Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9

[TonyG]

@bulkan i so wish this was the case for me;

here is the previous topic where the issue was discussed using H10

https://forum.suunto.com/topic/7192/strange-hr-recording-with-burner-selected

here is yesterdays activity using brand new H9

[Bulkan]

@tonyg wow. That’s not normal. I see. Look my data. Is excellent.

If it is continuous I would contact support. Sorry.

[surfboomerang]

@tonyg I didn’t have the issue with the S9B combined with the H9 chest strap.

I stopped using the chest strap when I switched to the S9P. Pretty solid optical readings except for a while ago when I noticed drops 30-40 min into a run (about the same as your last graph). After a soft reboot the watch optical HR is spot-on again. I have no idea if this is because of the soft reboot or warmer weather or just pure luck or…
Maybe it’s worth a try.

Next days will be colder and I will use the H9 chest strap again with the S9P. I’ll let you know if I see some strange behavior.

[TonyG]

Thanks @surfboomerang @Bulkan, I am switching to my s9B for a while see if I continue to get issues, I cant recall having any issues with the S9B so fingers crossed, I’ll run it for a month and if no issues then I will contact support and ask for a fix, it seems to happen on runs of over an hour but I recall it also happening on shorter runs also.

[isazi]

@tonyg if you send me the link to activities with the issue I’ll forward it to the developers.

[TonyG]

@isazi many thanks for the assist, I will pm some links over

[Likarnik]

Interesting that I use HR belts for around 15years now, and did not have any issues. They started with old Suunto belt (got it with A3P), replaced two of them and moved to H10. And now H10 is having issues too sorry for offtopic, do we have separate one for this kind of stuff?

[lexterm77]

@tonyg

I had same issues hr dropping to 40 bpm with H10 while running 250W until I started washing it every time after activity. I disabled all features and I keep sensor disconnected from belt when not in use.

[TonyG]

@lexterm77 I have been washing mine also after every use, but I never disabled the ant+ as I use it to connect to my Concept2 Rower, but I could in theory close off the 2nd Bluetooth output and if given the option the old protocol (cant remember which it is).
Heart Rate Data is important to me and as such Santa (the wife) has just ordered a new Suunto Belt and Module - with its internal memory this should get around the issue for now.

[isazi]

Thanks for the links, they are in Suunto’s hands now.

[Soylent Yellow]

@surfboomerang I found colder weather works worse for both optical readings and heart straps for me.

I tried a S3 once and returned it after it wouldn’t read anything when the temperature dropped below 0°C – I blamed that on the reduced blood flow in my skin.

Heart rate straps suffer form the lack of sweat and the low temperature (reduced output of the battery) when it’s freezing. Usually takes anywhere from 1 to 2k to get a decent stable reading from my H10 when it’s cold and dry.

[surfboomerang]

@soylent-yellow For those colder, dry days I use conductive gel on the pads. Works like a charm!

around +10°C I start using the OHR again.

[Brad_Olwin]

@tonyg First, I do not have HR drops with the Suunto SmartSensor, moreover, it has a memory feature so if any data are lost they sync back to the watch. None of these other belts can sync back to the watch. I have used this sensor with A3P, Spartan Ultra, S9B and S9Peak with no issues. Using another brand does not mean Suunto necessarily has an issue.
Second, I am likely older than you and I find the Peak easier to read than the baro, despite the smaller size. I do not use anymore than 4 or 5 fields per screen.

[DMytro]

@brad_olwin I actually experienced quite a few hr drops from suunto HR belt. I have started noticing them recently, might be due to the cold weather, will have to switch to conductive gel.

[Brad_Olwin]

@dmytro Here is my solution, although uncomfortable. I thoroughly wet the belt under water where the contacts are and put it on immediately, go to the exercise I am going to use and allow the watch to connect. I do not start the exercise and if in the car putting boots on for SkiMo, it can be 15 min or more before I actually start the exercise. This seems to work for me since I had an A3P.

Make sure you have the newer HR belt too, I have never used a gel and I live in a very dry environment that is also cold in the winter.

[DMytro]

@brad_olwin that’s the same thing I do too, and I have the new HR belt.
The reason you might be getting better results is probably sport related. I rarely get high hr on my hikes, so I sweat less and the belt dries out quicker.

[TonyG]

@brad_olwin Thank you,
Santa has provided me with another Suunto Movesense Module & belt, due to HR being a metric that is quite important to me, hopefully it will last longer than my last one which I also used to use with the Ambit3P & Spartan. I originally moved to Polar belts when I got sick of replacing Suunto belts (the older design) every 3-6 months despite cleaning etc; I did buy the newer design (grey sensor port) but my module died literally 1 day later and so at that point decided to get a HR Sensor that would simultaneously pair with my watch and Concept2 PM5, and future proofing in case I want to connect and simultaneously broadcast HR to Zwift or something else.

Polar H10 has 2 Bluetooth Smart outputs and Ant + and the very old 5Khz Coded protocol - so plenty of options. and it has been rock solid until fairly recently - (I am not alone in experiencing problems recently with Suunto S9Peak and Polar Belts).

The 9 Peak has been demoted to just a regular watch at the moment (I like the form factor for all day / night wear) and using the S9B for activity recording, I agree to some extent on S9P being a clearer display and the adaptive back light is a great addition and really does help with general usage (reading the time). For my eyes and I am sure everyone’s are different the Fonts on S9P are just too small regardless if they are clearer for me to read when undertaking an activity I find the S9B Fonts a good size and are clear.

In an ideal world I would love to have something in between both sizes; 47mm Watch perhaps; maybe! I say maybe as I haven’t tried that size before unless the Ambit 3 Peak is closer in size not sure on that one. but that is another thread / conversation.

[TonyG]

@dmytro I use the conductive gel in the winter (and it gets no where near as cold as Brads Playground here in the UK) but it didn’t make any difference with drop outs.

The dropouts of late are related to R-R packets not being either transmitted or received properly, and subsequently how the watch firmware resolves that issue.

Hence why for me getting the Movesense (Suunto SmartSensor) Module made sense - utilise its internal Memory

[Brad_Olwin]

@dmytro You are probably right here, tech shirts can also cause issues. For hiking I find the optical HR stellar. The optical begins to be an issue when I am running or SkiMo in colder weather. I rarely hike in winter but find optical HR is plenty good in the summer.

[MiniForklift]

@tonyg said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:

In an ideal world I would love to have something in between both sizes; 47mm Watch perhaps; maybe! I say maybe as I haven’t tried that size before unless the Ambit 3 Peak is closer in size not sure on that one. but that is another thread / conversation.

The Polar Grit X Pro is 47mm. For me it felt small but I’m coming from a couple of years using the S9B so that’s probably to be expected