesn’t seem like that’s the case the majority of the time.
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@brotzfrog10 I clearly stated HIIT Interval Runs. I doubt that any OHR would do well with Crossfit given the extensive wrist movements involved that will differ depending on the equipment that is used. I was responding to @Jamie-BG regarding HIIT sessions. For me the S7 has worked well for Interval running and SkiMo racing, which are high intensity.
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Hello
Im thinking to buy S7 for swimming pool and less for outdoor running
Anyone used it inside swimming pool?everything worked fine with the distance calculate? -
@kiriakos-chaldezos my wife swims with her S7 in the pool and the distance is always pretty close to the right number, just make sure you set the pool distance, and the optical HR on her swims works crazy good, almost like she had a belt on, it’s hard to believe
Suunto app on the S7 is missing additional swim features, like drills etc but it’s also not there on my SB9 so . Overall it’s good
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@herlas thanks for your answer
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@kiriakos-chaldezos all good but can only shows backstroke or freestyle, doesn’t seem to recognise breaststroke.
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@jamie-bg said in Sunnto 7 Sensor Support:
@kiriakos-chaldezos all good but can only shows backstroke or freestyle, doesn’t seem to recognise breaststroke.
It does all three of those.
See below.
Don’t know if it has butterfly though…
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@egika said in Sunnto 7 Sensor Support:
@Brad_Olwin said in Sunnto 7 Sensor Support:
If Suunto could leverage the smartsensor to sync less often and not reduce battery life anymore than OHR I’d be for it.
And this is something with potential probably!!
The Suunto HR sensor is capable of data storage that will be synced after the activity, when no live data transfer is possible (eg. during swimming).
How about leaving the high power processor in sleep state and only wake it up every 10s or so for a HR data sync.
Possibly the time could be user selectable - some might only want it for analysis after the training. Then only sync HR once when training is stopped. Others might be fine with data every minute etc.I love this idea that could be even more power saving than wrist heart rate
I like where this could go.
I’ve been running with Suunto App, doing offline sync of my Stryd and then combining the data in GoldenCheetah.
Would be more than happy to see a live Power stat updated every 10 or 30 (or 60 even!) seconds whilst running, causing little extra battery drain on the watch, knowing I’ve got the full data to pull in post-workout.
Similar I guess to HR bands…display the data polled every minute on watch and you’ll get a reasonable idea of how you’re performing whilst mid-activity…and yet you’ve got the per-second data to pull in and sync after the fact for that deep dive analysis.
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@egika maybe they have fixed it. Hopefully at some point I will be allowed back in a pool and can check if it got fixed.
When swimming breaststroke do you use wide pull or tight tucked in pull?
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@jamie-bg erm… I use the one stroke that feels ok for me… Sorry, no technique expert here.
But you might be able to try it out in your room as well just simulating the different strokes.
Just make sure to simulate the turn at the wall as well -
@pilleus Thanks for doing this test. It clearly shows that allowing sensor support in Suunto app would not be a problem. Anyway those who don’t want to use an external sensor, don’t have to, but there are bunch of us who would. Hopefully Suunto is considering this as it would really be a game changer.
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@jantikainen I’d like this to, but I imagine there are probably other priorities before they consider adding support for this. Auto pause for instance is something I suspect we’ll see at some point this year.
I’d love to use my S7 with stryd as I’m currently following a 10k power based training plan, but that’s probably a pretty niche requirement. I doubt most Wear OS users even know that running power is a thing. It would be interesting to know what kind of user the average S7 buyer is. I imagine the people who spend time on this forum probably aren’t very representative.
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@aleksander-h based on the original target market i.e. to compete with AW, it doesn’t really make sense to add sensor support, as that really isn’t the target market.
The latest update with sleep tracking - absolutely target market.The rest of the adds: routes, body clock, ext sensor support - are really all targeted at the fitness crowd, not the full smartwatch crowd.
And I believe that is the right that they should target both crowds, as currently this is the closest watch that comes to covering both targets. So anything they can add on both sides really is a benefit.I do think that routes is more than adequate for what is already there - pretty much class leading. Body clock - great idea, massive boost comparison against fitness, but got to think external sensors also need to be there - irrespective of battery consumption. Find it hard to think they would require more juice than a connection to a smartwatch…and would be happy to disconnect from smartwatch to enable external sensor support if required.
