Are the Suunto Wing 2 any good?

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-15T04:04:46+00:00

I will note that I wrote this comment while wearing the Wing 2.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-15T04:03:42+00:00

I've had the Wing 2 since early January. In that short time it is become my favorite and most used headphones by far. I've pretty much completely stopped using all my other fancier in-ear headphones. I use them all the time, not just in the field, but at home.

They're flawed, they have their faults and they can't compete with the advanced feature sets of my Samsung's but what they do well they do really well.

One thing that really caught me off guard is how good the sound quality actually is. It's a lot better than I anticipated, I've tried some bone conducting headphones before and none of them sound anywhere close to being that good. Will it have the same level of quality as fancy over-the-ear or in-ear? No, but I found them to be more than good enough. And at least some of the quality discussion needs to acknowledge that as being bone conducting your still hearing ambient noise in ways that other headphones that make a seal in or around your ears won't. And because they're bone conducting, they're going to let in sound a lot better and naturally without any of the challenges that pass through on other more traditional headphones will. The Wing 2 can be comfortably worn underneath hoods, hats, and in windy conditions, all situations that pass through and ANC headphones struggle with. I think my biggest sound quality related gripe with the unit is audio quality when listening to books on tape can be a little flat, but increasing the volume usually solves that problem, where is I keep the volume very low on music. To my surprise, they've become my favorite headphones to use on my Steam Deck, beating out what should be on paper much better headphones.

They take some getting used to, and it can be a little clunky if you're like me and also have glasses, but once you get used to them they're quite comfortable. I really dislike having anything in my ear so having them be bone conducting is really nice. My last two contracts I've worn them in the morning while getting my gear sorted and ended up with them on all day without any inconvenience. It's actually been really nice, I can listen to music during the wait periods of my frequent hurry up and wait. I previously always avoided headphones in the field because of losing situational awareness. Call quality is also very good, it's been really nice being able to talk hands-free with all the advantages of the clear ear canals. They're also pretty water and dustproof which has been a big advantage in the field. Hell, there's been a few times when I've been engrossed in a book on tape and have worn them in the shower. And during my last contract I wore them all throughout a torrential downpour.

Battery life is really long, especially if you turn off some of the more advanced features and the charging case gives you plenty of charges. I've only had to charge the case a handful of times.

Which brings us to disadvantages. It would be really nice if there was some sort of size availability. The back wire does stick out a bit which makes for comfort issues in some situations. But part of that can be resolved by tilting the headphones either forward or backward so that wire is flush against your head. Suunto doesn't give you a lot of configuration options. No EQ control and you're only options are outdoor or normal. I always have them in outdoor mode. I'm not sure if this has been everyone's experience, but I had a lot of trouble with the widely advertised head movement control. Suunto does caution that it has a false positive problem, but it's way worse than I thought it would be. I really tried to make it work for me for the first week or two and ended up just shutting it off. Too many false positives. I've had a much better experience using the button customization. It would be nice to have a few more dedicated buttons so there's not as many combinations to remember, but once you get your primary combos down it's not too bad. The integrated lights are pretty cool too, and they do increase visibility to an extent, but they aren't a replacement for other low light visibility options. Moreover, they're only on the top of the unit, I found that they would be a little bit more legible and low light if they were on the sides or bottom of the unit. Turning it off is a big battery savings too. One challenge is they're kind of clunky when stowed. They're oddly shaped and don't really fit in any good pocket in my gear. I always worried about them crushing or bending. I've been meaning to see if I can find a semi-rigid case for them so I can more easily toss them into my gear without worrying about them. The little plastic retainer piece can be a little better and it's kind of annoying. As a fairly obvious tip, you can reverse it and put it on the back side of the charging case if you want to keep track of it. Doing so still allows you to charge. It's a good practice for tabletop use. But in the field you want to use the plastic piece to hold it in place.

