Up ahead?

ilstrup

Sorry if this has been posted/asked before. Searched the forum and internet but couldn’t find an answer. I’m coming from Garmin, and I’m wondering if there’s an “up ahead” feature when walking/hiking/running using map and planned route? I have the Race. Thanks!

Mff73

@ilstrup
Sorry, but, what is “up ahead”?

ilstrup

@Mff73 Up ahead specifically is a Garmin name for a feature, but it’s essentially a screen of upcoming course markers or POIs that you have marked in your route. Eg, x-distance to z-marker, and y-distance to a-marker, etc. See Garmins page about it.

sky-runner

Not having Up Ahead is one reason I don’t consider switching back to Suunto from Garmin. For me that is one of must have features along with Climb Pro and Strava Live Segments.

Suunto supports live segments as a Suunto+ app, but there are only two Suunto+ slots. If Up Ahead is implemented as another Suunto+ app, that means that essentially I won’t be able to use any other apps. These features need to be built in.

tiago

This post is deleted!

A Former User

@sky-runner said in Up ahead?:

Not having Up Ahead is one reason I don’t consider switching back to Suunto from Garmin.

not the same but quite similar is the S+ race companion, quite functional for me

Dušan Ković

When you create waypoint on the planned route, it will give you a notification about 100m before each waypoint. Also, you can create a custom sport mode with ETE or ETA to waypoint fields and it will give you time or distance to the next waypoint entire activity.

inkognito

@Dušan-Ković Yes… But, honestly, I got my SV for adventures and navigation. I use waypoints a lot. But now, the name of the next waypoint only shows up in two pop-ups: when you reach the previous one and then 100m before. Nothing in between.

My old S9 at least showed the next waypoint name anytime you pressed the lower button on the navigation screen (on top of the menu, there circled info like next waypoint name, ETE, etc.).

I don’t really get why we can’t have more info in route details or something like “Next waypoint” in the navigation menu triggering at least a pop-up about the next waypoint.

It is cool that Suunto has maps now. But when it comes to practical route navigation features, nothing really changed in the past 3 years… Don’t tell me nobody uses waypoints anymore…

Tieutieu

Certainly not excactly what you guys ask for, but on my last ultra trails I have now this routine :

load the gpx of the race as new route on SA (if available of course !)
add the main waypoints I want, to have then the main segments useful to me (supply points, key points like top of a climb…)
using a custom sport mode with no automatic tour
navigate on the route
I have a personalized « segment » screen that tells me distance to next waypoint, time of the tour, pace…and a « global » screen with total distance, pace…
I set a tour when I arrive to the waypoint during the race.

« Distance to next waypoint » is one of the field that can be used when customizing a sport mode. It works very well. I highly prefer that to the race companion where you set yourself distance to next point.

With distance to next waypoint, even if you deviate, take a wrong route or if the official race takes a detour for any reason compare to the gpx, the distance remaining will still be ok !

ilstrup

@inkognito Fully agree to your points. I’m finding it very confusing that you can define POIs and waypoints when planning routes but in practice they are useless as you have no idea - until you’re 100m away - how far there is to waypoints. It’s not only relevant for hiking but longer runs, too, to signal water depots or other POIs.

Race Companion is not sufficient as you would need to guestimate at what distance a point is.

sky-runner

@Dušan-Ković Yes, I used custom sport mode with distance to next waypoint with Suunto 9.

I don’t like that approach because it requires me to have a special custom sport mode just for the cases when I want to navigate with route and otherwise those fields are wasted. Considering a small number of data screens allowed by Suunto that is a poor user experience.

Up Ahead has two advantages.

It shows up only when I navigate and otherwise I can use exactly the same sport mode.
More importantly it shows up to 4 next waypoints on a single screen so I can plan ahead. For example, when I am coming to an aid station in a race I already know distance to the next one so I can decide whether to refill water and how much water I need, or whether I can skip this aid station. Having names of waypoints is also important.

In fact Ambit displayed names of upcoming waypoints and I often used that as navigation hints. Furthermore there used to be a dedicated waypoint screen, so I could see information about upcoming waypoint at any point, not just shortly before arriving there.

inkognito

@inkognito said in Up ahead?:

@Dušan-Ković Yes… But, honestly, I got my SV for adventures and navigation. I use waypoints a lot. But now, the name of the next waypoint only shows up in two pop-ups: when you reach the previous one and then 100m before. Nothing in between.

My old S9 at least showed the next waypoint name anytime you pressed the lower button on the navigation screen (on top of the menu, there circled info like next waypoint name, ETE, etc.).

I don’t really get why we can’t have more info in route details or something like “Next waypoint” in the navigation menu triggering at least a pop-up about the next waypoint.

It is cool that Suunto has maps now. But when it comes to practical route navigation features, nothing really changed in the past 3 years… Don’t tell me nobody uses waypoints anymore…

Unfortunately, there have been no changes with the 2.33.12 firmware update. This is disappointing and surprising, given that I purchased the watch advertised as “Adventure watch for outdoor expeditions and training.”.
It’s hard to imagine an expedition watch without the ability to display the name of your next waypoint whenever needed…
I love the new functionality that Suunto keeps bringing, but, come on, this is essential!

Could someone possibly confirm whether Suunto is aware of this?

Egika

I think it is safe to say, that there is a loooong list of possible enhancements. From “resume later”, to “name of next waypoint” and not ending with the drill feature for swimming and multiple BT sensor management.

So, yes, I am pretty sure that this feature is on that list (without personally knowing it), but as with other things, there is a prioritisation and I am not aware of an imminent change for the “next waypoint”.