Suunto 7 Evaluation: Among the finest health wearables we've ever examined

Whenever you purchase via our hyperlinks, Insider could earn an affiliate fee. Be taught extra.

The game watch firm Suunto has lengthy been a participant within the wearables business, providing quite a lot of health trackers, dive watches, and compasses. Although lots of its merchandise supply primary exercise monitoring and wristwatch performance, no product in Suunto’s catalog wore the official title of smartwatch till the Suunto 7 launched.

The Suunto 7 is a feature-rich, multi-sport wearable with Put on OS performance that features entry to Google Play, Google Match, Google Pay, and Google Assistant. Outfitted with the facility and capability of Google’s smartwatch interface, in addition to electronic mail, textual content, and cellphone notifications, the 7 wears its “sensible” title effectively.  

However true to Suunto type, it goals to perform as the most effective health trackers, too. With monitoring compatibility for greater than 70 sports activities, a built-in coronary heart price monitor, and GPS, in addition to offline map help and 50 meters of water resistance, it is constructed for exercise. 

Except for a number of minor annoyances, my time with the Suunto 7 was largely constructive. It is a cheaper different to the Garmin fenix and a extra rugged substitute to the Apple Watch Sequence 8 or Fitbit Sense 2. 

A well-known design with a bigger display

After unboxing the watch, it is clear Suunto’s designers have a go-to type: A spherical watch face flanked by a definite bezel with navigation buttons and a silicone watch band. Though the 7 wears this identical Suunto-issued uniform, it isn’t essentially a nasty factor. The design of Suunto’s watches at all times leans towards an “if it ain’t broke, do not repair it” method. 

Although the design and total look are just like previous Suunto watches, the 7 does characteristic a bigger watch face in comparison with the Suunto 3 or Suunto 5. I did not have a difficulty with it however it’s noticeably bigger and could possibly be an excessive amount of for anybody with smaller wrists. 

Regardless of that bigger measurement, it by no means felt heavier than some other health tracker I’ve worn, even whereas on runs or throughout exercises. The product web page lists the watch at simply shy of two.5 ounces and it is probably a lot of that weight is within the watch face because the silicone band feels as if it weighs subsequent to nothing.

Simple setup and navigation

Establishing the Suunto 7 is like establishing nearly some other kind of health tracker or Put on OS smartwatch. You merely pair it to your smartphone and obtain the companion Suunto and Put on OS apps. From right here, the watch walks you thru the setup course of and reveals you tips on how to navigate the interface, the place to entry exercises, tips on how to regulate settings, and so forth. 

The watch leans on each swipe navigation and button controls, which I discovered had been the quickest technique to entry key options. As an example, the button on the higher left nook of the watch serves as a house display or again button but in addition brings up the settings menu. The button on the higher proper of the watch takes you to the actions web page whereas the button on the decrease proper opens the stopwatch. 

Suunto does permit for some customization when it comes to the apps and varieties of notifications you are in a position to obtain on the watch, and you’ll select from quite a lot of totally different watch faces.

A sporty and rugged smartwatch

The place the Suunto 7 actually shines is with its sport and exercise monitoring. Past fundamentals like working, biking, or swimming, the 7 additionally tracks mountain biking, curler skating, weight coaching, snowboarding, boxing, and bowling, amongst many others. It is a strong contender in the event you’re searching for out the most effective GPS look ahead to working, but when it is an exercise requiring even a minimal quantity of motion, the watch can observe it. 

Nevertheless, it is price declaring that the monitoring for a few of these is only a timer for a way lengthy you are energetic and a coronary heart price studying. In different phrases, it isn’t monitoring what number of digs you document whereas taking part in volleyball or what number of wickets you hit taking part in cricket. 

This type of monitoring continues to be essential, although, and sheds gentle in your total degree of health. For those who’ve had a very exhausting run adopted up by an extended bike experience, the watch acknowledges your excessive degree of exercise and recommends how a lot relaxation you must get earlier than getting again into it. Whereas many health trackers give attention to exercise, it is good to see a wearable that urges relaxation.

Although some actions solely register time and coronary heart price, there are a number of that supply superior monitoring and suggestions. Run monitoring offers information like tempo, distance, energy burned, cadence, and coronary heart price zones whereas additionally logging your route through GPS. Equally, the ski and snowboard perform tracks how briskly you make it down the mountain, routinely resetting every lap while you get on a chair elevate whereas additionally monitoring GPS. 

The battery life could possibly be higher

Do be ready to cost this watch every evening. If I did not observe a lot all through the day, I would generally have sufficient battery to make it to the subsequent morning, or the subsequent afternoon, nevertheless it would not be sufficient to do a lot else apart from learn the time.

Once I did use the monitoring features and the built-in GPS, I would have to verify to plug it in each evening earlier than mattress. This did not find yourself being an excessive amount of of a problem and is one thing Apple Watch customers are already conversant in.

A cumbersome app expertise and spotty connections

The Suunto 7 would not come with no few nitpicks. First, the app expertise is cut up between the Put on OS app and the Suunto app, which might be irritating. This takes some getting used to and makes the training curve just a little steeper, nevertheless it is not a whole deal-breaker. 

The watch would additionally usually lose its reference to my cellphone once I closed the apps. As a routine app-closer, I swipe up on my iPhone a number of instances an hour to clear away something that does not have to be open, which regularly meant I would shut the Suunto and Put on OS apps by chance. This might generally unpair the watch with my cellphone and I would not be capable to obtain any notifications.

Must you purchase it?

The marketplace for strong exercise tracker slash smartwatches just like the Suunto 7 is strong, so this in the end comes down as to whether you just like the Suunto ecosystem or not. I discovered it to be straightforward to make use of, albeit with a number of nitpicks. I loved the big selection of trackable actions, the easy-to-navigate interface, and the distinctive insights into relaxation and restoration.

It is clear Suunto has years of health wearable expertise underneath its belt and but, the smartwatch performance of the 7 hardly looks like a model taking its first crack on the expertise. This primary entry into the smartwatch class is a worthwhile debut for Suunto and except for a number of connectivity points, my expertise with the 7 was largely pleasant. 

Because the launch of the 7, the corporate has continued to make robust forays into the smartwatch house with its Suunto 9 household of gadgets and has stopped promoting the Suunto 7. Nevertheless, the Suunto 7 stays a top quality, succesful choice for all the causes listed above. In case you have the possibility to get it from a third-party vendor, do not rule it out.