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    Preference for a 3- or 5-Button Configuration?

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    • EgikaE Offline
      Egika Platinum Member @v.sacre
      last edited by

      @v-sacre Coros’ (or in general competitors’) implementation of things should not be the benchmark.
      The benchmark should be usability

      t6, S6, Elementum Terra, Ambit 3 Sapphire, Spartan Ultra Copper, Traverse Alpha, S7 Graphite LE, S9B Ambassador, S9P Granite Blue Titanium, S9PP Titanium Sand, Vertical All Black, Race Titanium Charcoal,
      Race S All Black - TI Canary - Titanium Courtney

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      • TrailEyesT Offline
        TrailEyes Gold Members @freeheeler
        last edited by

        @freeheeler Nothing wrong with being a man of few words 😀

        Suunto Vertical / 9 Peak Pro (gifted away) / 9 Baro / 5 Peak (lost on adventure) / Vector
        -----------‐-----------
        Trail Runner / Hiker / Kickboxer
        Instagram: @rytipps

        freeheelerF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • TonyGT Offline
          TonyG Silver Members @Egika
          last edited by TonyG

          @Egika I have had the Coros Apex Pro, and the rotating button on that got gunked up with fine silt (work in intertidal sediments) and refused to turn, took only one outing in that environment to convince me that rotating buttons were not suitable for me 🙂 I currently use a Garmin and 5 button or three doesnt bother me either way so long as the UI can navigated with ease, if I had to Pick then Three with Touchscreen as per Suunto solution.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • freeheelerF Offline
            freeheeler @TrailEyes
            last edited by

            @TrailEyes
            🍻

            living sideways

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            • Łukasz SzmigielŁ Offline
              Łukasz Szmigiel
              last edited by

              The only thing I miss from my S5 after switching to S9PP is being unable to cycle back screens during the workout. This is insane when having an active navigation, 3 screens and an S+. The way I used to operate S5 is by having the most useful data screen as the last one before the navigation, which allowed me to simply switch +1 or -1 for most of the time. I can’t do this with S9 series.

              3 buttons is fine but I’d like Suunto to come up with a solution to this particular problem while having only 3 buttons.

              S9PP 2.40.44

              F aroo7A 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • DMytroD Offline
                DMytro
                last edited by

                What some other people mentioned: dedicated ‘back’ button and switch to rhe previous screen in workout would be nice. Hence, 4 buttons for me I guess.
                Or, what I’d prefer even more is a rotating crown, like Coros has. That opens up the other two buttons to be ‘select’ and ‘back’. If the crown is also clickable, then even more functionality would fit.

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                • F Offline
                  Freezer Bronze Member @Łukasz Szmigiel
                  last edited by

                  @Łukasz-Szmigiel @isazi in the current 3 button configuration a “medium” long press of the middle button could be used to move back a screen (up until you hold the button long enough to enter options).

                  Łukasz SzmigielŁ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • Kurt68K Offline
                    Kurt68
                    last edited by

                    3 👍 😀

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Łukasz SzmigielŁ Offline
                      Łukasz Szmigiel @Freezer
                      last edited by

                      @Freezer I was also thinking about double click. But that would interfere with instances of clocking three or four times in a row.

                      But holding for back is not a bad idea. There’s an animation running when you hold the middle button. It could be redesigned to show what action a hold would trigger.

                      S9PP 2.40.44

                      ? 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • ? Offline
                        A Former User @Łukasz Szmigiel
                        last edited by

                        5 button for me

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                        • isaziI Offline
                          isazi Moderator
                          last edited by

                          I do not have a strong preference for buttons, but I would not give up on touchscreen. Since moving to the S9B I realized that for many things a touchscreen is more convenient than buttons.

                          Watch: Suunto Vertical Ti

                          Blog: isazi's home

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • northeast_trekkerN Offline
                            northeast_trekker Bronze Member
                            last edited by

                            I have used watches with 3 button plus touchscreen (Suunto Spartan and S9B) and 4 buttons (S7) and 5 buttons no touchscreen (Wahoo Rival) and I can definitely say although I think the 3 button approach works for the traditional Suunto sports app UI with breadcrumb navigation, I much prefer the 4 or 5 button approach. Having that extra button or two helps in some very tangible and practical ways esp when you introduce maps and the zoom functionality that becomes that much more information-giving.

