Ambit 3 peak vs vertical
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After having to send my vertical to the repair centre after having major battery drain issues along with solar that no longer works I was required to get my old ambit 3 peak out of retirement!!!
The ambit 3 peak which came out in 2014 9 years before the vertical was far ahead of its time. The battery on my ambit 3 peak is still excellent it’s so nice not see the battery not going down 1% or more every hour. It does all the basics I need without the flashy nonsense.
The vertical when it came out was the best watch suunto ever made including the ambit 3 peak however I think suunto has lost its way trying to keep up with Garmin adding new features and nonsense that have done nothing but ruin mine and others verticals. I wish they would have left it how it was when released.
The only thing that my ambit 3 peak is missing from my vertical is the dual band gps which the vertical is the gold standard under heavy tropical rainforest canopy and wet rainy conditions the ambit can loose the track but the vertical will hold under any conditions.
Overall if suunto could give us the ambit 3 peak with dual band gps and then leave the watch alone no software updates or other nonsense that ruin the battery that would be an awsome watch.
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@gone-troppo I also still have Ambit 3 Peak, although I haven’t used it for at least a couple of years. I think up until I bought Garmin Fenix 7X, A3P was still the most accurate watch - definitely more accurate than Fenix 6X. But with introduction of dual-band GPS, as you mentioned, modern watches are more accurate. Distance accuracy is better too, especially when running in a forest on twisty trails.
Ambit 3 Peak wasn’t without issues however. For the most part it was dependable, but I had a really major issue with it when I attempted to use its extended GPS mode with 5 second GPS refresh during my first 100 miler. Not only distance accuracy gradually degraded throughout the race so that by the end of the race it was doubling the distance, but also the battery didn’t last the promised 30 hours and ran out in about 26 hours.
However Ambit 3 Peak has a few features that in my opinion are brilliant and that I still wish I had in modern Suunto watches.
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I liked the View button that allowed screen navigation to be sort of two- dimentional where on some screens you could switch through alternative views. I used that extensively. For example you could switch the map (breadcrumbs) between a detailed zoomed in view, an overview zoomed out view, and waypoint view.
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The waypoint view showed waypoint name - something that we still don’t have after so many years with the new software. I extensively used that to display turn directions. Basically, I named waypoints as navigation hints, so that when I approached a waypoint I knew where to turn next. And unlike the current software, I could see information about an upcoming waypoint at any time.
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When going out of route the breadcrumbs view automatically zoomed out so that I could keep an eye on where the route is. Also there was none of that route auto-reversal nonsense that doesn’t work in my opinion.
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5 buttons and button shortcuts - during activity and outside of activity. I am missing that.
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Yeh I never tried my ambit in extended mode only ever used the best gps accuracy setting. Considering when It was released many things have gone backwards in that 11 years instead of forwards. All of these software releases on new watches are a curse in my opinion. Many features things that work great are then ruined by an update.
Battery is one of the two main things for me battery and gps accuracy and these software updates have ruined the battery on mine and many others vertical which is one of the main reason people bought this watch.
If I wanted frequent updates and new features I would move on to Garmin. Suunto is loosing its way, even some of the users or the race and new race versions are seeing battery degradation after updates this is unacceptable battery life is the core of suunto
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@gone-troppo I still use my A3P from time to time. I do like the unique look he has and the hardware design overall better than the Vertical.
The vertical is a stunning watch but look like a better designed garmin and not like a distinctive purposeful designed Suunto watch.
An A3P with B/W MIP display and Vertical features would be a wonderful watch for me. -
I keep my A3p as a souvenir.
It was very accurate…but baro sensor was a weakness : I had to have it replaced twice. A few friends using a3p also had the same problem.
That made me change for a S9b that was far less accurate. On accuracy point A3p was great. Using SV since it was launched, it’s the best watch I ever had, much better than A3p to me, on every point (accuracy included). -
@gone-troppo What @Tieutieu said
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@gone-troppo said in Ambit 3 peak vs vertical:
If I wanted frequent updates and new features I would move on to Garmin.
Frequent updates are not an issue if there is a good functioning beta testing process with a good coverage, and the development team doesn’t ignore bugs found by testers.
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Yes unfortunately that’s is not what is happening. Many peoples watches are being ruined by these updates.
