I'm an old school mountaineer -- I don't want a general purpose smart watch, I don't want a fitness watch; I want a mountaineering tool ... not a toy: I don't need lots of features, apps or cool charts that I can download ... just altitude. heart rate, 02, pace (including vertical), durability and crazy long battery life. The maps and some of the other features may be useful .on the margin.. Anyway, for me, it is Suunto all the way and I will be be receiving my Vertical Solar in my mailbox in a couple of days. Cheers.
@@mitroianoI wear it every time i venture into the backcountry. No GPS watch is essential; if you are doing serious route-finding, a GPS such as the Garmin 67i is more robust than any watch, plus (more important) experience. That said, the vertical is no nonsense watch with multiday battery life and the crystal is indestructible. Having accurate altitude, HR, distance, pace and even a decent map on your wrist is a luxury, but a very welcome one.
They're not "Chinese" though they are owned by a Chinese company. The Suunto factory and many employees are still in Finland and 90% of Suunto's products are manufactured there.
@@ChaseTheSummit That's still Chinese. It could be 100% operated by Finns in Finland but if a Chinese owner has full ownership then they're beholden to CCP mandates. I'd rather not have a Chinese owned GPS tracker on me at all times and I really hope people think twice before buying this.
I got a Suunto Ambit 2 in 2013 when it was state of the art, and I have literally gone all around the world with it, and done everything from climbing Mont Blanc to skiing in Tierra del Fuego to scuba diving in the Galapagos to visiting hunter gatherer tribes very, very deep in the Amazon to adventure races and even hurling matches back home in Ireland. It never let me down, and was a truly massive help on several occasions. The thing was indestructible and so reliable. Hats off to the team at Suunto. I would not buy any other brand and I need an upgrade now. Thanks for the review, I cannot wait to buy the Suunto Vertical!
I think suunto´s target was and is now again, trail, nature and endurance sport lovers. They seem to return to their origins. Suunto´s path has to be in my opinion, battery, maps, etc. Nothing to do in the smart watches batle. For not much buttons is a good news. In Coros it works.
I am a Suunto Dude and i was always super close before buying me a Garmin as i was looking yealous on their solar and map ability. Finally the waiting ended and i preordered the Suunto Vertical Solar. Cant wait to test it.🎉 I hope it's as durable as my Suunto 9 Baro which lead me to a lot of Summits .
15:12 one important point here... you can create a route in the app during activity, it will sync in the backgrount and you can pick it, never turning off your current activity. You can also edit th3e route you are currently using, and this will sync and be corrected in the activity you are actually having on.
And also something to consider (as you mentioned in the video too) is that Suunto is designed and made completely in Finland where as many of the competitor watches are made in cheaper labor countries such as China or Taiwan. Suunto is also the only one who actually has sustainablity aspect in it's product line up. With those 2 points in mind the price doesn't seem so high anymore. Of course me being a Finn makes me a bit biased :D
@@rogersellevoll70how are you liking it? I’m a Garmin Fenix 6X user at the minute but very tempted by this, for extra battery, eco pros and (quite simply!) for a change! Always had Garmin so far and interested in seeing what else is around 😁
@@010MACS I have now used it for about a month now,and are really satisfied with the watch. It has a great screen,but not amoled, but really bright. The UI is great and app is in my eyes way better than any other. There is a bit lag in the software and it is far from beeing a smartwatch. But as a primary training Watch for running,hiking etc like i do,this is really good. Changing from Garmin to Suunto? Two different systems,so you might like it,or hate it 😂
Would love to see a comparison with the Instinct 2X - especially battery life. I feel like both watches make insane claims on battery life - and I can confirm that my Instinct 2X does indeed last forever in the current sunny summer conditions. Kinda interested in how the Vertical would perform in a head-to-head. Loved the vid! Keep it up!
It's a REAL nice looking watch. In fact, it was tough testing this one because it tends to draw a lot of questions and attention in public since it's so stylish.
Except when it takes you something like 40 hours to download US maps Garmin can get done in 3 lol. It took AN HOUR for Dave to download a SINGLE STATE. That’s nuts.
Been a Suunto guy since 15 years ago. Just bought the 9 peak. Can only hope that Suunto brings this mapping feature in an update to previous watches. Come on Suunto!
Love your videos! Just found your channel. Thinking of the Suunto race or the Vertical. Kinda think more towards the vertical but not sure yet. Oh and where you get your shirt in this video?
Some of the best looking watches in the business! I can live with the big bezel since solar was added.....I can even live without the music on board. But the lag when interacting with the watch would drive me nuts.
The lag isn't terrible but it's there... I suspect it's due to the CPU power and the fact that Suunto tried to milk the most battery life out of it. However, I'm hopeful it can be addressed in a firmware update.
20 years ago, I would disowned myself having brought the Garmin fenix 7x pro sapphire solar at two thousand dollars here in New Zealand. Five hundred dollars for a watch was extreme way back then too. I've been through four watches since then. Awesome review on the Suunto mate
As a user who went from Suunto to Garmin Epix 2, not a day goes by without me missing the Suunto UX and usability. In Garmin menus the touch functionality is inconsistent, you can tell they haven't done it for long. And with the 5 buttons with short and long presses it takes you months to learn all the options compared to a week or two with Suunto. The usability of the Garmin has also been noted by several reviewers + some of my friends switching back to Suunto.
Never a suunto user, but I also found the garmin hard to use/learn. I use a coros now and that was so intuitive. On the Garmin, even six months after ownership, I still ended up hitting the wrong button all the time when looking for lap. The app is also terrible. I mean, to be fair, there's A LOT there, but finding something that's not already on the home page is next to impossible without a visit to google. I was helping someone look for their estimated threshold pace the other day, and we just gave up.
Nice one bro. Am a suunto person, hence why I came here. A bit confused now between Suunto vertical and Garmin. However, your review is the best that I have watched.
Another great video Dave. Keep up the good work. Having recently got the Garmin FR965, an amoled screen maybe a must, when I go back to the Fenix 6 it looks soooo old and dated.
A detail that is important to me is missing. How fast are the satellites fixed. Was very frustrated with the Garmin 945 and don't want to make a bad buy again.
