Reviews > Electronic Devices > Watches > Suunto x9i > Jason Boyle > Test Report by Jason Boyle

Suunto X9i Wristop Computer

Test Series

Tester Information:
Name: Jason Boyle
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 6"/ 1.68 m
Weight: 170 lb/ 77 kg
Email address: c4jc "at" hotmail "dot" com
City, State, Country: Snoqualmie, Washington, U. S.

Backpacking Background: I have been camping and backpacking for about 18 years. My introduction to the outdoors started with the Boy Scouts of America and has continued as an adult. I have hiked mostly in the Southeastern and Northeastern United States. I am generally a lightweight hiker, but will carry extras to keep me comfortable. I have recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest and spend most of my time hiking and backpacking in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, but I can be found exploring the other wild areas of Washington! I am an electronics amateur, with the only electronic device I use on a regular basis is an electronic compass Product Information: Manufacturer: Suunto Model: X9i Color: Black Year of Manufacture: 2006 URL:www.suunto.com Listed weight: 2.68 oz (76 g) Measured weight: 2.75 oz (78 g) Face Width: 2” (5 cm) MSRP: Not listed on manufacturer’s website Country of Manufacture: not listed

Product Description:
From the Suunto Website:
“The ideal trekking partner for all outdoor enthusiasts. Equipped with GPS, a compass, chronograph, altimeter, and barometer Suunto X9i has everything you need for a successful journey. Regardless whether you're hiking, climbing, skiing or heading off for a fishing trip, Suunto X9i will take you through even the toughest situations."

Modes –

Time:
This mode has all of the normal watch functions, time, alarm, stopwatch and date. One important thing that can only be done in this mode is the selection of measuring units for data display in all of the other modes. This was not immediately apparent to me, until I read the manual. Another cool feature while in the time mode is the ability to check the time of sunrise and sunset. The watch uses the last known GPS coordinates to calculate sunrise and sunset. This is great information especially as sunset gets earlier and earlier as the winter progresses.

Alti/Baro:
This mode measures altitude, barometric pressure, and temperarture. The X9i uses a barometric sensor to determine either altitude or weather changes. If I select the Alti function then the X9i assumes any pressure changes are due to altitude change and if I select Baro mode then it assumes any pressure changes are from changing weather. I believe this is pretty common among most altimeters. Suunto recommends using a known reference for the initial altitude setting and checking it through out the day to make sure it is staying accurate as pressure changes due to weather will cause it to loose accuracy. This mode also offers the user the ability to set an altitude alarm to go off at a preset altitude or a weather alarm to go off at when there is a significant change in pressure.

Compass:
This mode displays all of the standard digital compass functions and provides the user with the option to set a declination. It shows the 8 cardinal and half cardinal points as well as the actual degrees. One neat orienteering function that it has is the ability to allow the user to navigate on a certain bearing. If the user deviates from the bearing the watch tells user to which way he needs to go to get back on course.

Navigation:
This mode allows the user to create routes and waypoints, and using GPS shows the distance, direction, estimated time of arrival and other essential information for all the waypoints of the selected route, and can guide the user back to the starting point.

Activity:
This mode shows the user speed, traveled distance, time from start and other interesting data regarding the user’s current activity. It also records all of this information for viewing later on the user’s computer. Both this function and Navigation require the GPS to be working for maximum benefit. The activity mode can be used without GPS to track elevation gained and lost and the number of ski runs the user made (a run is defined as a change of 150’ or 50 m.)

Other features:
- Water resistant to 10 bar
- Power supply: The watch has a rechargeable lithium ion battery. Suunto claims it can be recharged 500 times before it needs to be changed. The battery cannot be changed by the user, but rather it has to be changed by Suunto Service. The battery can be charged two ways. The first is via a charger which clips on the side of the watch or via a USB cable connected to a computer and the watch.
- PC interface software + USB cable
- Full access to SuuntoSports.com

The X9i came with an assortment of equipment. The included CD has the Suunto Trek Manager program and includes a detailed user manual in 8 languages. There is also a less detailed printed user manual, a quick reference pocket guide, a USB cable/battery charger with plugs for US and European outlets, an advertisement showing compatibility with National Geographic Topo! Software and an extension strap.

