How is the 9PP positioned with the new arrival of the RaceS?
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@ferns As I had the Ambit3 Vertical, the 9 Peak and now the Race S I think I can say a little bit about the differences.
- Ambit3 is still great. The big advantages you get with the new ones is OHR, Running Power and the depth meter for snorkeling. There are some other features of course, but for a sportswatch I think these are the relevant.
- Between 9PP and SRS the Race S its not so easy like I thought. SRS has maps, 9PP is better build and cheaper. Regarding the display I like the size of the SRS more than the small one in the 9PP.
AMOLED vs MIP is for me a big suprise. AMOLED in the SRS is really eye candy indoor and has also a good visibility outdoor. But I don’t like that its dark most of the time. It reacts late on lifting the arm and darkens again after a few seconds. MIP on the 9PP can be always on without big battery drain and has a great visibility outdoor.
I am not unhappy with the SRS, but in some moments I think the 9PP would have been the better choice. But if you choose the wrong way on a Y crossing in unknown areas often enough the maps are really welcome.
So: Get the SRS just because its the cheapest way to have a GPS watch with maps
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An update here after more usage: Yes, maps are great - but not as much as I thought. After a longer Trail Run today I noticed that about 50% of the trails on Y crossings were not in the map. So it also didn’t help in this case. And in the case where it helped I’m not sure if I would also be able to find the right way with the old maps.
And Display: AMOLED is rubbish. I really, really hate it after I did some workouts and the longer run today. Its like the watch is trying to work against you, turning of the screen all the time. Even when I activated AOD in every sportsmode the map still gets dark until its not readable anymore. And still, after 9h running with navigation the battery was below 50%.
I’m sure the 9PP works equal or better for sports with navigation. For 50€ less I think I made the wrong choice with the Race S.
I can live with it as I don’t plan to do a 100k, but still this performance is underwhelming. Hopefully there is an update making the map readable without pushing a button every 20 seconds or so…
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@VoiGAS said in How is the 9PP positioned with the new arrival of the RaceS?:
And Display: AMOLED is rubbish. I really, really hate it after I did some workouts and the longer run today. Its like the watch is trying to work against you, turning of the screen all the time. Even when I activated AOD in every sportsmode the map still gets dark until its not readable anymore. And still, after 9h running with navigation the battery was below 50%.
That’s really interesting for me. I also have a 9PP which I love, except the display is too small for me when running. I’ve considered both the Race and the Vertical, and really haven’t been able to decide between the two. I’ve been leaning towards the Vertical, because I’m also not so sure about AMOLED displays, so your feedback is very valuable.
Suunto 9 Peak Pro
Suunto Ambit3 Peak
Suunto Kailash
Polar OH1 -
@wakarimasen Yes, I think the Vertical combines the best Suunto Hardware and Software. Its just a little heavy and expensive, thats why my choice was between 9PP and Race S
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@wakarimasen I do not like AMOLED much myself, and still prefer MIP, but AMOLED (when on) is so much more readable in every condition
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@wakarimasen I have just switched from 9P to Race S and completed my first training session with the new device yesterday.
I can confirm that the AMOLED display is much easier to read than the MIP, especially in low light conditions. It was also no problem for me that the display is not constantly on.
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@DirkM Did you run following a route in sunny conditions? This was the biggest problem for me
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On the discussion about the future of the 9PP, the other day I was shopping for a new pair of trail shoes. They were showcasing Suunto watches and you could touch and feel them. These were nonfunctional mock-ups, by the way. I discussed with the guy the new Race S and asked about how many Suunto AMOLED vs. MIP watches they were selling. The answer was that 4 out of 5 watches sold were AMOLED, with 1 out of 5 MIP (and these were Verticals), reason being that people feel AMOLED “the next big thing” in display technologies: they look much better.
AMOLED sells watches, that’s the fact.
IMHO, unless Suunto launches a Vertical-S anytime soon, MIP will die with the Vertical. Let’s face it, Suunto nailed it with the Race S in price and features packed. I’ll miss MIP.