It appeared the compass and the map was very smooth, rotating nicely and pointing the right way without any delay or lag. Is this better than Coros and Garmin?
You're correct... The Compass and Map surprisingly had little to no delay and the animations are actually pretty good. However, navigating through other aspects of the watch can be laggy which I find odd. In terms of Map/Compass it feels similar to the COROS/Garmin options out there. Garmin does have a bit of lag as well but they also display far more data on their maps with text for every road/trail/POI along with icons while COROS/Suunto simply have a base map with no details.
@@ChaseTheSummit I'd love for you to do a side-by-side comparison with Vertical, Coros Vertix 2 and Fenix 7 in this regard. So annoying when you get to a fork and have to wait for maps and compass to tell you which direction you're actually heading
Dave, in addition to your good mood and that new family approach (your wife's first 50k🙂💪) it's also your good person, your good vibes, good humor, that make your official channel my favorite. keep up the good work. PS: I already ordered the Vertical (steel version, since the titanium one is priced upa upa). Abraço 🇸🇯🇵🇹🇺🇸🇺🇦. PS: doing a quick search on the net I see that steel is more resistant to scratches than titanium, the latter being more resistant to corrosion and lighter. The question remains: what is the ideal for trail, mountaineering, etc?
Thanks for the kind words! Indeed steel is more durable and less likely to scratch but they do apply a scratch resistant coating to the Titanium that helps.
In the GPS test (high accuracy), I am assuming the Garmin 965 was left at its worst setting by mistake (while the Apple watch and Suunto were at their best)? Id so you should've mentioned it in voice as this was quite an unfair test to the 965 (which I have and it is spot on when multi-band is enabled)
Good and fair review. I will definitely stick with Garmin. I use Spotify and turn by turn navigation on runs. I don’t understand why other companies don’t integrate music better (or not at all). Am I the only one who uses it?
I load mp3 songs onto my Garmin (old school i guess 😋). I own Garmin, Coros and Suunto. Garmin wins by far. Just the fact that when u are listening to music, there is a voice who gives you the training status is priceless.
I think the Heart Rate inaccuracy might be is issue because of it's weight. Garmin/Polar are usually light (outside of the Fenix type watches) so they don't bounce much.
I wondered that as well though I did have it strapped down REAL tight and the included band is very secure but I don't have large wrists which could be the issue.
Awesome and comprehensive review. Couple of big questions! Is the resources calculation still done by firstbeat, and is it getting the updated algorithms that Garmin would have? And within that with the more frequent heart rate measurements is it going to be more accurate? And second question, can you see your training load and any watch screens? Like the ATL, CTL, form stuff?
Thanks Hunter! To my knowledge there hasn't been any changes with the algorithm used for Resources... It's the same as the 9 Peak and 9 Peak Pro. I would assume it will be a bit more accurate now that Heart Rate frequency is every 1 second but I didn't really notice anything major from my time with the watch. Unfortunately, training load is still not available in a widget form on the watch but you can view your training effect in the logbook in your activities.
yess i do agreed with you they should've put 5 buttons instead of 3..and i came from suunto ambit 3 peak, still using it, loving it...almost bought the 9 peak but luckily did not. been watching all the reviews about the vertical but none of the reviews mentioned about the return to the starting point function...usually that function crucially mentioned in the reviews but seems to me that no reviewers mentioned about it...
Great vid. And I'm picking suunto. First, best looking aesthetically pleasing over any of the other watches. 2nd simplicity I like the fact that it only has three buttons thirdly hands down the battery life
How is the screen compared to the garmin fenix? On video it looks very good! I tested a fenix 6x next to suunto 7 (with a 1.4 inch display :P. ) and the 6x looked really ugly. Is the Vertical any better? Also a fair comparison would be the non titanium. I think that price is pretty interesting for still being very premium. And thnx for the great review!
The display is pretty similar to the fenix 7 it’s MIP so it won’t compare to an AMOLED like the Suunto 7. MIP displays are duller to preserve battery life and are always on. It’s still a pretty good display for MIP though and the clarity is better than the Suunto 9 Peak
Hi Dave, congratulations for this (usually!) excellent video! I was really excited to learn more about this new Suunto watch, having myself been a Suunto fan since 2005. I have very recently changed to a Garmin Epix 2 however for actually very similar reasons that you state - it has more smartwatch functionalities. But above all, it has am Amoled display which for me is still the key feature Suunto watches are missing. I have a 9 Peak Pro and 9 Peak, and had a 9 Baro before that - the screens are in my view the same and are just so disappointing. You also have a point with the 5-button versus the 3-button layout. I was used to that on the Suunto, but I think it has limits if you do not want the touchscreen to work during exercise - which I actually disactivate. And lastly, I wear my outdoor watch during holidays nearly all the time and - yes - I want a great looking watch face. Here Garmin is simply unbeatable and what you can download on the ConnectIQ store is just fantastic. I am really sad for Suunto since I love the brand and its philosophy, and their efforts to be carbon neutral. The new Suunto Vertical is great, but does not beat Garmin for what I am expecting this watch to offer to me.
I'm seriously looking at the stainless steel version as it has more than enough battery life for me, still looks great and has all the same features as the titanium version, minus the solar charging. In South Africa, I think it may be the cheapest option with a sapphire crystal display. I'd probably add a Coros nylon strap though
The Steel version seems like a great value considering you still get EXCELLENT battery life, a sapphire lens, and all of the other bells and whistles for $200 less!
My Jurassic Ambit 3 has passed away recently... it kept rock steady for all these years though! I was thinking about replacing it but I have a major concern... I've been thinking about my other metal watches because they heat up quite a bit just sitting in my wrist if they catch a bit of direct sunlight, particularly when I'm trekking in a particular direction or driving for example. All this heat will surely decrease the rechargeable battery lifespan. I don't have experience with titanium materials but I read somewhere titanium is less susceptible to this effect... what do you guys think?
For me there is only very important question: Is it possible to pause a activity and continue it at for example next day? I came from Garmin and bought a Suunto 9 Baro and couldn't believe my eyes, that this basic function isn`t possible. With the Garmin i did a Hike, slept overnight and continued next day and at home i ended the activity and got one track. With a Suunto it is unpossible - till now?
