I've really put this watch through the paces the past six months since purchasing it with 'bonus points' on my Yahoo Visa card. Being that I usually climb at altitudes of 9000-14,400 ft on a regular basis, I wanted to see how the Observer would work in both altimeter and barometric modes. Honestly, the watch doesn't work too well at altitudes higher than 9000 ft. The base settings need to be continually updated and the altimeter measurements are usually off by hundreds of feet. This is totally UNACCEPTABLE. I even sent the watch back to Suunto for their rechecking and everything supposedly works 'fine'. I was told that the watch is designed for 'lower' altitudes as the pressure differential at higher elevations cause the watch to vary the readings greatly. Duh! The alarm is a total joke...period! Why advertise this on the watch. So in hindsite, yes, the watch looks nice and keeps good time. But I purchased it for it's altitude use and to be honest, it doesn't work to my satisfaction

Customer Service

Very good customer service though I did have to follow up with the reps a number of times. They did expedite the 'work' on the watch and did return calls...somewhat.

Good points: It works really well and all the functions are extremely accurate I like the display, I think it is easy to read. I like the backlight Fairly straight forward to use Looks & size Build quality is good. Bad Points I've gone deaf or as has been mentioned below a rather quiet alarm. I have scratched the glass, something I failed to do to my diving watch despite climbing with it for the last 4 years. It does lead me to wonder what sort of glass they used. On the whole: I love it, it tells the time and has a lot of great gadget (lets be honest) & useful features for my main pass time. It is also small enough to wear everyday as a watch which is a small price to pay for the quiet alarm

Customer Service

I have heard it's not brilliant

Similar Products Used:

Silva wind watch & ordinary compasses.

Suunto shot themselves in the foot with this piece of crap. The case is esthetically pleasing and solid. The compass is very sweet, the altimeter and barometer work as advertised. . . but, oh, did I mention this is a watch? As a watch my $19.00 Timex is a better tool. The alarm on this thing is inaudible from 12". Thinking maybe I was tone deaf I passed it among my friends and they were as apparently deaf as I was. I sent it back to Suunto for repair but they reurned it and said it worked within factory specs. It is amazing they went to all the work to build this cool piece then installed an alarm that sounds like an exhausted mouse trying to squeak. For a watch that retails for over $300.00 it is a total rip off. It would be like buying an expensive gourmet dinner that came served with a plastic fork. It bums me to write this because I like the people at Suunto and have good luck with some of their other products.

Customer Service

Didn''''t respond to 3 emails. Turn around when I sent in the watch was about a month. . . and it wasn''''t any better than when I sent it in.

Similar Products Used:

Suunto Vector. Casio and Nike ATG.

Great "wristop computer". Really outrageously priced in the US. The Titanium version was $500 everywhere I looked, (and I looked hard) I finally found a company from France (the Eye Shop.com) that has great deals on the Suuntos. I got the Titanium version there for around $360. The other models were considerably less. They had great customer service in delivering the watch within 5 days by UPS. I''m really impressed with the quality of the altimeter and the other functions. Alarm is crazy soft, would never wake up 90% of the population. Display is a little tough to read in certain lighting, but is pretty cool. Overall a great piece that should last you a long, long time.

Customer Service

Suunto never returned my two e-mail messages that I sent them.

A very nice watch (wrist Computer?) with an accurate altimeter. The display is not easy to read (the black display background together with the frontglass is mirroring) and the alarm beep is very quiet. The upperside of the body is made in steel, the backside and the wristband are made plastic. After 2 days of wearing the wristband was going softer and now it is perfect. For nightowls : The backlight will flickering a little bit during the compassfunction, but over all, I''am very happy. The most import point for my was the quality of the altimeter and a unscratchable glass and case for outdoor use.

Customer Service

I bought the watch 2 weeks ago.... (And the display is ok !)

Similar Products Used:

Suunto advizor (more or less the same functions, but made in plastic). The bigger display is easier to read !

The display is not easy to read. The alarm is too quiet to hear unless the watch is pressed against your ear. But over all it is an excellent instrument, sturdy construction, great features, light weight and a much better form factor than the other Suunto products. One caveate, I have had two watches with a defective display for the day of the week. Friday should be FR instead it is FP, everything else is OK. Might check with Suunto about this.

Similar Products Used:

Other Suunto watches