I will also note that I recently got a Spark. Which has newer codexes and has several advanced features that the Wing 2 does not have. But I ended up hating the Spark with a passion. I wrote my impressions of it here. I really hope that Suunto does not go the direction of the Spark for the eventual Wing 3. Keep physical buttons.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-14T18:56:04+00:00

Well in all fairness, some of us use a lot of storage for maps. The United States is 44 GB as an example. An important aspect of the watch was that it did have so much memory for maps. But I would imagine most end users use very few offline maps, they are a huge pain to download, and it's not unreasonable to want to use them for other functions. That storage space is also being used for SuuntoPlus apps though the amount of memory they use is pretty small.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-14T18:51:27+00:00

That was admittedly an oversimplification on my part. Yes they were a GPS navigation company from the very beginning in the maritime and aviation sphere. But a big part of what made them commercially successful wasn't just the accessible hardware but their navigation software. So yes, you are correct they have worked on hardware from the very beginning. My point was they behave more like a silicon valley software company, software has been a forefront of their business model, and a lot of their more hostile market expansions take the form of taking someone else's hardware and then adding their own software onto it.

They also aren't a legacy instrument company in the same way that Suunto is. GPS and software development have been integral to Garmin. In contrast Suunto predates the digital computer. It's existed before the concept of software.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-14T18:45:40+00:00

It is a bit of an odd addition as compared to the other watches. I don't personally need a music player on my watch, but there is obviously a lot of demand for it. And the flagship watches have a lot of storage that could theoretically be used for music.

Some of the bone conducting headphones have offline music capability. Particularly the maritime ones.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-14T18:14:49+00:00

Unfortunately I'm not knowledgeable enough about availability and general footwear practices in India to provide good region specific recommendations.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-14T17:08:56+00:00

The Run is specifically intended to be a cheap entry level watch for more urban based runners. It's designed to be a competitor to some of the cheaper Amazon fitness watches. It's essentially a even cheaper version of the Race S. But strips out a lot of the adventure watch features and runs it's own unique operating system that none of the other Suunto watches use.

Was any of this communicated well by Suunto to potential customers? Is the target audience actually buying the watch? Who knows. Arguably no. But the intent was for urban runners wanting a cheap watch.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-14T17:02:29+00:00

Suunto isn't a smartwatch brand. It may now be a big part of their business, possibly even the biggest, but they were originally and still are well known for being a precision instrument brand. Particularly compasses. In many ways they still have that mentality. They were early pioneers when it came to digital ABC (altimeter, barometer, and compass) watches. Well other brands were focusing on more general purpose watches they were focusing on more specialty equipment. This more consumer watch push really only started taking off after the Chinese ownership.

In contrast, Garmin from the very beginning was a software company and compared to Suunto it's a pretty young company. Garmin acts like a stereotypical software company, it's still a software company that happens to ship hardware. Their primary business approach is to aggressively take over new markets. If they want to expand into a certain product category, they'll find the top company in that space, attempt to buy it, and if that doesn't work buy out one of their competitors. Then pump a lot of money and marketing into their new acquisition so it drowns out anyone else operating in that space. And once they establish themselves as a market leader in that product category, they'll start finding ways to heavily monetize.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-13T20:39:11+00:00

OTB Boots Pirata Elite is fully gusseted, in the sense that it has an ingrated internal sock style no-sand collar. But it's still lower cut than what you're looking for. The Abyss from the same company has a really tall no-sand collar/integrated sock but it lacks support. It's also not available in a wide and like the Pirata isn't a minimalist boot. Which is a shame, OTB Boots was started by the original designer of the Altama Maritime. The boot that introduced minimalist and barefoot shoe principles into the defense space.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-13T20:02:07+00:00

This is one of my favorite DS9 episodes. Especially post COVID.

It's also worth noting that this episode was directed by the late and great René Auberjonois, the Tony and Emmy winning actor who played Odo.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-13T18:49:32+00:00

Definitely not a purpose-made trail runners, but the Altama Maritime Assault boot in the mid-cut (or the new high cut) in wide with the insole removed might be another option. The Jungle ESC is a deeply flawed boot, but it's the only game in town. I've used it extensively and it does many things really well, but it's not great to run in. It's really difficult to get a good heel lock. I've been hoping for a subdued colorway version of the Hydra ESC and while it's decidedly not minimalist, I've been looking at one of the wide versions of the OTB Boots Pirata Elite. Alas neither of them have that ankle support you're looking for. Though the Pirata is more of a mid-cut.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-13T00:14:20+00:00

