Suunto Ambit
Billed as the GPS for explorers, calling it a watch will almost be an after thought. This is a precise machine made for a life of adventure.
FEATURES:
SPECIALIZED OUTDOOR FUNCTIONS
__Full-featured GPS with Waypoint navigation
__Unique 3D compass
__Accurate barometric altitude
__Barometer
__TemperatureADVANCED TRAINING FUNCTIONS
__Highly responsive pace and speed (FusedSpeed™) with accelerometer integrated GPS
__Accurate vertical speed with barometric altimeter
__Advanced heart rate monitoring with Peak Training Effect and Recovery Time
__Online sports diary with planning & analysis tools in Movescount.com
__Compatible with Suunto Bike, Road Bike, and Cadence PODsMOUNTAIN & EVERYDAY EXPLORATION
__Robust BuiltToLast -casing
__Enhanced battery lifetime; approximate operating time in:
1. Outdoor mode 50h – with longer GPS tracking interval, suitable for e.g hiking
2. Training mode 15h – with shorter GPS tracking interval, suitable for e.g running
3. Watch mode 30 days – watch mode including ABC functions
__100 m / 328 ft water resistant (ISO 2281)__Upgradeable with new functionalities through Movescount.com
MSRP: $499
It is with great sadness that I write this review. I have spent the last month running, hiking, cycling, and climbing with my new best friend and now it is gone. Today I watched the FedEx truck drive away with the Suunto Ambit that I had held near and dear to me for the last 30 days. Normally a watch is something I tend to stay away from, primarily because I don't give a flying hoot what the time or date is but also because I am so freaking dense that I can barely figure them out. This was not the case with the Ambit.
The Ambit is a watch made for adventure, period. The array of easy to navigate features, intuitive controls and simple pairing with the free Movescount software make this watch a pleasure to use, so much so that those that are watch adverse, like me, will eagerly use it! Yes, it is as big as a 1st generation microwave, but it kinda has to be to fit all of the amazing technology inside of it. And to be fair it really is not too big…it's average in size for comparable watches, but others really don't compare in features.
What is really amazing is that this is the first watch platform that I have heard of that is upgradeable, meaning that as the brain trust at Suunto comes up with new ways to track data you can simply upload it to the watch and wham-bam-thank you ma'am you're dialed with all of the latest and greatest. Among the current techy info you can track and review are: EPOC, respiration rate, altitude, HR, calories burned, VO2, temperature, speed (ascent and descent), training effect, recovery time, and by utilizing the software it will log you track and relay that to a downloadable sharable map.
The amount of information you get with the combination gps watch, paired with heart rate monitor is pretty darn amazing and I can already see this as being an extraordinary tool for those that want to capture their route and effort with out 87 different devices and code writing knowledge. Not to mention the soon to be available upgrades that will include actual mapping software so you can see your track in real time in addition to the already released waypoint navigation.
Believe it or not the main issue I had with the Ambit was the pause function. On many rides, I would pause it when stopped and forget to start it back up, I wonder if Suunto will figure out a way to automatically start recording data once the user starts moving again? Again this was a user issue, but it would be nice if the watch would remove all of the user error issues!
Couple the myriad of amazing features with its burly casing, rechargeable lithium battery, mineral crystal lens and 100m water resistance and you have something that is an insult to call it a watch, this is in reality an incredibly useful tool.
