Suunto t6d Heart Rate Monitor with Dual Comfort Belt Black Flame Special Campaign Model, One Size

Fantastic product. Which gives you a very comprehensive range of features to monitor your fitness levels. Relatively easy to use. But be careful you do not scratch or bang the watch. I had to buy the face shields. Which are not pretty, but will protect this expensive investment.
Rated: 4 / 5 Stars

I bought this watch/computer two months ago because it seemed to have the best feature set and the most manageable problems (specifically, the HRM belt problems that a few reviewers report below, which strike me as more manageable than watch problems like long turnarounds on battery replacement or damaged “crystals” reported on cheaper Suuntos with plastic “crystals”). Further, it seemed the best looking by far, and it was made in Finland, so I didn’t feel guilty (like I was racing the US to the bottom.)

Let’s get the bad right out of the way:

Download the latest software update from Suunto. I am running a fully updated version of WinXP SP3, and the software with which the watch came brought the BSoD with it. Moreover, I had to completely uninstall/reinstall MS Office because Outlook was permanently damaged. The newest software update, which is available for download at the Suunto website, installed properly (and works flawlessly).

The altimeter function seems worse than useless indoors because it’s never right, and I’m not sure that the “Training Manager” software doesn’t factor it into calculations. At least it, like many of the records, can be turned off.

The temperature record is also useless if the watch is worn against my skin: it doesn’t give ambient temperature but something like my skin temp. Having gleaned that ambient temperature has a substantive impact on my performance, and because I would like to learn more about it, I am disappointed that the function is basically useless.

Sometimes the watch does not seem to correctly calculate calories &/or HR! This is extremely annoying while working out, but the calorie glitch seems to be in the watch. The data record is unaffected by it, and the “Training Manager” software seems glitch free. On the other hand, I once (in a couple dozen workouts) questioned its HR calculations because they were entirely too low. When measured by count, my suspicion seemed to be confirmed: my observed HR over a short (15 sec) count was approximately thirty BPM higher than that indicated by the watch. Granted, it was a short count, but even a short count had never been so discrepant. It seems possible that I experienced the problem because I did not wet the contacts on the HR belt before I started on that occasion or because I hadn’t cleaned the contacts in several workouts. I shall be sure to do both from now on.

The “Training Manager” software doesn’t let me tell it how many breaths I take per minute. I must think that this is important to calculation of oxygen consumption.

And, finally, how one might actually use the “Suunto Monitor” software (not to be confused with the “Training Manager” software) is not immediately obvious (from a purely technical standpoint). Relevant instructions may be someplace in the manual, but I rather expect that software shouldn’t require instructions for basic use.

On to the good stuff, which is really very good.

The watch itself looks almost cool. It’s something that I actually wear with a t-shirt and board shorts. And, it’s easy to set up. Further, it allows me to enter data like observed maximum HR and, in the “Training Manager”, resting HR.

Use of watch and “Training Manager” software are intuitive and/or well labeled. After a couple of uses, I felt myself expert navigating and programming the watch features and “Training Manager”.

The programmable display is very nearly perfect. The HR number can be made quite large on the middle line so that it’s easy to read from even four or five feet away. (For the first month, before I finally upgraded to the PM4, I would strap it to a 1.25″ diameter dowel that I had velcroed to my PM2+ computer arm.) And, with the second “Display” face (in addition to a “Time” face) the information that I want while working out is never further than two clicks of the same button.

When it is on my wrist, I have not had to “lock” it because the buttons are not accidentally depressed.

The HR monitor belt stays put quite well throughout a workout, and it’s comfortable. I don’t even think about it. (Though, it must be worn fairly snugly. In my first weight training session, before I tightened it up, the HRM strap broke contact once for a literal moment while stretching between exercises, at which point I could feel the contacts really slide over my skin. On the plus side again, the reading came back on immediately without prompting when the contacts stopped sliding, and the data record was otherwise uninterrupted).

The HR monitoring capabilities seem (95+% of the time) to be right on. And, the “Training Manager” software provides a lot of good basic data that I’ve been able to incorporate into my training. Further, this data can be migrated to Excel, which I use to analyze all my rowing data. That said, this watch is (according to other reviewers below and online) compatible with very highly rated third-party training software of which I intend to avail myself.

Curiously, both Suunto watch and software calculate kcals burned per minute at a much lower rate than either Concept2 computer while I’m working at lower HR and at a much higher rate than either Concept2 computer at 80-95% of Max HR. (Note that the Suunto calculations agree much more closely with online calculators that take HR, sex, weight and age into account.) I don’t know that either is more accurate, but the differences are significant, relevant and intriguing.

As for the “Training Effect” (TE), it seems a little gimmicky and clearly designed for shorter rows and other workouts. After a hard hour on the erg, it’s invariably over the 5.0 threshold. Sometimes I get there by 45 min.! EPOC seems a much more useful gauge.

In sum, I am very happy with my purchase. For a mineral crystal, ease of use and comfort, 95+% accurate performance, good basic training software, expandable functionality (via third-party software), keen insight and good looks made in Finland it seems well worth the price for which it sells through MrWatch.

A note about MrWatch, from purchase to receipt, the service I received from MrWatch was top notch, and I highly recommend this vendor.
Rated: 4 / 5 Stars

The bad …. the first one of these didn’t work properly. It was DOA and then went through two batteries in a week. That said, the guys at [...] were really helpful and sent me a new one very promptly. Buyers should be aware that Suunto quality control is not always perfect and I had a very similar problem with their Smart Belt a couple of years ago, although they replaced that under warranty.

The good … it’s a big improvement on the old T6. The ability to customize the screens is very useful and it’s also compatible with any pods you may have if you’re upgrading either from the T6 or any of the other T-series watches
Rated: 5 / 5 Stars