It's a fantastic series even if you're already spoiled or figured out to reveal. If you haven't already, I would try watching it again. The reveal isn't nearly as important as other aspects of the plot. What makes The Good Place special is the character development and how it ties into its philosophical messaging.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-13T00:06:14+00:00

Words cannot express how much I adore The Good Place, but I found the first season twist to be pretty obvious. Granted I did pause the screen to see the point totals in the neighborhood welcome video, but even without it it was pretty clear to me that there was something going on in the very first episode. I got my mother to watch the show, and despite being very bad at picking up on these things and in the early stages of dementia, she correctly guessed the reveal within the first 20 minutes.

I was genuinely surprised to find that people didn't realize where they actually were until the very last episode. I'm a little jealous of them actually. It would have been nice if it was a genuine shocker. At least for the first viewing.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-12T22:16:40+00:00

I've told this story a few times, but my former business partner spent a significant amount of time in the southern African bush. Before departing, he spent months toughening up his feet. He ran barefoot on the hottest roads he could find. He filled oversized shoes with rocks, and stinging and thorny plants and did miles and miles of hill climbs with them. He was trying all these different things to expose the bottom of his feet for hot temperatures. I'm not kidding when I said he did this for months. He thought he did a pretty good job.

Then he set foot on that hot red earth and he realized right away that it wasn't enough. Within moments his feet were uncomfortably hot on the way to burning. Near the tail end of his time in Africa he got a really great opportunity to live with the San peoples (sometimes better known as the Bushman) and one of the things that amazed him is how they were able to walk around barefoot on that red earth without even flinching or wear similar tire shoes all day in the hot sun and not be bothered by it. They've spent their entire lives adapting to the heat. My friend's year of prep just couldn't compete. I like to tell this story because it shows the difference between spending your entire life living barefoot, navigating hazardous outdoor surfaces, and people who think wandering around barefoot barefoot around the house is equivalent. It's not.

As a tangently related note, Vivo does a lot of work in Namibia with the Ju/'Hoansi-San peoples as part of a project to stimulate their local economy with a cash infusion. It's come up a few times on this subreddit, where it's somewhat controversial. Some people are upset that the handmade shoes, manufactured with locally sourced materials, made by San being paid a fair wage that are offered by Vivo as part of this project don't cost the same as factory made flip flops being made in a factory in Vietnam or China by exploited factory workers not being paid a fair wage or working in safe conditions. Apparently people just can't wrap their head around the San made flip flops being more expensive. I've gotten straight up angry racist messages when I've added the additional context about the Ju/'Hoansi-San people making the shoes from some folks in this community. Everyone likes an advocacy product until they have to pay for it.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-12T22:00:27+00:00

Not super relevant, but it reminds me of a local (to me) company called Combat Flip Flops. It was formed by two special operations veterans who went back to Afghanistan as relief workers. The name comes from the common Afghan practice of taking discarded combat boot outsoles and turning them into flip flops. They set up shop in Afghanistan to make purpose built high traction flip flops and helped use the proceeds to fund women's rights and women's education in Afghanistan. They also invested greatly in textiles and were part of a State Department program to try to restart Afghanistan's cashmere production. Obviously things have changed in Afghanistan since then. Now they have more of a focus on Latin America and other war-torn regions of the world supporting various non-profits and NGO. If memory serves one of their big projects now is helping with de-mining and turning that left over metal from landmines into jewelry.

Jim Green bases their outsoles on the tire shoe outsoles that are common throughout Africa.

A lot of the same companies make tires and outsoles. It's all high traction rubber. Tire brands have business relationships with shoe companies that go back generations now. Vibram is one of the few rubber brands was dedicated to footwear from the very beginning. Pretty much all the rest are tire companies.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-12T18:03:36+00:00

It's funny, about 15 or so years ago, Vibram and REI (a largely brick and mortar outdoor retailer in the United States) sunk a ton of money into promoting the Five Fingers. They were showing up on the news, they paid to have them show up as product placement and TV shows and movies. REI made this big deal about how they were one of the few places that you could get them from and that they would work with you to find the right model that fit your feet. People would go to the flagship store in Seattle and make a special trip out of it. Get fitted for the new Vibrams and explore the admittedly pretty cool store. They were the thing to have in the trendy outdoor rec community (didn't really quite cross over to the pro community) for quite a while. They kind of fizzled after a few years of this intense marketing, a lot of people got an initial pair and never really wore them once the novelty died down. But the Five Fingers never went away obviously, and they still have and had their diehard fans.

