Core Classic Outdoor Watch for Men

The Watch is fantastic! The watch is as advertised. I am grateful it was stopped and decided so quickly. It does everything I was looking for. It fits perfectly against my wrist, the multiple features work perfectly. The price was well within reason.

I actually climb, ski, rock climb and hike with this watch, so for me, an outdoor watch for a guy who does the activities I do mean that it has to perform, not be too difficult to use, and it needs to endure being knocked around, dropped, lost for frustrating intervals of time...and oh, by the way, look COOL? Heck, yeah! It does all of this and more. Just don't lose the SUUNTO guide or you won't be able to keep up with time changes and all the other concerns that go with having accurate measurements on a pretty technical watch.

I've only had it a week (early March 2021), and looking at a lot of reviews it wasn't without a little trepidation that I bought it, but I wanted something tough and feature packed in my work as a lineman rigger and the price was unbeatable for what I had been told was an amazing watch for people in my field. A few slight negatives to bear in mind before you put down your money, outdoors in daylight, the display is excellent, but inside in somewhat subdued lighting its not so easy to read, it does have a nice green backlight that works similarly to a G-Shock illuminator though. The crystal is domed on the outside, giving it a degree of magnification, but it's extremely reflective and you'll find yourself angling your wrist from time to time to keep it from glaring and stopping you from reading the time in daylight. If you can live with those things and you need it's functions, or just enjoy crazy watches that are feature rich, you should get this one. The features are amazing, and very accurate, I know how far I've climbed at a glance and I can see if the air pressure drops far enough for me to not get caught in a high wind situation. Two pieces of info that we do have access to, but is extremely useful to have on your wrist giving you real time information. It can be life and death in this game. The battery will probably die well within a year, but I don't have any issue with that due to the features and the ease at which you can change the battery. There are many videos online telling you how to do this correctly, I think some of the problems that people have with waterproofing are due to a botched battery replacement. I will probably never wear this watch in the water, though I do like the idea of its depth gauge. However 30m resistance is not what I personally consider something I'd trust. Just the act of swimming can exert pressures similar to that depth and I see people killing their watches that tout the same depth by swimming in a pool, showering and taking a bath with them. Soap, chlorine and other detergents are not any watches friend. Like I said, if I run into any issues, I'll update this review, but I can't really foresee much to go wrong at this point. Look after your equipment and it'll look after you. Go easy, folks.

