Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?
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@jeremiah-dudek it’s a very unsure time for all Suunto 7 owners and potential Suunto 7 owners. To add further to the possibility that things won’t be updated I see REI has marked the sunnto 7 down to $279. A watch that launched at $499 and in about a year is now retailing for about half that price and with no clear successor in place, makes me think the watch won’t be sticking around nor seeing major updates going forward sadly.
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@brotzfrog10 I’m quite certain that Suunto will continue to support it and several of the new app features like integrated Spotify downloads will be on the Google side so that’s good. The biggest problem is there realistically isn’t much more Suunto can do. It’s ahead of it’s time hardware with excellent support with internals that were way outdated the even before the watch originally sold. Even if it gets the new update I can’t imagine the hardware will be able to magically transform into a huge battery savings. As a manufacturer I wouldn’t put a qualcomm anything in a smartwatch not even a 4100 because there is no reason to trust them to support it long term anyway. That was just a minimal effort bandaid anyway that seemed like a huge jump when it was more that everything else was so bad. The good news is that once everything gets sorted out no doubt Suunto will jump in and they already learned a ton and will come out of the gate firing on all cylinders. They should fire sale these at under $200 and get as many more out there as they can while they can. $280 isn’t going to do it but the next one will be outstanding.
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My experience from Windows phones and Android phones is that I am excited to get an update to a new version of the OS, but when the update is done I release that there is nothing very exciting new stuff that I didn’t have before. At the moment I am very happy with my Suunto 7 and I will get even happier when I get Google Pay and hopefully Spotify Offline. It would be cool to get the new Wear (OS) 3.0, but at the same time I’m not so sure that it will make my perception of the Suunto 7 any better.
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@aeroild - very true.
Some of the big changes announced, are effectively what suunto has already done.
@brotzfrog10 - the price decrease could be wear related, but I really don’t think so. the older model types have been on discount - 21% for over 6 months now in the UK, so having them increase to 31% discount for a +1 year model isn’t outrageous and really suggests anything.
Especially when you consider that most people thought (and I did a little bit too) that the original price was too much - think suunto did too , as within 5 months you could pick it up on the occasional 21% discount. The 21% discount made the watch price much more feasible - still more expensive than TWP3 and the fossil, but within £50 of TWP3/Moto, and more important signifcantly cheaper than latest AW and GW3. Note that since then both AW and GW3 have both dropped, and not suprised that S7 dropped again too, to try and keep that price favourability compared to AW & GW3 (PS - well aware this doesn’t work in USA, as AW is so heavily discounted there compared to rest of world where it isn’t). Makes a huge amount of sense when you are trying to break into a market - by increasing/showing S7 in different markets as to Suunto’s usual it will help drive their sales elsewhere. Remember Suunto is considered as a niche market, and is still very much more European than International, so geting the name out there, even if not making a profit, can make profit elsewhere. -
@aeroild same here even as a developer.
Usually I am happy to update and then some bloating on my phone happens. I was not happy to go from 10 to 11 especially with the new notifications layout. I get really lost.
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@eurohiker uh? Fossil Chinese? Surely a USA company?
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I would of course love an update to WearOS 3, but I’m very happy with the Suunto 7 as it is. And I’m doubtful that they could squeeze much more out of the 3100. Not going to complain if it’s not updated.
But in a year or so, I’d love to see a Suunto 8 with the 4100 plus or maybe even a newer processor and bigger battery.
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@harboe said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
But in a year or so, I’d love to see a Suunto 8
I’ve always assumed they’d just call it something like the Suunto 7 gen 2. After all, they can’t exactly call a gen 3 the Suunto 9
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Qualcomm has now commented regarding 3.0 support, and I found their choice of wording interesting.
https://9to5google.com/2021/06/16/qualcomm-snapdragon-3100-wear-os-capable/
We are working with Google on bringing Wear OS 3.0 to Snapdragon Wear 4100+ and 4100 platforms. Snapdragon Wear 3100, 4100+ and 4100 platforms are capable of supporting Wear OS 3.0, but we are not discussing any specifics at this time.
Although they say that the Wear 3100 is capable, they only mention working with Google on the 4100 and 4100+.
