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Suunto Spartan Sport Review

This updated Suunto Spartan Sport Review now covers one of the best-constructed triathlon watches with great looks and great components. Does the firmware live up to the job?

This review has been specifically written for those of you who want a slightly rosier view of Suunto’s summer-released SPARTAN. So please read it in that context along with everything else out there and make an informed decision.

There are a lot of negative reviews and online comments many of which make perfectly valid points – although those reviews are now dated as firmware has improved. If there are any factual errors please let me know.

What is it?

It’s a high-end multi-sports watch and effectively competes only with Suunto’s own AMBIT 3, Garmin’s Fenix 3 (5) and possibly soon with the successor to Polar’s V800.

If you like, the SPARTAN SPORT sits in the tri-watch space.

The Suunto SPARTAN is the next iteration of the AMBIT series. Effectively it is the AMBIT 4. Just like the earlier AMBIT 3, there will presumably be several product variants with differing features for differing markets. The SPARTAN’s underlying hardware capabilities will essentially be very similar or identical in these models. So far this has given us the SPARTAN ULTRA (multi-sports and hiking) and the SPARTAN SPORT (MULTI-SPORTS, +oHR version to follow in 2017).

History

The product, with what seems to be a great hardware specification, was released too early. All reviewers and many users have pointed out omissions and flaws in the initial product, some of which remain true as of 2oFeb2017.

Future

Whilst the Fenix 3 is at the end of its development lifecycle, the SPARTAN SPORT is at the start. Question: Do you want to buy a Fenix 3 and know exactly what it is and will likely always be OR do you want to trust and buy into the SPARTAN’s proposed development?

This is a brief 1 minute review of the product as it is today in February 2017 and so I am NOT going to talk too much about Suunto’s future plans other than to say that <here> they are.

Walkthrough

A more detailed walkthrough of all the buttons, menus and screens is <here>.

Positives

For me, I’m quite happy today to wear the watch all day and use it for: an endurance run using STRYD; a 25m pool swim; or a gym session.

I like all of this:

• It’s a good-looking watch IMO.
• Screen readability is good
• Battery life is good at 10hours in ‘best’ mode (ULTRA is higher)
• GPS performance is *very* good despite what you might read elsewhere in dated reviews and comments
• 7 metrics per screen are supported, 5 metrics works well.
• Supports HR caching underwater with the old-tech SUUNTO SMART BELT
• Either touchscreen- or button-operation are equally possible and the general design of the unit and menus is good IMO.
• Screen resoluion is good at 320x300px. Compare: Fenix 3 – 218x218px; Apple Watch 2, 38mm – 272x340px; and Apple Watch 2, 42mm – 312x390px.
• Elevation data from the GPS altimeter is in line with similar devices (FusedAlti  on the SPARTAN ULTRA uses a combination of GPS and barometric altimeter)
• Pool lap counting and the detection of my freestyle is very good. I typically swim >>2000m
• Water-resistant to 100m
• Compatible with STRYD running power meters – power IS displayed and stored natively
• Running /lap pace from GPS seems in line with offerings from competitors (FusedSpeed uses a combination of GPS and wrist movement), although none of the competitors are great either.
• Workout distance measurement from GPS is in line with offerings from competitors
• Good on-watch day summaries and lap summaries
• Compass points in the right direction (phew) and allows a declination setting
• The basic breadcrumb routing (‘navigation’) functionality seems in line with other offerings of the same type
• Several inbuilt watch faces and colours
• Ability to attach ‘feeling’ to workout
• Supports custom pool lengths
• Triathlon mode and support of over 80 sport types
• Ability to create custom sports profiles both to control the sensors and the fields displayed on the watch – despite what you might read elsewhere in dated reviews and dated comments.
• Good innovations on MOVESCOUNT – heat maps, overlay chart, peer group comparisons and more planned

Negatives

For me, the SPARTAN SPORT user interface ‘works well’ from a logical design point-of-view but it needs to be smoother and more fluid in the implementation. We need to be sure that this is firmware fixable. (SPORT runs smoother than the ULTRA for me)

From a functional point-of-view, personally, I really want: power meter calibration; and the ability to support sensors that output two types of data. That’s it. For me.