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Maybe my Watch is different from the others, I have other expectations or I am not able to set the watch correctly
My Watch: Race S, made in China…
My Use Case: Running at daylight, if possible sunny conditions
My settings: Highest Brightness and AOD on, lift to wake off ( I have AOD on, so…)
Sounds like it should be always readable, right? But it is not. The display is reducing the brightness after a few seconds to a level below “low” and doesn’t go up anymore. This brightness level is unreadable in the sunlight
So you have to activate lift to wake, else you brightness setting is ignored. That works, but it takes about 1 second. Sounds not like much, but during running its an additional stride you have with your hand lifted. For me thats at least annoying if not unacceptable for a sportwatch.
Maybe I got something wrong, but I don’t get how this can be better than the 9 Peaks MIP for running outdoor. For indoor AMOLED is much better, I agree on this.
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At least I am not the only one https://forum.suunto.com/post/144517
And for cycling:
https://forum.suunto.com/topic/10268/bright-mode-cycling/Too bad I didn’t read them before buying the Race S. If the AOD setting will be fixed to “Always On” instead of “Always Off” the AMOLED display will be absolutly fine. Until then I cannot recommend the Race S for “Sun Runners”. I guess for biking its even worse because Lift to wake doesn’t work on a mount.
9PP is currently the better choice I would say, anyone planning to buy Race (S) should be aware of the problem -
@VoiGAS both posts you mention are before the update that allowed display setting to be specified per sport.
Watch: Suunto Vertical Ti
Blog: isazi's home
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@VoiGAS I have been a runner for many years and see no problem in raising my wrist and waiting for the display to activate - in less than a second, in my opinion. But maybe we have different needs. Besides, the MIP display has been no different in twilight and darkness with the backlight turning on.
Suunto Race S ! Suunto 9 Peak ! Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR ! Suunto Ambit2R
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@isazi You are right - but there is still no solution for situations without lift to wake, right?
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@DirkM I agree, in darkness/twilight the MIP was worse. But for my preffered weather conditions it was perfect.
So it depends, but I think it is important to be clear about the pros and cons.
For Indoor, twilight, night, home AMOLED is better
For Sun MIP is better
As this is a major difference between 9PP and Race S it fits here -
Fun fact:
- A refurbished S9PP Ti costs 359 € right now.
- A brand new S9PP Ti costs 349 € right now.
Maybe it is because the refurbished one is Made in Finland?
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Clearly the obvious solution is to own both a Race S and a 9PP
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@VoiGAS said in How is the 9PP positioned with the new arrival of the RaceS?:
An update here after more usage: Yes, maps are great - but not as much as I thought. After a longer Trail Run today I noticed that about 50% of the trails on Y crossings were not in the map. So it also didn’t help in this case. And in the case where it helped I’m not sure if I would also be able to find the right way with the old maps.
And Display: AMOLED is rubbish. I really, really hate it after I did some workouts and the longer run today. Its like the watch is trying to work against you, turning of the screen all the time. Even when I activated AOD in every sportsmode the map still gets dark until its not readable anymore. And still, after 9h running with navigation the battery was below 50%.
Well, I respectfully disagree here. I don’t use AOD and find responsiveness on turning my wrist superb - I have no issues while racing where I have less time to glance at the Screen. With navigation on I am getting close to 30h battery estimate. On a 7h 26 min 50K race with navigation and climb guidance I lost 14% battery on Race S as measured by JSON file. Both are in direct sun at 1700 m elevation.
@wakarimasenBelow are zonesense from Race S and Vertical. The AMOLED screen refreshes quickly and shows up in photos.
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@Brad_Olwin Thats really strange. My Race S takes about 1 second to light up, even after a hard reset. Is yours faster or is this lag acceptable for you?
Regarding battery lifetime: Did you use maps on navigation? I heard thats the big battery eater and I used them on my 9h run. Without them the battery lifetime seems good enough. Even good enough it could power a real Always On Display in my opinion…Edit: Measuring the one second speaking the word “twentyone”. Not very scientific or precise - but I can speak the whole word before the display lights up, so this should be around one second
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@VoiGAS battery lifetimes with maps on but not on map page 100% and course loaded but no TBT. As fast as I turn my wrist screen is bright no AOD and full raise to wake. During non- exercise might be slower but that doesn’t matter. During exercise plenty fast for me but likely not fast enough on a bike.
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@Brad_Olwin Interesting, thank you for this answer. Looks like the watches behave a little different. I hope one of the next updates will give me a similar performance - then I am perfectly happy with the Race S
Edit: Found some strange behaviour after experimenting with the settings, but its to OT here - I opened a new topic
