Reviews and videos

[matthinsh]

@TonyG I’m noticing a lot of Garmin bias creep into Ray’s site over the past year or two. Is it any surprise given his relationship with the company? He may not be on payroll, but he certainly does well by them.
His watch and bike computer reviews stack up much in favour of their devices over the competition, which to be frank are nowhere near as behind as he likes to make out. Garmin may be winning feature count, but there is so much more to it than that, software quality is not really a thing it seems. And his obsession with visual maps on a 1.2 inch screen is simply bizarre.

[A Former User]

Hmm, most known Youtubers holding back. Maybe they got instructed to wait for a further SW Version. Many here have issues with current production SW version… not beta.

Tbh watches improve often great over time. How much weight from technical standpoint has a fast review at the beginning… it is more marketing thing if you get a good review.

@mikekoski490 said in Reviews and videos:

@Bj-Fi My guess on why DC Rainmaker is holding off on his full review because he is having some beta software issues, and is giving Suunto time to update his test unit? Just my own opinion though. You should buy a Peak Pro asap and do your first YT review! Sounds like it would be up your alley.

[Bj Fi]

@TonyG It’s not a full review, a preview, as he says himself on it. And no vid.

[Bj Fi]

@matthinsh can’t say I’d disagree. Happy to see other channels and blogs be prominent in this space these days as well.

[Bj Fi]

@TonyG valid point. Could be. He’s been hinting between the lines that the GPS performance is bad. I’d be surprised, since I get crazy accurate GPS with the 5P even when making tight turns on a bike. But then again I’m not between tall buildings in Espoo.

[mikekoski490]

@mountainChris FYI Im not having any issues. My first run was right on track. I actually did a quick route on my phone minutes before to try it out, and checked turn by turn directions, and all good. GPS track was very good - way better than my COROS.

[altcmd]

@mikekoski490 How are the turn-by-turn notifications on the S9PP? I found it hard to understand on the S9B so stopped using it. The notification would be turn coming up in X meters but not at the point.

[freeheeler]

@altcmd
it’s been like that (in x meters) in S9B already…
afair 99m ahead

[TrailEyes]

In his review of the Coros Apex 2, DesFit includes the S9PP in his testing batch. I’m colorblind, so I have a tough time seeing where the 9PP line is compared with the others, but at least you can get an idea of how it stacks up against the Apex 2, Apex 2 Pro, and the Enduro 2.

https://youtu.be/A8xmu2ptsCI

[mikekoski490]

@freeheeler Yes. Still does that I guess - I didn’t use the S9B or the navigation on the S9P for the few weeks I had, so can’t compare, but it only took me a few ‘turns’ to figure out on the Pro that yes, it was saying the next turn/direction is coming up in ‘X’ meters. I found turn by turn good and referring to the actual track/breadcrumb to get the bigger picture all I needed. Compared to the Vertix 2 map, I found the Pro easier to read with simple black against white, as opposed to a dull map with roads and trails all over the place, and a barely readable route.

[freeheeler]

@mikekoski490
for what I know so far, it was improved, compared to S9B with indication arrows rather then text?
if this is so, input from surveys is considered indeed

[mikekoski490]

@freeheeler Its a directional arrow. Seemed pretty straightforward.

[freeheeler]

@mikekoski490
… exactly what some of us have requested in surveys! excellent

[DMytro]

@freeheeler still junctions are problematic I suppose. I need either maps or some precise junction turn notification.

[mikekoski490]

@DMytro Thats when you cross reference and follow your uploaded route. If you start heading down the wrong junction, your breadcrumb route will start to show you off course.

[freeheeler]

@mikekoski490
we would like to avoid that potential mini detour and I’ve suggested in a recent survey to show the crossing as a scheme but only highlight the correct path, similar like car navis do when you approach a crossing

[altcmd]

@mikekoski490 ok! So just as before, it tells what’s next in X meters but not when you are at the turning point, as a typical satnav or even garmin would do.

[DMytro]

@mikekoski490 I know that, I’ve done 50+ mountain hikes with S9. But the thing is, something gyro isn’t very accurate and the map on the screen is turned slightly different + there are multiple ways to choose from. It may be me, but my friends joke about this already ‘i always try to look at the watch only to take out my phone and make sure about the junction after I took 1-2 wrong turns already’. This is highly annoying especially in the mountains, since the GPS signal isn’t strong there to begin with - you are constantly drifting away from your planned route even though you should’ve remained on it.
And it gets frustrating when you have to climb extra 50 meters of elevation only to realise you have to turn back after you already did 1200 meters of elevation during some 20km hike.

Bottom line: for me navigation screen on S9 is only to determine if I’m in general still going in the same direction or restospectively if I indeed was on the route. I hope this would change someday because I would like my watch to become primary navigation tool and my phone to remain as a backup.

[DMytro]

@freeheeler I suppose one could implement this manually by drawing the junctions during the creation of gpx. But this would screw TbT and route length/elevation profile.

[TonyG]

Another Blog Montre cardio GPS usage video (French - but can do auto subtitles)

https://youtu.be/up2wkminOio