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  1. #1
    Master The devil's own's Avatar
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    Fenix 3 vs Ambit vertical

    I'm in the market for a GPS watch and these 2 appear to be the ones that most people talk about. Anyone got any experience of these? Which would you go for and why? Ta
    "That was the night everything changed"

  2. #2
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    I had a Fenix 3 for over a year, it ended up on e-bay and I "upgraded" to the seemingly less flashy ambit 3 peak.
    The fenix was absolute bull crap - unreliable, inaccurate.
    it crashed.. a lot. It randomly paired with other peoples HRM at race starts, then paused while it asked me what to do when we became out of range. boom there goes 1/2 a mile of your race.
    It was so inaccurate on a lot of runs it couldn't tell what street I was on, let alone what side of the road - this messes up your pacing, don't try to race at a pace, as it's not accurate.
    My garmin connect tells me there are 15 software updates pending to install to it, that's in the few(3?) months since I sold it.
    The suunto just works - all the time, I've no idea how to reboot it, reset it, factory reset it, or even power it off - I've never needed to - trust me hard resetting will be your friend if you go the fenix route.
    And don't even try to navigate a route with it - with garmin, you have to import an activity as a run, convert it to a route to send it to your watch. if you make your route on another site and import another route it won't work, as it will be a duplicate of the previous one or some other unspecific error. It just works on the suunto - go make yourself a movescount account and play if navigation is important to you.

    /rant over

    but did I mention the fenix is sparkly shiny nice looking bull crap of a watch?

    Rob.

  3. #3
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    Hi

    I have a Suunto ambit 2, I use it loads for navigation and find it very good indeed. (I do have problems when it is cold with the buttons sticking in and causing the options to scroll, I will have to send it back for a fix) I also have and suunto Ambit 2r which I picked up cheap for my daughter. I would go for the Ambit 2 or 3 if you want Bluetooth, the variation S and R are ok but the battery life is much shorter than the straight ambit and navigation is a little more basic. I have never used a Garmin so cant comment on bull crap.

    Happy hunting.

    Steve

  4. #4
    Master The devil's own's Avatar
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    Thanks for the replies, looks like i'll be going with a sunnto.
    "That was the night everything changed"

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by The devil's own View Post
    Thanks for the replies, looks like i'll be going with a sunnto.
    Another vote for Suunto - had some problems initially, largely down to an Apple update but now it works fine. Also uploads directly into Strava (if that is of interest to you) and the movescount app/website has just had an update and is much improved.

    I wasn't really in the market for one tbh but it was Christmas and I thought I would give it a try. Ended up with the Ambit 3s. Lots of apps/training programmes, routes to import, navigation and quick to find satellites.

    Saves me spending ages on bikehike plotting my routes!

  6. #6
    Senior Member Alan Lucker's Avatar
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    Another vote for the Ambit 3. A solid watch wear it all the time. Have had it about a year . It's Never let me down.

  7. #7
    I just bought a new watch for running, skiing hiking.
    Key requirements were decent battery life, accurate GPS, barometer, and the ability to upload a route that I could follow when running.

    My internet research suggested that if you want your watch to do the the above well then the best option was the (now heavily discounted) Ambit3 Peak. The Fenix3 has more doodads and a pretty colour screen, but you have to question if these things help in what you will use it for.

    If I were going to improve the Ambit3, then I would like a slightly better screen resolution and WiFi connectivity but both of these are niceties which I can live without.

    Suunto have announced a new watch (Spartan Ultra) so you can pick up the Ambit3 Peak for ~£200 with a heart rate strap.

    Edited to say that the Peak has a longer battery life and the 'external' antenna compared to some of the more recent Ambits (such as the Vertical). Longer battery life was important to me and people say that the GPS is better on the Peak (certainly better than my old garmin). I have no issues with comfort on the external antenna which seems to blend nicely into the strap.
    Last edited by Stoat; 15-06-2016 at 08:53 AM.

  8. #8
    I had an Ambit 3 Peak for a couple of years, sold it on here recently, bought a Fenix 3 - bloody hated it, sold it on eBay and bought another Ambit 3 Peak which I'm very happy with (again).


  9. #9
    I quite like my fenix 3. Haven't had any particular issue at all really.

  10. #10
    Master The devil's own's Avatar
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    Spent a bit of time debating the spartan but decided I couldn't justify the £600 at present so picked up an ambit vert hr in the sale for £250. Thanks to everyone who posted
    "That was the night everything changed"

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