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@aleksander-h said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
Qualcomm has now commented regarding 3.0 support, and I found their choice of wording interesting.
https://9to5google.com/2021/06/16/qualcomm-snapdragon-3100-wear-os-capable/
We are working with Google on bringing Wear OS 3.0 to Snapdragon Wear 4100+ and 4100 platforms. Snapdragon Wear 3100, 4100+ and 4100 platforms are capable of supporting Wear OS 3.0, but we are not discussing any specifics at this time.
Although they say that the Wear 3100 is capable, they only mention working with Google on the 4100 and 4100+.
That is most likely because Qualcomm can sell the 4100 and 4100+ for more money, thus it makes sense for them to encourage manufacturers towards these chips.
(Although that may just be the cynic in me!).In my opinion, Qualcomm are one of the chief architects behind the poor showing of WearOS so far. They have consistently produced underpowered chips on old technology that are not power efficient. They are at least 4-5 years (probably more) behind Apple in the chip department.
A slow and power hungry watch is never going to sell.(Yes, Google still take a large chunk of blame for not developing WearOS to it’s full potential or for forcing chip manufacturers to pull their fingers out. I also blame hardware manufacturers (like Fossil, Mobvoi, and others) for churning out a contestant stream of low quality low value WearOS devices they have no intention of supporting longer than 5 minutes. This does not encourage hardware or software development and ensure the consumer sees WearOS as a low quality system. I wish more people could see just what WearOS is capable off with devices such as the Suunto 7 (and here Sunnto needs to take some blame for not advertising it well enough)).
Just my thoughts.
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@olymay said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
and here Sunnto needs to take some blame for not advertising it well enough
I actually saw quite a bit of marketing for the S7 here in Oslo, Norway.
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@aleksander-h said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
@olymay said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
and here Sunnto needs to take some blame for not advertising it well enough
I actually saw quite a bit of marketing for the S7 here in Oslo, Norway.
Zero advertising for it here in the UK. And I bet the same can be said for the US?
I only discovered it because I am a tech geek and was doing heavy research before buying a new WearOS device.In fact, I have never seen a single Suunto advert (for anything) here in the UK (apart from targeted adds online, but they don’t count), yet I see adverts for Garmin, Apple, and Samsung everywhere - and it’s no surprise that these are the top sellers…
(I know advertising isn’t everything, but it really does help with brand awareness) -
@olymay absolutely agree with you on this.
When I came across the S7 it was completely by accident, and had been looking for a replacement for my watch for 3 months. At that point the S7 had been around for 5 months.If you talk to a lot of Americans they don’t even know what/who suunto is, unfortunately it isn’t well know outside the enduro, hardcore, ultra set - its better in most of Europe, but still not great.
I think its great that the S7 has started to open those doors for Suunto, who can hopefully take advantage of it.
Read a really interesting article that suggested that Suunto could become the brand as they have the whole of China open to them (for obvious reasons Garmin has issues in this market).
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@jamie-bg exactly the same. After a few months of research I was almost convinced that the only way I would get a watch with the fitness features I wanted was to buy a Garmin - loads of friends had them said they are great (I’ve no doubt they are good) but I was worried about losing the smartwatch features I had become used to. Not to mention the Garmin line up is a confusing mess!!
I remembered a story about the Suunto 7 launching at CES and eventually found some more information on it and it turned out to be exactly what I was after.
But I only found it through being a massive geek and doing obsessive research.Suunto is not well known in the UK at all (some of my friends know them for their dive computers but that is it) and most people have never heard of them.
All of the tech website have a ‘Top Smartwatch’ or ‘Best WearOS device’ etc and NONE of them mention the S7. It is dominated by Fossil, TicWatch, and Samsung.
I think Suunto are missing a massive trick by advertising more widely (although I do appreciate that costs a lot of money!).
Back to the WearOS 3 subject…
(what follows is just my opinion and is based on nothing more than my thoughts, my feelings, and what I would like to see, please be kind…)Do I think the S7 will get the update to WearOS 3?? Honestly, no. And I don’t think it should.
The S7 is now coming up to 18 months old. I believe Suunto should focus on a new S7 (S7 Peak? S7 Ultra? S7 Mega?) for launch end of 2021 (just in time for Christmas!).
The WearOS market is more rapidly evolving than the fitness watch market and hardware development is accelerating way more quickly.
Whilst something like the S9 or a Garmin F6 can be around for years and still be considered top of their game, the WearOS crown quickly see something more than a few months old as last years news and obsolete.
