User Review: Suunto X9i

Suunto X9i
Above: The current X9i, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed November 24, 2006 by Matt Smith

Rating:
Price Paid: CAD 550

The watch is an excellent idea poorly executed.

Bad points:
-Clunky interface compounded by hard to press buttons
-Flaky battery (doesn't charge completely), erratic battery level indication
-Inefficient use of display / no flexibility in how/what is displayed
-Inaccurate for speed/distance at low (walking/biking) speeds (sometimes shows as much as 2X distance actually covered)
-Included PC software clunky
-Reliability issues - time reset itself once, alarm sometimes doesn't go off, activity log corrupted once.
-Uselessly quiet alarms

Good points:
-It's a wearable watch sized GPS :)
-Good navigation utility, reliable GPS tracking and quick acquisition once "warmed up"
-Solid construction

In summary, it is a useful tool for special applications. (I am in the military and also a private pilot, and the utility outweighs the cons for me).But other than that a traditional gps at half the price is a better bet.