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    Suunto 7 Altitude Issues

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Suunto 7
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    • EgikaE Offline
      Egika Platinum Member @eurohiker
      last edited by

      @eurohiker have you tried cleaning the baro hole with a toothbrush as suggested?
      My gf also had double the altitude than me in MTB and running activities we did together.
      Her watch was new as well.
      We cleaned it twice under running water and now her readings are perfect as well.

      Just guessing here: maybe Suunto is using some type of a sealant that could clogg the hole during production??

      Anyway: give cleaning a try and report back.

      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

      freeheelerF Jamie BGJ E 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
      • freeheelerF Offline
        freeheeler @Egika
        last edited by

        @egika
        same as subaru did first with their boxer diesel 🤦

        living sideways

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Jamie BGJ Offline
          Jamie BG Bronze Member @Egika
          last edited by

          @egika
          I agree the S7 definitely is good at reading altitude. Matches what I can see in my F6

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          • E Offline
            eurohiker @Egika
            last edited by eurohiker

            @egika I have on a couple of them but the whole toothbrush method does not work on a brand new “clean” watch. Remember these are 4 watches fresh out of the box never used.
            The average consumer (99% which are not on these forums or the fb group) would never know to use a toothbrush before first use due to it not being in the instructions nor provided.

            It’s most likely due to cheap GPS / Baro parts used in the Suunto 7 series or faulty algo software (pre and post April update)… I gave up on it. When any of my friends asks about my elevation on Strava, I just say divide it by 2 since I leave it on good 10sec fused alti which exactly doubles it (phone or offline maps; covered baro or uncovered; windy or not windy)

            I would love to see your stats vs a pre-existing GPX file. After the 4th watch with identical doubling altitude stats, it’s hard to believe that someone has stats that is somewhat close to the GPX file loaded.

            I can’t wait to get Suunto 9 Peak “snap to route” feature.

            I stopped updating the forum since it was a dead end but here’s my stats in detail: https://forum.suunto.com/topic/5930/suunto-7-double-proposed-elevation-gain-6-6-trails

            Phone: S22 Ultra, Android 12
            Watch: Suunto 7
            Connected accounts: Fatmap, Strava, Wikiloc, Google Fit, klimat, Komoot

            Brad_OlwinB pilleusP 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Brad_OlwinB Offline
              Brad_Olwin Moderator @eurohiker
              last edited by Brad_Olwin

              @eurohiker I am sorry for your issues, as I have stated before my S7 and now both of them (one test watch and a titanium model that I purchased) record nearly identical altitude to the S9, which I know is broadly correct. My elevation gains may be different than yours as most are large, we don’t have many small hills where I live. After 4 watches this is unlikely a watch issue. I do not believe the parts are of poor quality as my experience has been quite different. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. You might try contacting @Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos if you have not already.

              Here is an image of the GPX file that I did for my run and following are the stats from QS for the S7, I deleted the SA link as this was one of three watches I was wearing. The map overestimates this one, I typically get ~3000 feet gain.
              7EED937A-49BC-4231-AF1A-E44D8082CB52.jpeg

              815D471D-35A1-4569-8A00-BB9E172893EC.jpeg

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

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • pilleusP Offline
                pilleus @eurohiker
                last edited by pilleus

                @eurohiker said in Suunto 7 Altitude Issues:

                It’s most likely due to cheap GPS / Baro parts used in the Suunto 7 series or faulty algo software (pre and post April update)…

                In this case every WearOS app must record the wrong ascent. You can test it with Ghostracer to check the accuracy of the S7. I never had any problems and very precise data on several S7 watches during the last year. And I did a lot of tests with the S7 and the Spartan Ultra to compare the recorded data. 👍

                https://www.instagram.com/moves.are.life/
                Suunto Vertical Black Lime
                Suunto 9 Peak Pro Black
                Suunto Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium

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                • EgikaE Offline
                  Egika Platinum Member
                  last edited by

                  @eurohiker
                  I usually import tracks from GPS websites and their altitude information vary…
                  But I ne er get double the ascent. As mentioned my gf did, which changed after two times cleaning the baro hole.
                  Here two examples where my S7 recorded actually less than the pre-loaded gpx file.
                  DC4FC58C-B5B5-4632-8CF4-6B93F7A6C05D.png 144C9210-7425-4B77-8A6F-A5628E49715E.png 2DB96E6D-A71B-4A9E-AB21-7F9606AA938F.png

                  FD5A9DB8-380D-4785-9481-30F5F5759852.png
                  F57B4FBB-FE04-45EB-BE7E-7B58C5E29476.png
                  3924A3B8-CF6E-4947-8FD6-0FE2CE7056EF.png

                  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

                  E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                  • E Offline
                    eurohiker @Egika
                    last edited by eurohiker

                    @egika @Brad_Olwin extremely jealous.

                    Dimitrios has done more than enough for me. I don’t want to bother him anymore.

                    It is quite funny that is have an easy hike of 1000m and it says I did 2000m
                    https://www.strava.com/activities/5349923765.
                    GPX retrieved from AllTrails
                    When I zoom in on the trail it looks like i barely touched the trail apparently.

                    I’ll do a few baby tbrush brushes before my next trip this weekend and i’ll report back but it will be mainly flat where i’m going so even if the GPS bounces around it will be on the same altitude.

                    Another question would be why would suunto be so quick to give me a new one when they could have tried to brush it (1 of them i didn’t brush myself) and sent it back? I wonder if they just look at the info i give then don’t bother to look at it which is good service but cuts into their margins.

