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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Looks tough but it isn't...
SUUNTO Observer
I have owned my Observer for four years now and wear it daily, whether at work or outdoors (hiking, climbing, etc). Basic features include time, date, stopwatch (with split time), altitude/barometer, and compass. There is also a logbook function, that records your ups and downs while hiking. As the star rating indicates, I do not recommend buying this, or any other SUUNTO product, and I explain why.
I bought the Observer because I wanted a tough built watch that could take some roughing up without sweating. The case is indeed impressive (mine is steel, there is also a considerably more expensive titanium one). But rarely do watches fail because their cases crush in, rather, it is the mechanism inside that is usually the first to go. A few months ago I dropped the watch from about one meter (three feet) to a hard tile floor - the screen went black, and there was no response whatsoever. I took it to SUUNTO and after a couple of weeks they informed me that the entire module had to be changed. You might think that a company that tries to pass for the Mercedes Benz of sports watches, would be somewhat embarrassed that their toughest model died on a one meter fall. Perhaps they would fix it for free? No. Perhaps they would sell you the module at a minimal cost? No. They charged a full 200 USD for it and, for a watch that now sells for about 320, this cannot possibly correspond to the actual cost. So SUUNTO tried its best to make a profit out of an unacceptable malfunction of its product.
Some more observations: the crystal in front is superbly hard, just a minor little scratch after four years of use. Mine has the plastic straps with the metal incrustations. Expected lifetime for these is two to three years, and SUUNTO will charge you anywhere from 50 to 100 USD to replace them! To make things worse, it is practically impossible to change the straps yourself - after trying it for half an hour without success, I watched a very skilled technician spend another twenty minutes, with all sorts of weirdly shaped tools, until he managed it - no rational explanation occurs to me for such maliciousness in design. The locking mechanism, on the other hand, is nicely thought out, and very secure. The alarm function is practically useless (hence not mentioned above) as the volume is ridiculously low (and you cannot adjust it). Even if you put the alarm at home to go off in one minute, chances are you will not be able to hear it when it does. The barometric capsule is very accurate, even after four years you can see your altitude increase meter after meter as you go up the stairs. Battery is supposed to be changed by the owner but again, a silly design makes that much harder than necessary: there is a sort of a coin slot in the back to rotate the battery cover, but after you do that, there is no way to pull the cover out (it does not come out easily because of the rubber seal). So you have to try with all sorts of sharp metal objects to pull it out, and this will scratch the rather soft back cover.
Overall, this is a deceptively tough looking watch - it is silly to come up with such a case when the internal mechanism cannot take a G or two. SUUNTO, as a company, has no sense of class whatsoever - their service is slow, overpriced, and irritating. If you need a tough sports watch try a lightweight model that will not reach ridiculous terminal speeds in a fall (while climbing, say). Make it also a non-SUUNTO product, until these geniouses learn how to deal decently with their customers.
Rating: 
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Suunto watch
The product is great, although a mix-up with Parcelforce (delivering it in the UK) meant I received it three weeks late :(
Rating: 
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Observer
this is the best sport watch I've ever had. a bit complicated but I need to go through the manual. I recommend you all to buy
Rating: -
Kick ASS
These watches are the bomb despite what they say about the strap or the stupid alarm, nobody gets these watchs for there alarms they get them to conquer without fear!! YEAH!!
Rating: -
Sweet piece of technology
I have had this watch for a couple of months now and I really love it. I mainly got it because it had all the features that I wanted, plus it wasn't like wearing a laptop on my wrist. The other watches that I looked at had the features, but they were simply too large for everyday use. The titanium looks great and is incredibly light. It is phenonmenal that Suunto was about to jam all that technology into this little package. They did a great job with the styling. I wear it in an office environment everyday. The compass comes in handy when I get lost between the restroom and my cube, too. :)
No complaints here. Outstanding watch.