Of course, you are not me and you could have more demanding or different requirements and the following points may well apply to you:

• GPS – I have found the GPS accuracy in running to be VERY good alongside V800, 920XT, 235 and TomTom Runner 3, including on my 11 mile test route. In open water swimming, it was not good. Many GPS accuracy issues are reported elsewhere including @fellrnr and @dcrainmakerblog however with recent firmware improvements the likes of @fellrnr now say that the SPARTAN ULTRA  is excellent on the GPS front. MY FINDING WITH THE SPORTAGREE. The SirfStarV chip (?? Source: Suunto UK PR) supports GLONASS and this can be manually enabled when on ‘best’ mode on the SPARTAN. I’ve not particularly noticed better accuracy with GLONASS enabled, perhaps even worse.
• Footpod calibration – I couldn’t do this.
• Only directly supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) sensors, like AMBIT3
• It’s relatively big, essentially the same size as a Fenix 3. If you have small wrists then you will have to check how it looks on you.
• Structured workouts and/or interval workouts are missing (EDIT: October 2017…still waiting)
• The touchscreen is mostly made redundant by the optional buttons and works better than abysmal touchscreens on some high-end devices (eg Edge 820). The SPORT’s touchscreen has been perfectly usable for me but touch control can still be improved.
• Sleep/Activity247 Heart Rate tracking over time are not recorded on the device or MOVESCOUNT (Edit: Added September 2017)
• Strap wear has been reported eg @titaniumgeek. I’ve worn mine for 100s of hours and only have very slight signs of wear.
• Only one sensor of each type is allowed to be paired at any one time. This can be annoying, for example, if you use STRYD for running and the SMART BELT HRM at other times as both are paired as an HRM. Or if you have a power meter on each of two bikes.
• There is a current bug with single sensors that output two types of data eg STRYD and some power meters
• Navigation: The SPORT model is likely to be geared towards multi-sports. So for those of you wanting more navigational functionality in the future, the SPARTAN ULTRA may be a better bet. POI/Waypoints are already scheduled (Edit: now included) (Edit: SPORT BARO announced 17 October 2017)
• Multisport Profiles – there is only a Swim-Bike-Run profile. No duathlon. No Bricks. As of 16 October 2017 even a custom triathlon profile will not deliver this)
• MOVESCOUNT: export of workouts in FIT format has improved but fully valid  FIT files are still not produced (although it does ‘work’ elsewhere).

Who will buy this

At the moment you would need to be happy with a good-looking watch that’s going to improve its functionality in 2017. You’ll be fine now for general and undemanding use across multiple sports.

If you have specific requirements  then tread cautiously. If you are expecting the functionality of the AMBIT3 in the clothing of the SPARTAN you will be disappointed; particularly, it seems from others’ experiences, on the navigation and altimetry functionality.

Essentially you’ll be happy with the SPARTAN SPORT if you are in this ‘for the ride’.

Comments – Suunto Spartan Sport Review

The elephant-in-the-room is clearly that the SPARTAN was released too early; initially as a premium-priced device. With the product as-is in February 2017, I would say that it is quite usable in many of the scenarios I’ve indicated above but clearly I am not making a ringing endorsement. There are still annoying little quirks and missing chunks of functionality that you would expect at this price point.

More of the attractions of buying an improving SPARTAN will come through its integration into an evolving MOVESCOUNT app and online service. I would expect a more compelling product after Spring 2017.

April 2017 sees the release of an optical version with Valencell’s optical HR sensor – the Spartan Sport WHR and a smaller, cheaper version is also worth considering the Spartan Trainer WHR

I’ve got one. I like it. I use it in rotation with other devices.

Price & Availability