Software update 2.39.20 (2024 Q4)

[Mauerwegler]

@enriqueescoms said in Software update 2.39.20 (2024 Q4):

It is true that any new feature is controversial, but in this case it is that no relevant function has been incorporated (and there is room for it, since there are many that users continue to demand), instead we have been given a pseudo carousel visual effect of dubious taste that no one was asking for. And, with it, as a gift, flaws in main aspects.

I wonder if this is the first sign of the changes in Suunto. They have laid off people in 2024 and maybe others are in charge now, with different priorities and taste. Yes, this is very speculative, but I do prefer brands for their design language and attitude, and the carousel effect is unnecessary, even distracting eye candy that in my opinion waters the Suunto design philosophy (that I do not know but that was shaped by the app, Spartan Ultra, and Vertical). I had just shrugged my shoulders and moved on if there weren’t the bugs in this update. I also cannot connect the SV to my WIFI to download maps. Still nothing on https://www.suunto.com/en-gb/Support/Software-updates/Release-notes/suunto-vertical-software-updates/ that the latest firmware causes issues – I would like to see a list of the known regressions there: it’s not my job to find them myself during usage.

[Triumph114]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel OK, many thanks. I will try it as soon as the new revision will be available

[enriqueescoms]

@Mauerwegler It’s comforting to see people who think the same way I do. I totally agree with your point of view.

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@Mauerwegler sales and competition.

You can’t have 1% market and cheap and robust watches at the same time. Suunto could be a niche company, but that’s not sustainable, even if the watches were priced 300% of current prices. It needs to appeal to the masses.

And I believe that 80% users of sports smartwatches are seldomly doing any activity. It’s just a gadget, a modern piece of jewelry. Hence, the AMOLED, steps and sleep tracking, emojis and watchfaces.

[powderdrop]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel those people don’t buy a Suunto, Garmin, etc. They use an apple, pixel, Samsung, one plus, etc. watch. Way more functionality for the common person (calls, text, music, apps, etc), they are generally cheaper, easier to operate/navigate, and they can still do some tracking of activities if needed.

For a sport watch to fail at the few items you are paying a premium for via a software update is rather disappointing.

I know it will be fixed but imo it should have been already.

[GiPFELKiND]

@powderdrop you are right man and there are more bugs and wrong things after the last firmware Update. And Special the maps and the contour lines in the Bavaria alps above 500m zoomlevel is missing until today more than 1 year. Oops suunto perhaps forgot it while making another NEW Firmware and “Christmas Watchface”. My Race s suddenly stops measure the heart rate on Yoga, Stretching Activity. Everytime… New and bad thing. Yesterday in Walking Activity too… No more comments. Suunto manage it and give solution for all Users

[thanasis]

@duffman19 just for your comparison i ran this morning wearing both vertical and S3P.

vertical:

measured
ascent 174 - decent 176
highest point 279M - actual 277M

ambit

measured:
ascent 174m - decent 174m
highest point 282M - actual 277M

[jussim]

Thursday morning my 9PP was 49%, after two runs (both about an hour) battery was at 29% before going to bed. Then Friday night charged to 100%, this morning it’s 97% and after the weekly run of 2 hours, battery is at 83%. That’s not great!

Patiently waiting for the next software update.

[vincenzo trimarco]

Good morning to all you happy Suunto Vertical owners, after the 2.39.20 update on my vertical, the touchscreen stopped working… I tried with soft reset and hard reset but it doesn’t work. Do you have any solutions, has this happened to anyone else?

[JANTIKAINEN]

I also downgraded to previous software version.
The sleep tracking of my Race was very unreliable with the latest software version. It skipped sleep tracking 1-2 times per week. I’ve owned my Race just a bit over 1 year and it had never done it before the latest software version.
To be honest, the latest software version didn’t bring any useful improvements/features. I don’t really care about the new watch faces. Before the Race I had a Samsung Galaxy Watch Pro and in the Samsung forums all people were interestes was just new watch faces and not new features.

