Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?

[freeheeler]

@Brad_Olwin said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

I imagine that most Ironman participants require accuracy.

… but ironman isn’t short distance either and the pace very constant… (I guess… never participated in this crazy distances)

[stromdiddily]

@MC-Hall I echo Brad’s comments re the garmin forums. They are littered w folks being ridiculed for even considering using a wrist based device to view instant pace.

I would suggest taking a look at Stryd if your S9 isn’t up to snuff.

[zhang965]

@MC-Hall said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@Brad_Olwin If you’re not after accuracy why have a GPS watch at all? Just get a cheap stopwatch and guess how far or how fast your going. The whole point of a GPS is accuracy (data). It would be backwards to get a gps watch and not care to have accurate pace and distance information. If I wanted a “pretty good guess” then I can do that for a lot less money than the price of a premium GPS sports watch like the S9.

I don’t think I’m asking for too much when I expect at least the same as older generations of technology. I wanted a forward step in technology with the Suunto 9 Baro. I haven’t seen this out of my S9, in fact I’ve seen the opposite. What am I asking from my S9 that is unreasonable? I had a Garmin Forerunner 220 many years ago that never failed me like my S9 has.

Let not my sour tone give anyone here the wrong idea. I initiated this post to discover if there was a chance that my S9 was defective or had a problem that could be worked out. This wonderful community has provided some very helpful information that I am very very grateful for.

All of you are awesome. Thank you!

Yo dude, let me interpret the original post of our Mr Mode-UltraRunner-rator.

he doesn’t need a good gps accuracy - so should you -
he needs least 48h up to 80h, it’s why he loves s9 - so should you -
you should buy a device like stryd to improve your tracker accuracy - (actually this person does have a stryd)

if you have a couple of minutes, just look in MR DoSameAsHim 's replies histories.

I’m so sorry about our Mr Mode-glass heart-rator.

but you always have time to pick up your choices.

[zhang965]

@Brad_Olwin said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@zhang965 I am going to ask again that you attempt to keep your comments reasonable. Some, myself included find them quite negative and potentially offensive. Providing data to show YOUR S9b has poor GPS and the fact that you find that unacceptable is fine. However, the sarcastic comments as the one posted I am replying to are unacceptable. I am a moderator and I take that seriously. I have no issues with negative comments or problems that are justified.

Hello Mr Serious MODERATOR

Let me explain to you, the reason that you are feeling offensive, it’s because, you and me, we are not the same type of person,

I’m not like you and I don’t like you.

I know US president Reagan liked Soviet jokes, it’s my favorite, I make it for you.

One day, me and @TELE-HO, we are discussing about GPS performance,

“the GPS sucks.” “GPS is shifting”

@Brad_Olwin comes and stops the discuss, “ I’m Suunto’s Moderator and you should not criticize S9’s GPS performance"

These two poor guys say “we did not mention which GPS was, how could you stop us?”

The Serious Moderator roars “I’m Suunto’s Moderator, how can I don’t know which GPS sucks?”

[Brad_Olwin]

@zhang965 said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@MC-Hall said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@Brad_Olwin If you’re not after accuracy why have a GPS watch at all? Just get a cheap stopwatch and guess how far or how fast your going. The whole point of a GPS is accuracy (data). It would be backwards to get a gps watch and not care to have accurate pace and distance information. If I wanted a “pretty good guess” then I can do that for a lot less money than the price of a premium GPS sports watch like the S9.

I don’t think I’m asking for too much when I expect at least the same as older generations of technology. I wanted a forward step in technology with the Suunto 9 Baro. I haven’t seen this out of my S9, in fact I’ve seen the opposite. What am I asking from my S9 that is unreasonable? I had a Garmin Forerunner 220 many years ago that never failed me like my S9 has.

Let not my sour tone give anyone here the wrong idea. I initiated this post to discover if there was a chance that my S9 was defective or had a problem that could be worked out. This wonderful community has provided some very helpful information that I am very very grateful for.

All of you are awesome. Thank you!

Yo dude, let me interpret the original post of our Mr Mode-UltraRunner-rator.

he doesn’t need a good gps accuracy - so should you -
he needs least 48h up to 80h, it’s why he loves s9 - so should you -
you should buy a device like stryd to improve your tracker accuracy - (actually this person does have a stryd)

if you have a couple of minutes, just look in MR DoSameAsHim 's replies histories.

I’m so sorry about our Mr Mode-glass heart-rator.

but you always have time to pick up your choices.

Whether you like me or not isn’t an issue here but I would not judge a person from texts on a social site. I do disagree with your statements as I understand what @MC-Hall is looking for, which is definitely different than my needs. Unfortunately, I agree that the S9b may not provide the accuracy that the OP is seeking. I am attempting to help, explain my viewpoint, which given the features of the S9 seem to be leaning toward folks that are seeking long battery life. I do apologize if I offended you as I am not intending to do so. However, I would ask that you refrain from the personal attacks, they do not aid anyone here and simply make for an uncomfortable environment. As I stated earlier, I have no issues with concerns or dissatisfaction with a particular watch and airing those disappointments or concerns. However, I would appreciate you keeping your comments civil here. It is hard sometimes to infer meaning from text when you cannot read body language and interact.

I agree with @MC-Hall as the tracks he is showing are not what one would like to see or expect. I think they can be improved but not sure that the S9 will approach the precision of A3P. As a second point, partnering with Ironman should provide more impetus for accuracy as the type of running I do, as well as my age, do not require the degree of accuracy that the OP is seeking. Again, I believe that a footpod would solve the issue. I hope that clears this up, my opinions are my own and certainly do not apply to others nor did I intend them to do so.