HI Chase the Summit, I have watched your video and its a nice review . I have watched three other videos about this watch and Its looks amazing. I use Samsung Smart watch 4 classic and relie on that watch and samsung health for my entire health profile along with the withing smart body cardio scales. They are Link with Google Health, is the Sunnto Health Portal App and services as good or better then Samsung Health. Also does the New Sunnto get calls, texts and other app notifications.
Great review nice to see them back. Ambit started it for all. Sadly I had to leave the brand after Ambit since Spartan was amiss take, Suunto nine was passed by others. Still loved Moves count and the new app, for me it is best in class. Will try to get back with the Vertical, only issue now is all the data at Connect😉
@Dave Do you need a smartphone to set-up (& use) the Suunto Vertical? Obviously, to have access to all of the features a smartphone is required, but what I like about Garmin is you can setup & use the core features of a Garmin without pairing to a smartphone
Hi, super video 👍🏼 thanx a lot. Just one question, if I'm going hiking and there is no maps for this area will the Suunto Watch record or track my route and when I wonna go back the way I came will they show me the way?
Hey man nice Video. I have the watch now. But my problem is when i download a map of my area, it just shows me squares on the display and no map. (I have gps) do you have any tips? Thx
I'm happy they finally added a long lasting watch to the lineup. I'm happy with my Suunto 7 and it works well, only if the battery lasted longer. I would definitely buy Vertical if my 7 now decided to break. Probably going for the cheaper Vertical.. what is the point of that extra 200 really...
I have the Garmin Instinct 2x Solar Tactical and the Foretrex 801 that I use on deployments. I was going to wait for the Tactix 7 pro to go on sale to have more features and color maps but found that I get a military discount on Shinto’s site. I kinda wanna stick to garmin but I can get the Vertical Titanium solar for $628 shipped. Is there a way to view real time gps maps on the connect app over Bluetooth? It would be nice to have real time satellite maps when grid searching while hunting or grid searching for mines (just training at the moment). I am EOD and use the 801 currently. Can’t afford the Tactix I want at the moment but if I can view real time gps on the connect app over Bluetooth it would hold me over until I can. Thank you 🙏
Hey Dave, I have got my hands on the Suunto Vertical today but looks like the weather and solar widgets do not work on iPhone as I don’t have them in the widgets in the app list and if I enable them on the watch they just disable and won’t show??? Any ideas as the weather app is something I really wanted from this watch and don’t want to move to Android from IOS
Suunto's design is excellent....that is a good looking watch. But I am totally invested in the Garmin environment...so no Vertical for me. But one major thing that Suunto still lacks, is sensor connectivity. No ANT+ would not be exceptable for me!
Unfortunately it seems like most devices are dropping ANT+ support as time moves on in favor of BLE sensors but it's not ideal if you have a bunch of expensive ANT+ sensors laying around.
Depends what you’re looking for they’re both great. The Epix has more “smart” features. The vertical has insane battery life and is a bit more primitive.
There really isn't a "Best". My favorite may not be the right fit for you. There are SO many good options out there at this point. I'd say for the $900 asking price of the titanium model of the Vertical the Fenix 7X has more features so arguably it would be "better" but those features may or may not matter to you. It's all about finding the right tool for the job!
Does Suunto vertical can do the trackback like garmin does?, and it can do the route in reverse as well?, you know in case I got lost doing enduro on a Bike find the way back that’s what I’m looking for
Are routable maps on the watch...critical? I'm brand new to adventure/navigation watches. I've been trying to choose between Garmin forerunner 965 and this one. The Garmin watch looks much more complicated and far less intuitive/user-friendly than this Suunto, so I'm strongly leaning towards the Suunto. However, after hearing you explain that you can't create and follow a route on the watch, I'm unsure, again! What I want most is to be able to go hiking in areas without cell reception and see the forestry roads and trails around me. I also want to record where I've been and points of interest for later reference. I want to feel prepared and safe outdoors with a device that reliably shows me where I am so that I don't get lost. With that being said, what device do you think I should get? Also, I have quite tiny wrists, which is why large, bulky watches like the Fenix series don't appeal to me. Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you so much for your video, too. :)
It depends. Having routeable maps means you can do things like "Back to Start" on the fly and the watch will route a course back to your starting point using the shortest, quickest distance rather than retracing your steps. You can also navigate to points of interest on Garmin like the summit of a mountain, camp site, etc... so if you're in the wilderness and don't have an internet connection you can find your way. For some it's valuable, for others the breadcrumb mapping is more than enough.
The only thing that %90+ people want out of these watches is quality maps functionality (names, route planning...) and super long battery life. The Garmin answers that, the Suunto still doesn't on the maps front. However, if Suunto comes up with a bare bones watch that just has Garmin level maps functionality and insane batttery life AND NOTHING ELSE, then they will win, because Garmin have added so much useless stuff that the Suunto can capitalize on that and launch a skeleton winner. A powerful flashlight would be nice too, the garmin Enduro 2 has that and its surprisingly not a gimmick.
ive just purchased the non solar version and with continuous heart rate turned on and a it only lasted for 7 days, currently in the 2nd week ive turned the CHR off and battery has dropped by 8 percent in 1 day, so am not really sure what is going on here
The watch looks nice, but apart from being deeply invested into the Suunto space there are really a load of caveats to make in relation to the high price. That said, it's a refreshing design difference compared to Garmin and Apple. Might attract the hikers and sports enthusiasts that are looking for alternatives to the Garmin look.
So the titanium version it has only solar more than the steel? Because this is something pulling me away from the epix and Fenix 7, of they're not sapphire models they have only single band gps compared to their sapphire versions which has dual or multi band gps....
OH MY GOD... I would love the Suunto Vertical, I was always a Suunto fan and had all of their previous watches but unfortunately I'm wearing a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro because it has offline maps AND MUSIC.... The suunto app and is way better than Garmin. Vertical has 32GB Storage but no music... it's a huge missed opportunity for Suunto 😞 I wait for the Vertical with Music, then finally I'll change to Suunto
lol, yeah this job tends to wear out the ol' wrist from wearing so many different watches! I also got a bit of a sun burn the other day which didn't help!
