Entered CNET Catalog: 06/24/2004
SKU: 045235059843
Manufacturer: Suunto
Product summary
The good: Excellent training software; collects comprehensive workout data; nice design; PC upload option.
The bad: Expensive; problematic altitude measurements; oversize watch face may not appeal to everyone; no phone support in the United States.
The bottom line: This wrist-top personal trainer will win you over with its wealth of features and excellent software, but be prepared to spend the big bucks.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 11/23/2004
The t6 is part watch and part heart-rate transistor belt. The transistor feeds data back to the watch, which, in turn, reports information on a number of bodily functions, including heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen intake, and energy consumption. Based on those vitals, the device computes a unique value: Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). EPOC analysis was born in physiological research labs and is essentially a way to judge the quality of one workout against another.
The watch face itself is uncomfortably large, and the LCD takes some getting used to. For example, the normal time display is just fine; however, when in Alt/Baro mode, the current time is shown in exceedingly small characters. Around the watch's face are five buttons that let you access various functions, such as activating laps and storing data into the watch's 1MB of training memory. You'll also get Suunto's standard, sporty feature set, which includes multiple timing functions, an altimeter, and a barometer. The t6 also comes with special USB cable (one end clamps to the watch itself), a necessity for downloading data from your watch to your PC. Pretty cool, eh?
Suunto also includes in the box a training software CD called Suunto Training Manager. From the software interface, you can manipulate data you've downloaded from the watch. You can monitor your training logs, design training programs for different fitness levels, and take three baseline tests for gauging your health status.
While we liked the heart-rate monitor, the alarms, the timers, and all the nifty data you can collect and upload to your PC, we didn't like the altimeter. Altitude measurement in the t6 is based on barometric pressure, a fairly standard practice in sports watches today, but that means that changes in air temperature and barometric pressure might record different readings without your actually changing your altitude. While Suunto recommends resetting the reference altitude before each exercise session, long-distance marathoners might do well to disregard this data altogether. Also, this model lacks a compass, though that may not be a deal breaker, depending on your sport.
Support options include a very robust FAQ on the Suunto site or sending e-mail inquiries. Because Suunto is located in Finland, telephone technical support isn't available in the United States.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6out of 6 user reviews
Better coach than Polar or others
Pros: Love the EPOC analysis to tell me how effective my training session was. Adapts to my changing fitness level as I periodize into Ironman race ready. So much more informative than just heart rate.
Cons: Plastic on watch covers is a little soft, scratches too easily when I replace batteries.
out of 6 user reviews
Great training tool...solid build-quality
Pros: Easy to use and it is made very well
Cons: Software is not very intuitive
out of 6 user reviews
Meet your new training partner!
Pros: Hardware! Very well built
Cons: Software, could use a little tweaking
Hardware seems like an incremental improvement over Polar. The watch is smaller, lighter, and nice to look at. Footpod is better: smaller and lighter, and battery lasts three times as long. Bike pod and PC interface are fine. ANT wireless interface (coded footpod and bike pod) is excellent. All the hardware plays together very well.
Watch software and button logic is somewhat confusing at first. The Suunto PC Software does not have as many features as the S625X yet. Feature set in the watch is not as robust as Polar - I miss exercise sets, multiple zones, pace zones, uploading a week of my training plan, etc. But still a great system - especially for a user that wouldn't normally use all those extra features anyway.
Buy this watch if: You need coded footpod or bikepod (if you often run/bike in a group, and the rest of the group uses Polar S625X or RS200sd). Also, if a better looking watch is important, this is a good choice.
out of 6 user reviews
Fitness Freak!!
Pros: Detailed yet comprehensive and understandable fitness & training information
Cons: Big watch, need to understand the theory behind it
I have become a fitness nut with this new tool and am obsessive about coming home and trying to check out how my last work out went. It is so motivating that I look forward to my next workout - now that is a good product.
On the watch itself, great menu system, gives all the vital stats and options galore. More alarms than one would need from a simple watch. The Heart rate monitor is definitely better than the Polar because the readings seem to be more accurate, once again the training alarms are excellent (truth be told, I still am not using this to its fullest potential). Only thing I don't care about is the Altimeter/Barometer, the readings seem misleading at times. But its still useful.
Overall, highly recommend it for anyone who is serious out their fitness and improving it.
out of 6 user reviews
Suunto elastomer strap may has serious defects
Pros: Light weight, feature
Cons: Strap may break apart within 2-3 years
out of 6 user reviews
Geeky trainer's dream
Pros: Great interface, digital networking with bike and foot sensors, neat software, intriguing algorithms for deriving body functions from heart beats
Cons: PODs more expensive than Polar, minor weakness in USB driver
Interface is great, very intuitive, numbers and letters are very legible and self-evident. Does not rely on all kinds of symbols and a labyrinth of options like the Polar 625X. Read the manual once and shove it in a drawer forever. Makes for a fairly elegant watch, may be a bit thick but works well with medium to large wrists.
Technology is tops. Uses a low-power, Bluetooth-like digital interface to identify and connect with wireless heart rate chest belt, bike speed sensor, sneaker sensor etc... Wireless PC interface available in November per Suuntowatches.com.
Also software is intriguing, derives all kinds of body parameters (EPOC, Ventilation, Breathing rate etc...) all from the variation in heart beat durations. There is science behind it, my brother doctor believes it is possible, and heart rate as an indicator of health is becoming one of the hottest research field in medecine.
Started training today. Software install, download to computer, upload to Suunto web site works exactly as advertised, great graphs showing that my style of training was too rough, need to slow down a few minutes each half hour for maximum effectiveness. Too bad it is not as natural to simulate exercises to see the effect.
One minor issue with the USB driver. The cable is actually "intelligent", in that it has internal logic to activate the USB recognition without the watch being connected. But if you unplug it and re-plug it (e.g. to download files on another computer), you have to re-boot the computer for the connection to be re-established.
The ultimate gadget for training. I love being able to see heart rate, having alarms to help me stay in the zone, and at the same time seeing my speed and logging the whole session, heart rate, breathing rate, ventilation, EPOC (tiredness), along with speed profile and distance into my computer for analyzing the graph.
Highly recommended - by the way, it costs C$488 in Canada, or roughly US$400, and the POD cost C$100, roughly US$80.
Minh