[VoiGAS]

@thanasis Thats very impressive. I think you will see a bigger difference close to high buildings or mountains - this is where the new update brought big improvements in my limited experience with it.
But the A3P is still a great watch. Too bad not all the functions are supported anymore 🫤

[MKPotts]

@jussim
I was getting the same (about 6-7%/hr in activity) using the latest firmware. I downgraded to the previous firmware yesterday - following the advice in this thread - and a 2.5hr run this morning used 6-7% total. So close to normal burn rate of 2-2.5%/hour.
It’s still using a lot of battery outside of activity - e.g. 5% last night for 7hrs of sleep - but it was doing this long before the latest firmware.

I don’t know how Suunto define “smartwatch mode” but my watch has never got close to the claimed 21 days unless I turn everything off other than basic timekeeping. Whereas it has always met (until the latest firmware) the training time claims, at least in performance mode (though not in endurance mode).

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@powderdrop I agree with most of what you’ve said.

However - the realm of sports and smart watches is merging to a certain degree. Some people will prefer a sports watch as it lasts longer, doesn’t look like a toy and is sturdier.

I believe that Suunto is pivoting into those less hardcore users with more lifestyle and wellbeing features being developed and implemented instead of simply being a tank of a trail runners watch.

As for the quality of the update - to me it’s simply of poor quality, but it’s been like this for a while. The OHR issue is a rather big one but there were also certain UX issues that took months to fix. This is super annoying and screams of poor quality and lack of polishing.

I see two problems with Suunto’s firmware currently:

1. Too many features in one public release which leads to long times between releases and plenty of frustration in case major bugs emerge. More smaller releases could be a better strategy.

2. Lack of public testing on a wide group of users. Current public release should have been a public beta, open for two weeks for testing that would be enough for the OHR bug to emerge.

[wmichi]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel said in Software update 2.39.20 (2024 Q4):

Lack of public testing on a wide group of users. Current public release should have been a public beta, open for two weeks for testing that would be enough for the OHR bug to emerge.

I think Coros does a good job with this (better than Garmin). Before the quarterly production firmware update there is an open public beta testing. There is no final release date communicated, as it depends on the beta testing. And during the open beta test bugfixes are released if necessary, so that users can also test the fixes. They always provide a blog post outlining new features so everybody knows what to test.

Suunto is the complete opposite. Everything is a big secrecy (there aren’t even release notes for beta SA updates) and in the end everybody is surprised if the limited number of beta testers don’t find every bug.

After this OHR debacle Suunto should also think about public beta testing. In the end everyone wins: early adopters can play around with new features, user have the impression that their feedback counts and we all get a more stable product. There are so many people who really like Suunto products and could give valuable feedback. We all want Suunto to succeed, don’t we?

But I know that implementing open beta tests is not a trivial task.

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@wmichi this sounds ideal.

[Inge Nallsson]

@wmichi This is also my experience. Coros get a gold star for their open beta implementations (and for very stable final FW releases). Garmin get a tinpot halfstar for the beta releases and for ignoring most of the userfound bugs.

[maszop]

Software testing in the case of Suunto is a total disgrace. For several last releases now there is always some major disaster, inability to synchronize with the phone, battery drain (still not resolved), now OHR and WiFi not working.
The problem with the contour lines and navigation messages has not been solved for over a year. There is still no proper support for several Bluetooth devices, but we have new colours, new watch faces and other fancy carousels in the menu.

I don’t know if there is anything positive to write about the testers. Incompetence or there are too few of them.
There is definitely a huge problem with the quality of the software and the way it is tested and released.

[Łukasz Szmigiel]

@maszop said in Software update 2.39.20 (2024 Q4):

Incompetence or there are too few of them.

I think it’s more of a systematic problem - not related to the people.

[maszop]

@Łukasz-Szmigiel But when reporting a problem on the forum, testers often deny it and blame the user or the hardware itself. So you can come to different conclusions.
Since the Suunto 9 Peak Pro I have written (and not only me) about problems with measuring elevation gain in strong winds and the answer is always that there is no problem.
There were a few similar cases.

[GiPFELKiND]

@MKPotts downgrade actually is the best Option for me, too. Until suunto solve some existing problems