Up ahead?

tiago

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A Former User

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”.

fritzbt2013

Up Ahead is the one feature the Vertical 2 and Race 2 are missing from my perspective. I currently use my Enduro 3 for any serious hikes or backpacking.

I would happily buy and switch to the new Vertical 2 if it had this … I currently have the Race 2 and am not loving the dial for winter hikes when wearing over down coat, etc. Also, the addition of the light on the V2 would give me a backup light now needed with the short days.

Here’s my suggestion:

For the zoomed in Elevation profile when using waypoints. Replace the distance text right below the profile with the name of the waypoint zoomed in on. I believe this approach will give us the next 3 waypoints. For example If I zoom all the way down to the next waypoint show that name, if I am zoomed in on the next two waypoints, show the second waypoint name, etc. This would be consistent with the current trend for the design changes.

Then put Distance to waypoint in the bottom field where elapsed time is shown (we can put elapsed time elsewhere).

sky-runner

@fritzbt2013 I suggested a similar approach in other discussion threads.

I agree that zoomed in elevation profile already provides some of Up Ahead functionality. I also fully agree that showing elapsed time on this screen is redundant because we can see it elsewhere. As you said, it would be a great solution to show the waypoint name along with the distance to that waypoint, and the distance should be in larger font and easier to read! The name should be of the last waypoint visible on the profile, so it is in sync with the distance. And we can already see remaining ascent and descent to that waypoint, which makes Suunto implementation even more functional than Up Ahead. The only missing part is to make it more usable!