I was going to get the Epix pro … and then I was on the fence with the vertical. Saw I got 30% off of Suunto, and 25% off of Garmin so I bought both. 🤷♂️
Boils down to personal preference. They're both beasts, the Garmin has more wellness tools/features and might be a bit more overwhelming. If you want something simple the Vertical is a great option. The Garmin also has the built in flashlight... which I love. But that's just me!
How often do you use onboard music on a garmin ? Seems to me that not having it is not nearly as big a deal as people make it out to be . Like if you run with a phone so you can receive txt etc why not just play music off the phone ?
I personally don't use the on-board music often. However, I know some people who rely on it heavily and hate running with their phone. That's the tricky part with these watches... it's not a "one size fit's all" type of situation. Everyone finds value in different features in different ways.
Oh No. Now I have to sell my other watch to get this one. It seems they put all the features that were missing on the Peak 9 into this one. Finally a large enough display for my tired old eyes :) The maps look fantastic. It seems they did a good job in the graphics for the maps to strip it back and remove unnecessary clutter. I’m not too concerned about not being able to create a route on the watch. Also, turn by turn for a planned routes has always been there, did this change?
Having a suunto 7 i've noticed that body battery, sleep, steps, heart rate, activity metrics are all really cool metrics but this isn't compiled very good so it's more of a novelty. Garmin's compile these metrics better to create a health system. Would you say the Suunto Vertical is more like the garmin in this aspect? Also, I like that the garmin has cool features like climb pro, pacepro. race predictor, stamina, recovery time advisor, running power, hrv, and training readiness. A lot of these metrics are what i'm talking about in the previous statement with all in one fitness/health performance.
The Vertical is very similar to the Suunto 9 Peak Pro / 9 Peak in that department but the underlying app/software has gotten better and matured over time. I think Garmin still has an advantage with some of these metrics but Suunto does have a Race Predictor, Virtual Partner (similar to pace pro), Estimated VO2 Max, Recovery Time Advisor, Running Power, and lots of other tools for training. They also recently introduced a new "training zone" that gives you more insight into training and a virtual coach.
Even if you customize a profile, it at least still last fall showed all done exercises under the main profile type BUT at least in the beta program of the app back them you could add custom tags and filter your past workouts based on the tags 😊 Suunto upping their game definitely. However, as long as it's not possible to opt out the heat mapping, I won't get another Suunto. At least Garmin has this opt-out configured.
I'm an old school mountaineer -- I don't want a general purpose smart watch, I don't want a fitness watch; I want a mountaineering tool ... not a toy: I don't need lots of features, apps or cool charts that I can download ... just altitude. heart rate, 02, pace (including vertical), durability and crazy long battery life. The maps and some of the other features may be useful .on the margin.. Anyway, for me, it is Suunto all the way and I will be be receiving my Vertical Solar in my mailbox in a couple of days. Cheers.
How useful do you find it for mountaineering? Did you have time to test it?
@@mitroianoI wear it every time i venture into the backcountry. No GPS watch is essential; if you are doing serious route-finding, a GPS such as the Garmin 67i is more robust than any watch, plus (more important) experience.
That said, the vertical is no nonsense watch with multiday battery life and the crystal is indestructible. Having accurate altitude, HR, distance, pace and even a decent map on your wrist is a luxury, but a very welcome one.
I'm a Suunto guy since my 9 and now a Peak 9. They have their own philosophy and they are made in Finland. It's like Finland's mentality in a watch.
They're Chinese now.
@@VirgilOvid 🤦♂
They're not "Chinese" though they are owned by a Chinese company. The Suunto factory and many employees are still in Finland and 90% of Suunto's products are manufactured there.
@@ChaseTheSummit That's still Chinese. It could be 100% operated by Finns in Finland but if a Chinese owner has full ownership then they're beholden to CCP mandates. I'd rather not have a Chinese owned GPS tracker on me at all times and I really hope people think twice before buying this.
@@VirgilOvid exactly. It's unfortunate, but we can't just blindly trust China
I got a Suunto Ambit 2 in 2013 when it was state of the art, and I have literally gone all around the world with it, and done everything from climbing Mont Blanc to skiing in Tierra del Fuego to scuba diving in the Galapagos to visiting hunter gatherer tribes very, very deep in the Amazon to adventure races and even hurling matches back home in Ireland. It never let me down, and was a truly massive help on several occasions. The thing was indestructible and so reliable. Hats off to the team at Suunto. I would not buy any other brand and I need an upgrade now. Thanks for the review, I cannot wait to buy the Suunto Vertical!
Brilliant! Please share your experience with the new toy, when you can.
I'm a Garmin guy but good to see Suunto is upping their game! Keep it up!
I think suunto´s target was and is now again, trail, nature and endurance sport lovers. They seem to return to their origins. Suunto´s path has to be in my opinion, battery, maps, etc. Nothing to do in the smart watches batle. For not much buttons is a good news. In Coros it works.
❤
I like the Garmin app much more but I’m getting used to the Suunto…better aesthetics
I am a Suunto Dude and i was always super close before buying me a Garmin as i was looking yealous on their solar and map ability. Finally the waiting ended and i preordered the Suunto Vertical Solar. Cant wait to test it.🎉
I hope it's as durable as my Suunto 9 Baro which lead me to a lot of Summits .
15:12 one important point here... you can create a route in the app during activity, it will sync in the backgrount and you can pick it, never turning off your current activity. You can also edit th3e route you are currently using, and this will sync and be corrected in the activity you are actually having on.
Where is the routable maps?
Suunto app
wait what ?? so i could just update my route on the phone and it will sync while i'm in an activity running in the bush ??
And also something to consider (as you mentioned in the video too) is that Suunto is designed and made completely in Finland where as many of the competitor watches are made in cheaper labor countries such as China or Taiwan. Suunto is also the only one who actually has sustainablity aspect in it's product line up.
With those 2 points in mind the price doesn't seem so high anymore.
Of course me being a Finn makes me a bit biased :D
where do they store and process user data?
