Having owned these bikes, a full comparison of these middle-weights is perhaps overdue.
The 690 is the best off-roader, of course - but a very competent bad ass super-moto on road all the way to the woods, as well. It puts the power down so well on fire-roads, you’ll spend more time on the brakes, guaranteed. The power is so linear, you can find yourself doing 130km offroad quite often when you realize that it can rev very high. The brakes are awesome and the front ABS perfect.
Where it’s lacking is in the comfort department - the stock seat is carved out of hardwood and an expensive upgrade like the Seat Concepts will make it just bearable, while even a little windshield dingy will help but still direct all the wind at your chest.
That’s where the 790 comes in. Bigger windshield, some fairings and a seat you can actually sit on make a big difference. The felt power is largely the same as the 690, the added kilos make sure of that. Interestingly enough, you won’t go as fast offroad as the little one - it’s not just that you can’t put enough power down to move the additional kilos, it’s the fact that you know a turn is coming and those kilos are always at the back of the mind…
In the rough stuff though, it blows the mind how how little the extra kilos matter - it’s so nimble that the speed is quite similar, it’s just as eager to jump anything that the little one only gets faster when picking up the pace to a race speed, which is hard to keep up for a long time. However, it feels so much like a dirt bike, like the 690 that it blows the mind.
The comfort though make it much more bearable beyond a 4 hour ride and on-road manners are quite a bit better. Not vibrations though - the 2020 690 is at least as smooth to 120/130 km/h.
It will also lag behind in gnarly rocky stuff and interestingly enough, the wide lower tank drags so much through the water, you have to give it quite a bit more power - it will go through it just fine though, after you get used to “just give it”.
The electronics are very nice! Being able to dial down the traction control up and down while riding in “rally mode” is way better than the two modes of the 690.
The 890 is not as much of an upgrade to the 790 as it may seem. Sure the power is there and more linear through the rev range, but the display is just a gimmick and it’s worse for it - less intuitive, slow to respond - too busy redrawing flashy graphic and the worst is the big difference between “road mode” and “rally mode” - where numbers shift around and mean something else. I have no idea what they were thinking - it’s overall less functional.
Of course - not comparable with the spartan LED of the 690, but still. Honestly, I would take a simple 2-3 options displaym any day.