                    Phone: S22 Ultra, Android 12
                    Watch: Suunto 7
                    Connected accounts: Fatmap, Strava, Wikiloc, Google Fit, klimat, Komoot

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                    • aeroildA Offline
                      aeroild Bronze Member @eurohiker
                      last edited by

                      @eurohiker Here’s a comparison between the altitude recorded by my Suunto 7 on a 8km run and altitude from the same route made on www.plotaroute.com On the gpx from plotatroute altitude is always overestimated. I have also made a table where I have checked the altitude data at the start, at each kilometer and at the end. Here I have also included the official data from the public map service www.lantmateriet.se. The Suunto 7 is spot on the official data! 🙂

                      altitude.png suunto7-plotaroute-lantmateriet.png

                      E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                      • E Offline
                        eurohiker @aeroild
                        last edited by eurohiker

                        @aeroild lucky, but i think it’s more of an issue when mountain hiking (which is what I mostly track for altitude) because even 1 meter away laterally can make a bit difference in altitude.

                        For my runs and my bikes I don’t even look at the altitude because I typically only do those activities on flat land and everything around is roughly the same altitude so when it’s bouncing around it doesn’t miscalculate as much.

                        Phone: S22 Ultra, Android 12
                        Watch: Suunto 7
                        Connected accounts: Fatmap, Strava, Wikiloc, Google Fit, klimat, Komoot

                        isaziI pilleusP 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • isaziI Offline
                          isazi Moderator @eurohiker
                          last edited by

                          @eurohiker what does this mean? This is not how the barometer works 🙂

                          Watch: Suunto Vertical Ti

                          Blog: isazi's home

                          freeheelerF E 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • freeheelerF Offline
                            freeheeler @isazi
                            last edited by

                            @isazi
                            sounds like a setting I once saw in a gps: altitude from map

                            living sideways

                            isaziI 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • pilleusP Offline
                              pilleus @eurohiker
                              last edited by pilleus

                              @eurohiker said in Suunto 7 Altitude Issues:

                              because even 1 meter away laterally can make a bit difference in altitude.

                              ???

                              Barometric altitude is completely independent from GPS or being on a track or not. I often use barometer only (without GPS enabled) to record the ascent/altitude.

                              https://www.instagram.com/moves.are.life/
                              Suunto Vertical Black Lime
                              Suunto 9 Peak Pro Black
                              Suunto Spartan Ultra Stealth Titanium

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                              • isaziI Offline
                                isazi Moderator @freeheeler
                                last edited by

                                @freeheeler yes, Garmin watches with onboard map and digital elevation model can do that do. Not the S7 as far as I know.

                                Watch: Suunto Vertical Ti

                                Blog: isazi's home

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                                • E Offline
                                  eurohiker @isazi
                                  last edited by eurohiker

                                  @isazi yes, but they work in conjunction

                                  3651c1f8-5ef9-4032-8182-27eeb5c056d2-image.png

                                  @pilleus i don’t they they are independent when they are both on. There is definitely software connecting the 2 while using “good gps 10sec alti track”. It’s pretty consistent with my dips when it bounces off trail at a different altitude.
                                  So you are telling me I have faulty baro AND gps in 4 watches if they are independent?

                                  Phone: S22 Ultra, Android 12
                                  Watch: Suunto 7
                                  Connected accounts: Fatmap, Strava, Wikiloc, Google Fit, klimat, Komoot

                                  isaziI freeheelerF 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • isaziI Offline
                                    isazi Moderator @eurohiker
                                    last edited by isazi

                                    @eurohiker no they don’t. The only interaction they have is that the GPS can also be used to compute elevation. If the GPS elevation error is low and the value from the altimeter and the value from GPS have diverged, the GPS elevation is used to calibrate the barometric altimeter, in some way known to Suunto.

                                    Watch: Suunto Vertical Ti

                                    Blog: isazi's home

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

                                      @eurohiker
                                      I’m not so sure… why would a baro watch want to rely on a saved map? you stated it already, when you hike along a steep mountain, the worst thing you can have is altitude from map, based on your track… it could be hundreds of meters wrong

                                      living sideways

                                      E 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • E Offline
                                        eurohiker @isazi
                                        last edited by

                                        @isazi mhmm what are the odds that 4 watches have had faulty gps and baro units. I thought it was a combination thing.

                                        Phone: S22 Ultra, Android 12
                                        Watch: Suunto 7
                                        Connected accounts: Fatmap, Strava, Wikiloc, Google Fit, klimat, Komoot

                                        freeheelerF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • E Offline
                                          eurohiker @freeheeler
                                          last edited by eurohiker

                                          @freeheeler instead i get 2x (good gps) -3x (best gps) the altitude difference on EVERY hike on 4 watches. I would rather the few 100m wrong tbh

                                          Phone: S22 Ultra, Android 12
                                          Watch: Suunto 7
                                          Connected accounts: Fatmap, Strava, Wikiloc, Google Fit, klimat, Komoot

                                          freeheelerF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • freeheelerF Offline
                                            freeheeler @eurohiker
                                            last edited by

                                            @eurohiker
                                            that’s very difficult for us to find out. but as many others said, they don’t have an issue with their watches and my wife’s S7 works pretty well, too… ok it has some hickups every now and then… but who doesn’t. even my watch once hung itself in the middle of a bike ride 😉

                                            living sideways

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