Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9
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@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. -
Thanks for the links, they are in Suunto’s hands now.
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@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.
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@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.
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@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. -
@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.
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@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.
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@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. -
@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.
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@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
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@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.
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@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
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@miniforklift I had a similar reaction to the S9Peak when I first opened the box I couldn’t believe how small it looked, especially on my wrist after using the S9B for a couple of years.
I’ve got over the shock now
and find its a great form factor on the wrist (barely realise its there) but as I mentioned, for me the fonts are just too small when I glance at the watch whilst exercising especially trail running. -
@tonyg said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:
@miniforklift I had a similar reaction to the S9Peak when I first opened the box I couldn’t believe how small it looked, especially on my wrist after using the S9B for a couple of years.
I’ve got over the shock now
and find its a great form factor on the wrist (barely realise its there) but as I mentioned, for me the fonts are just too small when I glance at the watch whilst exercising especially trail running.
I have a S9P and S9 too.Initially I really liked the Peak but I just couldn’t get over the small face. I was squinting trying to read stuff while using it in anger.
So I got myself a S9 (no baro, as its not of much use to me) and its so much easier to read but it has pretty much all the good stuff of the Peak.
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@miniforklift said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:
According to his experiences of using both watches the Enduro is way ahead of the S9B and there’s actually nothing that the S9B does better than the Enduro. Altitude and elevation gain is more accurate (he runs in a group at least a couple of times a week where his S9B was usually considerably down in vert), Strava Live Segments are flawless, better GPS in heavy woodland or cloudy/overcast days and obviously better battery life
My understanding is that Enduro isn’t that much different from Fenix 6X. It has the same body and display, the same GNSS antenna design, the same GNSS chipset. It has better than 6X battery life but lacks maps.
I have been using 6X for 2+ years. Before that I used Suunto 9 Baro for 1.5 years, and before that Ambit and Ambit 3 Peak.
I agree that Fenix 6X is definitely more accurate than Suunto 9 Baro in measuring altitude and elevation gain.
However I’d disagree with your opinion on the distance and Strava Live segments. At the time when I moved from S9B to F6X, Suunto’s distance accuracy was horrible and it was consistently too short, however later a new firmware was released and Suunto 9 now is more accurate. Interestingly enough, F6X GPS tracks look better, but it manages to consistently shorten the distance. Looking at activities of my friends who still use S9B, their distances are usually more accurate. When I apply distance correction to Fenix tracks the distance improves a lot, but somehow initially Fenix distance is always about 5% shorter then its own GPS track length.And don’t get me started on Strava Live Segments. That feature, when running on wooded PNW trails, fails to successfully track a segment to a completion more often than it succeeds. Any sharp turn almost guarantees my watch would drop off a segment. And if I stop to e.g. tie laces, it drops off a segment too. In general, the quality of tracking depends very strongly on tree coverage. It is quite decent on an open terrain but degrades very quickly when there are any trees around.
I don’t know if Enduro is really any different than Fenix in that regard but I really doubt that.
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@sky-runner I wish I could defend the 9B right now on distance accuracy, but since the last update, it feels like that metric has taken a hit. We’ve always known that elevation gain gets undercounted, but I did a recent long trail run with a group and my 9B was showing 4%-5% more distance than everyone else’s watch (they all had various Garmins) and about 7% more than what SA had for the route when I dropped a gpx file in there pre-run and pushed it to my watch.
Compare that to a race I did in September where the official course distance was 39.52 – my 9B came in at an amazing 39.62 when I finished. So I was super happy back then! But I feel like something has changed lately, but I need to do more group/partner runs to have additional data to say for sure.
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@traileyes i think i have to agree with you. I have posted as well in gps-stuff thread, that after latest firmware update, 9P gps accuracy totally went downhill , unfortunately. Something must have changed. It used to be super accurate.
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@surfboomerang That would be great!
Hope suunto hears us… -
I put my hands on the S9P yesterday.
The buttons really feel nice to operate. But I can absolutely forget about pressing them even with my lighter gloves
…and it definitely is too small for my wrist
so please, Suunto… surprise us 
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@freeheeler said in Why I've shelved my Peak for a 9:
I put my hands on the S9P yesterday.
The buttons really feel nice to operate. But I can absolutely forget about pressing them even with my lighter gloves
…and it definitely is too small for my wrist
so please, Suunto… surprise us For me, lighter gloves are fine, heavier ones are not.
