The Suunto 9 Watch

Introducing the Suunto Watch 9. Suunto is one of a limited number of manufacturers that produces GPS watches. These are designed to specifically cater to the endurance market. Suunto watches have been constructed from bombproof materials. They have a number of excellent features. Consequently they are able to cope with just about anything nature can throw at them. One of the brand’s latest designs, the Suunto 9, boasts unrivalled GPS performance, extra-long battery life, and rugged design. It’s an impressive choice for any endurance athlete.

What Are The Suunto 9 Watch’s Features?

The Suunto 9 embraces the less extreme side of sports tracking. There is an integrated optical heart rate monitor. Also, an inbuilt accelerometer to track steps, resting heart rate, sleep and calories burned. All that data can be synced to the brand’s mobile app. This enables you to view the trends over the year, month, week or day.

However, although this data may be recorded, its presentation is over-simplified. For example, the sleep section shows total sleep time and resting heart rate. However there is no further breakdown of movement or sleep cycles.

On the upside, this GPS watch boasts full smartwatch features to enable you to interact with your smartphone. Connecting to a phone via Bluetooth, this watch will receive phone, email and text notifications. You can scroll to see part of the message before swiping back to get to the standard watch face. However you can’t delete notifications or respond to them through the watch. Furthermore, you can’t even take phone calls, which is disappointing.

What’s The Suunto 9 Design Like?

Like most GPS multisport watches, the Suunto is robust and chunky. Measuring 50mm in width and weighing a hefty 81g it may be large. However it feels comfortable and well-sized. The manufacturer has carefully designed the polyamide casing and replaceable strap to hug the wrist. The flexible, soft silicone band makes it comfortable to wear for extended periods.

The bezel is made from stainless steel. Excellent to resist scratches and chips and the band is relatively thick and won’t break easily. Meanwhile, the sapphire crystal 320 x 300 resolution display is bright and clear. As it’s a touch screen, it’s easy to tap and swipe to make your selections.

What Are The Suunto 9s Fitness Tracking Capabilities?

As you’d expect from a watch designed for endurance athletes, the Suunto 9 offers a host of excellent fitness tracking capabilities. It is able to support as many as 80 activities from sailing to yoga. The menu has been organised neatly into a shortlist of twenty favourite activities. This can be amended with Suunto’s Movescount software. Activities can be easily customised to show the exercise data onscreen. Such as the way in which data is recorded when exercising and the amount of data to be gathered.

Elevation, distances, heart rate data and much more can be recorded. Furthermore you can record the way you feel after your workout with a “smile” scale. The data from each workout is stored on your smartphone so you’re able to either sync it or review it later.

What Are The Main Advantages of The Suunto 9?

Intelligent battery mode giving an impressive 120 hours’ battery life
A wealth of performance metrics recorded on each workout
High-resolution touch screen
Innovative motion-based FusedTrack tracking
A comfortable, easy to wear strap

What Are The Main Disadvantages Of The Suunto 9?

Limited notifications control
No advanced options for sleep analysis

Does The Suunto 9 Have Any Rivals?

Any fitness fan who is keen to have more control over performance data without the requirement for additional battery life may want to consider choosing a Garmin Fenix 5 Plus or the new Fenix 6 smartwatch instead. It offers an impressive combination of robust feature sets, third-party app support, and customisation abilities, as well as stylish design.

If you’re only just starting on a fitness regime, a more affordable sports watch such as the Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music might fit the bill. It features an optical heart rate monitor, multi-sport tracking and GPS along with onboard music. For an indepth comparion read more on how to choose between Suunto or Garmin

Should I Buy The Suunto 9 Smartwatch?

The Suunto brand is known for its rugged designs that are made specifically to cater to the hardcore endurance market. The earlier releases from this brand were equally impressive. Consequently, you won’t be disappointed by the design of the Suunto 9. This smartwatch has been designed for up to five years of effective fitness tracking.

Another advantage of choosing a Suunto watch is that the brand usually supports its legacy devices. Updates are regularly rolled out adding more new features while improving on existing ones. This makes a device from this manufacturer a reliable and long-lasting choice.

If you’re an endurance athlete who wants a robust, durable watch that can keep pace with extreme and hardcore activities, you’re sure to like the Suunto 9. Its tracking features and extended battery life will make it a worthwhile choice. It’s ideal if you’re keen to cycle or run for extended periods while tracking your every move.

On the other hand, its simplified data presentment may not be for everyone. Especially with the higher price tag that comes with this device. If you’re not a hardcore sportsperson who needs the extra-robust features, you may want to choose a more affordable device. You may want to review the Suunto 7 in this case. There are different manufacturers that can give you the capabilities you require at a price that better suits your budget. Read our review of Suunto 9 v.s. Garmin Fenix 6 for an example.