*15 month(ish) later update. Surprisingly there isn't much new to say that I didn't already mention in my initial review, so I just wrote additional commentary in the relevant sections instead of writing a full-fledged update. I did have to do a battery change at 14 months and it's currently running on its new battery, more details on that in the appropriate section.* I will continue to keep this review updated as I spend more time using the watch. I'm a long time outdoor instructor and a working and sport dog handler. My cheap analog/digital watch of the last 9 years finally gave out on me and I decided it was time to upgrade to something better. I liked the idea ABC functions in the watch form factor. Historically I relied on larger handheld units but it's nice to have the capability of ditching them for shorter excursions and everyday use. So far, I really like the Core. In my opinion the unit ticks off all the necessary functions for a good work watch. The utility of date and seconds mode are obvious, the stopwatch and countdown clock are wonderful functions for use in the field and training, and dual time is an excellent feature when traveling. It's not the most unique feature but I really appreciated the easy access to the sunrise and sunset times. It's really great to be able to click a few buttons so I can make plans for sun down accordingly. *Still love the sunrise and sunset display. It's great for K9 detection and tracking* I haven't had a ton of time to play with the atmospheric barometer and altimeter but my quick tests have found it to be consistent with the results that my Foretrex spits out. I look forward to putting it alongside some other units and testing out the 'automatic' profile when I'm done with trials. For users like myself who are accustomed to atmospheric barometers that auto recalculate with a GPS, be sure to remember to set your reference altitude. The current heatwave means I haven't been able to try the storm alarm yet but I can't wait to test it out because it could prove to be extremely handy in the field. I was glad to find that the unit includes a thermometer. It should be noted that the thermometer spends its time pressed up against your wrist so when wearing the watch the readings will be wrong. To Suunto's credit they do mention this in the user manual found on their website. But it's readings appear to be pretty accurate when removed from your wrist for a few minutes. And even then in this current mid-90s degree it's readings on wrist have been pretty close. *Barometer still works really well as long as you update it. Storm alarm has gone off a few times but hasn't done so before an actual storm. I don't think this is an issue with the alarm just the ambient pressure of my location. Thermometer is great to have. This year I had a contract at a location that had obscenely high temperatures, and a dozen and a half years working in the outdoors it's the closest I've ever gotten to a heat-related injury. The on board thermometer help me track my status and recovery.* One of my teaching specialties is land navigation and I'm a bit of a compass nerd. So I was very curious to see how the compass mode would perform. It is my opinion that a electric compass in this form factor will never replace a good analog compass. The utility of a unit like this isn't in its accuracy or precision but in its convenience. To that end, this unit is very convenient to use with a few hiccups. Initially I had a lot of issues with the compass being wildly inaccurate. And I had no success with recalibration. I found a YouTube comment on the official Suunto tutorial about compass recalculating that suggested a reset. That suggestion worked wonders and the compass worked extremely well after calibration... for a few hours. I put the watch down by my phone and computer while doing some work and then left it there when I took a nap. When I woke up and tested it again it was out of whack and I needed to do another factory reset. In retrospect this is blaringly obvious but the magnetic interference for my computer equipment was responsible. Keep that in mind if you're having issues with the compass. Like any compass, this unit needs to be kept level if you want accurate readings. At least for me, it can be difficult to judge what's level when the unit is on my wrist. With practice and more use I'm sure this will become less of an issue for me but it does introduce a degree of mistrust in the readings when not checking a known direction. It's a shame that Suunto didn't include the bubble level that was found on the old Vectors. Like any good compass, the unit has adjustable declination. In 0.5 degree increments, larger than I would like but adequate for a unit like this. *Have still not been able to calibrate the compass. In the last 15 months I have spent hours trying. So whenever I need to recalibrate I just reset the watch.* You'll see a lot of complaints in the Amazon reviews about the dim display. Personally I have not had that issue. It is very readable in bright light. In low light I find it just as readable as a regular analog. It does have a backlight which is just bright enough to illuminate in low and no light. I do miss the utility of having glow in the dark watch hands but that's just one of the trade-offs of going digital. Is my understanding that you can adjust the contrast after a factory reset but I haven't felt the need. And this is from someone who doesn't have particularly good eyesight. *Absolutely no problems with the display in a wide range of lighting conditions* I don't like the included silicone watch band. It's comfortable, easily adjustable, and breathable in hot weather but it means that watch can't lie flat when the watch is removed and I found it made compass calibration more annoying than it needed to be. I can't speak for the durability of the band yet but even outside of the world of Amazon reviews these new silicone bands are notorious within my professional communities for breaking unexpectedly and at the worst possible times. I would have greatly preferred the NATO style bands that ship with the new Alpha Stealth version of the Core. I will probably replace the band at some point in the future with a aftermarket band. *Still don't like the included band but it's held up and haven't had any issues with it. Haven't found an aftermarket alternative that I like.* Can't speak for battery life yet but I like that it uses the same coin batteries as my RMR. What concerns me is the somewhat inconsistent information about battery replacement. With Suunto simultaneously providing instructions and kits for battery replacement but also suggesting that trying to replace the battery on your own voids the warranty. And when investigating further it gets even more unclear about who actually is authorized to do the replacement. I may end up calling my local REI and asking if that's a service that they actually provide (the Suunto website claims they do) just to have options open. *Battery gave out on a contract about 14 months after receiving the watch. Because of the timing I just replaced the watch battery myself and didn't deal with any of the warranty maintenance stuff. I had a surprising amount of trouble opening the case, the coins I had on hand were either too thick or thin to adequately turn the coin slot. Ended up using a shotgun hull. Make sure you look up replacement instructions so you know what to do with the silicone o rings.* I also can't speculate on long-term durability yet. As a precaution I did purchase one of those extended warranties/insurance policies from Amazon for the first time. Much like the silicone watch bands, Suunto is infamous for it's for poor or inconsistent warranty support in my communities. Hopefully I won't have to find out or see how well the third party one works. *Still looks pretty good after 15 months of nearly daily use*

A great product from Suunto. I used to deal their dive computers and have personally owned and used many. Suunto products always left me impressed with the quality and functionality. This Core seems to be right up there in quality.

Typical Suunto, if there is such thing. This is my second Suunto and so no surprises on my part. Well built, quite rugged and all around easy to wear. This is a larger watch but not ridiculously large. I like larger watches so that does not bother me. Easy to read even at dusk. Backlight is a bit dicky (can't quite explain best look it up on YouTube). That's definitely not something I like or appreciate about this watch. Still, it is a fairly easy watch to read even in low light conditions so I can see past that. Certainly not regretting adding it to my collection of watches.

