I have been reviewing the Garmin Enduro and the most impressive feature is better longevity. Now Suunto has launched the 9 Peak sports watch, which also boasts a great battery life.
Battery longevity has been a strong focus of the big names in GPS sports watches in recent times. As technology improves and the battery size reduces, brands are keen to include “better and longer” in their gadgets.
In addition, the likes of Suunto and Garmin will have noted a growing number of people who are running, hiking and cycling longer distances. Ultra runners, for example, require a sports watch that can tell them distance covered, pace, direction, elevation and heart rate etc, while also staying charged for the length of a long training session or race.
The Suunto 9 Peak provides up to 170 hours of GPS battery life in “tour mode”. (Note: A firmware upgrade in March updated all Suunto 9 sport watches, including the Suunto 9 Baro, to have the Tour mode, which means you can utilise turn-by-turn navigation (powered by Komoot) and still have the benefit of a long battery charge.)
Read my review of the watch
What this is not is mapping navigation. As with other Suunto and Garmin watches, although you are able to follow routes, see your points of interest and the breadcrumb trail on the watch screen in relation to your own location, it is not a full-scale map.
To get to the point, it is the use of GPS mapping that drains a battery. Without the full-scale mapping on a watch and be using breadcrumb routes, the battery will last much longer.
However, the battery life of the Suunto 9 Peak and the Garmin Enduro is very impressive.
In addition, the Suunto 9 Peak is claimed as being the brand’s “thinnest, smallest and toughest watch”. Compared to the Suunto 9 Baro, the Suunto 9 Peak is 37% thinner and 36% lighter and “designed to fit under a sleeve and not to catch on clothing or packs”.
Another new feature is the “Snap to Route” functionality, which means GPS tracks will be perfectly aligned to planned routes and also the pacing and distance data will match that of a course. This could be useful when using the watch when GPS signal is poor.
Another product worth thinking about is cheap G-Shock watches if you are looking for a a budget-friendly option.
More features of Suunto 9 Peak watch
Suunto reveals the watch also offers wearers a blood oxygen measurement, via an SpO2 sensor, which is another on-trend feature. Many more people now understand the connection between blood oxygen levels and good health, because of the Covid pandemic.
For sporty folks, a wellness indicator in the amount of oxygen that the red blood cells are carrying around our body. If levels go too low, you may become unwell or it is a signal that you have not recovered sufficiently from a hard training session.
Suunto suggest that the blood oxygen level sensor is most useful for determining an athlete’s acclimation levels at higher altitudes. Note that the sensor is questionable medically and it is generally accepted that the best way to track blood oxygen levels is with a pulse oximetre.
The Suunto 9 Peak comes with all of the industry leading features the Suunto 9 family is known for:
- 80-plus sport modes, including those for running, hiking, mountain biking, skiing and swimming
- Customisable screens to show the most relevant data for your exercise
- “Intelligent battery management system”
- Wrist-based heart rate monitoring
- Weather insights
- Navigation capabilities.
- Other details include: A fully charged battery in an hour; integration with the Suunto app; double speed syncing between watch and app thanks to Suunto’s “Bluetooth 5”; and barometric altitude. More new features of the 9 Peak are adaptive screen brightness and over-the-air update.
Suunto 9 Peak spec
Weight: Titanium version 52g including strap; steel version 62g with strap.
Size: Diameter 43mm, depth 10.6mm.
The Suunto 9 Peak is available for order from May 26 and will be on sale from June 17 in the two styles with four nature-inspired colours: Granite Blue Titanium and Birch White Titanium, made with sapphire glass and grade 5 titanium at $699 (£629) and All Black and Moss Gray, made with sapphire glass and stainless steel at $569 (£519). See Suunto.com.
- I hope to get one to test.