Customer Reviews

Suunto t6c Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness Trainer Watch (Fusion)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've had this HRM since Summer of 2008 and it's been a great fitness tool. I purchased two of the accesories for the watch, the suunto food pod (later edition) and the suunto bike pod. Both pods have worked flawlessly in sync with the T6c and I highly recommend them if you jog or mountain bike. The T6c has its pros and cons, i'll jump right in and explain them:

Pros:
- able to browse through 6 settings during your workout(For example, I use duration, Current Heart Rate, Calories burned in one screen and Distance, Speed, Avg Speed in the 2nd screen (using either one of the pods)). You can also browse to the Time interchangeably with the two aforementioned screens.
- amazing graphical software (Firstbeat ATHLETE) is available for purchase and compatible with the T6c. Also a con, which i'll explain.
- comfortable fitting heart rate strap makes it hardly noticeable during exercises
- Workouts can easily be uploaded to PC with included USB cable link.

Cons
- The backlight is useless. If you browse through the suunto forums, you'll find the backlight gives many people trouble. For my watch, it doesn't work PERIOD. If you workout at night and need to view the watch at night frequently, you may want to reconsider this watch if that is one of your purchasing factors.
- The software that comes with the watch Suunto Training Manager is subpar in my opinion. You can view line graphs and all of your uploaded stats, which is nice, but the layout and interface of the program is sloppy and unorganized. Firstbeat ATHLETE however, is beautiful compared to STRM. It has beautiful graphs and many combinations of results you want to see. The downside is that this program costs 80 dollars! There's a free trial that you should try out and see for yourself how much better it is. Hopefully Suunto will do some updates on their standard software!
- There are times where the HRM strap will have trouble transmitting to the watch. For example, i'll get a flatline during workouts where it won't output my current heart rate. I did find a solution that works well. Use electrode gel before you put it on your chest, this helps with the readings (much better than spit or water).
- Cost. The pods are $50-$100 = $150. The Firstbeat ATHLETE program is $80. The watch is about $300. That's $530 i've spent! Ugh.. Still, it's been worth it!

In all, as a prior owner of the Polar F6, i'm blown away by this heart rate monitor. I have yet to try the GPS pod, but i'm a little nervous as many have had trouble with signals. Since I have the food and bike pod, however, I won't really need it. I love the open endedness of the watch, and how you can customize what you results you want to see. It's definitely a breakthrough in heart rate monitors. Now if they can just fix that stupid backlight it'll be nearly perfect!

As I stated in the title I consider the Suunto T6c one of the two best HRMs in the market. The other great HRM is Polar RS800cx. And you may have hard time choosing one over the other. That is why I ended up using both in my training and racing.

Here are few things you will love on the T6c:

1. Solid build that can withstand pretty good amount of abuse during training and racing
2. The HR strap is extremely comfortable
3. Watch display can be customized to let you display what you need most during the training or races. There are two displays with three lines each that you can configure. Two top lines are fixed and on the third line you can cycle between various workout values you pre-define. Very flexible for any workout or race
4. It is very easy to 'program' simple guided workouts in the watch even in the last minute before you start training
5. Availability of EPOC/TE on the watch during the workout. Note that the EPOC/TE requires you to setup your parameters correctly in the watch to get benefit out of it - parameters like VO2max, HR max, activity level. If you are having hard time determining these values I suggest you to take advantage of Suunto Sports discussion forums (Google them). People there will be happy to help you.
6. The watch is capable of automatic switch between various pods - from bike pod to run pod. This is especially important for triathlete or multisport athlete. Not so much for cyclist or runner.

Things you may not like as much:
1. The Suunto software that comes with the watch while sufficient to analyze the workouts is not as flexible as software from other HRM manufacturers.
2. The back light flickers when you switch it on during the exercise mode. Not a big deal and you can get used to it, but it may throw you off at first.
3. The guided workouts have only following timers - warm-up, interval 1/2 and countdown. These do not work well for more complex workouts like ladder intervals. So you will need to remember how to do the workout or keep notes with you. Again not really a deal breaker.
4. The HR reading will not work in water - but you can work around this with the Suunto Memory Belt and later merge the memory belt log with watch log. Which may be important if you keep track of you lap times.

