Suunto 7

In my eyes (Android user here), the Apple watch is heaps better for an iPhone user, and the S7 is quite OK for an average Android user.

I have both iPhone and Android. Have used Apple Watch on and off since it was introduced until Series 4. Yesterday I got out my dusty Android phone and even dustier LG Watch Sport, just to see how I can handle WearOS smartwatch side of things. Because if it stinks, why buy S7, right?

Apple Watch may be better, but certainly not heaps better. WearOS tiles are cleaner than a similar concept WatchOS abandoned. Notifications are better in the latest WearOS. Interaction is better: you can actually type or flow-type your responses on Android smartwatch instead of doodling them letter by letter. Even Assistant seems to be better if this type of thing lifts your boat. I like variety of designs and form factors on Android side too.

App selection isn’t there, sure! because a) Google really dropped the ball on wrestling hardware out of Qualcomm and providing features and SDK and b) Google never aggressively promoted wearable development. This will change. Google clearly doesn’t want to cede wearables to Apple.

Add stuff that Suunto brings to the table, and in my eyes we have a very interesting device and a potential winner down the road, especially if delivered and priced in tiers.

fejker

@NickK I wholeheartedly hope you are right, BUT Suunto is at a huge test with this platform right now. If they flop again, it will not bode well.
I am certainly not the target crowd for this type of device and most of the people I know also won’t be interested in it, especially not at this price. That said, the next such hybrid device with fixes they bring to the market might - if priced reasonably.
Think about it as SSU launch = S7 launch and S9B = Future Android Wear device launch. Basically we need a steroided S7 with software fixes.

MiniForklift

@fejker I was disappointed that Movescount wasn’t able to be used alongside the app, I agree that it was very good.
So to go back on track, I’d possibly look at getting a S7 maybe later in the year. Any bugs might have been addressed by then, you would think they’d be a few improvements made and the price might have come down a bit. Would be quite nice to have as a secondary, everyday watch

Brad_Olwin

@fejker No, I am not on a new toy high. I would not purchase this as my one watch, my needs are quite different for a single watch. I find the maps and tie in to Suunto Ecosystem useful for me so I would consider this as an everyday watch and an alternative to AW. The watch when delivered works, Suunto is not promising additional functionality. For me, the most critical issue would be getting activity tracking into the Suunto app and I do not know if that will happen or not. Everything else folks are speculating on is speculation. I bought the SSU when it was announced, Suunto delivered on the roadmap they provided for the watch but it took a very long time. The S7 does not have a roadmap, for purchasing one I would not assume that additional functionality will be added.

freeheeler

This post is deleted!

freeheeler

@MiniForklift said in Suunto 7:

I find the app pretty good

I definitely miss total ascent summaries and summaries selectable by sport type icons and date or time span (week, month, year etc) plus a comparison of single months of each year eg: January 2017 to 2018 to 2019 to 2020.
But I found web based tools for this that are very very close to what I want and I think they are useful and the future of how I want to read my data.

Plus FW updates thru SA as you wish, but once the FW is stable and settled this becomes irrelevant.

…fellas, please excuse my offtopic answer here!

…sorry, had to delete the last post as I misclicked the “wrong” quote

Luís Pinto

@Brad_Olwin that is a concerning. S7 is not bringing all features that potential buyers expect. As Spartan family too. Buyers want some type of confidence in product that they will buy. Polar for example, everything that they promise was deliver with Vantage family. This give trust in a investment. We should not forget that market it’s overload of gadgets.

freeheeler

@Luís-Pinto
a customer is positive surprised if he finds a feature that is useful but was not announced very obvious.
On the other hand they are disappointed if they expect something that is not there or takes time to come.

