Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Suunto Advizor > Curt Peterson > Long Term Report

Suunto Advizor Wristop Computer

- Long Term Report -
August 2006

1)Tester Background and Contact Information

Name: Curt Peterson
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight: 270 lb (122 kg)
Email address: curt<at>boopants<dot>com
Location: North Bend, Washington, USA

I live in the Cascade foothills, just 20 mi (32 km) from the Pacific Crest Trail via trails leading right from my backyard. My outdoor time in Washington is spent dayhiking, backpacking, climbing, and skiing everywhere from the Olympic coast to rainforests to Cascade volcanoes to dry steppe.  I played football in college and often evaluate products from a big guy perspective. My typical pack load ranges from 11 - 20 lbs (5 - 9 kg) and usually includes plenty of wet weather gear.
 

2) Suunto Advizor Specifications

• Black with black watchband
• 1.9 oz (55 gm) for the watch alone
• 2.0 oz (57 gm) for the chest strap alone
• Manufacturer Website: www.suunto.com
• Ships with watch, heart monitor chest strap, and manual
• MSRP: $299 US

3) Suunto Advizor Long Term Report
 
For a brief look at my use of outdoor-focused watches, the Suunto Advizor's features description, an overview of navigating through the watch capabilities and use in real world situations, please refer to my Initial Report and my Field Report.

In previous reports I focused on the "Big Five" Modes to describe the functions of the watch.  Keeping with that format, I'll comment on the long term performance of each of those areas before offering some final thoughts on the Suunto Advizor.

1. Time: How funny that this is least notable function of a WATCH!  It's a digital clock, and it works perfectly.  That's about it.  Probably the neatest aspect of the time function is not even in the "Time" mode, but the fact that it shows up (although smaller) in 4 of the 5 modes, making it almost always accessible.  Only the "Altimeter" mode doesn't display the time, instead choosing to show heart rate in that space.

2. Altimeter: The altimeter is still my favorite feature - and the most used in the backcountry of all features.  The accuracy has continued to impress me, staying well within the drift range I noted in my Field Report.   Just a couple weekends ago a friend and I did a route that was off-trail along a ridge top from one lake basin to another.  There was ample opportunity to go the wrong way, particularly as we neared the destination lake basin.  Most of it was surrounded by slopes that would have been either extremely dangerous or downright impossible to descend.  With a map and accurate altimeter, we really didn't even have to worry about finding the right gap in the ridge to drop down into the basin.  We simply maintained a consistent contour at the elevation we needed to be at and wandered directly to the notch we were looking for.  The entire off-trail portion was uneventful, but could have been scary without accurate elevation readings.  The other neat aspect - and a great one for mental sanity on a hot, steep, off-trail climb - is knowing exactly how much more there is to ascend.  Facing a 1000 ft (300 m) root climb where the top is not visible can be frustrating, but being able to count it down somehow makes it easier to piece together.  This is also another great use of the segmented ring around the circumference.  The visual of the climb is fantastic.  The altimeter on the Advizor is so useful and well-thought out with the visual progress ring, that if all other parts of the watch suddenly failed, I'd still prefer this altimeter watch over any I've used.  It is truly a useful backcountry tool.  I use it more than my maps when I'm on a trail, I use it way more than my GPS.  I really do consider it an indispensable tool - particularly if the route has significant elevation gains and losses or it's a dedicated climb. 

3. Barometer: I actually found that in real world usage I just didn't find the barometer that helpful.  It doesn't have the ability to predict weather, and the tendency graph that records the last few hours doesn't offer a lot in the way of noting severity.  When the barometer is dropping, I can't tell if it's just a normal fluctuation or there's a monster storm about to come over the ridge.  On one of my recent trips, the graph was indicating that the barometer was on the rise and fall every couple hours.  The weather was absolutely stable the entire weekend without so much as a cloud or wisp of wind.  I believe it works just fine, I just haven't figured out a way to make good use of it in determining future conditions to the degree that I am willing to make decisions based on the barometer information.  

4. Compass: The compass has continued to be a disappointment.  On my last trip I committed to getting it to give me a relatively accurate reading.  I removed it from my wrist, set it on piece of wood, and very carefully centered the leveling bubble.  This is not what I would consider typical use, and certainly would be very hard for me to replicate while on my wrist.  Even in this very still, near-perfect scenario, the compass had difficulty settling down.  The swings of 10-20 degrees are so rapid that an average is as much a visual guess as a mathematical calculation.  The occasional wild swing (up to 100 degrees) is relatively common as well.  To be honest, I've never seen a digital compass that worked well and was accurate.  This seems like it would be a great place for outdoor watch designers to cut bulk and cost.  Perhaps there is something I'm missing, but at this point I just don't see the value of wristwatch-integrated compasses that - in my experience - are so unreliable.

