The Race is nice, but I’m still holding on to my Vertical

nseslija

Definitely keep the Vertical, really love the watch! I would choose Vertical over Race if I was buying a watch today. Solar, battery life… and I prefer MIP over AMOLED…

BrunoH

@Egika thank you, I know what S7 was. I had one… The battery lasted hardly 24 hours (brand new) and it was crashing constantly (among other fatal errors).

I was just wondering if the amoled display suffered from some long time problems.

Quoting @runomatic :
Keep also in mind, what’s happend with the Suunto 7’s AMOLED display after some years.

Kowalski

@Andrew_

You should not buy a new watche just because there is a new one…

Egika

@BrunoH yes, quite some users had screen burn issues. Suunto must have replaced a lot of screens…
I rather guess they learned from this screen-wise and don’t want to make this happen again…

taziden

@Egika said in The Race is nice, but I’m still holding on to my Vertical:

@BrunoH yes, quite some users had screen burn issues. Suunto must have replaced a lot of screens…
I rather guess they learned from this screen-wise and don’t want to make this happen again…

Desfit showed in his review that it was taken into account with the Race, with “pixel shifting” (don’t know how to say that better). The characters displayed would move from time to time, so as not to burn parts of the screen.

Egika

@taziden correct. Those always on energy saving displays are designed in a way that not always the same pixels are activated.
Plus I am very sure that the display hardware is 3 years improved since Suunto 7

isazi

Suunto devs are working really hard to make the new firmware (probably expected in Fall 2023, let’s say a Tuesday like in the past?) stable and full of new features, large and small. There’s even still development on the GNSS firmware. The Vertical is definitely not an abandoned watch.

So even with Suunto MIP is definitely dead? MIP is the clear winner outdoors AMOLED can’t compare even close imo

e6321

@ultravox people keep saying this but the vertical was only released 6 months ago.
AMOLED will never get better battery life than MIP. I think it’s here for long run. Just different devices for different people.

@N6321 said in The Race is nice, but I’m still holding on to my Vertical:

Just different devices for different people

I hope so

freeheeler

@ultravox
the screen is good, very good to be honest. I was extremely positive surprised and didn’t expect that from an AMOLED.

I’ve bought a Vertical on the release day. the decision for me back then was easy.
If I’d had to choose today the decision, honestly wouldn’t be that easy anymore.
But as it was mentioned some times already I also see different usecases for either watch.
and I would say the main driver for the decision could be the personal preference. “some people” sorry… prefer the bright, vivid and crisp color of AMOLED

General_Witt

I recently gave back to Amazon my Vertical for an hardware issue and got my money back. I’m honestly telling you I’m buying the Race without a doubt. The only niche I can clearly see for the Vertical are extreme alpinists and their monthly long trips in some remote region.
The screen, the very decent battery for an AMOLED display, the fitness metrics, and for me the most important thing: 24/7 dressability, the Race is a little smaller, it’s less edgy on the superior part and a little lighter (titanium version under 70 grams), all at a reasonable price.
It’s a no brainer in my opinion.

e6321

@General_Witt no without a doubt the value of the vertical has been significantly eroded. But it still has its place.
Suunto really on the offensive with this release. Should shake up the watch market a fair bit.

I suppose one danger is they are maybe at risk of pricing themselves out of keeping manufacturing in Finland.

@Egika said in The Race is nice, but I’m still holding on to my Vertical:

@BrunoH yes, quite some users had screen burn issues. Suunto must have replaced a lot of screens…
I rather guess they learned from this screen-wise and don’t want to make this happen again…

I remember seeing a lot of that on Suunto 7 but don’t recall seeing that on the garmin (I searched a bit before buying the 965), so maybe it was just a screen supplier issue. Let’s hope for the race it’s a different one and no issues

General_Witt

@e6321 If Race would have been manufactured in Finland 100% with green energy and the price was 650 euro I’d still choose the Race.
I’m not happy about the manufacturing in China, but the value is just too solid not to buy it based on this fact.

Brad_Olwin

@TrailEyes said in The Race is nice, but I’m still holding on to my Vertical:

@Brad_Olwin I know you’ve said in the past that you were even partial to the 9PP over the Vertical in some instances, so where does the Race fit in with your broader use-case heirarchy and is the 9PP still relevant for your situations?

My perfect watch would be a 9PP size or just a little bit larger, if the bezel is kept at the same size then give it solar, update the screen to the brightest MIP, a bit longer battery life and maps.

I like the Race a lot and great for running and racing…but for SkiMo, Touring and SkiMo racing I think the crown will be less useful as when strapped over a coat it may move when you do not want it to, it will be difficult to zoom in and out of maps with gloves. With snow and strong sun the MIP display is likely better.

If I had to choose one and only one Suunto, I would probably go with the Vertical. If two, the Vertical and the 9PP probably. Hope that answers your question.

Todd Danielczyk

For me I prefer the readability of MIPS in direct sunlight as well as having less power consumption versus AMOLED.

When am I using maps? Mostly on a sunny day outdoors. Checking heart rate while biking? Outdoors. Readability at a glance is ideal and even in bad overcast with brightness turned up it’s still quite good albeit slightly washed out. Not having anxiety of running out of power on the trail? Priceless…

Lifting weights or rowing is indoors but I usually have the area flooded with light so it becomes a non issue.

I do understand the appeal of AMOLED and why people would gravitate to it but there is also people that prefer MIPS for what it offers. The camps are divided and I appreciate that Suunto offers both with premium builds for both (not cheap materials on one versus the other).

Do I feel one is superior to the other? Well it depends on how you will use the watch and for my case MIPS wins. If I were using it mostly indoors for notifications then I would probably go with AMOLED. I think that has always been the appeal of the Apple or Samsung watches for their users as they use it mostly for the smart watch aspect and to a lesser extent the lifestyle part. I honestly think that’s where Suunto leans into heavy; the lifestyle. They get us outdoors folks!

Stefan Kersting

@Brad_Olwin interesting info about the watches. But it confirms that I did a good choice with the vertical because I’m using my watches mainly for outdoor activities

Martin Vrska

@Andrew_ I switched to Vertical (without solar) after six months of using the S9PP and I am very satisfied. I’m looking forward to the new FW correcting errors - for me mainly errors in the recovery calculation, system acceleration and certainly a lot of new things from Race. I am primarily a runner and cyclist, so Vertical suits me perfectly.

TrailEyes

@Brad_Olwin said in The Race is nice, but I’m still holding on to my Vertical:

Hope that answers your question.

Yes, for sure, thanks! I’m just always curious how people’s preferences line up with their watch of choice. I appreciate you sharing your perspective!