Excellente montre. A eu des soucis au début de fiabilité (susceptible à courant statique) corrigé depuis. Par rapport a une vector on gagne les heures de lever et coucher de soleil, et un affichage de l'historique du baromètre sous forme de graphique. En montagne, on récupère une alarme de tempête (perte de plus de 4 Hp sur 1 ou 2 heures). Comme on peut en altitude passer de ciel dégagé à couvert et pluie forte ou de grêle en moins d'une heure, c'est utile pour se protéger à temps. Disposer de l'heure de coucher permet de faire son campement pendant qu'il fait jour, et de ne pas s'amuser a monter une tente ou un hamac dans le noir. Attention au changement de la pile : si on veut pouvoir continuer à plonger avec la montre (qui contient un profondimètre fonctionnant jusqu'à -10 M) il faut acheter le kit Suunto comprenant une pile et un joint neuf. Si vous ne plongez pas avec, pas besoin de changer le joint (disons pas à chaque changement de pile, mais après quelques changements de pile). Si vous ne changez pas le joint, il faut acheter du lubrifiant à base de silicone, en mettre sur le bout de son doigt, et l'étaler sur le joint sous la forme d'une très fine pellicule avant de replacer le joint dans la montre (regardez le canal Youtube de la marque Suunto, ils ont une vidéo qui montre comment on change une pile sur ce modèle). Il ne faut jamais toucher la pile de remplacement avec les mains, car elles sont conductrices, et feront perdre plusieurs mois de charge à la pile. Il faut donc manipuler la pile avec un gant en latex ou un bout de sopalin pour l'installer dans la montre. Quand on retire l'ancienne, on utilise un objet non metallique comme un cure dent en bois, et surtout rien qui ne soit en métal (court-circuits garantis dans la montre autrement, qui sera abîmée). Très belle, excellente évolution par rapport au module Vector. Le module Vector peut subir bien plus de dégâts et continuer à fonctionner, donc si vous prévoyez de l'escalade ou des chocs, une Vector sera plus solide. Pour de l'alpinisme au-delà de 2000 m, je prendrais la Core plutôt que la Vector. Une pile de rechange glissée dans un coin au cas où. Elle est belle, surtout en affichage noir. Je n'ai jamais eu de souci de lecture de l'affichage, et on peut régler le contraste sur ce modèle (on ne peut pas le faire sur une Vector). Sur Internet on trouve la doc pour entrer dans le menu de maintenance, qui permet de modifier le contraste au-dela des valeurs prévues par la doc au besoin. Si vous ne manipulez pas la pile de rechange avec un contact direct de la peau des doigts, et utilisez un petit cure-dent pour extraire l'ancienne, pas de souci. Il est recommandé de changer la pile pour une neuve avant de partir en expédition plutôt que d'avoir à jouer des doigts engourdis en altitude si la pile vient à faiblir. Une très bonne évolution par rapport à la Vector, mais un peu plus fragile vis à vis des chocs. L'écran d'une Vector est en plastique rayable, il encaisse plus, par contre une Vector aura après 5 ou 10 ans l'écran bien rayé bien que fonctionnelle. La Core dispose d'un écran minéral qui ne se raye pas facilement : même des chocs directs dessus ne laissent aucune rayure. Mais d'expérience, je ne lui ferais pas subir les mauvais traitements que j'ai pu faire subir à mes Vector (me jetter au sol, la montre percutant le sol avec moi ou bien escalader à main nues arbres et parfois, la montre frottant un peu partout rayant plastique et écran de la Vector). Bracelet confortable, qui a été amélioré il y a peu de temps au niveau de la petite pièce qui tient la languette : elle était trop dure à retirer ou déplacer, et ils ont corrigé en rabotant de moitié le renfoncement qui frotte sur la languette du strap. On trouve sur Amazon ou Ebay très facilement des écrans de protection qui se collent sur l'écran si vous craignez pour ce dernier des rayures. Mais vous n'aurez ce souci qu'avec la Vector. Pour ma part, je pense qu'il faut posséder une Vector et Core. La Vector en version HR (Heart Rate) pour surveiller son niveau cardiaque et le travailler entre 70 et 90 % de son niveau maxi pour augmenter sa capacité cardiaque, et une Core qu'on attache sur son sac en fonction altimètre, réglée depuis un point d'altitude connu, alarme de tempête activée et dont on utilise cette fonction, l'altimètre et les heures de lever/coucher en randonnée en montagne. La Core est particulièrement à l'aise en montagne.

Comprei um relógio desse para o meu pai e a experiência não poderia ter sido melhor! Desde o pré compra, a loja respondeu rapidamente todas as minhas dúvidas sobre valores de importação e garantiu que seria responsabilidade deles, caso o produto fosse taxado. Alem disso, recebi o produto 5 dias antes do prazo sem nenhum custo adicional. O relógio é original, perfeito veio com a caixa completa e ele está muito feliz. Só tenho elogios a fazer.

It's a good, reliable watch. Does what it's advertised. Just that the display is not as clear under bright sunlight

„Sehr hochwertige und robuste Outdoor-Uhr. Funktionen sind übersichtlich, Verarbeitung ist top und sie trägt sich angenehm. Ich bin mit dem Kauf sehr zufrieden und kann die Uhr weiterempfehlen.“