Many manufactures release at least one new model every year, sometimes more (except for Fossil who release a new model every time the weather changes!).With this new WearOS announcement from Google and Samsung, there will soon be a flood of new devices to the market. Many of them will have the SD4100 chipset, others will have something newer.
The S7 is running the SD3100 which was launched in September 2018, which means it turns THREE YEARS OLD in three months.I see lots of high praise for the S7 on places such as Reddit, but most of it gets shot down due the old chipset, with most people saying the TWP3 is the default best WearOS device as it runs the 4100.
This is the crown Suunto are trying to win over and they need to act fast.
I’m not suggesting they release a new model every year (in fact I hope they don’t!) but now is a great time to ride the wave of the WearOS hype, get a new chipset inside (preferably something newer and better than the 4100 too) and get some advertising out there (Google even used the S7 during the WearOS announcement at I/O, c’mon Suunto, shout about that!!).I honestly believe the S7 is head and shoulders the best WearOS device on the market (at least for me) and with a new model with upgraded hardware (and for the love all that is good in the world ADD BT SENSOR SUPPORT!), the new WearOS, and some decent advertising, then they could really make some great strides into this market.
(an update every two years would probably sit about right i feel).Sorry for the essay, I got s bit carried away…
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@olymay https://the5krunner.com/2021/06/17/qualcomm-confirms-widespread-platform-support-for-wear-os-3/
qualcomm “yes, 3100 can support wear os 3”. So if Suunto wants, S7 can support it. AFAIK
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@jorgefd78 said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
@olymay https://the5krunner.com/2021/06/17/qualcomm-confirms-widespread-platform-support-for-wear-os-3/
qualcomm “yes, 3100 can support wear os 3”. So if Suunto wants, S7 can support it. AFAIK
This is true.
However…
There is a world of difference between ‘can support’ and ‘can run well’.
There are many WearOS devices out there right now running the 3100 chip (or older) with just 512MB of RAM and on WearOS HMR2 yet the run like like an arthritic sloth wading through treacle.
The exact quote from Qualcomm is:
“We are working with Google on bringing Wear OS 3.0 to Snapdragon Wear 4100+ and 4100 platforms. Snapdragon Wear 3100, 4100+, and 4100 are capable of supporting Wear OS 3.0, but we are not discussing any specifics at this time.”
This implies to me that whilst the 3100 CAN support WearOS 3, Qualcomm don’t seem to be interested in making it happen.
Who knows…?..?..? -
@olymay The “3100 can support 3.x” is what I’m focusing at as well. I’d hate to get a new update, just to make the watch run worse. I’m very happy, as started before, as it is now. Rather they just get 2.x as stable as possible. But if 3.x could run as well and bring new features, I of course wouldn’t complain.
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@harboe said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
@olymay The “3100 can support 3.x” is what I’m focusing at as well. I’d hate to get a new update, just to make the watch run worse. I’m very happy, as started before, as it is now. Rather they just get 2.x as stable as possible. But if 3.x could run as well and bring new features, I of course wouldn’t complain.
Yeah, I agree 100%. Suunto have done an amazing job with the S7 to get running really well with bags of features and a stellar battery life. If the upgrade to v3.x were to affect that then I would rather stay at v2.x
That being said, I am squirrelling some cash away just in case a newer S7 does get released later this year or early next year. There is nothing wrong with my current model, but I’m a gadget geek who likes shiny things!
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@olymay said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
That being said, I am squirrelling some cash away just in case a newer S7 does get released later this year or early next year. There is nothing wrong with my current model, but I’m a gadget geek who likes shiny things!
I’ll probably hang on to mine untill the battery no longer holds a full day. Hoping that means around four years from day of purchase.
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@aleksander-h said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
@olymay said in Will Suunto 7 get WearOS 3.0?:
That being said, I am squirrelling some cash away just in case a newer S7 does get released later this year or early next year. There is nothing wrong with my current model, but I’m a gadget geek who likes shiny things!
I’ll probably hang on to mine untill the battery no longer holds a full day. Hoping that means around four years from day of purchase.
As long as the battery holds up I’ve no doubt the S7 will easily last that long (and knowing Suunto it will still be getting software updates too!).
My problem is I have GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and am always upgrading my gear. I do sell my old stuff on and avoid throwing things away though, to at least try and minimise my environmental impact.
