From the reviews, it appears that many users are confused by the clasp, claiming it doesn't allow enough clearance to get the watch on and off. This confused me also, and Suunto should come out with a new edition of the instruction manual that makes it clearer that the band has two clasps and when both of them are open, there is plenty of clearance getting the watch on and off.

Don't believe any reviewer that says the altimeter in this watch isn't accurate. If it isn't accurate, return it, because it means the watch is defective. A working Observer will be as accurate as the most expensive Thommen precision analog altimeter. I know, because I've owned the same, reliable Thommen (showing 20-foot intervals) for 29 years and have A-B'd the Observer with my Thommen on several hikes and have obtained as similar results as can be expected, given the intrinsic nature of altimeters based on the measurement of air pressure.

Although the manual can be criticized for its organization and sketchy documentation of its sometimes bewildering variety of features, it does give a fairly clear explanation of why altimeters in general can be as much as several hundred feet off over an elevation gain of several thousand feet, in spite of the fact that the sea level barometric pressure remains constant. Section 3.6 of the manual explains the effect of air temperature on altitude measurement. As the temperature rises, the air gets lighter, i.e. the barometric pressure falls. This is an intrinsic problem associated with any altimeter that works off of barometric pressure, including the world-renowned Thommen altimeters. Thus every altimeter must be calibrated to a set of certain "standard" temperatures. As long as the outside temperature tracks this standard and the sea level barometric pressure doesn't change, the altimeter will give an accurate reading. But the reading could be hundreds of feet off after a long hike in extreme temperatures.

The Observer instruction manual presents a table defining Suunto's standard. You can use this table to calculate the actual altitude, given the starting altitude, starting temperature, temperature at the destination, and the watch's altimeter reading. At first I found the calculation hard to understand, and Suunto's table presents lower and lower resolution as you increase in altitude, ostensibly (but not really) making the table less and less useful as the altitude increases. Eventually however, I "cracked the code" and wrote a program for the PC that calculates the correct offsets and even creates tables for all the variables. If interested, contact me via email for a free copy of the program.

Here are some examples. If you climb in temperatures that are much hotter than the temperature compensation standard built into the Observer, you will find that the readings from the watch will be several hundred feet lower than your actual altitude. For example, if the starting elevation is 100 feet and the starting temperature is 90 degrees F. and you climb until the Observer altitude reading is 4,000 feet and the temperature is still 90 degrees, your actual altitude will be 4,329 feet. On the other hand, if you climb in temperatures that are much colder than the temperature compensation standard built into the Observer, you will find that the readings from the watch will be several hundred feet higher than your actual altitude. For example, if the starting elevation is 100 feet and the starting temperature is 0 degrees F. and you climb until the Observer altitude reading is 4,000 feet and the temperature is still 0 degrees, your actual altitude will only be 3,685 feet. Finally, if you climb in temperatures close to the compensation standard built into the Observer, you will find that the watch display will be very close to the actual altitude. For example, if the starting elevation is 100 feet and the starting temperature is 58 degrees F and you climb until the Observer altitude reading is 4,000 feet and the temperature has fallen to 45 degrees, your actual altitude will be 3,998 feet. The reading is very close to the actual altitude because the temperatures at the start and end of the climb are very close to the built-in standard, which you can check out by looking at the table in sec. 3.6. (By the way, the manual has a math error in the example it gives for "Imperial" measurements. The difference between 47.3 degrees F and 36.3 degrees F is 11 degrees, not 9 as stated in the manual. Thus the actual altitude should be 9,724 feet, not 9,740 as stated in the manual.)

10 of 10 found the following review helpful:

Great Watch, Terrible Strap  Mar 04, 2009
By MinuteDreamer
To summarize, this is a great watch, saddled with a bad and expensive strap design.

As a watch, the design is quite good - it is sturdy and very feature rich. There are a few minor shortcomings, however.
- The user interface is poorly designed. Some of the features will be completely inaccessible to you unless you have a photographic memory or have the manual in your hands.
- The thermometer is on your wrist. This makes it an inaccurate reference for determining the existing ambient temperature, or your body temperature. To get an accurate reading of the ambient temperature, it's best to remove the watch, and let it sit for a while.
- A lack of a count-down timer. (However, there is an alarm)
- Very quiet alarm, inaudible in louder settings.