@@hughjanus7354 china because it's a chinese company. Sad thing is Suunto property will get stolen much like Tesla and Chinese Xpeng.
Owned by China now though..
So, you think Taiwan is a cheaper labor country? Have you ever been there?
Suunto sold out to China like the rest of them. No need to hype them up they gave up the ghost just like Garmin and the rest of them. 🤦🏽♂️
This is the watch i have been waiting for from Suunto. I have 9 Baro, 9 Peak and 9 Peak Pro. But this is THE watch❤
Already ordered from Suunto. Nice test as always from you👍👍
@@rogersellevoll70how are you liking it? I’m a Garmin Fenix 6X user at the minute but very tempted by this, for extra battery, eco pros and (quite simply!) for a change! Always had Garmin so far and interested in seeing what else is around 😁
@@010MACS I have now used it for about a month now,and are really satisfied with the watch. It has a great screen,but not amoled, but really bright. The UI is great and app is in my eyes way better than any other. There is a bit lag in the software and it is far from beeing a smartwatch. But as a primary training Watch for running,hiking etc like i do,this is really good. Changing from Garmin to Suunto? Two different systems,so you might like it,or hate it 😂
Would love to see a comparison with the Instinct 2X - especially battery life.
I feel like both watches make insane claims on battery life - and I can confirm that my Instinct 2X does indeed last forever in the current sunny summer conditions.
Kinda interested in how the Vertical would perform in a head-to-head.
Loved the vid! Keep it up!
😍😍 Dave, the Suunto is much better looking than the Coros or the Garmin. It has traces of the Polar vantage. Finally Suunto is resurrected.
It's a REAL nice looking watch. In fact, it was tough testing this one because it tends to draw a lot of questions and attention in public since it's so stylish.
Except when it takes you something like 40 hours to download US maps Garmin can get done in 3 lol. It took AN HOUR for Dave to download a SINGLE STATE. That’s nuts.
@@zfjamesis it real? 40hrs?
They've been killing with design. This continues the trend. Great to see features matching the looks.
It's a great looking watch!
I put usefullness at 1st place, but I cant lie that Vertical looks best of best from all sports watches. Just looks amazing.
Love that the maps are free. That’s a major thing I think.
Great review! It’s wonderful to see Suunto upping their line of watches with the Vertical. Liked your well balanced coverage.
Been a Suunto guy since 15 years ago. Just bought the 9 peak.
Can only hope that Suunto brings this mapping feature in an update to previous watches.
Come on Suunto!
I don't think that's possible unfortunately as the Suunto 9 Peak and 9 Peak Pro do not have internal storage for this type of application.
Finally, a Suunto with a knowledge I was looking for
I´m a Garmin user, but always had the desire of having a Suunto. I still tprefer my Garmin and all its echosystem but maybe that day is comming....
I use both 😊 Love them both too.
Love your videos! Just found your channel. Thinking of the Suunto race or the Vertical. Kinda think more towards the vertical but not sure yet. Oh and where you get your shirt in this video?
Some of the best looking watches in the business! I can live with the big bezel since solar was added.....I can even live without the music on board. But the lag when interacting with the watch would drive me nuts.
The lag isn't terrible but it's there... I suspect it's due to the CPU power and the fact that Suunto tried to milk the most battery life out of it. However, I'm hopeful it can be addressed in a firmware update.
@@ChaseTheSummitlooks like they have done this - any plans to do an update video of the new software? 😊
Nice move from Suunto :) I am still happy with my Garmins :)
20 years ago, I would disowned myself having brought the Garmin fenix 7x pro sapphire solar at two thousand dollars here in New Zealand. Five hundred dollars for a watch was extreme way back then too. I've been through four watches since then. Awesome review on the Suunto mate
As a user who went from Suunto to Garmin Epix 2, not a day goes by without me missing the Suunto UX and usability.
In Garmin menus the touch functionality is inconsistent, you can tell they haven't done it for long. And with the 5 buttons with short and long presses it takes you months to learn all the options compared to a week or two with Suunto. The usability of the Garmin has also been noted by several reviewers + some of my friends switching back to Suunto.
Never a suunto user, but I also found the garmin hard to use/learn.
I use a coros now and that was so intuitive. On the Garmin, even six months after ownership, I still ended up hitting the wrong button all the time when looking for lap. The app is also terrible. I mean, to be fair, there's A LOT there, but finding something that's not already on the home page is next to impossible without a visit to google. I was helping someone look for their estimated threshold pace the other day, and we just gave up.
Garmin has a very bad user experience. Garmin connect: I hate it. The Suunto app is much better. The same for the watch usability.
I went from Suunto to Garmin, less than 12 months later I'm moving back, Garmin was ok when it worked, but terrible reliability and build quality.
Nice one bro. Am a suunto person, hence why I came here. A bit confused now between Suunto vertical and Garmin. However, your review is the best that I have watched.
My Suunto 9 Baro still does the job... but damn am I tempted to splurge and buy the Vertical!
Great review Dave. Good to see Suunto continue to tweak the typography on their watch faces. Hope that flows down the the P9P.
Great watch! Maps, compass and heading up is so sensitive and without mayor lags. Nice feature.
And nice T-shirt;) Where can I get one??
Another great video Dave. Keep up the good work.
Having recently got the Garmin FR965, an amoled screen maybe a must, when I go back to the Fenix 6 it looks soooo old and dated.
A detail that is important to me is missing. How fast are the satellites fixed. Was very frustrated with the Garmin 945 and don't want to make a bad buy again.
I have both suunto vertical and Garmin instinct 2 and love them both
I will be pre ordering one of these tomorrow
Want an OLED? Get the 265. Otherwise the 955 has more features.
It appeared the compass and the map was very smooth, rotating nicely and pointing the right way without any delay or lag. Is this better than Coros and Garmin?
You're correct... The Compass and Map surprisingly had little to no delay and the animations are actually pretty good. However, navigating through other aspects of the watch can be laggy which I find odd. In terms of Map/Compass it feels similar to the COROS/Garmin options out there. Garmin does have a bit of lag as well but they also display far more data on their maps with text for every road/trail/POI along with icons while COROS/Suunto simply have a base map with no details.
