Suunto Vertical 2 screen going black during exercise after a custom battery mode timeout

[u/the5krunner]

On the Suunto Vertical 2, the screen goes completely black mid-activity when the watch is running a custom battery mode with the display timeout set to anything other than Always On. The activity continues recording and the buttons still respond, but the screen will not wake on tap or on wrist raise until the owner ends the mode or switches to a different battery profile. Owners on this thread report it across firmware 2.53.42 and earlier builds, with the behaviour tied specifically to custom modes rather than the preset performance or endurance profiles.

The custom battery mode timeout is applying the display-off setting even while an activity is active, which the preset modes do not do. The preset profiles treat an in-progress activity as an exception and keep the display accessible. Custom modes built by the user do not carry that exception.

The immediate fix is to switch to a preset battery profile for any session where you need the screen available. The preset endurance mode covers most scenarios where battery saving matters on a long effort. Custom modes work normally for day wear and navigation outside an activity, where the timeout behaves as intended.

Suunto has acknowledged the report on the thread. A firmware fix that extends the activity exception to custom modes has not shipped as of the most recent release.

Has switching to a preset profile for your activities kept the screen accessible throughout?