some questions before buying

Tjarco

Hi there, i bought a traverse alpha (TA) 4 years ago and it died on me recently. I really enjoyed this watch but some not so milspec quality issues caused it to die on me. (see point 1 below) Now looking at the vertical titanium, but because it’s about 3 times as expensive as the TA, i have some questions/considerations before buying after reading lots of reviews and posts on this forum.

The holes for the spring bars in the lugs on the TA were a plastic mould and they deteriorated causing the strap/spring bars to disattach after the mildest of impacts. Are the sping bar holes in the lugs of the SV cast in titanium or are the inside of the lugs also a plastic?
On the TA the flashlight could be activated by holding a button, this is not available on the SV right. Is it likely this will be an update, when?
On the TA the watch could be locked by holding a button, this is not available on the SV right, Is it likely this will be an update, when??
How likely is it that there will be some new watch faces released this year?
Is there anyone who already got some scratches on the bezel and how do these wear? (I was also considering the Garmin Tactix 7 and that bezel paint is horrible, really liked the bezel on the TA because it didn’t show any wear because of the texture)
In this thread someone speculated about a price drop for the Suunto in the coming 6/9 months, what drop can be expected if speculating?
Is there some sort of return program for diseased Suunto watches, so I could sent in my old TA to get refurbished or trade-inn to get a discount or something?

Thanks!
EDIT: used VS instead of SV to abbreviate the Suunto Vertical

Mff73

@Tjarco
for the points i know

2- flashlight mode exist on SV but more button to press (8x bottom button to scroll down list of choices + 1x middle button to activate light)
3- not available, requested since long time and never there, no one knows anything

isazi

@Tjarco said in some questions before buying:

The holes for the spring bars in the lugs on the TA were a plastic mould and they deteriorated causing the strap/spring bars to disattach after the mildest of impacts. Are the sping bar holes in the lugs of the SV cast in titanium or are the inside of the lugs also a plastic?

The body is made of titanium, the holes are in the titanium body.

On the TA the flashlight could be activated by holding a button, this is not available on the SV right. Is it likely this will be an update, when?

Maybe

On the TA the watch could be locked by holding a button, this is not available on the SV right, Is it likely this will be an update, when??

Unlikely, to be honest.

How likely is it that there will be some new watch faces released this year?

Possible.

Is there anyone who already got some scratches on the bezel and how do these wear? (I was also considering the Garmin Tactix 7 and that bezel paint is horrible, really liked the bezel on the TA because it didn’t show any wear because of the texture)

Small scratch on the bezel, I hit walls quite often. Scratches are lighter than the paint.

In this thread someone speculated about a price drop for the Suunto in the coming 6/9 months, what drop can be expected if speculating?

Prices go down at some point, for all watches. It may take some time though.

Is there some sort of return program for diseased Suunto watches, so I could sent in my old TA to get refurbished or trade-inn to get a discount or something?

There is no trade-in program that I am aware of.

Tjarco

@Mff73

Isn’t it possible to change the order of the menu from within the Suunto App? Thought I saw something like that in a youtube video, not sure if it applies to the flashlight mode.
Too bad.

From my point of view they removed 2 good features of the TA and I don’t get why. On this manual page it states that the top and down button do not have a long press command except when recording an exercise. And when recording an exercise a long press on the down does lock all buttons?

So @isazi regarding my point 3, you say it’s unlikely but it’s already a feature to lock all buttons with a long press on the down button but only when recording an exercise?

Tjarco

@isazi thanks for your responses, as I’m new on this forum and see a lot of your replies that seem in the know, do you work for Suunto? And can your responses be regarded as official Suunto responses?

Regarding new watch faces: I really hope Suunto upgrades their UI design skills. I love the design of the watches and the App but the Ui on the watches look like it’s designed by engineers. I hope a focus on the UI design is next for Suunto now that the App is where it is (pretty much regarded as the best app for a smartwatch now right?).
Regarding trade-in program: Too bad, would be a nice addition to the sustainability program. Someone else on this forum also mentioned this, my old defunct watch probably has more value when I ship it to Suunto than if I would just throw it in the trash.

isazi

@Tjarco said in some questions before buying:

@isazi thanks for your responses, as I’m new on this forum and see a lot of your replies that seem in the know, do you work for Suunto? And can your responses be regarded as official Suunto responses?

I do not work for Suunto, and even for people in the forum working for Suunto you cannot assume their response is an official Suunto response. Only official Suunto response is from official channels like the website suunto.com

@Tjarco said in some questions before buying:

Hi there, i bought a traverse alpha (TA) 4 years ago and it died on me recently. I really enjoyed this watch but some not so milspec quality issues caused it to die on me. (see point 1 below) Now looking at the vertical titanium, but because it’s about 3 times as expensive as the TA, i have some questions/considerations before buying after reading lots of reviews and posts on this forum.

The holes for the spring bars in the lugs on the TA were a plastic mould and they deteriorated causing the strap/spring bars to disattach after the mildest of impacts. Are the sping bar holes in the lugs of the SV cast in titanium or are the inside of the lugs also a plastic?

On the TA the flashlight could be activated by holding a button, this is not available on the SV right. Is it likely this will be an update, when?

On the TA the watch could be locked by holding a button, this is not available on the SV right, Is it likely this will be an update, when??

How likely is it that there will be some new watch faces released this year?

Is there anyone who already got some scratches on the bezel and how do these wear? (I was also considering the Garmin Tactix 7 and that bezel paint is horrible, really liked the bezel on the TA because it didn’t show any wear because of the texture)

In this thread someone speculated about a price drop for the Suunto in the coming 6/9 months, what drop can be expected if speculating?

Is there some sort of return program for diseased Suunto watches, so I could sent in my old TA to get refurbished or trade-inn to get a discount or something?

Thanks!
EDIT: used VS instead of SV to abbreviate the Suunto Vertical

Prices are already down on some sites. Also if you don’t mind you can get some good deals on almost as new SV in Vinted or used marketplace sites.
All the points you ask regarding software I wouldn’t have much faith on getting them, since most of them have been asked by users for quite a long time for other watches.