5. Heart Rate Monitor:  The heart rate monitor has been used less lately.  I think that this shows what a cool tool it is.  Let me explain.  After using the heart rate monitor on a number of hikes, I was able to put a certain amount of exertion with a specific heart rate.  I discovered a couple eye-opening things.  First, it's very hard to stay in the optimal distance hiker zone when going up steep trail.  Even if I went very slowly, my heart rate would get up over 130, and would jump to 150 or 160 with any kind of normal trail pace.  For my specific age and size, keeping my heart rate between about 100 and 130 is optimum for utilizing fat stores as energy and allows for very long hiking days with consistent energy.  Getting into the higher numbers brings fatigue pretty quickly and the common "bonk" that most backpackers experience from time to time.  Second, after a number of uses, I could sense when I was exceeding my optimum range even without the heart rate monitor on.  This is extremely valuable information, and it would be difficult to put the sensation of a specific exertion with a heart rate zone without having had a heart rate monitor.  The kind of insight into how my heart is working is incredibly valuable.  There are other neat things I've discovered about heart rate.  I recently (unfortunately) found out that my resting heart rate can be as much as 10-12 beats per minute higher due to illness.  I am in the last days of a cold, and during the worst of it my resting pulse went from the low 60s to mid 70s.  The manual notes that the monitor works much better when damp or slightly wet.  This is absolutely true.  Once I've started hiking, a strong pulse and sweat give a very solid pulse and the Advizor has no problem acquiring and maintaining a reading.  At the trailhead, though, sometimes it has difficulty picking up a reading if the chest strap is dry and I'm not working hard.  The chest strap does get a little annoying on a long day - particularly when backpacking.  It's not a problem when the intent is a training hike, but for extended trips it's not something I'd want to do much.  The log features all work well, but I need to carry the manual with me to utilize them well.  I tried to learn them well enough that I'd be able to use them without the instructions, but I never did achieve this.  Neat feature, but not very intuitive for me, and I rarely was interested in much more than my current heart rate.

Non-Computer Features

One of my big goals for the long term testing was to find out how to change the watchband to something longer.  Unfortunately, this proved to be more difficult than I had hoped.  The Suunto website does not list a strap extension as an accessory to the Advizor.  The strap extensions available for some other models carried by Suunto - even if they did work for the Advizor - are still plastic.  I was looking for a fabric band with a Velcro closure.  As I have with virtually every other watch I've owned, I thought it would be simple to add an after market watch band to the Advizor.  This was not the case.  The strap attachment system is not the typical spring pin type.  Instead, there is a long threaded bar that mates with a tiny screw.  This in itself is a very secure system.  It was easy enough to detach - although two small jeweler's screwdrivers are needed - and is very unlikely to work itself loose on its own.  The issue I had was that to replace the bar without the strap so it could be used with an after market band was not really possible because the bar width is set by the removed strap and too long for using it without.  Now, it must be noted that I had no problems with the Suunto Advizor strap - I did not NEED to replace it.  This was done purely out of curiosity and because I prefer a fabric strap.  For now, I'm happily using the strap that came with the Advizor, but it is a bit frustrating to know that my options are limited if I do choose to go with another band. 

I had also mentioned looking into screen protectors for this report.  They are readily available from Suunto, but not what I was hoping for.  I'd prefer a sticker-type clear overlay protector.  Suunto offers a plastic cover that slides onto each side of the wrist strap and bridges the watch face.  I haven't had any scratches on the naked watch face so far, despite some pretty rugged use, so I'm less worried about it than I was initially, but I'd still like to see other options become available.
 

4) Suunto Advizor Final Thoughts

Final Notes

I have had no durability issues at all with the Advizor.  It's dirty, but a little cleaning and it looks as good as new.  It really seems to have been made with real world outdoor use in mind.  With the exception of the compass, the features do exactly what they are claimed to do.  The buttons are as firm and solid as the day I opened the package, and the battery life has not been an issue at all.  Apparently there is a low battery warning, but I've never seen it.  It seems obvious to me that the navigation of the watch features was done with the end user in mind.  The core functions are easy to access, easy to read, and provide valuable information without much thought or work.  There are more in-depth possibilities for those that want to dig a bit deeper - like the logs - but the watch is definitely the easiest and most intuitive in regards to core functions that I've experienced.  It's become a permanent part of my backcountry kit and it's now hard to imagine going on a trip - especially an off-trail trip - without it.

Overall BIG Likes:

1. The Altimeter!:  Best I've ever used, with clever and super-helpful features like the circumference ring.  Worth getting the Advizor for this one feature!

2. Heart Rate Monitor: What a powerful tool!  This truly changed the way I hike.  Paying attention to heart rate and understanding the implications has allowed me to hike longer and further.

3. Intuitive Feature Navigation: Particularly with the core functions, I never had trouble doing what I wanted to do.

Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Suunto for the opportunity to test the Advizor!

Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Suunto Advizor > Curt Peterson > Long Term Report