[Dimitrios Kanellopoulos]

@MC-Hall didnt want to go political in terms of answering.

It fixes offsets, wobbles, distance, better static understanding (eg not moving) , improved Galileo and in general accuracy.

That said Id be interested to see the comparison of Strava in that marathon with the other watches that the s9 you claim was the worst.

[A Former User]

@stromdiddily said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@MC-Hall I echo Brad’s comments re the garmin forums. They are littered w folks being ridiculed for even considering using a wrist based device to view instant pace.

I would suggest taking a look at Stryd if your S9 isn’t up to snuff.

Suunto watches since Ambit 1 have FusedSpeed technology which is supposed to make instant pace stable and accurate. FusedSpeed fuses the input from GPS and accelerometer to provide more stable pace and it is supposed to self-calibrate. I remember it worked on A3P reasonably well. How come nobody mentions FusedSpeed anymore in relation to newer Suunto watches?

[BobMiles]

@silentvoyager even though FusedSpeed might improve the pace estimation when you’re running normally, it just doesn’t work when you look at the watch frequently.
So if you just glance at the watch, ok, but if you want to adjust the pace to a certain zone, well I found it to be quite wobbly.
I own a stryd and that’s a whole different level. Seriously, those guys did an amazing job of engineering, I would never run without it again.

[stromdiddily]

@silentvoyager yeah that’s a good question. I’m not usually that concerned about instant pace so really haven’t tried it too much with the S9. Will add it for my intervals next week though and see how it does

[freeheeler]

@stromdiddily

noticed this today and posted it in another thread (pros and cons of s9b) but thought it would be interesting in this thread, too

https://quantified-self.io/user/jBm0qOhihUMykVYD8HBJMshQrJc2/event/ytXCOE8cYyX48EswSwlk

and here’s the link for direct comparison of the track.
…and if you go into the graph you can clearly see that S9B seems to have an issue with the pace compared to A3PS. of course I did not press pause for our pitstops… but you can see pitstops in A3PS pace and S9B is just spikes… also during the entire activity…

apart from that: awesome tool @Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos

[pilleus]

@TELE-HO said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

S9B seems to have an issue with the pace compared to A3PS

A stop is a stop for the Ambit 3. Not for the S9B. It’s jumping around and counting additional time and distance. I experienced it several times. For a correct recording of my activities I always use the Ambit 3.

[freeheeler]

@pilleus
i saw that also during moving time the pace is very kangarooish… this is for slower pace of course.
I need to check how it looks for faster activities once I can undust my bikes again

[A Former User]

@TELE-HO said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

noticed this today and posted it in another thread (pros and cons of s9b) but thought it would be interesting in this thread, too
https://quantified-self.io/user/jBm0qOhihUMykVYD8HBJMshQrJc2/event/ytXCOE8cYyX48EswSwlk

Thanks for sharing. It is interesting that Suunto 9 altitude shows more variation, and looking at the graphs I’d predict Suunto 9 to have more total ascent and descent. But in reality Suunto 9 has measured 110 m of ascent vs. 117 for Ambit 3 Peak.

Which altitude graph you think is more accurate?

[freeheeler]

@silentvoyager said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

Which altitude graph you think is more accurate

that’s very hard to say for me at the moment… I need to figure that out over a longer timespan.
But in other threads I also said that eg MC routeplanning as a reference gives WAYYY exaggerated ascent values and SA does not show it during planning, only during navigation, but also there I think it is a bit too much on the plus side.
I will see if I can check with Gaia, Komoot or stuff like that.
Normally I don’t do a lot ups and downs… during winter: once up and once down

[freeheeler]

don’t know how to understand this: S9B goes in to the lunch break high and goes a bit lower after some time and A3PS is constantly gaining while I was sitting enjoying the mountain view and a sandwich

[stromdiddily]

@TELE-HO I’m really hoping the next update moves the S9 accuracy closer to what was possible with the A3P.

For right now, if I have a route even moderately complicated to track the A3P comes with me every time.

[valdis830]

@Brad_Olwin said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@zhang965 @MC-Hall I think the major issue is the antenna. Ambits, S5 and Trainer (I believe) have external antennae that likely provide better satellite reception than the antennae in the watch bezel. There are many other factors as well, the numbers of satellites, reflections for GPS signals, etc. But in the end I ask, what do you need accuracy for? Is it for accuracies sake? If so, no wrist device will provide accurate GPS tracks, they simply cannot do this. I personally do not think any GPS watches will provide the pacing you may need for accuracy. A footpod is a much better option. My S5 does give me consistently better GPS tracks than the S9. I think the S9 tracks will be improved but I doubt most GPS watches can provide pacing and distance that is “accurate”. Fellrnr argues this same point.

Yes sir! Better explained!

[freeheeler]

@silentvoyager
don’t look at my comment about fitness level

I just wanted to update you with what we’ve discussed… ok, S9B received an update yesterday as we all know…
But I am surprised how precise this is on a (for me) almost flat terrain.
I should have taken A3PS with me, but I’ve had the focus somewhere else… sorry!
I’ll do that on Friday

[vimegar]

@TELE-HO said in Is my Suunto 9 Baro Defective?:

@silentvoyager
don’t look at my comment about fitness level

I just wanted to update you with what we’ve discussed… ok, S9B received an update yesterday as we all know…
But I am surprised how precise this is on a (for me) almost flat terrain.
I should have taken A3PS with me, but I’ve had the focus somewhere else… sorry!
I’ll do that on Friday

GPS or GPS+GLONASS or GPS+GALILEO?

[freeheeler]

@vimegar
sorry… GPS only… this also effects FusedAlti of course