@@ChaseTheSummit I'd love for you to do a side-by-side comparison with Vertical, Coros Vertix 2 and Fenix 7 in this regard. So annoying when you get to a fork and have to wait for maps and compass to tell you which direction you're actually heading
Dave, in addition to your good mood and that new family approach (your wife's first 50k🙂💪) it's also your good person, your good vibes, good humor, that make your official channel my favorite. keep up the good work. PS: I already ordered the Vertical (steel version, since the titanium one is priced upa upa). Abraço 🇸🇯🇵🇹🇺🇸🇺🇦. PS: doing a quick search on the net I see that steel is more resistant to scratches than titanium, the latter being more resistant to corrosion and lighter. The question remains: what is the ideal for trail, mountaineering, etc?
Thanks for the kind words! Indeed steel is more durable and less likely to scratch but they do apply a scratch resistant coating to the Titanium that helps.
Feels like the price for the non-solar version makes that a pretty competitive offering. It’s an interesting prospect!
First time “watching” your channel. What watch are you wearing in this? The lime strap one.
In the GPS test (high accuracy), I am assuming the Garmin 965 was left at its worst setting by mistake (while the Apple watch and Suunto were at their best)? Id so you should've mentioned it in voice as this was quite an unfair test to the 965 (which I have and it is spot on when multi-band is enabled)
Good and fair review. I will definitely stick with Garmin. I use Spotify and turn by turn navigation on runs. I don’t understand why other companies don’t integrate music better (or not at all). Am I the only one who uses it?
I load mp3 songs onto my Garmin (old school i guess 😋). I own Garmin, Coros and Suunto. Garmin wins by far. Just the fact that when u are listening to music, there is a voice who gives you the training status is priceless.
I think the Heart Rate inaccuracy might be is issue because of it's weight. Garmin/Polar are usually light (outside of the Fenix type watches) so they don't bounce much.
I wondered that as well though I did have it strapped down REAL tight and the included band is very secure but I don't have large wrists which could be the issue.
Ordered today. Exited about the maps and battery
Awesome and comprehensive review. Couple of big questions! Is the resources calculation still done by firstbeat, and is it getting the updated algorithms that Garmin would have? And within that with the more frequent heart rate measurements is it going to be more accurate? And second question, can you see your training load and any watch screens? Like the ATL, CTL, form stuff?
Thanks Hunter! To my knowledge there hasn't been any changes with the algorithm used for Resources... It's the same as the 9 Peak and 9 Peak Pro. I would assume it will be a bit more accurate now that Heart Rate frequency is every 1 second but I didn't really notice anything major from my time with the watch. Unfortunately, training load is still not available in a widget form on the watch but you can view your training effect in the logbook in your activities.
@@ChaseTheSummit OK great. Thanks so much for getting back to me, and for all of the detail! Again, excellent review all around.
yess i do agreed with you they should've put 5 buttons instead of 3..and i came from suunto ambit 3 peak, still using it, loving it...almost bought the 9 peak but luckily did not.
been watching all the reviews about the vertical but none of the reviews mentioned about the return to the starting point function...usually that function crucially mentioned in the reviews but seems to me that no reviewers mentioned about it...
Great vid. And I'm picking suunto. First, best looking aesthetically pleasing over any of the other watches. 2nd simplicity I like the fact that it only has three buttons thirdly hands down the battery life
Great review Dave!!! I'm excited for this watch and eyeing it for my upgrade/replacement to the 9 Baro.
Forget the watch. That t-shirt!🙌
Haha I love it! From a local running club!
How is the screen compared to the garmin fenix? On video it looks very good! I tested a fenix 6x next to suunto 7 (with a 1.4 inch display :P. ) and the 6x looked really ugly. Is the Vertical any better?
Also a fair comparison would be the non titanium. I think that price is pretty interesting for still being very premium. And thnx for the great review!
The display is pretty similar to the fenix 7 it’s MIP so it won’t compare to an AMOLED like the Suunto 7. MIP displays are duller to preserve battery life and are always on. It’s still a pretty good display for MIP though and the clarity is better than the Suunto 9 Peak
Hi Dave, congratulations for this (usually!) excellent video! I was really excited to learn more about this new Suunto watch, having myself been a Suunto fan since 2005. I have very recently changed to a Garmin Epix 2 however for actually very similar reasons that you state - it has more smartwatch functionalities. But above all, it has am Amoled display which for me is still the key feature Suunto watches are missing. I have a 9 Peak Pro and 9 Peak, and had a 9 Baro before that - the screens are in my view the same and are just so disappointing. You also have a point with the 5-button versus the 3-button layout. I was used to that on the Suunto, but I think it has limits if you do not want the touchscreen to work during exercise - which I actually disactivate. And lastly, I wear my outdoor watch during holidays nearly all the time and - yes - I want a great looking watch face. Here Garmin is simply unbeatable and what you can download on the ConnectIQ store is just fantastic. I am really sad for Suunto since I love the brand and its philosophy, and their efforts to be carbon neutral. The new Suunto Vertical is great, but does not beat Garmin for what I am expecting this watch to offer to me.
Suunto have still a lot of homework to do
I'm seriously looking at the stainless steel version as it has more than enough battery life for me, still looks great and has all the same features as the titanium version, minus the solar charging. In South Africa, I think it may be the cheapest option with a sapphire crystal display. I'd probably add a Coros nylon strap though
The Steel version seems like a great value considering you still get EXCELLENT battery life, a sapphire lens, and all of the other bells and whistles for $200 less!
My Jurassic Ambit 3 has passed away recently... it kept rock steady for all these years though!
I was thinking about replacing it but I have a major concern... I've been thinking about my other metal watches because they heat up quite a bit just sitting in my wrist if they catch a bit of direct sunlight, particularly when I'm trekking in a particular direction or driving for example. All this heat will surely decrease the rechargeable battery lifespan. I don't have experience with titanium materials but I read somewhere titanium is less susceptible to this effect... what do you guys think?
Look like you have more of a 6,75in wrist if I eyeball it ok 😂
I was a Garmin guy but I'll try this on my 6,25in wrist! Thanks for all the infos!
