Customer Reviews
very happy with the functionality and aesthetics 
2008-05-07
I'm very happy with this watch. I mostly wear it during and before/after workouts.
In terms of the actual performance of the watch, it has been great. I make heavy use of the HR zones, lap timers, calorie readout and log capability. The large readout for continuous HR makes it easy to keep an eye on the readout. I like the "dot-matrix" display and the customizability of units (km/mi, kg/lbs, date format, etc.)
I've probably used it for 30 hours so I'm not sure how long the battery will last.
I find the "activity class" rating somewhat useful. It goes up and down pretty responsively depending on the regularity and intensity of your workouts and I would think you have to train pretty hard to maintain a higher activity class.
Generally I think the watch is of high quality and the screen would be really nice as crystal (like on the Nikes) but the HR functionality is obviously why I bought it. I probably will get a food pod at some point as well. I also think it's generally stylish with the large/clear block numbers.
Great Product, Great Price, Great Sevice from Vendor 2008-04-02
This is by far the most for your money in HR monitors. Great style, easy to set up, looks great for use when not exercising. I have not had any problems with scratches, etc. and it runs on cr2032 batteries that you can change out yourself with a coin. Fast shipping from I sell you buy. I ordered the watch on Sunday and it was on my porch on Tuesday. Hard to read in the dark but you can lock the backlight on for night ops. Many many customer features like zones, max and min heart rate. Calculates max heart rate based on Age, Weight, Height, and Gender. When in watch mode, the ring of LCD's around the edge of the face becomes the second hand, kinda neat. This watch has many features that other hr watches do not offer at any price.
Good watch, bad quality crystal 
2008-01-03
This watch is a very excellent product with all the bells and whistles possibly needed to train at a higher level. My husband has not used it yet with any of the pods to get an even more accurate reading, but I have no doubt it will be an extra bonus to look forward to.
My biggest complaint would be the quality of the watch crystal face. We had read other reviews for a different model of this same watch stating how fragile the glass is to scratches. We decided not to buy the other model for this reason, BUT not even 2 days into wearing this watch and there is already a noticeable scratch on the crystal. He has not even taken it to the gym yet. I can tell you there is no one more careful with the handle and care of watches than my husband. We are disappointed that for such a pricey "superior" sports watch Suunto could not make the crystal more scratch resistant especially considering this watch is to be worn by athletes during rigorous sports training.
Great 2007-10-21
I'm very satisfied! The TE function is a great feature for better achievement, the backlight is very effective in the dark, and the design makes you not need two watches. I would buy it again if I was in need of a heart rate monitor!
Great functionality, cheap design 
2007-08-14
Ok, I'm an idiot. I love the functionality of this watch and the software, but I own two of them and they are both broken. You will find that if you use this watch only in a gym then you will likely love it for a very long time. However, if you really like to get outside and do things like mtn bike, trail runs, etc this watch will not likely hold up for too long. In both cases the plastic crystal cracked, allowing water to enter the watch. I have since moved on to a T6, which is a fantastic watch, the software has more depth and complexity to it -- including the ability to profile the entire work out (including altitude change -- really cool!), rather than just displaying the results of the work out. Bottom line, buy a Suunto T6 the extra money is well spent, or wait till Suunto recalls the T1-4 design and fixes the plastic crystal.
Terrible User Guide 
2008-07-20
I returned the watch within 24 hours because I could not understand the user manual and coordinate set-up or on going functions . Also, tried calling customer support and was informed that they were experiencing long wait periods. Waited over 20 minutes, hung up and decided the watch was not for me.
Great watch! 
2008-07-12
This watch was for my husband's birthday. He has had a Polar monitor for a while, but this has more features. I didn't get the foot pod at the time, but will soon. He likes the sleek look and that the time is very easy to see while running. I disagree with the other reviews about it being "cheap plastic"--most watches of this type are plastic or a synthetic rubber. The band size was easy to adjust, and all in all he loves it!!
