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* '''Interval Timers'''. I'm not a fan of using timers for interval training, but it's something I'd expect on watches that are far cheaper than the Spartan.
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:Suunto Spartan Ultra Review}}[[File:Suunto Spartan.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]
The Suunto Spartan is an expensive but beautiful running watch. It has an elegant, simplistic physical design, combined with an effective and intuitive user interface. The materials are not only beautiful to look at, but like the ambit range before, there pleasing to the touch. Unfortunately, this beautiful design is let down by incomplete functionality and a rather hefty price tag. If you buy the Spartan, it should be predominantly because of its looks and feel, rather than its functionality. (This review is based on 1.711.30 56 firmware.)
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=The Big Questions=
For a [[Best Running Watch| simple evaluation of a GPS watch]], I look at how well it can answer some basic questions. There are many things a runner might look for in a running watch, but I feel these four questions are critical.
* '''How far did I run?''' This is the most basic question, and the Spartan has pretty good [[GPS Accuracy]]. The level of error will depend on your route, but the Spartan seems to do quite well on varied sections of my test. The Spartan has great support for the [[Stryd]] footpod which will provide the best accuracy. * '''How fast am I running?''' Knowing how fast you're running can be a nice to know, or it can be vital for your training or race performance. Because of the nature of GPS, watches that rely on GPS signal alone tend to have serious problems with current pace. Currently the Spartan has no support for the will display of your current [[Pace From A Footpod]] while getting all other data from GPS, something I find is the best option. Suunto will use its internal accelerometer when GPS signal is unavailableWhen paired a [[Stryd]] footpod, but this doesn't really solve the problem. I see the current pace varying considerably from my actual pace during a rundata is vastly better than any GPS watch. * '''Where am I? '''The Spartan has a breadcrumbs -display and the ability to download a course outline, but there's no "off course" warnings or directional information. There's also no "back to start" or ability to navigate though you could manually add the start as a waypoint. The navigation to waypointsworks reasonably well. It does have a true magnetic compass, though I've rarely found that useful in the real world.
* '''What's my cadence? '''[[Cadence]]''' '''is one of the most critical and often overlooked aspects of running. If you get your Cadence right, many other things naturally fall into place. The Spartan will get [[Cadence]] from a [[Footpod]], and it has an internal accelerometer, though I find that's not as accurate. There are no alerts for Cadence (or any other metric.)
For ultramarathon running the battery life of the Spartan makes it a candidate for shorter races (50 miles/100k). But if you hope to be still moving during the [[Second Dawn]], then you should look elsewhere. (You can charge the Spartan on the run, but I see that as a poor solution to the problem.) See [[Best Running Watch#Watches for Ultrarunning| Watches for Ultrarunning]] for more details.
* '''Display Customization'''. With the latest firmware, you can do some customization, but it's still limited. You can't customize to add a 7-field display or a graph.
* '''Navigation'''. There's only a primitive display of the course you load, not waypoints, off course notifications, distance to the end, backtrack, etc.
* '''Where's my phone?''' I've come to appreciate the Garmin "Where's My Phone?" feature that buzzes the phone to help you find it. It's one of the most useful bits of having a watch connected to the phone.
* '''Stability'''. This is becoming less of a problem, and I'm not seeing a problem with existing functionality becoming broken with the latest release.
