Suunto 7

Luís Pinto

@pilleus nothing is perfect.

@Luís-Pinto I’m well aware of the FirstBeat goodies on Stratos and if I remember correctly, it did have things like watch faces, notifications and even music controls. Not sure if it had apps though. I remember some review alluding it was possible in the underlying platform.

As you add features to a sports watch, distinction between a pure smartwatch and a pure sports watch begins to blur. Is Fitbit Versa truly a smartwatch? Is Garmin Fenix 6 not a smartwatch? Because it sure as hell has more features than Versa, more data and watch face customization, plenty of external connectivity, an official API and SDK, abd more apps to boot…

S7 can remain largely as is, with minimum changes, and be a decent WearOS based smartwatch with some nice sports pedigree, adding to a fairly busy lineup of other WearOS watches screaming active lifestyle. Or it can acquire additional features we came to expect from Suunto and become the first smartwatch that is also a truly competent sports watch in ways even Apple couldn’t accomplish with their wearables. Yes, it will not serve ultra-endurance segment either way. But it is a drop in the bucket compared to the rest of exercising public.

DmitryKo

@NickK Here is the problem - if Suunto 7 is not the watch for you and me, despite all the (supposedly) advanced analysis tools, but there are twice as cheap WearOS alternatives which should be enough for casual users who don’t need this advanced analysis… who’s going to buy Suunto 7? And if they abandon their firmware development in favour of WearOS, in the end they risk being reduced to a software company that makes pretty UIs for someone else’s devices, just like Sports Tracker.

Now if they could use this AMOLED screen and optical sensor to develop a true Spartan/Suunto 9 successor, that would be another story; but I wouldn’t really count on this to happen.

Brad_Olwin

@DmitryKo @Luís-Pinto @NickK For me, I would (and am) use this as a daily watch, then use the S9 for SkiMo and long exercises. I think 8-10h GPS from the S7 is possible. Although 12 is the specification we’re not quite there yet. I did a 5.5h run last weekend and was able to use the watch the entire day without charging. Why would
I do this, screen is amazing and maps are great. Now to get SA to have multi watch support.

@DmitryKo said in Suunto 7:

Now if they could use this AMOLED screen and optical sensor to develop a true Spartan/Suunto 9 successor, that would be another story; but I wouldn’t really count on this to happen.

AMOLED screens are very power hungry, especially when they are high resolution, so don’t count on building an S9 like watch with S7 screen. There is a reason Garmin continues to use low resolution screen on their Fenix line watches even though they have Venu.

Prenj

Not impressed at all…

clemens.renzl

@Prenj …

Luís Pinto

@Brad_Olwin i’m pretty sure that amoled screens or equivalent at some point will substitute actual major screens. But with another ultra-low CPUs and with another batteries. This is the begining. My concern with S7 sucess is price. I really don’ t know if a casual sport guy or girl will buy this watch with so many choices in market.

jsuarez

@Prenj That’s really really bad…

freeheeler

@Prenj
but this one is nice and I want that in S9B

isazi

@Prenj if firmware it’s not final, they will optimize stuff in the next month.

Prenj

@isazi said in Suunto 7:

@Prenj if firmware it’s not final, they will optimize stuff in the next month.

True. But still, as with any wear os device, you will probably need to charge it every day, maybe even more frequently. Until better batteries get developed this kind of devices will only be toys. At least for me. What good is HR sensor and it’s ability to monitor your sleep if you need to take off your watch for recharging every night?

I wish suunto focused it’s efforts more on developing some unique features that really distinguish them from others. There are a lot of similar devices on the market already. Mostly much cheaper.

Egika

one other question:
will be Suunto WearOS watch app be made available for other WearOS smart watches?

jw cou

@NickK said in Suunto 7:

Run a few miles in a park, hike around a lake, stretch at a yoga studio, get your pumpkin latte while listening to a podcast. Is it for you? Probably no. Apparently it’s not for me either. Sucks to be us, pal

Don’t you think there’s a middle ground between athletes / pro / elite / very wild runners, whatever you want to call them and the Sunday runner you describe? This middle ground is to me the target audience of the S7.

I don’t think I can be categorized as running a few miles in the park before my latte and yoga session. I do 20-30km trails every 2 weeks, that is 3-4 hours run, run > 50km once a year and go hiking > 1500m+ a couple of times a year. So a 10 hours battery life per activity is enough for me, and I would not encounter extreme conditions but need something robust. As a training I do long flat run (2 or 3 hours) and would definitely welcome some music then.
I don’t seriously train, so intervals / planning are not for me. I don’t need very robust navigation, when I go for trails it’s on marked path so maps “only” are very good for that --> that’s what the S7 is for in my opinion, and that’s why the “Sunday runner” will go to a cheaper watch (unless they are Suunto addicts).

It’s alos very good for Sunnto to expand their strategic target consumers, as you don;t want to rely on only one crowd (= the hardcore guys). Of course the risk is loosing a bit the focus for one or the other group.

sartoric

@jean-william-cousin said in Suunto 7:

Of course the risk is loosing a bit the focus for one or the other group.

Only if this “expansion” doesn’t give you more resources (da money ) to work with

Maryn

I wonder how long the battery will last if the watch is charged every day or every day and a half. Very quickly its performance will decrease. I think that 300 cycles will come out under one year and then it will only get worse.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

PS. I generally like this watch.

Luís Pinto

@Brad_Olwin Any tester with .fit or .json with NAV+BDS tracks?

Luís Pinto

@jean-william-cousin said in Suunto 7:

Don’t you think there’s a middle ground between athletes / pro / elite / very wild runners, whatever you want to call them and the Sunday runner you describe? This middle ground is to me the target audience of the S7.
I don’t think I can be categorized as running a few miles in the park before my latte and yoga session. I do 20-30km trails every 2 weeks, that is 3-4 hours run, run > 50km once a year and go hiking > 1500m+ a couple of times a year. So a 10 hours battery life per activity is enough for me, and I would not encounter extreme conditions but need something robust. As a training I do long flat run (2 or 3 hours) and would definitely welcome some music then.
I don’t seriously train, so intervals / planning are not for me. I don’t need very robust navigation, when I go for trails it’s on marked path so maps “only” are very good for that --> that’s what the S7 is for in my opinion, and that’s why the “Sunday runner” will go to a cheaper watch (unless they are Suunto addicts).
It’s alos very good for Sunnto to expand their strategic target consumers, as you don;t want to rely on only one crowd (= the hardcore guys). Of course the risk is loosing a bit the focus for one or the other group.

I understand all you said and agree with most. Suunto have to expand market as Garmin does. And offer different products for different targets of people. S7 is an attempt to do that.

Luís Pinto

@Prenj said in Suunto 7:

True. But still, as with any wear os device, you will probably need to charge it every day, maybe even more frequently. Until better batteries get developed this kind of devices will only be toys. At least for me. What good is HR sensor and it’s ability to monitor your sleep if you need to take off your watch for recharging every night?
I wish suunto focused it’s efforts more on developing some unique features that really distinguish them from others. There are a lot of similar devices on the market already. Mostly much cheaper.

Is not just battery. Maybe graphene material will make a huge step. And also cpu consumption.
https://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-graphene-battery-tech-super-fast-charging-2019-8

freeheeler

@Luís-Pinto
Arc’teryx came up with the super ugly Veilance series… even these jackets remind me of the movie Equilibrium I would never wear anything from the Veilance series… but I don’t have to, everyone can choose what they like

The disappointment here is that there are running new developments while older products could still need some attention.
I don’t know if the discussion about a Suunto Web is off the table with the S7 completely?