___Alejandro___

@jean-william-cousin Errrr, hold on there sir! I’m tempted by the Suunto 7 and yet, strangely, I don’t feel insulted… Actually, I find fejker’s comments (or “rants and whining” as some of the eager beavers around ‘ere call them) quite refreshing in a ‘much-needed-opposite-polarity’ kind of way, and I think we need that in a forum like this. Helps us stay objective. Oh, wait, you’re not an instagram chick are you!? (I’m just teasing, okay?!)

jw cou

@Alejandro yeah you’re right… I do love this forum because there are very different points of view, facts based discussions. And I’m very happy to read any pros or cons someone has to share and why a watch / app may or may not fit one’s needs.
But sometimes (rarely) it slightly slides into the “I know the absolute truth and you’re dumb if you don’t think like me” aka Facebook/Twitter discussions, and that’s where I get bored! I guess the instagram chick was a bit too much for me, just after taking the risk of investing 500$ into a watch not thoroughly tested yet But nothing agqainst @fejker of course, I do appreciate all the facts these experienced guys are sharing, especially because I am not as experienced in sports / wearables.

sartoric

It will be veeeery interesting to see, in a week or so, some figures about pre-order.

___Alejandro___

@jean-william-cousin Did you just pony up 500 for the 7?! I salute your courage and offer you my hearty congratulations! Tempting as it is for me, I think I’ll sit this one out. Got burned a bit with the SSU, so not feeling the pioneering spirit on this one – you know, “Fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me, etc, etc…”
Well! Expert or not, I’m looking forward to any interesting revelations from a real-world paying customer, such as your good self. All the best!

jw cou

@Alejandro I was an early adopter of the SSU too, so as a great philosopher once said, oops I did it again.
I like testing new stuff and understand/accept the consequences (which includes eating pasta for 3 months), it may be a disease.

And I’ll of course happily share my findings

Brad_Olwin

@Luís-Pinto The features are clearly provided in the manual and information on the Suunto site. Since this watch is not aimed at Suunto’s base core but more at the S3F user, it may not get the features that some are hoping would come. I too would like to see a roadmap, unfortunately that did not work out well for Suunto as I experienced. Certainly for planned features, some future notification would be helpful.

@Brad_Olwin said in Suunto 7:

@Luís-Pinto Since this watch is not aimed at Suunto’s base core but more at the S3F user,

Agreed. And yet S3F has all FirstBeat metrics more hardcore watches have, support for external sensors beyond heart rate, and even unofficial support for running power.

isazi

@jean-william-cousin I would gladly eat pasta every day

@jean-william-cousin said in Suunto 7:

@Alejandro I was an early adopter of the SSU too, so as a great philosopher once said, oops I did it again.

I have been honestly investigating Google Fit and WearOS side of the equation ever since S7 surprise announcement. While the jury is still out, the early evidence presented to the court is really-really promising. I think S7 might be the first smartwatch that ticks all the right boxes for me in terms of design, hardware specs, and features, and it might be the second smartwatch ever with real sports chops, period. The first one being Polar M600, peace be upon it. Amen!

My only gripe is that without external sensors and intervals, I would still need another real watch to drive majority of my training. Still, a capable daily driver that can capture easy runs outside, recovery spin bikes/rowing, mobility drills/stretching, minor hikes and walks is pretty big in my book.

@isazi Can’t eat pasta for three months, let alone everyday… So I’ll probably drop breakfast and swap dinner for protein shake

(I’m sure soon we are going to see a headline on Engadget and Gizmodo “Broke Suunto fans starve to get S7”…)

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

@NickK if you use Google fit you will be pleased a lot. SA syncs to Google Fit (the watch SA) and other apps like Sleep for Android can push also sleep to FIT. Now the watch can be used with the Sleep for Android app to aggregate data as Sleep for Android bases also on Mic etc. Google fit also does 24/7 HR monitoring and gives an important metric, rest HR.

For the Apple health kit etc people I have no clue…

Also Steps are not synced to the Suunto app. I dont know if Suunto app will pull them eventually from Google Fit but it has been decided that Google Fit will / should provide the step count , meaning, that they do have a “context” engine for removing invalid steps.

I hope this helps.

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos Thank you! I haven’t used Google Fit in a long-long while. Was pleasantly surprised by the redesigned version. I’d say it’s a combined and streamlined version of iOS Health and Activity apps. It doesn’t try to be everything for everyone, i.e. it’s not health vault with all stats under the sun. But it does have the basics people typically want to track and it does a lot of smart things presentation wise.

I think on Android where Fit is native, S7 could be a hit.

iPhone is a different story. On one hand, WearOS there is a second class citizen due to iOS limitations and Google’s lack of focus. On the other, S7 would probably have to write to Health too, because that’s where iPhone people would expect to find the data. There’s Google Fit version for iOS, but I doubt many people know it exists.