If you look for software coach function (same that is built into the Suunto T4/T4c) you will need to purchase FirstBeat Athlete software for about 80 USD. It is a good investment ad the software provides additional views and analysis capabilities not available in Suunto software.

If you want to see comparison of the T6c and RS800cx you can view it here. It is way too long to post it here.

[Well amazon does not allow the URLs in reviews - so I suggest that you Google this: "Polar RS800cx or Suunto T6c that is the question"]

I like to use the T6c for running training and triathlon racing. I use the watch with Suunto Foot Pod and Suunto Road Bike Pod.

I have had the fusion for about a week now - perhaps it's premature to write a review, but I can't find any sticking points to keep me from loving this watch/HRM.

I am not a "pro" or even a "die hard", but I wanted to take my athleticism to a new level. I had dinked around with several Polar models, and even a Nike because that's what the local running store sells. It took me a long, long time and alot of reading to get up the courage to enter the market at this price point, but I gotta say I am glad I did.

I was considering the Forerunner but the idea that you had to charge it every couple of days was off-putting. Still, the Suunto was a big investment, especially given the ambiguous reviews here on Amazon. I swallowed hard and did it eyes wide open.

You know something? Not one single negative thing listed in these reviews happened. The backlight isn't that bad - I can read the watch clearly at night in bed. The software isn't that bad - I did buy the FirstBeat program and I like it better, but not to the detriment of the equipment. How much information can you really use? I'm not in that league. There is a seamless connection between all the pods I use (several at the same time if you include the heart rate belt - how DO they get that thing to be so accurate and so THIN and comfortable???). And when I run on the treadmill I can check my heartrate with the handgrips and they match to the beat.

There is only one minor caveat - I am pretty good with technology but not good at reading the instructions. I got stuck and decided to call customer support and was on hold for about 15 minutes - long enough for me to read the instructions (duh!) and solve the problem easily myself and hang up before somebody answered. But I knew that might be the reality before I bought the watch and you should too. Still, I got everything right without help.

And here is an irony - it's the watch and the excitment about going to the next level that inspires me to run even more, rather than vice versa. See, I was having a blast training hard but when I actually got to LOOK at what was going on, it turned out I wasn't nearly as efficient as I thought I was. So, I go home now, scope it out, and adjust my workout according to the results, and see what happens. I go in this stepwise fashion and my workouts are better.

All in all, it was really worth it to me. I hope I didn't jinx it by writing such a glowing review so soon, but in my experience, if things are going to go wrong with electronics they go wrong pretty fast. So far they haven't and I don't expect they will.

If you don't have any questions or problems, this is a great system. But if you want more detailed information or have any problems, the arrogant attitude of the service department, coupled with their "don't give a flip, it's already a sale" attitude is, let me say, "interesting." If the device requires service, expect to be without your training program and training coach (if you bought the $80 Firstbeat software, which I recommend.)And these are the primary reasons you spent the big bucks for this device in the first place, right? The main problem I am having is that the watch displays a very low training effect and EPOCH while training. This makes me vastly over train, well beyond the training coach recommendation. And it is too late to adjust by the time the flaw, which is intermittent, is apparent. At this point, I am considering a Garmin Edge 705 with the Powertap hub. Bigger bucks, I know, but more features. And with luck their service department isn't anything like Suunto's. You can bet I will research that aspect intensely!

This is the best heart rate monitor I've ever owned. I'm a physician and a triathlete and fitness nut. This is the best one I've owned thus far. It is by far the most durable in terms of build quality. I currently own the Garmin 405, T4c, and the T6c. The T6c is the most durable and reliable of the three. The build quality of the t4c is a joke. Having the GPS on the 405 is nice but constantly having to recharge the watch is a real pain. I travel a lot and its just plain inconvenient. Save yourself the money and get the T6c.

