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  • Yes, it's the update we've been waiting for

Google announced a pretty substantial Wear OS update last month, stating that it would be coming in the fall. We're still a couple weeks out from fall, but Finnish brand Suunto is already pushing this performance-improving update to its Suunto 7 watch.

The Suunto 7 is a relatively new watch. Announced in January 2020, it offers high-end specs and full-color offline outdoor maps for the fitness buffs out there. It is pretty pricey at $499, but at least we know now that price comes with good update support. Google claims that this update will offer "up to a 20% speed improvement in startup time for your apps," as well as better performance in general, a simplified pairing process, and more intuitive controls for managing watch modes and workouts.

Suunto has also added a number of features on its own. Those include a new route navigation function, an always-on sport display, a battery-saving GPS mode, and more. Here's the changelog of Suunto's own additions:

  • Route navigation: Create your own route, use tracks from other services, or select a popular trail in the Suunto app. Sync the route to your watch and start navigating.
  • Low power always-on sport display: Your display stays awake all the time while you exercise, using only a minimal amount of battery. See all your training data without having to raise your wrist to activate the display.
  • Battery-saving GPS mode: By selecting “Good” location accuracy, your Suunto 7 consumes less power by acquiring location only every 10 seconds. When running or cycling, FusedTrack™ is used to improve tracking quality. FusedTrack™ is a technology that combines movement data with GPS data to deliver more accurate tracking in lower GPS recording intervals.
  • Popular starting points: Check out popular starting points in the Suunto app to find new starting points for your exercises. When synced from Suunto app to your watch, the popular starting points are visible on the heatmap on your watch as small dots.
  • Various other bug fixes, language translation improvements, and performance optimizations

The update is rolling out now. If you haven't yet received it on your Suunto 7, it's worth checking manually. And if you own a different Wear OS watch and have been looking forward to this update, we'll be sure to keep you guys posted.

UPDATE: 2020/09/09 11:10am PDT BY RICHARD GAO

Yes, it's the update we've been waiting for

There was some confusion surrounding the contents of this update, but a Suunto employee reached out to let us know that this was, indeed, the performance-improving update we've been waiting for. Additionally, Google has made an official announcement post on the Wear OS support forum stating that the Suunto 7 is the first watch to receive it.

Source: TizenHelp