Suunto's next wearable is trying to satisfy the needs of two different wearable types: the die-hard fans that have followed (if not bought) its multisport watches in the past, and the smartwatch buyer looking for more fitness functionality. The latte...
For most of history, the traditional timepiece was purely defined by its aesthetics. For today’s smartwatches, it’s all about the guts! Suunto’s collection of Spartan smartwatches highlights its robust package of smart sports-optimized features with an elevated user interface designed by Kallan & Co.
Most impressive is that no part of the design’s face is spared from use. Between sport-specific data tracking to real-time sleep analysis, there is a massive amount of data to be presented to the wearer, so each section of micro real estate serves a purpose. Organized in an intelligent and easy-to-navigate way, its large state-of-the-art touchscreen makes it easy to review your stats and check live vitals whether you’re swimming or competing in a triathlon.
Designer: Tommy Incrosnatu & Lauri Incrosnatu for Kallan & Co
Suunto have been the world leaders of sports precision watches for quite some time now so it comes as no surprise that when they release something – its going to be awesome. The Traverse Alpha is no exception. The Suunto Traverse Alpha comprises of a serious set of outdoor features and tools specifically developed for everything outdoor – fishing, hunting, hiking and all things rough and rugged, not to mention the incredible battery life of up to 100 hours. But that’s not all, you can track your daily activity with steps and calories, and use the GPS timekeeping to keep a track of your trails. The Traverse Alpha also comes with smartphone integration, allowing you to stay up to date with incoming calls, texts and push notifications on your wrist.
The Traverse Alpha comes with barometric trend predictions for when the weather begins to change or when storm alarm alerts are sent out and it’s time to find some shelter. For when you find yourself in a cave or exploring the mysteries of the night, the Traverse Alpha’s backlight kicks in automatically to give you the best view to help you check the map. The Suunto Traverse Alpha is as rugged as they come – designed and tested in Finland, the Traverse Alpha is water resistant up to 100m and protected with a stainless steel bezel which comes in a knurled finished too, protecting the recessed screen.
Extending watches with apps is one thing if you're building for a smartphone companion with a traditional, developer-centric app model. It's quite another when it's a GPS watch, and athletes are building their own apps -- yet that's what Suunto has managed with a 2.0 firmware update to its Ambit outdoor watch. The revamp uses a simple web interface to let us build free sports apps based on criteria as simple as distance and speed through to more specific measurements like heart rate and pressure. Adding predictive routines and arbitrary values allows for situation-specific code we might not get elsewhere, whether it's estimating the finish time of a marathon or guessing just how much post-run beer is possible before the guilt sets in. On top of the new software platform, the 2.0 update brings a handful of major extensions from Suunto itself, including support for ANT+ and Foot POD sensors as well as an interval timer. The apps and upgrades help justify a relatively steep $500 price for the Ambit by turning it into a Swiss Army Knife for the wrist; when features are dictated more by imagination than a developer's whims, they might just save the cost of an early hardware replacement.
Suunto's next wearable is trying to satisfy the needs of two different wearable types: the die-hard fans that have followed (if not bought) its multisport watches in the past, and the smartwatch buyer looking for more fitness functionality. The latte...
