Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9

MiniForklift

@patrick-löffler Yeah, as freeheeler said one of the main reasons was to do with the size, it felt considerably smaller than the S9B so I’d definitely recommend that you try one on before you buy. As you can see in my review thread (link below) Polar annoyingly has some of distance numbers set really small and not in bold - so it is quite hard to read when you are running

S9B Vs Polar Grit X Pro

FWIW I also struggled with the buttons in the sense that pausing or ending a run use different buttons to Suunto! So I ended a few sessions accidentally and also thought I’d paused it when I had in fact pressed the lap button. Thought my brain would get used to the differences but it started to get annoying haha. I’m sure this wouldn’t be an issue if you haven’t been using Suunto watches for a long time

It does have a lot of things going for it - excellent battery life, solid GPS in deep forest or woodland (better than the S9B) and the app & web based platform were both very good. It also felt very comfortable on the wrist, Polar’s FKM strap is really nice

Patrick Löffler

@miniforklift Thank you very much. For the last half year I was on Garmin. But somehow I’m not a Garmin guy. I really can’t say exactly why. I would like to love Polar. The sleep tracking is the best. But somehow I get drawn back to Suunto. ‍️

TheGuyFromTheSummit

@patrick-löffler currently I am using a Vantage V2 and I have to say it is awesome.
The screen is smaller (compared to my S9B), but it is easier to read - for me.
When running you won’t feel the watch - it is way lighter than the S9B

wakarimasen

Polar is pretty good - especially for sleep tracking. Just don’t try to navigate with it, unless things have improved in the year or so. It’s an exercise in frustration

ierisch

@patrick-löffler Tried my brother’s vantage m for a week, not gonna lie it feels like “a sporty fitbit”, really like the graph in flow app, sleep tracking is top notch, insight is more “understandable” than my former fenix 6s, gps accuracy is good too. But I’m now back to my S9BT.

ChrisA

@wakarimasen I find navigation not that bad but what I really miss is, that one can’t save any waypoints when enroute mainly because you ain’t have waypoints in the app / watch at all . I really like to save interesting points when I am hiking or cycling (like a trail I‘ve discovered) to use in route planing for a later trip.

TyreseJ4

@ierisch I used the Polar Vantage M for like a week and immediately sold it. That’s probably the last Polar device that I’ll try. Felt cheap and just wasn’t for me. I’ve never tried Coros. I’ll stick with Garmin and Suunto.

MiniForklift

@tyresej4 said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:

@ierisch I used the Polar Vantage M for like a week and immediately sold it. That’s probably the last Polar device that I’ll try. Felt cheap and just wasn’t for me. I’ve never tried Coros. I’ll stick with Garmin and Suunto.

COROS are decent but you need to spend up on their more expensive models. I’ve had the APEX and it felt like I was wearing a $10 watch. Very plasticy and didn’t have a quality feel or look to it at all

ChrisA

@tyresej4 Have a look on the Grit X Pro - it’s one of the best looking watches from Polar IMO and of excellent build quality (very much like a S9B).

MiniForklift

@chrisa said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:

@tyresej4 Have a look on the Grit X Pro - it’s one of the best looking watches from Polar IMO and of excellent build quality (very much like a S9B).

S9B Vs Polar Grit X Pro - a review and comparison

wmichi

I bought the S9P (moss grey) a couple of weeks ago. It’s a really nice watch and VERY comfortable to wear. But I have two of issues with it.

Buttons: I don’t like the clicking sound, and they are very hard to operate with gloves on
Screen: With standby light permanently on, it looks good. But during a workout, I can hardly read what’s on the screen. There are just too much reflections.

So I bought a S9 Baro. The buttons are a lot easier to operate with gloves on (and no sound). The contrast of the screen might be worse than the screen of the S9P, but it is much more readable. In direct sunlight it looks gorgeous, and even in shadows readabilty is much better than on the S9P. Size seems to matter.

Now I have two great watches. Unfortunately the Suunto platform is not capable of syncing data between watches. So most of the screens on the watches are pretty useless, when you use more than one Suunto device (training plan, resources, hr, sleep,… half of the data is missing).

I am still unsure which watch I should keep. S9P is more comfortable for 24/7 usage, S9B is better in training…

Brad_Olwin

@wmichi Data should integrate with switching watches connected to the same account. However, data do not sync from the app to the watch.

freeheeler

@wmichi
depending what type you are and if you want more items with very similar functions… then you could keep both and use S9P for “casual”, which might be a bit overkill, and you could use S9B for sports.

I learned for myself that I only want one watch, even I think sometimes it would be nice to have several watches, I think for me personally it is cumbersome and exaggerated.
I think I would use both for couple of weeks and see which watch I like better and then get rid of the other one

I would like to see a bigger version of S9P as a potential successor of my X-Alps some time in the future… hopefully not too soon. I think the clicks wouldn’t bother me. I tried them in a shop recently. But the tiny buttons would definitely bother me, since I really want to operate my watch with gloves!

I remember that it was one of the selling points of the Vector… don’t know why this should have changed, unless the customer they’re targeting have changed

Egika

@wmichi I think the same about the buttons of the S9P. Difficult to operate with gloves. I put this into all surveys
For me the S9P has become my daily driver also mainly because it has such a good wrist HR measurement.
I still cannot get rid of my S9B Ambassador Edition. It’s like a collectible…

wmichi

@freeheeler Yes, it’s absolutely exaggerated and pure luxury. I think I was the target audience for something in between those two watches. Something you have called S9PXL multiple times in the forum

isazi

@freeheeler said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:

I learned for myself that I only want one watch, even I think sometimes it would be nice to have several watches, I think for me personally it is cumbersome and exaggerated.

I am also a 1 watch person. S9P is my main driver, the watch I use for sports and that I wear during the day to check time. All the others are for testing.

In the past I tried to have more than one watch (S7 + S9B) but it did not work for me.

Egika

@wmichi what exaclty would differentiate the S9PXL from the S9B?
Just OTA updates and SpO2 would not make a big difference in day to day use.
I can just think of improved OHR otherwise.
What would make S9PXL different?

DMytro

@egika a lot different things, in my opinion. Bigger battery, thinner bezel, maps, bigger storage (e.g. for maps and/or music), dual frequency gps chip. All this while maintaining the design language and keeping the watch body at the same thickness. One can argue that it will no longer be S9p XL, but S9 gen 2 or something - but so be it then:)

wmichi

@egika If I was Suunto, I would build something like that:

Similar design language as S9P
But with bigger, less noisy buttons
Same diameter as S9B, but lower height. This would make the watch larger, but less bulky (less movement -> better OHR). If possible (antenna design), smaller black bezels around the display would be a nice touch
Better vibrations and louder alarms (customizable per sport mode)
A faster processor. Stability can not be an excuse for a sluggish UX
All the rest the same as S9P

So regarding the hardware, basically a larger display and better performance. Of course a better battery is always nice, too. Regarding GPS I am very happy with the S9P. Do the latest S9B Titanium (blue and charcoal) have the same GPS chipset as the S9P?

OTA is standard nowadays, so it should be included (and I am pretty sure it will be in all future Suunto watches). I agree, SpO2 does not really make difference. In my opinion it is even completely useless for most people. But Suunto could add blood sugar and blood pressure measurement (of course on a medical level). That might be interesting for some people

Egika

@dmytro ok, got it now. This would indeed be “design your preferred Suunto model out of what is out there”