The truly disappointing component of this watch is the bad strap design.
- It costs $120 to replace (1/3rd the price of the whole watch!) After scouring the Internet and Ebay, I was completely unable to a significantly better price on the strap.
- It is an integrated strap, so it can only be replaced Suunto Observer strap, not a generic watch strap.
- The watch bracelet is not a full metal bracelet - it is only a rubber strap with metal inserts for looks only. I personally don't mind this, but some people dislike it.
- The only way to size the bracelet to your wrist is to cut it with a pair of scissors! If you make a mistake cutting your strap, it will cost you $120. This also means that you cannot loan the watch to anyone who does not have the exact same wrist size as you. I have never seen this kind of design before in another watch.
- The rubber/elastomer part of the bracelet is a particularly cheap material. The forums are full of complaints of strap failure. Depending on your wear level, the strap will fail after a few years. Suunto refuses to sell the elastomer part of the bracelet separately, even if you speak to customer service. Instead, they will insist you need to purchase a new strap kit for $120. This is ridiculous for a part that costs pennies to manufacture.

Realize that you will be paying $120 every few years for as long as you wear this watch.


7 of 8 found the following review helpful:

Great Watch!  Jul 12, 2006
By Z-man "climber"
I have had this watch for 6 months now and during the height of the climbing season I can say I love it. It does everything it it claims plus looks great. I had a Avocet wrist altimeter for 10 years before this and the Suunto is much better and more accurate. Yes it does take some study and getting used to but if you make the effort it will reward you. So why do I like it?
1) It looks great, small enough to not grab attention (like the funny looking bigger watches) but classy. Have not found scratching to be a problem even with rock climbing if you are careful. 2) The controls make sense. After having the Avocet this has multiple screens that if you use them for a time you don't even have to pause to find what you are looking for. 3) Very accurate. I climb much during the year and it is as close as a altimeter will get to accurate. I compare the readings with my friends GPS and we are always within 50 feet or less. 4) Being a mountaineer, I love the lightness of it compared with the steel model.

I highly reccomend this watch!

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

A Great Watch For The Outdoor Person.  May 25, 2002
By gary
Great conversational piece. The Titatium housing gives it a cool look on the black face. As for the performance, I have found the Barometer & Compass to be extremely accurate. The temperature is very accurate, but you have to take it off your wrist for true reading. I also love the chronometer stopwatch for jogging, timing each mile. I have not gone skiing yet so I really did not use the altimeter or try to figure it out yet. The only negative I found is the alarm is not that loud and for the price I think the band could be all titatium instead of titatium & elastomer strap together. I never leave home without it.

4 of 4 found the following review helpful:

The down and dirty  Aug 12, 2009
By Wood
I have had this watch in the Ti version for a bit over 4 years now. I am a military fighter pilot by trade and spend my off time hiking, camping and all other things outdoors, I tend to be REALLY hard on things. I have worn this watch every day and it still works and looks great. It has been in the dusty Iraqi desert in 120F heat, sub zero at 50,000ft and everything in between. Here are a couple take aways.

Goods
The raised bevel around the crystal is great, unless you take a screwdriver to it, it is virtually impossible to scratch it during day to day use. I am only on my second battery, which I think is pretty good. The first one died when I left it in my boot while camping in 15F overnight. Looks classy enough for dress up dinners, yet functional enough for an everyday watch. Temperature (as long as it is not on your wrist) and altimeter are right on. Only loses about 5 sec of time over a one month period. Contrary to a lot of the other reviews the alarm is plenty loud. Due to all the engine noise in my job I am half deaf and still wake up to this watch every morning. If you are hiking in the winter and set an altitude alarm, you are probably not going to hear it under the sleeve of your winter jacket, other than that its fine.

Others
The digital compass is pretty much useless in my book. Immediately after you calibrate it it is accurate, as long as it is perfectly level. As soon as you get it by anything metal or around any kind of high power emissions is goes out to lunch, which all compasses do. But if you step away from the interference a regular compass will read accurate again, this will need to be re-calibrated. I found it to drift even out in the woods with nothing to interfere with it. As the other reviews mentioned it is a bit difficult to figure out how to use. It does come with a little laminated quick reference guide that I keep in the truck. Setting the altimeter and baro are not really all that intuitive.

In short
Great watch, I have a Suunto Dive watch and a Suunto heart rate monitor and they all work great, good products. If you are thinking about getting this watch, do it. You won't regret it.

See all 21 customer reviews on Amazon.com