What do you think of the Suunto Spark?
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I really like the idea of them. I currently have the Shokz Aeropex and they work very well for me but on longer outings I do start to feel them push against the top of my ears at the back. I had been considering the shokz of a similar design but the additional run-specific features in the Spark could well win me over. I’ll wait for some reviews regarding comfort and sound quality though as I don’t think there’s going to be anywhere near me that stocks them I can try them before buying.
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@Brad_Olwin Yes I have the Pro 3. Great in everything except for running. Maybe I should try other ear tips Ang give it a try. But after the open ear headphones I don’t wont to be fully isolated.
Suunto watches: Vertical 2 (Titanium Sage), Race 2 (Titanium Trail), Ocean (Sand), Race (Titanium Charcoal), Vertical (Titanium Solar Sand), 9 Baro (Ambassador Edition), Spartan Ultra (Copper Edition), Ambit 2, S6
Suunto Wing -
@safari Uh, but do they actually monitor:
- Running Dynamics: step cadence, total steps, and vertical oscillation.
- Running Symmetry: balance between your left and right feet by comparing ground contact time.
- Activity Stats: records ascent and descent (elevation changes), estimated calories, and the total duration of the workout.
- Cervical Mobility Assessment: perform a test where you move your head (up/down and side-to-side) to measure the symmetry of movement between your left and right sides
?
There’s no mention here
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Spark White just received ; test to come. Very nice packaging and design. Fits really good on ears ; have to test on exercice in comparison with my wings v1
First impressions (I’ll update gradually) :- user guide not available yet
- touch buttons, great ; will have to wait for user guide to understand / learn
- update available after first pairing and easily installed => it brings buttons setup and explainations => solves most of my first two points. Lot of gestures availables, can be set independtly on left and right headphone : great !
- pairing with app => it seems that switching from wings to spark is not as easy as switching from a watch to another. to be confirmed
- sounds great ; open air to test to see if not too much isolated from environnement
- now compatible with siri on iOS (gesture to activate) : love it, was a big miss on wings V1 (don’t know if available on wings V2 or aqua)
Feedback after a first real test on a small hike/run :
- no ON/OFF button : they’re ON when we get them out of the charging box (I guess there is an auto off after no activity for a while - user guide should tell ?)
- fits really good also in mouvement
- sounds great and far better than bone conducting, as expected, even at low volume.
- low volume enough to ear well ; enough not to ear environnement
- gestures work really good
- touch buttons very sensitives, work very well
- storage box / size : clearly small and way more easy to cary than Wing
So far the only con’s that I would see would be autonomy.
Well, I may keep my Wing maybe only for cycling (less risk to loose them ?)
A very nice piece of gear for the price.
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@Tieutieu How is the battery life? The marketing info suggests two different amounts. One says 7.5 hours which wouldn’t be long enough
Thank you for the review. I’m tempted. Currently use aftershocks that I have had for around 5 years. I really like the fact you can hear what is around you.
Suunto Vertical
Suunto 9 BARO
Garmin Fenix 3, 5
Suunto Vector -
Are running dynamics values available on the watch as data fields during an activity?
S9PP
S5 -
@Audaxjoe said in What do you think of the Suunto Spark?:
@Tieutieu How is the battery life? The marketing info suggests two different amounts. One says 7.5 hours which wouldn’t be long enough
Not enough tested for now to give you values, I’ll let you know. Suunto’s web site claims for 7hours per charge. Far less than my wings but charging box is small ; easy to carry to have them recharged. I’ll try to test overall battery life from 100% to 0 and time to fully recharge with the box
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@Francesco-Pagano said in What do you think of the Suunto Spark?:
Are running dynamics values available on the watch as data fields during an activity?
No specific fields or dedicated screen ; it may need to be set up, I wasn’t focus on that.
User guide is available I quickly looked but didn’t saw
Indications about that.I looked again to setup in app, I don’t see any option ; maybe not available yet ?
[edit : I think I found it, « sport mode » ; there is a « start exercise option » but I had first thought it would start and stop activity on watch ; it seems that start sport mode is what make spark mesure data fields - I’ll try that]
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I ordered the white as well, should be here next week!
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@safari I have Shokz OpenFit and OpenFit 2. Spark looks almost identical to OpenFit 2 but less expensive. I wonder what are the differences and in terms of sound quality and whether it is worth choosing Suunto Spark over that specific Shokz model.
My experience with using OpenFit and OpenFit 2 during trail runs and races has been very positive. The headphones stay put and are very comfortable, and I can wear them for hours and usually forget I have them on my ears if they aren’t turned on. They didn’t obstruct ambient sounds in any way. Usually I don’t use the noise cancelling feature. The reason I mention that is because again Suunto Spark looks almost identical, so I assume that everything I mentioned would apply to Spark as well.
Also. I should mention that the lack of a physical button may be an issue. That is the main difference between Shoks OpenFit and OpenFit 2, and the touch control on the first version is finicky and unreliable, especially in a rain or when headphones get wet from sweat. I much prefer the physical button on OpenFit 2.
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@EzioAuditore said in What do you think of the Suunto Spark?:
@Brad_Olwin Yes I have the Pro 3. Great in everything except for running. Maybe I should try other ear tips Ang give it a try. But after the open ear headphones I don’t wont to be fully isolated.
The Pro 3 have complete transparency mode so there is no isolation at least not in my experience. They also have an adaptive transparency that I find works well especially with noisy environments where background is a bit muted but nearby and abrupt sounds are well transmitted.