It's like a personal trainer...kind of 2008-07-04
I have used this watch for over 30 days and have done about 20 workouts with it. I bought the Suunto T3 to help me train for Go Vertical! in Chicago. The watch's heart rate monitor is excellent, as is the training effect feature which analyzes how hard/long you work out and shows you on a scale of 1 to 5 how challenging the workout is. It was a bit uncomfortable for me at first but now I have gotten used to it and it suits me well. My biggest complaint is that the face of the watch has scratches already. Albeit, I may be a little rugged on the watch I would wish a watch of this caliber had a face which is more resistant to scratches, so buy some protectant or shield for your watch!
Overall, I highly recommend the watch. It is a very good tool to help you look at your prior workouts, analyze them and adapt future workouts to maximize goals. Great if you are training for an event and also good if you are trying to get in shape!
Nice Watch 2008-06-29
Very nice watch with useful functions. The only negative is how easily the lens scratches. I had it a month and the plastic lens has a permanent scratch already. The watch takes some time to figure out all the functions, but is eventually easy to use. The training effect is a good feature.
Best HR I've used... 2008-05-10
Previously had a Polar F6 (broke it changing the battery but I had worn that thing to death. The F6 was great but I needed something more advanced). I took this thing out of the box and within a minute or two of fumbling around with the menu system, I thought I was going to send it back. If you have come over from Polar or another make, then the menu system will seem counter-intuitive because it's so radically different. But if you take 10 minutes and read the manual and figure out what it does, this thing is a dream.
It provides TONS of data based on customizable settings. You can use a HR min/max as your limits OR you can set up 3 different HR "zones" (based on %. I have Z-1 at 60-70%, Z-2 at 70-80%, z-3 at 80-90%. You have to put in your max HR and you can use any number of programs on the web to derive that figure.) At the end of the workout, the watch displays a cool little graphic representing how much time you spent in each "zone." Even better, during the workout, the watch displays little indicators on the bezel to show what zone you are in. Look at the numbers on the watch face. You can see they range from 80-190 on the left. Let's say your zone 2 is set up as 145-170 BPM. If you are currently in that zone, the indicator lights show up at 145 and 170. If you go in to zone 3, the lights move on the bezel to delineate that range.
Of course, the watch provides cals, max, avg, etc. But there is also a system called "Training Effect." I'm still learning how this works but I think the basic idea is that the watch calculates how "hard" your workout was on a scale of 1.00-5.00. Read the manual. It explains it in better detail. But if you don't like this system or can't understand it, you can still use the watch as if it were not even there.
The watch is also supposedly adaptive. It tells you what your activity "class" is. You look in the manual to set a default "class." If you work out 7-10 hours per work, you are in class 8 (I think). Then, over the course of time, the watch figures out if you are failing to meet that class or exceeding it and adjusts accordingly. This, I think, will serve as a good motivator and keep me on the pedals. But, I haven't used it long enough to see it make any changes so this part of my review isn't that well informed.
I use this watch primarily for 2 activities- road biking and running. I bike approximately 110-150 miles a week and run maybe 20 (I'm more of a biker and run mostly as cross-training). I have run 6 miles with it and biked 60 with it so far.
Major complaint I suppose is that the face of the watch is CHEAPO plastic and it will scratch. I suggest the following- the watch comes with a piece of protective plastic on the BACK of the watch body. I moved that over to the front screen to protect it. There is a company called Invisible Shield that makes a military-grade protective film for the watch for 9 bucks. It's made specifically for the T3- it's not some generic garbage. Get it. Mine is in the mail.
Second major complaint is with the band. Suunto provides a cool band with a deployant clasp but you have to take a razor blade (yikes!) to the thing to size it to your wrist...dunno what they were thinking here. That process is a pain and you have to remove the little bar things that hold on the clasp. But, once you've cut the band it's fine. So don't mess it up!
I'm interested in trying this device with Suunto's bike skewer speed sensor. Has anyone out there used this combination?
Overall, this thing blows my polar f6 away (but then again, it's a different market level- I think the Polar CS300 is the closest equivalent...). If you can take a few minutes to set it up right and learn the menus, this thing is outstanding.