I've been working out 6-7 days a week for the last 15 years without a break.

I've owned the T6c for about 9 months now and use it 6 days a week - cardio indoor, weightlifting, road biking, and outdoor running. By reviewing the data it collects during workouts I have been able to increase my fitness level. It's given me new insight into my workouts and more importantly an objective set of metrics.

The only issue I have is that the comfort strap that came with it broke after only 6 months. The "clip" simply broke during a workout and checking the web, it seems to be a common problem. I replaced it with the memory strap in hopes that it will have better durability. So far, so good.

I really wanted this watch. My Polar RS200sd had just died and needed to go in for repair. After reading various pro & cons, it looked like it would fit the bill.

Unfortunately, either the watch was defective (or I was), but I couldn't get the damn thing to work properly. Most of my runs went un-documented because the watch did not go into training mode. It went into "screw-you" mode. I repeatedly wrote to Suunto's service techs with the same cryptic answers that the not-so-instructive instruction manual quoted. Finally out of frustration, I phoned their help line and received a person that barely spoke English and also quoted the instruction manual. After a month of on and off luck I finally decided to send it back. I became too obsessed with the watch and less focused on running. Which is a shame, because I believe the unit was defective and I was too frustrated to try another one. I went back to my Polar RS200sd. I was extremely happy to have a watch that actually is a no brainer to use... and works as prescribed.

I'm 54, I'm running twice a week (12 km each time) and was searching for tools that could help me to have a better training. I had a Polar for 15 years, but found wasn't sufficient. So I looked first for a new Polar and finally switched to Suunto because of it's ability to measure my tiredness after training and the global efficiency of my running, using all my personal parameters (for example, EPOC).
I found here in my Suunto a very good product, that could help. The belt is very comfortable and I was satisfied with all the measures I discovered. Surprising all what I got from the watch.
Drawbacks (to justify 4 stars versus 5) - To my mind, directions are not sufficient or could be clearer to exploit all the possibilities of this watch. I was also slightly disappointed with the software (training manager) as there is finally no direct coach function. "Just" showing you the results (details and summary are though excellent) but not proposing you something to have a better training and guide you.
You'll have to do your DD and go further than the pdf guide...

Not yet tried the foot pod though but I realized I was running too hard (over-training) and when I had to change my running.

Despite these details, you can go ahead with it, you will be satisfied, this is a very good watch for running.

The wrist unit seem to work well, is comfortable on my skinny wrist and fairly easy to figure out how to operate. It feels solid and has a quality feel. The chest belt has smooth rubber at the contact points rather than fabric like the Polar models I've used. This makes it harder to moisten and establish a good contact because the water beads up on the rubber. I think this is the cause of occasional erratic spikes in the HR readings before I am thoroughly warmed up and sweating. This introduces an inaccuracy in the calculated Training Effect values. My real complaint is with the Training Manager software. Various functions as described in the Suunto literature are absent. Others are there but don't work. For example it is impossible to tag a session with the type of activity such as running, biking etc. When I contacted Suunto I was told that there are known bugs in the program and they intend to fix it at some point but could not provide a date. From what I could tell the program it is of limited value anyway. Although it creates interesting graphs and provides more detail than the wrist unit can, it doesn't help you "manage" your training by giving guidance as to how conduct your training to reach a goal. Should my next session be hard, say a Training Effect 4, or am I overdoing it and need to take it easy with a TE 1 or 2? Go read a book for the answer because the Training Manager is no help. It is advertised as a "sports laboratory on your wrist" but if it does only what I can make it do then it needs a coach to accompany it. I did not buy the running or bike sensors so cannot comment on how they work. Also, Suunto software only works with Windows and there are no plans to accommodate Mac users according to Suunto.

Great product when working. For me, the screen would spontaneously go blank. It is currently back with Suunto, waiting to be replaced, it has been two weeks so far and no word. Otherwise training was very educational experience, able to gauge hard or easy workouts. Advantage over the T3 and T4 are the beat to beat HR detection. Shows up especially with interval work.