Ooh this looks cool! Thanks for the review.
For me there is only very important question: Is it possible to pause a activity and continue it at for example next day? I came from Garmin and bought a Suunto 9 Baro and couldn't believe my eyes, that this basic function isn`t possible. With the Garmin i did a Hike, slept overnight and continued next day and at home i ended the activity and got one track. With a Suunto it is unpossible - till now?
Still not possible unfortunately.
HI Chase the Summit, I have watched your video and its a nice review . I have watched three other videos about this watch and Its looks amazing. I use Samsung Smart watch 4 classic and relie on that watch and samsung health for my entire health profile along with the withing smart body cardio scales. They are Link with Google Health, is the Sunnto Health Portal App and services as good or better then Samsung Health. Also does the New Sunnto get calls, texts and other app notifications.
Great review nice to see them back. Ambit started it for all. Sadly I had to leave the brand after Ambit since Spartan was amiss take, Suunto nine was passed by others. Still loved Moves count and the new app, for me it is best in class. Will try to get back with the Vertical, only issue now is all the data at Connect😉
Hi. I want watch exclusively for maps while hiking. Would garmin be better option over suunto in same price range? Tnx
@Dave Do you need a smartphone to set-up (& use) the Suunto Vertical? Obviously, to have access to all of the features a smartphone is required, but what I like about Garmin is you can setup & use the core features of a Garmin without pairing to a smartphone
As I recall, I don't think you need a phone to get it up and running but it won't do much without a phone.
Hi, super video 👍🏼 thanx a lot.
Just one question, if I'm going hiking and there is no maps for this area will the Suunto Watch record or track my route and when I wonna go back the way I came will they show me the way?
Mate, this feature is basic and it's been available even on 9 Baro, not to mention their flagship, Vertical. It sure is.
Hey man nice Video. I have the watch now. But my problem is when i download a map of my area, it just shows me squares on the display and no map. (I have gps) do you have any tips? Thx
What a beautiful watch! Nice Review.
which is better among these garmin instinct 2 solar tactical vs Suunto Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar Forest
I'm happy they finally added a long lasting watch to the lineup. I'm happy with my Suunto 7 and it works well, only if the battery lasted longer. I would definitely buy Vertical if my 7 now decided to break. Probably going for the cheaper Vertical.. what is the point of that extra 200 really...
great video as always Dave! your one of the goats in this space!!
Why is the digital watch face pushed to the left - instead of being centered?
What I visual mess, on otherwise very nice watch.
I have the Garmin Instinct 2x Solar Tactical and the Foretrex 801 that I use on deployments. I was going to wait for the Tactix 7 pro to go on sale to have more features and color maps but found that I get a military discount on Shinto’s site. I kinda wanna stick to garmin but I can get the Vertical Titanium solar for $628 shipped. Is there a way to view real time gps maps on the connect app over Bluetooth? It would be nice to have real time satellite maps when grid searching while hunting or grid searching for mines (just training at the moment). I am EOD and use the 801 currently. Can’t afford the Tactix I want at the moment but if I can view real time gps on the connect app over Bluetooth it would hold me over until I can. Thank you 🙏
Hey Dave, I have got my hands on the Suunto Vertical today but looks like the weather and solar widgets do not work on iPhone as I don’t have them in the widgets in the app list and if I enable them on the watch they just disable and won’t show??? Any ideas as the weather app is something I really wanted from this watch and don’t want to move to Android from IOS
Suunto's design is excellent....that is a good looking watch. But I am totally invested in the Garmin environment...so no Vertical for me. But one major thing that Suunto still lacks, is sensor connectivity. No ANT+ would not be exceptable for me!
Unfortunately it seems like most devices are dropping ANT+ support as time moves on in favor of BLE sensors but it's not ideal if you have a bunch of expensive ANT+ sensors laying around.
As a Garmin user, Suunto’s price point makes it a hard sell to switch brands.
Interesting video as usual, thank you.
My suunto 9 peak pro is all the time with bug in my activities.
What kind of bugs?
Love my Polars but good to see more competition!
I'm thinking of buying suunto vertical or garmin epix pro. Which one do u think better?
Depends what you’re looking for they’re both great. The Epix has more “smart” features. The vertical has insane battery life and is a bit more primitive.
Another beautiful Suunto watch. Maybe it's because the overall face of the watch is larger, but the bezel even appears narrower compared to the Peak.
It's still got a pretty thick bezel but I don't mind as much knowing it's a solar panel on this one and serves a purpose!
Great review. 👍 What software do you use to compare heartrate
A mixture of Quantified and DC Rainmakers Analyzer tool.
Out of all the watches you have tested/reviewed which one would you consider the best?
There really isn't a "Best". My favorite may not be the right fit for you. There are SO many good options out there at this point. I'd say for the $900 asking price of the titanium model of the Vertical the Fenix 7X has more features so arguably it would be "better" but those features may or may not matter to you. It's all about finding the right tool for the job!
Sorry to ask this, but how would it compare to cheaper apex 2 pro?
Does Suunto vertical can do the trackback like garmin does?, and it can do the route in reverse as well?, you know in case I got lost doing enduro on a Bike find the way back that’s what I’m looking for
Suunto forever!!! Yesyesyes!
Are routable maps on the watch...critical? I'm brand new to adventure/navigation watches. I've been trying to choose between Garmin forerunner 965 and this one. The Garmin watch looks much more complicated and far less intuitive/user-friendly than this Suunto, so I'm strongly leaning towards the Suunto. However, after hearing you explain that you can't create and follow a route on the watch, I'm unsure, again!
What I want most is to be able to go hiking in areas without cell reception and see the forestry roads and trails around me. I also want to record where I've been and points of interest for later reference. I want to feel prepared and safe outdoors with a device that reliably shows me where I am so that I don't get lost. With that being said, what device do you think I should get?
Also, I have quite tiny wrists, which is why large, bulky watches like the Fenix series don't appeal to me.
Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you so much for your video, too. :)
It depends. Having routeable maps means you can do things like "Back to Start" on the fly and the watch will route a course back to your starting point using the shortest, quickest distance rather than retracing your steps. You can also navigate to points of interest on Garmin like the summit of a mountain, camp site, etc... so if you're in the wilderness and don't have an internet connection you can find your way. For some it's valuable, for others the breadcrumb mapping is more than enough.
I always preferred the design and attention to detail of Suunto over Garmin.
It's a sharp looking watch. I really like the look and feel of this one.
Suunto was acquired by Liesheng which is a company backed by Xiaomi...
Is data privacy still ok given Xiaomi is a Chinese company?
The only thing that %90+ people want out of these watches is quality maps functionality (names, route planning...) and super long battery life. The Garmin answers that, the Suunto still doesn't on the maps front. However, if Suunto comes up with a bare bones watch that just has Garmin level maps functionality and insane batttery life AND NOTHING ELSE, then they will win, because Garmin have added so much useless stuff that the Suunto can capitalize on that and launch a skeleton winner. A powerful flashlight would be nice too, the garmin Enduro 2 has that and its surprisingly not a gimmick.
100% this!
Will this give latitude /longitude coordinates?
I may have missed it but what kind of glass is on this watch face?
Sapphire
ive just purchased the non solar version and with continuous heart rate turned on and a it only lasted for 7 days, currently in the 2nd week ive turned the CHR off and battery has dropped by 8 percent in 1 day, so am not really sure what is going on here
The watch looks nice, but apart from being deeply invested into the Suunto space there are really a load of caveats to make in relation to the high price. That said, it's a refreshing design difference compared to Garmin and Apple. Might attract the hikers and sports enthusiasts that are looking for alternatives to the Garmin look.
So the titanium version it has only solar more than the steel?
Because this is something pulling me away from the epix and Fenix 7, of they're not sapphire models they have only single band gps compared to their sapphire versions which has dual or multi band gps....
good stuff from suunto, i’ll be picking one up i think. the 9 peak screen is getting to small haha
How did you consolidate all 3 routes for accuracy comparison?
Now the Question is.... New Suunto Vertical or a Garmin Enduro 2 ? what's your opinion @chasethesummit ?
,,, I would go four enduro 2 ❤great video 🤙🍻
OH MY GOD... I would love the Suunto Vertical, I was always a Suunto fan and had all of their previous watches but unfortunately I'm wearing a Garmin Fenix 6 Pro because it has offline maps AND MUSIC....
The suunto app and is way better than Garmin.
Vertical has 32GB Storage but no music... it's a huge missed opportunity for Suunto 😞
I wait for the Vertical with Music, then finally I'll change to Suunto
Grear review, the competition is good for us, Coros, Garmin and now Suunto.
My dude... your wrist @5:08... not all heroes wear capes.
lol, yeah this job tends to wear out the ol' wrist from wearing so many different watches! I also got a bit of a sun burn the other day which didn't help!
You look like Thanos in Endgame. "I used the watches to destroy the watches. It nearly killed me."
I'e decided becasuse of one useful feature: diving option
I was going to get the Epix pro … and then I was on the fence with the vertical. Saw I got 30% off of Suunto, and 25% off of Garmin so I bought both. 🤷♂️
How did you get 30% off the Vertical??
Can you help my decision, Enduro 2 or Vertical for new watch? Been Suunto for years
Boils down to personal preference. They're both beasts, the Garmin has more wellness tools/features and might be a bit more overwhelming. If you want something simple the Vertical is a great option. The Garmin also has the built in flashlight... which I love. But that's just me!
@@ChaseTheSummit many thanks indeed. I am 70/30 Enduro 2 at the mo 🤣
How often do you use onboard music on a garmin ? Seems to me that not having it is not nearly as big a deal as people make it out to be . Like if you run with a phone so you can receive txt etc why not just play music off the phone ?
I personally don't use the on-board music often. However, I know some people who rely on it heavily and hate running with their phone. That's the tricky part with these watches... it's not a "one size fit's all" type of situation. Everyone finds value in different features in different ways.
Oh No. Now I have to sell my other watch to get this one. It seems they put all the features that were missing on the Peak 9 into this one. Finally a large enough display for my tired old eyes :) The maps look fantastic. It seems they did a good job in the graphics for the maps to strip it back and remove unnecessary clutter. I’m not too concerned about not being able to create a route on the watch. Also, turn by turn for a planned routes has always been there, did this change?
Turn by Turn is available but you need to design the course within the app in order to use it.
Will it work if I import a gpx into the app and sync it to the watch?
Any chance you could do a video on the app and it's features?
Coming soon. The app experience is very similar to the Suunto 9 peak pro though recently it has been updated to include a few new features
Can you mention all the sensors in this watch? ... I tried looking for this information everywhere but was unable to find it.
Having a suunto 7 i've noticed that body battery, sleep, steps, heart rate, activity metrics are all really cool metrics but this isn't compiled very good so it's more of a novelty.
Garmin's compile these metrics better to create a health system. Would you say the Suunto Vertical is more like the garmin in this aspect?
Also, I like that the garmin has cool features like climb pro, pacepro. race predictor, stamina, recovery time advisor, running power, hrv, and training readiness. A lot of these metrics are what i'm talking about in the previous statement with all in one fitness/health performance.
The Vertical is very similar to the Suunto 9 Peak Pro / 9 Peak in that department but the underlying app/software has gotten better and matured over time. I think Garmin still has an advantage with some of these metrics but Suunto does have a Race Predictor, Virtual Partner (similar to pace pro), Estimated VO2 Max, Recovery Time Advisor, Running Power, and lots of other tools for training. They also recently introduced a new "training zone" that gives you more insight into training and a virtual coach.
You know you have to make Vertical vs. Vertix 2, right? Very similar ...
Even if you customize a profile, it at least still last fall showed all done exercises under the main profile type BUT at least in the beta program of the app back them you could add custom tags and filter your past workouts based on the tags 😊 Suunto upping their game definitely. However, as long as it's not possible to opt out the heat mapping, I won't get another Suunto. At least Garmin has this opt-out configured.
I get my Suunto Vertical solar tomorrw, I let you know What I think, I do Mountainbiking, Kayaking and Camping, so It's gonna be intresting.