One of the things that I like about the X9i is the button functions are displayed on the face of the watch. I am still not sure about what each menu does yet, but with the functions displayed on the faceplate I already feel comfortable that I can find the menu that I am looking for and can easily navigate between the main modes.

I am concerned with the GPS. On the day hike mentioned above, I was not able to acquire a fix. I followed all of the directions, including having a crystal clear path into the sky and nothing. After 10 or so minutes the GPS fix interval switched from 1 second to manual because it could not find a fix. I was not even able to acquire 1 satellite. This issue will be followed closely over the test period.

Summary:
I am torn with the performance of this wristop computer. I really like the Altimeter, Compass, and Time functions and they have worked well. I have struggled with the Activity and Navigation modes and their integration with the GPS. The GPS has only worked when in wide open areas and even then reception has been spotty at times.

Field Conditions:
I have used the Suunto X9i in many different environments since my initial report. I took 4 day hiking trips on the western side of the Cascades, a 3-day backpacking trip in the southern Cascades, an overnight backpacking trip in the high desert canyons of Eastern Washington and on a snowshoe trip in the western Cascades. Temperatures ranged from 70 F to 28 F (21 C to -2 C) and elevation ranged from sea level to 8201 feet (2500 m). I encountered rain and snow as well as the occasional sunny day. I differentiated where I went hiking because the land is very different. The western Cascades have very dense tree cover consisting mostly of Douglas Fir trees, the southern Cascades are forested but more mature and open between the trees, most of the trees are Ponderosa Pines, and the high desert of Eastern Washington has some trees but consists mostly of wide canyons with sagebrush and juniper.

Field Test Results:
The main functions of the X9i are fairly easy to move between. I had no problems switching between the different functions and using the Time, Altimeter, and Compass are pretty straight forward. I will talk more about all of the functions later in my report. I do not feel that I have mastered what I would consider the advanced functions of the watch which are the Navigation and Activity modes. The manual is a bit daunting and I still find myself referring to it often. Though it is related to the X9i, I haven’t mastered the Trek Manager either. I can download routes from the X9i, but have not been able to upload maps from my TOPO! Software yet, and neither the X9i or the Trek Manager software are compatible with Macintosh computers.

Battery life has been good. I have found that it lasts at least 4 hours using the GPS with a 1 sec fix interval, the most power draining fix interval. On a day hike to Lake Lillian in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, I used the watch without recharging it from a previous use to see if I could run the battery completely out. I was not able too run it completely out, but once the battery indicator was down to one block remaining the X9i would not allow me to enter the GPS mode. I presume this is to keep the user from completely running the battery down, but there was no mention of this interlock in any of the Suunto literature.

The X9i is fairly comfortable to wear. It is a large watch, but I have not noticed its weight while hiking. It does make putting on my backpack’s shoulder straps a bit of a pain because it catches on the straps. I also find that it pinches my wrist a bit when using hiking poles or if I need to use my hands to do some bouldering or climbing like I needed to do to while summit Gilbert Peak in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. On one trip, I hung the X9i from a zipper pull on my jacket and I found that I liked using the X9i this way. I could swing the watch up and look at the face, the temperature was accurate, and I did not pinch my wrist when using my poles. The only thing I worried about was the strap coming unbuckled and the watch falling off without me noticing.

The Time function is similar to any watch. I have not had any issues here other than the first time I used the GPS. I had selected the Sync mode to “on” which means the GPS would automatically set the time once the GPS picked up a signal. However, I had not selected the correct time correction from Greenwich Mean Time, so it caused the time to change significantly. This is corrected by finding the proper UTC offset (similar to a time zone) or by turning off the Sync mode.

The Alti/Baro mode has also been easy to use. Like any other altimeter that uses barometric pressure the X9i requires a reference elevation. I set the reference point at the beginning of each trip and found that the altimeter stayed accurate throughout the duration of the trip. At the top of a ridge at an intersection leading to Margaret Lake, the altimeter reading and the topographical map altitude reading were exactly the same. The altimeter function is affected by weather systems which can cause the altimeter to give false readings so I made sure that I always checked the weather before heading out.

