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when I read the suunto 7 announcement and its characteristics, I admit it, I was shocked in the negative. After thinking about it for a day, I have to admit that the problem was my expectations. Perhaps like many others, I expected a clock halfway between 5 and 9, as the number would have suggested.
Instead it is such a new product that it would have deserved another nomenclature. It is a smartwatch, which in this forum sounds like a negative adjective, but it is evident that Suunto does not want to “fish” among us.
We know the tons of apple watches sold out there. And it’s only compatible with iOS. The perception of the quality of the suunto brand in the world is very very high and I do not think that suunto 7 will have difficulty being preferred to an Apple watch.
So I can be damned for the battery life, for the absence of a sport triathlon mode, for the inability to connect a heart rate belt, and for the fact that it cannot follow me in my Ultra, but there is a whole market out there where Suunto can suck resources out of which will benefit the company, his survival and, for what is closest to us, the research and development of watches for all types of users.
I envy heat maps in Suunto 7, but electronic payments, music, wifi, other apps, would be just “nice to have” for me, nothing fundamental, nothing that could lead me to replace my suunto 9 with a suunto 7.
I could simply add a watch to mine collectionit, as @Brad_Olwin said, but I am not one of the users who can afford two watches.
Having to choose, therefore, I choose suunto 9 but, concluding, in its market smartwatch segment, intended for a specific target of users, Suunto 7 is an excellent watch that will make many happy. -
@Saketo-Nemo said in Suunto 7:
Perhaps like many others, I expected a clock halfway between 5 and 9, as the number would have suggested.
naming is difficult and it was clearer in the ambit age…
the lineup could have been named like “fitness”, “multisport”, “smart” and “summit” or stuff like that.
with and without baro there are still differences that could ask for numbering of the products itself -
This new watch(es) looks to me like Suunto’s “ForeRunner”
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@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos Ryan don’t give too much love to Suunto lately.
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@Bulkan idk if he has 20 gadgets to test …
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@DmitryKo @Brad_Olwin @jean-william-cousin I started by saying the watch is fine for people who run outdoors some. This is not to denigrate anyone, really. Think about it: with 8 hours of GPS, music, and HR you can run an intro ultra in it. Sure, it’s not gonna be 100 miles. Probably not even 50 miles. But still well in excess of the marathon distance for sure. Is this a training watch like S9? No. Can it be used for multiday hikes or real ultras? No. But just like with Apple watch, you can train up to a marathon in it and possibly beyond.
I think what Suunto finally understood is what Apple got a long time ago. There are only so many ultra runners. There are a lot of “serious athletes” out there, true, but that market isn’t that big either. I’m sure if you count all pros and semi-pros and various fitness nuts, we will be still talking tens of millions at best. They get their training tool and don’t update it for years. Just look at Ambit fire storms in these forums when Movescount decomm was announced.
Casual user? They are literally in billions. They want a capable, good looking smartwatch on their wrist during a day and a competent sports tracker for their 2-3 hours of activity a week. They update every few years. S7 serves this audience perfectly. And if ultra guys like @Brad_Olwin can use it for a few recovery runs during a week, that’s even better!
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@Bulkan He never did, let’s be honest about it. And his Hail Mary opening kind of hints at the narrative he’s taking.
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@NickK spot on
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@Saketo-Nemo Yes, I think you, @Brad_Olwin and I agree where this watch falls, audience wise.
My only gripe is that had Suunto included things like sensors, running power, and the like, it wouldn’t have stopped a casual user, but would have tipped the balance for some who have to choose between S7 and S5/S9.
But then, it’s too early in this experiment. Heart rate and many other things can easily be added in the update.
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@Luís-Pinto said in Suunto 7:
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.
This!
I think Suunto really dropped the ball on price. I understand premium design and materials. I get standard, easy to replace bands. Even S7 name itself, conveniently stuck smack in the middle of serious sports watches range and hinting at similar chops… But your packaging and marketing can only take you so far. This should have been $399 tops. Maybe even $349 to undercut Garmin Venu and Apple Watch and be within the range of regular WearOS smartwatches.
Unless… Unless Suunto never intended for S7 to be Apple Watch or Garmin Fenix killer out of the gate! But is actually using the watch to test the waters and develop a sports smartwatch foundation and services. So, when Qualcomm finally gives us a decent smartwatch SoC after some yelling and kicking from Google, and Google incorporates Fitbit/Pebble low-power aspects into WearOS, Suunto can deliver something entirely new, but already having recouped their prior investments into WearOS and gained expertise from the first iteration.
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@NickK I disagree. Basically Ray is very critical in every review, and bashes at every vendor (check the post/rant on Garmin bugs and development of months ago), plus he’s focused on triathlon and this is not a good watch for triathletes. I believe we should read reviews always in the context of the reviewer’s background. And I remember the review of Suunto 9 and 5 being good, except the software/platform side, but apparently most users of this forum agree with that
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@NickK said in Suunto 7:
Unless Suunto never intended for S7 to be Apple Watch or Garmin Fenix killer out of the gate! But is actually using the watch to test the waters and develop a sports smartwatch foundation and services.
@NickK A bit like the step change of the Spartan from the Ambit? But better developed on launch, possibly due to the immediate need to play nice with others.
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@isazi I’ve been reading Ray for a long-long time. Every now and then he has some choice words for Garmin. But most of the time, his approval is a foregone conclusion. Had Suunto done solar charging, I assure you Ray would have called this a senseless gimmick. Had Suunto done RacePro plans, Ray would have pointed out all their limitations, from inability to build a loop route with multiple laps, to better handling of inclines, to inability to manually pace tight spots, to no accounting for headwind, and so on… That is: Ray is a fantastic reviewer, but he has his blind spots and considerably more doubt in brands that aren’t Garmin.
And yes, his triathlon focus means he sees far less value in features that aren’t directly tied to running or bikes.
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@NickK A bit like the step change of the Spartan from the Ambit? But better developed on launch, possibly due to the immediate need to play nice with others.
I hope not! I don’t think S5/S9 platform is going anywhere. In fact, I’d imagine over time pure sport and pure smartwatch aspects could converge. But given competition and saturation in sports segment, you need a market where significant growth is possible. Most of the world outside the US and Western Europe is Android. So, WearOS is perfect for them. Unfortunately, most of the world outside US won’t be paying $499 for a smartwatch. So, prices would have to come down.
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@NickK said in Suunto 7:
And if ultra guys like @Brad_Olwin can use it for a few recovery runs during a week, that’s even better!
Only if Suunto App could seamlessly support multiple watches, which it can’t. It is in Suunto interests to enable the app to sync with multiple watches. I don’t get why they don’t put more efforts into that.
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@NickK I meant that the Spartan might be seen as technology demonstrator/market tester/unannounced beta program for the colour, touch-screen, etc., S-Series. So the S7 is a first foot in new WearOS waters before, as you suggest, something comes for the rest of the world.
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@silentvoyager said in Suunto 7:
Only if Suunto App could seamlessly support multiple watches, which it can’t. It is in Suunto interests to enable the app to sync with multiple watches. I don’t get why they don’t put more efforts into that.
Oh, I’d love that! Have asked for that. Hopefully they get around to do it. Doesn’t strike me like a big feature.
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@silentvoyager I think that after the s7 publicity this is becoming #1 request