                            • dedicated backlight button is very nice, adds options for user to have more control over the watch

                            • dedicated back button is just nice when you don’t want to swipe screen. on older 3 button devices I never used the long middle button hold.

                            • adding a 4 or 5 button layout adds ability for hotkeys. whereas current 3 button really limits because long hold of upper right is dedicated to a soft reset, middle button hold is (or was in old UI) dedicated to a quick menu start.

                            I agree with the reviewers, Suunto needs to add more buttons to compete and open up their UI to be more flexible esp now with maps. having to long hold to zoom out seems like a pain compared to how S7 worked with map zoom.

                            HighlandsH 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • HighlandsH Offline
                              Highlands @northeast_trekker
                              last edited by

                              @northeast_trekker I find the 5 buttons layout better for my personal needs. I use the touch when working with the maps.

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Dimitrios KanellopoulosD Offline
                                Dimitrios Kanellopoulos Community Manager
                                last edited by

                                3 by far.

                                Community Manager / Admin @Suunto
                                Creator of Quantified-Self.io
                                youtube.com/c/dimitrioskanellopoulos
                                https://instagram.com/dimitrioskanellopoulos
                                https://www.strava.com/athletes/7586105

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                • Dimitrios KanellopoulosD Offline
                                  Dimitrios Kanellopoulos Community Manager
                                  last edited by

                                  Like every time I try to use a 5 button watch I am like WHY?

                                  Community Manager / Admin @Suunto
                                  Creator of Quantified-Self.io
                                  youtube.com/c/dimitrioskanellopoulos
                                  https://instagram.com/dimitrioskanellopoulos
                                  https://www.strava.com/athletes/7586105

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                                  • mikekoski490M Offline
                                    mikekoski490 Bronze Member @Egika
                                    last edited by mikekoski490

                                    @Egika I had the rotating crown on the Coros Vertix 2 and it was only ok at first but after awhile was a bit of a pain. It has to be unlocked to work of course so it doesn’t inadvertently scroll, so to do any functions you had to press it in for 3 seconds first, THEN scroll. It would be like if Suunto buttons were always locked, and you had to hold one of them down for 3 seconds every time to use the watch. 🤷

                                    EDIT: I meant rotating crown not bezel (changed above)

                                    Past Suuntos: X-Lander/Observer/T6/X9/X10/X6HR/CORES/Ambits/Spartan/9P/9PP Ti/Vertical Ti

                                    Current: Suunto Race Ti

                                    Past other GPS watches: Polar Vantage V; Garmin 6X Pro Solar; Coros Vertix 2

                                    Suunto App running on Google Pixel 8/Android 14

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                                    • Brad_OlwinB Offline
                                      Brad_Olwin Moderator @TrailEyes
                                      last edited by

                                      @TrailEyes It is hard enough to remember what the 3 buttons do after running a full day and night….5 are impossible. I would end up stopping my race or worse.

                                      Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

                                      C 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                      • C Offline
                                        cemoi71 @Brad_Olwin
                                        last edited by

                                        @Brad_Olwin 👍 or after a crossfit w.o.d. with full power, and out of breath at the end.

                                        One button rotative ? 🤓

                                        suunto 9 peak pro
                                        Custom Android (LineageOS)

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • MiniForkliftM Offline
                                          MiniForklift Platinum Member
                                          last edited by

                                          I’ll be upgrading to the Vertical very soon, I currently have an S9B (3 buttons) and a Garmin Enduro (5 buttons)

                                          FWIW I prefer the 3 button layout

                                          SV Titanium Solar Forest

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • aroo7A Offline
                                            aroo7 Bronze Member @Łukasz Szmigiel
                                            last edited by

                                            @Łukasz-Szmigiel It annoys me too, especially when I want to check the route and go back to the data fields.
                                            therefore not 3, not 5, but 4 😉

                                            Łukasz SzmigielŁ A 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 3
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