Suunto X9i Review by Adam W. Chase. Courtesy of Running Times (http://www.runningtimes.com)
In the many trail running clinics I’ve conducted over the years, I’ve consistently answered questions about a runner’s appropriate training distance and pace, recommending running for time with perceived effort rather than striving for a specific distance or speed.
Now I know there was a reason for that advice: when you actually know how short your run was and how slow you were going, it can be rather disheartening!
Suunto’s new X9, an incredibly compact and lightweight wrist-mounted GPS, compass, barometer, altimeter, stopwatch, alarm clock, and computer, tells you exactly how far (or short) you have gone and at what speed. Not only that, but it tells you where you are, where you’ve been, the direction you’re headed, your altitude gain and loss, the weather trends, when the sun will rise and set, and allows you to map your runs with PC down- and uploads.
The X9’s "Activity" mode is an easy-to-use function that gives you a clear and rather large readout of your current speed and the distance you’ve covered from the point of activation. When you are done, you can keep the log of that run among as many as 25 runs stored in memory. The only drawback, as with any GPS, is that you have to wait for the X9 to gain satellite reception. The instrument uses 12 channels, so it is quite strong, especially given its small size, but when the weather is bad or you are running in thick woods, the reception is likely to lag.
As a nice touch, the X9 can be charged in the field with a battery-compatible recharging dock. For those who want to know exactly what route they took or who have the need to map a course for a race or to compare notes with other X9 users on Suuntosports.com, the instrument allows you to record as many as 50 waypoints per route and then use a PC interface through a serial connector (but not a USB) to transfer the data to mapping software.