First Look: Suunto ‘Ambit 2’ For Multisport Market

Beyond triathlon, in its launch materials Suunto touts the new Ambit line as the “GPS watch for every occasion, from multisport training to serious backcountry adventures.”

It’s hard not to be impressed with the watch’s large and multifaceted feature set, including:

• Multisport mode (you can switch between sports and track biking, running, swimming, and other activities in a single workout session)
• Advanced altimeter function (on Ambit 2 only; combines the watch’s GPS altimeter with its barometric altimeter for readings that are unaffected by air pressure change)

• Apps! Suunto’s “App Zone” site, launched last fall, lets Ambit users load specialized programs that run on the watch. They range from functional (marathon pace counter) to fun (“beers burned off” as per caloric output)

• Cycling power meter support (the Suunto Ambit2 supports bike power meters and the ANT+ wireless protocol)

• Swimming gage (pace and distance measurement features, including stroke rate)

• Running tools (GPS– and accelerometer-measured pace and distance; called the “FusedSpeed” feature)

• Heart rate functions (with optional $50 HR strap)

• Slim form factor (it looks and feels like a normal sports watch on the wrist)

• GPS navigation (Ambit 2 offers pace, route navigation and GPS tracking)

• 100-meter water resistance

• Increased battery life. Maximum 50-hour battery life in GPS mode (recording one point per minute)

Beyond my frozen bike ride in Boulder, I strapped the Ambit2 on for a run later in the day. Snow swirled as I ran uphill toward the town’s famous Flatirons formations, rock fins invisible above in a white stew.

My watched ticked off a per-mile pace in realtime, going from around a 7-minute pace on the flat approach to a 12-minute-per-mile slog as the trail got muddy and steep. I stopped the exercise session once back in town, a single button pausing and then saving my data for future download.

My brief test of the Ambit2 S so far has been a success. The watch is solid and pretty easy to use — the menu system and buttons are quicker to learn than expected. GPS syncs fast and seems to stay connected throughout an activity, no matter where you go.

Stay tuned as we put the Ambit2 through the wringer. Suunto is just now launching compatibility of its Movescount software with the Ambit 2, which will let you upload and analyze exercise and GPS data.

My Ambit2 is recharging now. The watch will be ready for another run soon. A good thing, as I’m heading to a trail-running event for another test tomorrow, praying for sunshine this time, not snow.