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I would argue that the Suunto 7 isn’t (and certainly shouldn’t) be aiming to compete in the Apple Watch and generic fitness smartwatch category. It is simply far too expensive and capable for that (£429 rrp in the UK)
I know many people with smartwatches. All iPhone users have an Apple Watch. Most Android users have a Fossil and some a TicWatch Pro.
Suunto simply isn’t well known enough in the regular smartwatch circles. And when my friends see the price of mine they think I was mad to pay that for a watch that does ‘essentially the same as theirs’. When I show them the extra fitness smarts they are impressed, but say they don’t need anything that fancy, but if they did they would buy a Garmin.
I think I am square in the Suunto 7 target user group. Someone who wants a proper fitness device but also wants a proper smartwatch and does not want to be switching devices.
There is also the physical size of the S7. My gf was really impressed with my S7 and was considering it end of last year as her FitBit versa was dying. She also wants a proper fitness device and a proper smartwatch. However, when she tried on my S7 she couldn’t stop laughing! It was comically big on her wrist. (she has ended up with a Garmin Venu as it was the best fit for her requirements).
There was a comment a while back on the forum about ‘Soccer Mums’ being the target for the Suunto 7.
A ‘Soccer Mum’ is not going to spend over £400 on a watch that is too big for her and looks distinctly masculine. She will buy a Venu, or a Fossil, or an Apple Watch (this is my opinion and also that of a few friends, one of which is a ‘soccer mum’).Suunto have the opportunity here to make the S7 an absolutely killer device! It it’s 80-90% there right now with only a few key features missing (sensor support, auto pause, etc).
I doubt it will eat into the S9 market, as that user group needs the longer battery life which the S7 will never compete with.Please Suunto, unleash the full potential of the Suunto 7
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@olymay said in Sunnto 7 Sensor Support:
I would argue that the Suunto 7 isn’t (and certainly shouldn’t) be aiming to compete in the Apple Watch and generic fitness smartwatch category. It is simply far too expensive and capable for that (£429 rrp in the UK)
I know many people with smartwatches. All iPhone users have an Apple Watch. Most Android users have a Fossil and some a TicWatch Pro.
Suunto simply isn’t well known enough in the regular smartwatch circles. And when my friends see the price of mine they think I was mad to pay that for a watch that does ‘essentially the same as theirs’. When I show them the extra fitness smarts they are impressed, but say they don’t need anything that fancy, but if they did they would buy a Garmin.
I think I am square in the Suunto 7 target user group. Someone who wants a proper fitness device but also wants a proper smartwatch and does not want to be switching devices.
There is also the physical size of the S7. My gf was really impressed with my S7 and was considering it end of last year as her FitBit versa was dying. She also wants a proper fitness device and a proper smartwatch. However, when she tried on my S7 she couldn’t stop laughing! It was comically big on her wrist. (she has ended up with a Garmin Venu as it was the best fit for her requirements).
There was a comment a while back on the forum about ‘Soccer Mums’ being the target for the Suunto 7.
A ‘Soccer Mum’ is not going to spend over £400 on a watch that is too big for her and looks distinctly masculine. She will buy a Venu, or a Fossil, or an Apple Watch (this is my opinion and also that of a few friends, one of which is a ‘soccer mum’).Suunto have the opportunity here to make the S7 an absolutely killer device! It it’s 80-90% there right now with only a few key features missing (sensor support, auto pause, etc).
I doubt it will eat into the S9 market, as that user group needs the longer battery life which the S7 will never compete with.Please Suunto, unleash the full potential of the Suunto 7
I agree in everything, better something more rather than something less
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@aleksander-h you might be right about Suunto’s priorities.
Still I think that there are many others, not in this forum, who would like to have wear os and track their cycling, winter and team sport activities which is not optimal or possible with the lack of sensor support using Suunto app.
My opinion is that this should be their next priority 1.
But then again, this is just my assumption and opinion. So far Suunto has made very good updates and the next one coming made me come back to S7.
