My Bittersweet Suunto Core
I've been through a lot with my Suunto Core wrist computer. It has saved my butt and has given me quite a bit of grief as well...
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BY VILLE JOKINEN
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MARCH 31, 2017
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Kids of the 80's will remember The Nightrider, Michael Knight ( David Hasselhoff ), communicating with his car K.I.T.T through his watch, that's what this watch reminded me of the first day I got it. It tells you when the sun will set, it beeps like a mad man to warn you from a storm you haven't even noticed coming (barometer), it let's you know how close to the top of Mount Whitney you are (altimeter), it tells how deep you are while snorkeling to grab that hotel key you forgot you had in your shorts pocket (depth meter down to 10m/33ft), it has the compass for when you're leaving the bar and your stumbling home and know that it's south of where you are. The only flaw, is that it does not have GPS. The altimeter is based on barometric pressure so it won't be as accurate as the GPS wristwatches on the market, but it has been accurate enough for me and because it lacks the GPS capability the battery lasts about a year (my average) instead of the 2-3 days that the ones with GPS last.
I've gone through a lot with this watch, hiked 2,650 miles/ 4272 km on the Pacific Crest Trail, hiked the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas and am currently sporting it while 9 months into a crazy bike tour of the Americas. I've submerged it hundreds of times diving and snorkeling and it keeps on ticking. While on the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierras, my wife and I were about to climb over John Muir Pass and the thing started beeping like crazy. At first I thought it was the battery dying. We later learned that the watch was warning us of a fast change in the barometric pressure indicating a possible storm brewing. We decided to wait and take a snack break and see if it was right. Sure enough, not long after the beeping, we started noticing storm clouds rolling over the mountains and soon after we had pitched our tent it started snowing. So it has saved my/our butts on more than one occasion, thanks trusty wrist buddy. I really enjoy the capability to record climbs if I feel like it. The watch will draw a nice chart that let's you know what time you were in what elevation. The intervals at which the elevation is recorded can be easily changed so you have a very detailed chart or not quite so much. Another huge pro for me is the ability to see the depth down to 10m/33ft while diving. I love free diving and I do it as often as I can and sometimes unplanned so it's nice to have the Suunto there when I decide to do so.
Lots of reasons to love this watch. But, here are a few negatives to consider when purchasing a Suunto Core over another watch...
This thing does a crap ton of things but it's not cheap, they start at around $300 bucks. A sound investment for a wrist computer. But sadly, for $300, Suunto decided to go with a really crappy strap that just doesn't hold up. The original strap it comes with is made out of elastomer, some kind of cheap plastic wrap you'd expect to see on a watch you buy on the market in Delhi, India with Mickey Mouse's face on the dial. I broke 3 of them roughly one every 6 months since getting the watch. My wife, Kristen, rocks the Suunto Lumi and is on her third (glued) strap as well. After my first broken strap, I asked Suunto, "Does this happen a lot?" and they said "No but try to avoid getting any sun screen or mosquito repellent on it, they make the strap brittle". Needless to say that's kind of hard to do, those are the 2 things most people buying this watch apply on their arms when out using it. After the second and third strap (luckily I never lost the watch, only scratched the glass after one of the falls), I happened to be in Helsinki, Finland where these high-tech watches are made, and went in to talk to the people who maintain and fix them. They recommended I buy the silicone strap (twice as expensive as the crappy strap it came with), but my problems seem to have been solved. I've had the silicone strap on the watch for a year now and I see no signs of deterioration or cracks, seems to be holding on great. I apply sun screen and it was covered in mosquito repellent in Alaska but those don't seem to have done any harm.
Also my adventuring friends, this watch is made in Finland. Pretty cool, right? I was made there, the watch was made there. But I have to say after living in the US on and off for the last nine years, our customer service sucks. You might be use to "the customer is always right" and great customer service on returns or warranty of US products, but when calling customer service on anything to do with the watch, prepare to be tragically disappointed. It has a very limited warranty and you will need to pay to ship it in for a fix of anything. There also will be a cost to fix anything on it if it's outside the limited warranty period. REI does carry these watches, so if bought through REI, you have their fantastic one year no questions asked return policy. There is that.
My question to Suunto is, why do you make an awesome watch and then try to save money on the one thing that ties the product to it's owner? Why don't you use the silicone straps on the watch from the get go? Reading online forums it becomes obvious that this is a major issue to address regarding the watch, but then we already went over Suunto's customer service issues as well. Suunto! Change the strap!