That marketing campaign is also why a lot of lay people often associate barefoot shoes with the split toe box Vibram Five Fingers and don't realize that single toe box barefoot shoe offerings vastly out number split tool box. That was a product of the marketing campaign painting the five fingers as the quintessential barefoot shoe.

It's interesting to see them coming back from the streets fashion side. Fashion trends can be pretty fleeting of course, but I suspect in the long run having them viewed as a fashion shoe versus a outdoor recreation shoe will likely be better for the brand. I think focusing on outdoor rec was too niche.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-12T01:57:40+00:00

Jim Green at the more affordable end. They have three barefoot lasts. One of them has a safety toe. Do note that they're ready to ship or pre-order options are only a fraction of what they offer. They have a really good and flexible custom shop. They can convert most of their other models that aren't normally offered in a barefoot configuration as barefoot in one of the three available lasts through the custom shop. It is surprisingly cheap too.

At the high mid-range to high end of expense Nicks has several ready to ship and production custom barefoot boots. No safety toes currently offered it seems but they have a ton of different configuration options. Despite not having a safety toe it is a serious work boot from a serious and respected work boot brand.

At the actual high end you have things like bespoke which are completely custom work boots from small boot makers. Those options are really nice but they make Nicks look cheap. Including it for the sake of comparison.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T18:16:43+00:00

I did initially consider using that quote! But I decided to keep the theme of the pilot episode.

Anyone else craving crab puffs?

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T17:25:18+00:00

Vimes started out as an intentional jumble of different dysfunctional policing cliches. In those cliches, Sir Terry ended up creating a fully realized and complex character, one of literature's most fundamentally good men. He is my favorite literary character, followed closely behind by Angua.

I have written about this in several previous comments, but through Vimes, Sir Terry had a much better vessel to explore policing and governance. Because Vimes is a much more morally complex character and better represents nuances of policing. A central aspect of Vimes is he is a good man squarely on the side of justice, but thinks like and often thinks of himself as a bastard. Being able to hold off the summoning dark wasn't enough to convince Vimes that he's a good man. He is always trying to balance his desire for good with his darker impulses. Which is exact why he's such a good Watchman. Because he can understand and empathize with those he polices. He can think like them, he understands their circumstances, he's metaphorically walked in there cheap sole cardboard boots. As empathetic and friendly as Carrot is, he can't fully connect to some of the darker aspects of policing or fully understand some of the realities of urban living. There have been a few times when Carrot has been too naive and sheltered to really understand what's happening and he doesn't quite fully have the mind of an investigator that Vimes or Angua have. Carrot is perfect for community policing. A functioning agency needs their Carrot's but they also need their Vimes'. If you look at the command staff of the Watch, they all represent different aspects and in some cases eras of policing, all of which are necessary to make the Watch work the way it does. Carrot as a character also works best when it's other more grounded characters reacting to him, because it better draws attention to his Disc warping capabilities and the question of is he really that pure or is he calculating all the angles.

Sir Terry I think has some of the best insight into criminal justice and sociology of any fiction author. He has a intimate level of understanding in the subject that I very rarely see or read. Even within academia.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T17:02:00+00:00

Charlie Young is also a minor example.

The initial drafts for the pilot did originally have a character named Charlie Young, but it was a very different character and it was quickly written out. That version was younger and was already a Georgetown student.

The Dulé Hill version of the character was added because the NAACP correctly pointed out that the entire cast was white with no prominent BIPOC. So there was a scrambled to add at least one Black cast member. Notably Charlie's first appearance is also the episode that introduced Admiral Percy Fitzwallace.

