Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am a Suunto fan and I own/owned several Suunto Watches including Mosquito scuba diving computer (I like it very much although my first failed) and Observer (that I have lost when I was snowboarding). While I like the Suunto approach, here I will be rather critical in order to give Suunto and to the potential buyer an unbiased review on this watch. I will not deal with features described in the menu, but I will focus on issues I would like to see solved/improved.
I have both good and bad experience with Suunto. In all, I think they strive to push the design and reliability, which I do appreciate. I want to emphasize that X6M is an elegant watch and a significant upgrade when compared to e.g. Observer that has no PC download capabilities. Moreover, all Suunto watches I have owned were very very accurate. I certainly would recommend this watch to a friend, but I would also remind him of following things:
Cons:
Most irritating:
1.I do not understand why Suunto makes such a bad, low quality bands/strap. Even the most expensive titanium Suunto bands (Observer Titanium) are still made from silicon rubber (or similar material) with decorative titanium scales. This material wears out in year or two and breaks (that is why I lost my Observer). The X6M comes with a composite leather/rubber band that is very soft and feels great but due to very low quality of the material it breaks very quickly. Moreover, after hand wash or shower it stays wet for couple of hours. It is a shame to put such band on watch like this. I replaced it with a plastic one that I bought for $[...] from [...].
Less irritating:
1.Buttons are kind of loose and when pushed there is an occasional click, which is rather annoying. Suunto claims the watch is water resistant to 100m, but the buttons are not to be touched while submerged e.g. during snorkeling or even in shower. By my opinion, for a manufacturer who designs top of the line scuba computers such an issue is unacceptable. Some people even reported fogging after showering. I do not have such problem for now (I swim and dove in a pool to 15 ft-no problem), but after reading those Suunto lines on not touching the buttons while showering I do not feel very comfortable swimming with them.
2. Alarm has no weekday functions! Say, if I want to wake up early only on Mondays only, I have to insert the exact dates for those days. This was the same with Observer (if I remember correctly), and I just do not get why Suunto ignores the weekday alarm option. Good thing is, Suunto improved the alarm sound, which is now much louder than used to be on Observer. Alarm on Observer was a joke.
3. No count-down timer on X6M or Mosquito or Observer.
4. To me, Suunto has sometime strange logic in organizing its menu. This watch has two modes to be selected from - baro and alti. The watch then interprets the air pressure changes either as an altitude change or barometric pressure change (weather function). Since the choice affects all the calculations, it should be included in "general (main)" menu, yet it is not available there. Instead, the selection is made in each menu (compass, weather, hiking, chrono), while missing in general menu. To me this is strange.
5. The glass is stated to be mineral, but I would like to see an option of having a sapphire glass as well (Say titanium body w/ saphire glass). The glass on X6M seems to have an anti reflexive coating(I am not sure though), which is very nice I it has no scratch for now (3 months of wearing) but the mineral glass on Observer got scratched rather easily. I am hoping the X6m uses better mineral glass than the Observer.
Not irritating but improvement can be made:
1.The watch is quite heavy and if made from titanium it would be great and comfortable. Still the stainless steel material is very nicely polished and I like the look in spite of the weight.
2. The illumination works OK, but when I compare it say to Casio watches, it is much weaker and the blue light is not that homogeneous.
3. In compass mode I would offer to the user an option of choosing between rose (rotating icon) or rotating bezel. Such options is not provided.
4. X6M indicates the selected mode by a little black dot next to the mode icons located on the left from the display. The mode icons, however are not visible at night and they also cannot be illuminated. This is not a problem, but there is no reason to make the mode icons part of the display.
5. The chrono display uses strange indication of elapse time (e.g. 0.00,0 instead of clasical 0:00:0 (hours:min:sec)). I am not sure why Suunto opt for such display.
Last, the good things: X6M is just much easier to use then Observer. The menus are much more intuitive, the fifth (menu) button really helps. The PC download is easy and convenient. I like this watch and I only hope it will last long time. I am OK with replacing the plastic strap every year, but if Suunto comes with a sturdy metal band I will go for it.
Good luck!
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Suunto X6M Wrist-Top Computer Watch with Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, Clinometer and PC-InterfaceThe Suunto X6M Watch is designed for use with any cross sport such as mountaineering, hiking or cross-country skiing. This unique watch not only measures and analyzes the surrounding environment, thereby minimizing the risks involved in traveling in unknown terrain, but it also collects and analyzes information on your performance that can help to vastly improve your training.Knowing your altitude, ascent/descent rate, compass bearing, weather trends, barometric pressure, and the degree of slopes enables you to make safe decisions, particularly when hiking in wilderness or climbing in the mountains. The Suunto X6M gives you the measurement tools you need to safely journey into the backwoods. The watch's altimeter gives you not only an accurate reading of your altitude, but it also provides your vertical speed. What's more, there's an altitude alarm, a logbook with waypoint recording, altitude difference readings, and a cumulative ascent meter. A barometer offers the sea level pressure as well as absolute pressure, a weather trend graph, temperature, and the all-important weather alarm that will warn you of upcoming changes in the conditions. The watch's alarm feature can alert you at certain altitudes to help you maintain safe climbing speed on the mountains, or warn you of an upcoming storm. Add to these outstanding features a compass and an clinometer, and you've got yourself a watch that will keep you safe under any conditions.The Suunto X6M is also ideally suited for fast sports, with advanced timing functions that enable you to record virtually an unlimited number of lap and split times of your activity. The chronometer records accurate altitude profiles with 10- or 60-second intervals for up to 200 hours. The adjustable alarm can function as an interval reminder, for instance, to remind you of regular hydration during your adventure or extended workout session. And best of all, the Suunto X6M not only records your data, but it also stores it for later analysis with the help of specially designed Windows-based software. The watch's menu-based user interface is familiar to most mobile phone users, making the watch a breeze to operate.Water resistant to 100 meters (330 feet), the Suunto X6M is designed with a rugged polished steel case and a comfortable black leather strap.
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