Suunto Core Altimeter Watch

When I first got this watch, I hoped it would live up to the expectations and it never really did. It has a lot of things the avid hiker/camper could user, but the watch simply does not work as advertised. On mine, the compass was never accurate and neither was the temperature gauge. With that in mind, I have no idea if the barometer or altimeter were ever right either. I considered everything from the watch to be "general" information to use when comparing and contrasting the environment and I definitely wouldn't rely on it to be my saving grace. The watch interface seems old and support from Suunto is poor. I've heard Suunto customer service isn't great and I'd have to admit I wasn't impressed either. Their website is slow, poorly organized, and you won't find anyone to talk to. If I could return my watch, I would, but right now it's in the hands of Suunto to see if they can fix any of the problems...of course, I haven't received any contact from them either. I think the only feature which I liked and seemed to work well was the Storm Warning feature which is essentially nothing more then a comparision of recent barometer pressure readings. When it falls rapidly, an alarm sounds which indicates an approaching storm. It works well in the wild, but it stinks for every day use as it goes off constantly in the car, office, and home when manufactured A/C and heat effect it.

I really like my light green Core watch. Everyone’s first impression says: it's big! I like big so I can see the time without my glasses. The barometer, altimeter and compass function well. It was a little hard to get used to switching between the barometer and altimeter selection since it requires choosing only one view in a submenu profile first. Now I set it to 'auto' on trips which changes to the appropriate setting based on my activity of standing still vs. moving. The plastic body does soften and begins to melt when it comes in contact with bug repellent sprayed on your arm. The black band is not affected by the repellent.

I've had the Light Black model for 3 months, built quality seems OK, and it's been totally waterproof for several swims in salt water. It's a comfortable, light, and stylish watch, and the first wrist watch I've worn in years. Operation is good, apart from several important functions that require opening the menu (which means holding a button for several seconds), and then navigating around: - altimeter recalibration: I found that variations in barometric pressure over a day can easily equal 100m or more in altitude difference, so regular recalibration during a day is useful - switching between barometer/altimeter: I don't find automatic switching helpful - switching between metric/imperial units: at least in Canada, different maps use different units - alarm: something I may change on a daily basis The original battery just died (after 3 months), let's see how long the next one lasts. I've only considered the compass a back-up option, but it's been quite unpredictable for the last few weeks, maybe that 's related to the low battery, but it's not confidence inspiring.

This watch is good but could be better. Apart from all the goods things you’d expect from this watch, there are a few flaws. I live in Western Australia and they recently (2006) re-introduced daylight savings time. Unfortunately, the core does not have a feature which allows you to calibrate the sunrise-sunset time and thus displays my sunrise-sunset time 1 hour out for the daylight savings period of the year. Also, the stop watch only goes to tenths of seconds and not the standard hundreds (but that’s not too bad, I was just surprised). The backlight is a little weak too. Otherwise, I’m pretty happy with the watch.

I bought the light green version of the Core, and it worked for about a month before the total ascent measurement went bonkers. I returned it, got another, and in two days the log stopped working entirely. Bad run of luck, or crappy quality? All you have to do is hold the thing in your hand to realize how poorly made it is. Very cheap construction. Seems to me that Suunto should be building them a little better after all these years.

Into the first month with this watch and I've had no problems. Display is great and easy to see. Baro/Alti are functional along with the compass. The other functions complete this watch. I would recommend to anyone.

I currently own a Suunto Core Light Black model and love this watch. I have also owned Highgear, Casio, and Timex watches and consider Suuntos, in general and the new Core, the most accurate. The positive display of the Light Black Core is by far the easiest to read of all my digital watches. The barometer reading is consistantly dead on when I compare it to CNN weather readings on the web. The "auto" function for barometer and altitude is a great feature that works perfectly and the sunrise/sunset feature is a first for Suunto and is also accurate. The mineral glass face on the Core is also much more durable than the plastic faces on other Suunto models. I did experience a battery problem like many Core owners but I replaced the original battery with a new Duracell 2032 and the Core works fine. Battery replacement was easy and fast. Watchbands are easily replaceable and all are interchangable too. The watch is very intuitive to set up and it is not necessary to refer to the manual after you use the watch for awhile. The technology of the Core is far better than previous Suuntos. All in all, a great watch and the positives of the Core far out weigh and few issues. Customer service at this site has also been great for me with respect to orders, returns, questions, or concerns.

I've had my Core for about a month now and have done a little exploration on it. I think things are fairly simple to understand on this watch, though setting barometric pressure is a headache. Though the problem occurs in both areas not just the watch but finding the proper pressure in your area. I am over in the middle east right now and the compass has come in handy a few times. I have the black/yellow watch, the yellow is a different color as most people say. I knew this going into it, looks more gold. I don't mind the look of it, stands out and kinda 'gawdy' which I find funny. If you are going to use the features, then purchase this watch. The programing is easier than most watches. Which is always a plus.

The one I have is the Orange/Black. The orange strap is a big turn-off. So I end up spending an extra $50 for the black strap. That's why I gave it only 4 stars. As for the performance, altimeter, barometer, compass, and storm alarm were accurate. One night I had the storm alarm activated and it suddenly alarmed. An hour later, California got hit by the recent arctic storm. Now that's pretty handy on the trails.

The negative display on this watch can be difficult to read, but the deal-breaker for me was the battery life. In my experience, battery life is about 1 month with normal usage. The altimeter and barmoeter are excellent, but I decided to return the watch due to the battery issue. Also, in general, the quality of the Core reflects it being made in China. If I had to purchase one Suunto watch, it would be the X-lander military edition, which is still made in Finland.

All the same features, in a stylish new design. This watch offers amazing information. From dual times zones, sunrise/sunset feature and as always, compass and Altimeter.

I've had my Core for a couple months now, and just started skiing with it. The interface is really easy to use, and it has a more intuitive menu setup than my old Vector. It's also about half as thick as Vector, but still has a big, easy to read face. I used it a bunch this fall on hiking and climbing trips, and it worked great. The extra features are nice too; sunrise/sunset, snorkeling and storm alarm. Plus, it looks much nicer than older versions, with an aluminum bezel (or steel for the steezee) and mineral crystal face. Great update to a classic!

Received my core light black around the first of November. Within a day the sound went out on it, after a call to Suunto USA, they confirmed it to be a bug in the firmware and stated that I needed to remove, wait, and then replace the battery each time this happened to get the sound back. A couple of days later I found that the reference altitude could not be set correctly, after another call to Suunto this was also blamed on the firmware version and I was ask to send the watch back to SuuntoUSA for replacement. That was over a month ago and Suunto now states that I will not get my warranty replacement until after they have filled all their new Holiday orders. (Next year some time...) That is a crock. Do yourself a favor, buy another watch, or if you must have the Suunto, wait until they work the bugs out.