Speaking of weather systems, I used the Baro mode while camped at Surprise Lake in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. There was a low pressure system moving in that evening and when I checked the Baro memory mode in the morning showed a graphical representation of the pressure decreasing just as I expected it to.

The Alti/Baro mode also displays the temperature reading. I found that if I was wearing the X9i the temperature reading was anywhere from 10 to 18 F (5 to 10 C) different from the other temperature measurement device that I had hanging on my shoulder strap. When I took the watch off and let it sit on the ground the temperature reading stabilized and corresponded with my other temperature gauge.

I have been less successful using the Navigation and Activity modes. The Navigation mode is used to navigate routes or waypoints stored into the X9i via the Trek Manager software or manually entered by me into the watch. I used this mark home option to mark my truck, when I could get a GPS fix and the Navigation mode told me how far from my truck I was and gave me a bearing to get back to the truck. However, without a good GPS signal this function doesn’t work. Additionally, I found it impossible as of the writing of this report to be able to upload routes and waypoints from the Trek Manager software to the X9i. I will admit to not being the most technical person, but I read maps and charts for a living and I am not sure why I am having trouble getting routes into the X9i. I will be calling customer service for help once this report is filed.

The Activity mode is supposed to provide real time speed, distance traveled, altitude etc… based on the GPS fix. I am not sure why, maybe it is because a good fix is not maintained the entire time, but I have found this function to be very inaccurate. On my snowshoeing trip to Kendall Peak Lakes via logging roads, I had a consistent GPS signal. I was breaking trail and the going was fairly slow. After two hours of snowshoeing, the Activity mode said I had went 8 miles (13 km), but the Navigation mode said 2 miles (3 km), and my map reading skills said I had hiked 2 miles (3 km). Again I am not sure why this is, but there is no way I did 8 miles (13 km) in two hours. I couldn’t do that hiking a flat road, much less breaking trail and gaining elevation.

I have not spent much time using the compass mode and will focus more on this feature in my Long Term Report.

The feature that I was most looking forward to is also the feature I am most disappointed with: the GPS. While backpacking and hiking on the western and southern side of the Cascades, I have rarely been able to acquire a fix. The X9i just cannot seem to gain the kind of reception necessary to lock onto the GPS satellites. On this side of the mountains I have only been able to get a fix while standing on the shore of a lake or on an open area like a logging road. Since the western Cascades are my primary hiking area, I just don’t find this function useful in this environment.

On the eastern side of the Cascades where my hiking area is High Desert, the GPS worked better but still not great. Here there were few trees to interfere with the signal but even after acquiring the initial fix, which Suunto says could take up to 12 minutes, the GPS still had trouble maintaining a lock on the satellites while hiking the half mile (0.8 km) wide canyons. However, I do think the X9i is better suited for this type of environment and will make at least on more trip to the desert and head off trail to see if I can use the GPS to make better use of the more advanced functions of the X9i.

Improvements:
I personally would like to see a carabiner attachment option so that I could attach the watch body to my shoulder strap.

Summary:
The Suunto X9i is mostly what it advertises to be. It is a GPS watch, altimeter, compass, and navigation aide, but here in Western Washington the X9i is only an altimeter, compass, and watch. The GPS just doesn’t function well, if at all, in tree cover. In the open steppe and high desert of Central Washington the GPS performs better and the navigation functions are useful. Battery life is certainly a concern, especially in cold weather, and care has to be exercised to ensure that the X9i makes it through a weekend trip. The included software also leads a lot to be desired, but a recent software addition and a partnership with Google Earth is great.

Field Conditions:
I have used the watch on three more trips since the field report; a snowshoe day hike in the western foothills of the Cascades, an two night backpacking trip in the steppe of Central Washington, and on an overnight snowshoe trip in the Boulder Wilderness in the Mt. Baker – Snoqualmie National Forest. Temperatures ranged from 32 F to 8 F (0 C to -13 C), elevation ranged from sea level to 3200’ (975 m), and experienced mostly clear days except for the day hike in the foothills were I was hiking in a steady snow squall.

Results:
After several more months of using this watch, I feel pretty comfortable using it on the trail. I still carry the quick reference card with me just in case I can’t remember how to do something. I have not had the opportunity to use the watch in the rain, which is odd for the Pacific Northwest, but we haven’t really received any rain just snow! The X9i has worked just fine while exposed to snow and I have not had any waterproof/durability issues.