If I had over $300 to blow on a wrist computer, I would buy the Suunto Core. I would spend the extra money to get the silicone strap. The watch is pretty bad-ass and has so many capabilities and uses for an outdoor adventurer or even for the day-to-day office jockey. Suunto, remedy your strap issue and then you'd have the best product on the market. While your at it, brush up on your customer service skills if you want to compete with the US products. Otherwise, Suunto Core, thanks for all the good times together.
I've gone through a lot with this watch, hiked 2,650 miles/ 4272 km on the Pacific Crest Trail, hiked the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalayas and am currently sporting it while 9 months into a crazy bike tour of the Americas. I've submerged it hundreds of times diving and snorkeling and it keeps on ticking. While on the Pacific Crest Trail in the Sierras, my wife and I were about to climb over John Muir Pass and the thing started beeping like crazy. At first I thought it was the battery dying. We later learned that the watch was warning us of a fast change in the barometric pressure indicating a possible storm brewing. We decided to wait and take a snack break and see if it was right. Sure enough, not long after the beeping, we started noticing storm clouds rolling over the mountains and soon after we had pitched our tent it started snowing. So it has saved my/our butts on more than one occasion, thanks trusty wrist buddy. I really enjoy the capability to record climbs if I feel like it. The watch will draw a nice chart that let's you know what time you were in what elevation. The intervals at which the elevation is recorded can be easily changed so you have a very detailed chart or not quite so much. Another huge pro for me is the ability to see the depth down to 10m/33ft while diving. I love free diving and I do it as often as I can and sometimes unplanned so it's nice to have the Suunto there when I decide to do so.
Lots of reasons to love this watch. But, here are a few negatives to consider when purchasing a Suunto Core over another watch...
This thing does a crap ton of things but it's not cheap, they start at around $300 bucks. A sound investment for a wrist computer. But sadly, for $300, Suunto decided to go with a really crappy strap that just doesn't hold up. The original strap it comes with is made out of elastomer, some kind of cheap plastic wrap you'd expect to see on a watch you buy on the market in Delhi, India with Mickey Mouse's face on the dial. I broke 3 of them roughly one every 6 months since getting the watch. My wife, Kristen, rocks the Suunto Lumi and is on her third (glued) strap as well. After my first broken strap, I asked Suunto, "Does this happen a lot?" and they said "No but try to avoid getting any sun screen or mosquito repellent on it, they make the strap brittle". Needless to say that's kind of hard to do, those are the 2 things most people buying this watch apply on their arms when out using it. After the second and third strap (luckily I never lost the watch, only scratched the glass after one of the falls), I happened to be in Helsinki, Finland where these high-tech watches are made, and went in to talk to the people who maintain and fix them. They recommended I buy the silicone strap (twice as expensive as the crappy strap it came with), but my problems seem to have been solved. I've had the silicone strap on the watch for a year now and I see no signs of deterioration or cracks, seems to be holding on great. I apply sun screen and it was covered in mosquito repellent in Alaska but those don't seem to have done any harm.
Also my adventuring friends, this watch is made in Finland. Pretty cool, right? I was made there, the watch was made there. But I have to say after living in the US on and off for the last nine years, our customer service sucks. You might be use to "the customer is always right" and great customer service on returns or warranty of US products, but when calling customer service on anything to do with the watch, prepare to be tragically disappointed. It has a very limited warranty and you will need to pay to ship it in for a fix of anything. There also will be a cost to fix anything on it if it's outside the limited warranty period. REI does carry these watches, so if bought through REI, you have their fantastic one year no questions asked return policy. There is that.
My question to Suunto is, why do you make an awesome watch and then try to save money on the one thing that ties the product to it's owner? Why don't you use the silicone straps on the watch from the get go? Reading online forums it becomes obvious that this is a major issue to address regarding the watch, but then we already went over Suunto's customer service issues as well. Suunto! Change the strap!
If I had over $300 to blow on a wrist computer, I would buy the Suunto Core. I would spend the extra money to get the silicone strap. The watch is pretty bad-ass and has so many capabilities and uses for an outdoor adventurer or even for the day-to-day office jockey. Suunto, remedy your strap issue and then you'd have the best product on the market. While your at it, brush up on your customer service skills if you want to compete with the US products. Otherwise, Suunto Core, thanks for all the good times together.
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