In my first video gear review I discuss the Stainless Steel Suunto Observer Altimeter. please forgive the poor video quality and lack of comedic timing. I’ll working on that in future video reviews.
Review Summary
Regular Price: $449.00
Sale Price: $239.37 (as of 1/29/08)
Recommended Use: mountain biking, skiing, hiking and camping
Pros: durable face, trip logging functions, and thin for and altimeter
Cons: band clasp not the best, can’t track altitude and barometer at the same time, and the compass not the best
Avg. Customer Rating: 4/5
Would I buy this again: Yes
Similar Product
Polar AXN700 Altimeter
Price: $429.95
January 29, 2008 - 8:26 pm - posted by Jason Mitchell
Nice review, Jim. I actually have the same watch and absolutely LOVE it. Mine has the rubber strap as opposed to the stainless/rubber strap shown and find it to be the most comfortable altimeter watch I’ve owned to date. Nice watch–especially at that sale price on Backcountry.com!
January 30, 2008 - 3:36 am - posted by Brig Graff
I’ll be anxiously awaiting a review of those Line Prophets behind you sometime too…. That looks like a killer ski. I wonder which Karhu is the equivalent? BTW, I rode my Kilowatts last week a couple of times and will be posting a review soon. Loved them!
January 31, 2008 - 8:29 am - posted by da11160
Thanks for the review. I have the Suunto X-6HRM and think it is great. Many of the same pros (altimeter is accurate, tough as nails, reasonable size) and cons (the compass is worthless). I think the rubber wrist band is great.
In addition I really like the hear rate monitor and the PC compatibility on the x-6. It’s great to download the info and see a graph, although the software is somewhat limited or difficult to use. I think it would be particularly helpful in training skiing/biking/running a regular course and wanted to monitor how your HR performance changed with training/diet/sleep etc. I also wish Suunto would allow the HR and alt to fxn independently. For example, if I’m spinning I don’t care about the altitude, but the watch constantly takes alt measurements and thus wastes battery life. — Dax
January 31, 2008 - 9:31 am - posted by Brig Graff
So do Suuntos not give you the ability to turn off the measurements to save battery? BTW what kind of batteries do they use? Rechargeable, or disposable?
January 31, 2008 - 11:02 am - posted by Jimmymack
Dax,
That’s an interesting take and I totally agree. Many of the more complex things like altimeter/heart rate monitors aren’t set up for multiple uses. My for example, my friends with iPhones don’t use it for the music function because they don’t want to run down n the battery of the phone.
I’d welcome you to becoming a member and posting a video review yourself.
Brig,
No they don’t allow you disable all the functions to save on battery. However I haven’t found this to be an issue. I just took the watch in for a new battery after 1.5 years of use and had it replaced with a standard watch battery.
You bring up a point that concerned me though. I was certain that after getting the new battery that I’d need to reset all the functions. I was preparing myself to set aside 30-40 minutes reading a manual to reset the functions to the way I wanted them, BUT changing the battery didn’t lose my settings. That was nice.
Jimmy Mack
February 7, 2008 - 2:28 pm - posted by Preston Barton
Jim - Excellent review and a great watch. My only addition is that the Observer could use an audible reminder of when you are in ‘LOG’ mode. Often I start my LOG, ski all day, then forget that I am in LOG mode until I have returned to my truck, driven down the canyon, etc. At this point, I have effectively skewed my overall vertical and lap data. (I believe LOG mode has a maximum duration of 20 hours, which is impressive.)
Of course, this scenario could easily be defined as a classic case of user error. But since this is gear.com, I’m going to focus on the gear!
Great watch, though. Very durable, extremely comfortable. I’ve had it two years and it’s held up like a champ.
Preston
November 11, 2008 - 1:09 pm - posted by greg
how long does the battery last for? does it need to be recharged or anything like that on a regular basis?
November 11, 2008 - 1:56 pm - posted by Jim McIntosh
Good questions Greg. I’ve had this watch for almost 2 years now and I had to replace the battery at about 18 months.