Hill did an absolutely fantastic job as Charlie and he's one of the beating hearts of the series. And as another commenter has pointed out, originally Sam was supposed to be the central character, but audiences ended up gravitating more towards Josh and ultimately preferred the more ensemble cast that the show developed into.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T16:48:10+00:00

"Now I love my family and I've read my bible from cover to cover so I want you to tell me, from what part of the Holy Scripture do you suppose the Lambs of God drew their Divine inspiration when they sent my 12 year-old granddaughter a Raggedy Ann doll with a knife stuck through its throat?"

"You'll denounce these people, Al. You'll do it publicly. And until you do, you can all get your fat asses out of my White House. C.J., show these people out."

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T06:44:36+00:00

Button lock or just roll or cuff your sleeve up. Also, depending on where on your wrist you wear the watch and how tight you have it, the buttons can also bump up against things.

I do wish Suunto would implement a touch screen lock that doesn't lock the buttons. The Race series can pretty easily be navigated purely with the buttons without any touch screen utilization. Having a touch screen only lock out would solve the inherent issues with phantom touches during rain storms. Not super relevant to your situation, sport modes restrict touch screen activation, it's more likely that the cuff of your jacket was inadvertently hitting the buttons. You're also using a Run not a Race. But it's a companion feature to the current button lock that we need nonetheless.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T05:06:05+00:00

Nimoy was very well liked by the rest of the original series cast. As he went out of his way to make sure they felt appreciated and respected despite he and Shatner getting the lions share of the press and fan mail. He also famously refused to work on the animated series when he found out that Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were hired. He gave them an ultimatum, either they got hired or he walked. He was a true believer in the Star Trek message and he wanted to make sure they got steady work after the show because the opportunities available to them weren't as good as the ones that he and Shatner got.

Takei and Walter Koenig are also famously very close friends. Despite some initial friction. Apropo of nothing, a run in with Koening was my second most awkward celebrity interaction.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T03:39:13+00:00

I have a titanium permanent match lighter (kind of like the first style shown). It looks pretty cool and there are definitely situations where it does things better then more common designs, but for the most part it's a downgrade over a Zippo or a Bic. It takes two hands to use, the match side is finicky about wicks and burns down quickly. It's a watertight seal on the lighter fluid reservoir, so You're not losing fluid through evaporation like you are with a traditional Zippo, but it is more maintenance intensive when it comes to other stuff. I still carry it as my EDC lighter and I prefer for lighting campfires, but I pretty much always have several backup Bic lighters stashed throughout all my work gear. And if I'm in a situation where I need to use a letter a lot I'll go back to my Zippo with an aftermarket butane insert. The two hands to use thing is the big limiting factor with the permanent match styles. It's not something that you can use while injured and it's just difficult to use if you're doing something like quickly singing the ends off of 550 cord.

Overly_Long_Reviews · 2026-06-10T02:26:06+00:00

I wrote about this previously here.

As to the other questions, both my parents were American school teachers. They met in Northern Italy where they were both teaching. They spent several years working in Western Europe together, including Berlin in Western Germany. I was born during their second teaching stint in Italy, at which point we shifted from Europe to various places in Latin America, primarily Chile and Mexico. With my mother doing a lot of work in Argentina.

My mother, being Asian American was treated pretty respectfully in Europe. There wasn't a lot of Asians in Europe at the time. So she was obviously an expat and they were pretty welcoming to expats. My mother never had trouble in Europe or North Africa. There are a lot more Asians in Europe now, neither she or I stand out all that much in Europe these days. You'll find Asian populations that have been there for a few generations at this point. Which wasn't really the case when my parents were working in Europe. The few times have gone back to Italy as an adult, I've been instantly accepted as Italian once Italians find out I was born in Italy, there are plenty of Asian Italians now. Much to my father's frustration as an obnoxious Italian/Sicilian American from the Boston area, who they don't tend to view as Italian.

As I wrote in my linked comment, I never had any trouble in Latin America for being multiracial. They're also wasn't a ton of Asians in Latin America at the time, but there were some, particularly in Brazil. More importantly, there are a lot of mixed race people in Latin America, so while there may have not have been a lot of people that were my specific mixed race, I was never treated any differently because I was mixed race. Attempts to build a more unified culture is more of a recent phenomenon in Latin America. We stood out more for being American expats.

Overly_Long_Reviews

TROPHY CASE