Battery life has played a bigger role in my trips this time. While hiking in the cold steppe of Central Washington, I used the GPS quite a bit over the two days and eventually ran the battery down to one block remaining where the watch automatically turns the GPS off. I wanted to see if the battery would completely drain causing the watch to shutdown completely. Two days after I returned from my trip, I noticed that the display had completely disappeared; the battery had been completely drained. So three days on the trail and two at home after the watch went to one block it completely shutdown, 5 days of total use. I recharged the battery and had to reset the time, but none of my other information had been lost. Based on this experience, I found that I needed to pay particular attention to the battery level. I was using the watch on my trip in the Boulder Wilderness, where it was 8 F (-13 C), to navigate back to my car when the GPS was automatically shut off. I knew where I was and knew the forest service road I was on took me back to my truck, but had I been lost in the backcountry or off trail navigating I could have been in a very precarious position. GPS is just a tool and I wouldn’t rely on it as my only navigational tool, in my opinion it is good backpacking practice to know how to use a map and compass and not to rely solely on electronic devices.

I won’t rehash all of the functions of the watch as most of them continued to work as advertised, but will only highlight some of them that I played with more over the last couple of months.

While on the steppe in Central Washington, I hiked in during early twilight where I used the compass function to ensure my tent was set up to receive morning sun. On the same trip, I overshot a lake I was trying to get to because I was following an elk herd in the distance. When I realized I had missed it, I used the GPS to determine where I was and used the compass to shoot a bearing to where I wanted to be. I used the compass and navigation functions to work my way back to the lake I was trying to find. I was able to compare the compass with my hiking partner’s standard compass and found it to be very accurate. The compass needed to be recalibrated after I had completely drained the battery, but I expected that I would need to recalibrate it.

On the same trip mentioned above, I was able to finally use the navigation function. While on the trail, I was able enter in a GPS waypoint manually and then navigate cross country using the watch. It was pretty easy to use, when stopped the GPS signal would give me a filled in circle to line up with the bearing indicator, and when walking I had an open circle, indicating the watch was using the compass, to line up with the bearing indicator. Once the circle was in the bearing indicator, I knew the direction that I needed to walk to get to my lake. After I had reached the waypoint I had manually entered, I then choose to navigate towards the truck which I had marked as home before I left. I did the same thing lining up either the filled or open circle in the bearing indicator and followed it to the truck. One small problem though, there was a thousand foot cliff above where I parked, and that is where I navigated to using the watch. Common sense and knowledge of the topography is still necessary when using electronic devices for navigation.

I never really used the Activity mode that much. In my opinion it did not provide information that I found useful. I did not want to know my instantaneous speed over ground, and I found that it did not calculate my actual distance traveled correctly. I compared several hikes of known distance with the distance shown in the activity mode and the watch reading was off by miles (kilometers).

The software suite that came with the watch has not been that useful. I contacted customer service via email about importing TOPO! maps into the Trek Manager software and received a prompt response. However, the Trek Manager software doesn’t support TOPO! but can accept images that are in the .gif, .bmp, or .jpeg format. They did say that I could import my tracks and waypoints directly into TOPO!. I spent several hours fiddling with importing information into TOPO! but was unsuccessful. I am not a TOPO! expert but I do use it regularly to set routes for the trips that I guide with Big City Mountaineers. After four months of use the only benefit I can find to using the Trek Manger software is entering waypoints into the X9i. I can type in the coordinates easier than when I enter them manually on the watch.

One new piece of software that Suunto has just released that works well is the new Track Exporter. This software works with Google Earth, which also has to be installed. Using this program I am able to select a track on my X9i and Google Earth will automatically plot it. This is very cool! This program is more user friendly than the Trek Manager software.

Overall, I think the watch is a great idea, and I really enjoy the Altimeter, Compass and Watch functions. The GPS unit and the associated functions leave a lot to be desired for me since I spend 75% of my time hiking in forested areas where the GPS doesn’t work.

Thanks to Backpackgeartest.org and Suunto for allowing me to participate in this test.

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