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Suunto presents its new top model, the Vertical. Even though the name and advertising tend to see the watch in the mountains, for me it is one of the best running watches.
Anzeige: The manufacturer provided me with the product for this test at my request. This had no influence on the content of my review. The article is freely written and exclusively reflects my personal experiences.
Inhalt / Content
Suunto Vertical
First impression
The Suunto Vertical is available in two versions: in stainless steel for 599 euros or as “Titanium Solar” for 799 euros. As the name suggests, the more expensive model differs not only in the case material, but also has a solar function.
Externally, the two models differ only slightly in the metal colour. However, there are four different strap colours to choose from. Suunto provided me with the “Titanium Solar Canyon” model for testing.
The scope of delivery is straightforward and at the same time complete: in addition to the watch on its strap, the charging cable with the magnetic plate is also sent along.
The solar module is hidden in a black border around the display. This is also present in the stainless steel version, as both models have an otherwise identical display (1.4″ with 280×280 pixels).
The optical sensor as well as the charging contacts seem to me to be exactly the same as on the Suunto 9 Peak Pro – but now with a larger contact surface due to the new case.
Suunto has remained true to its design language and has once again created a functional instrument. The watch looks absolutely robust and of high quality. The three buttons have a pretty perfect pressure point and feedback. In addition, the Suunto Vertical can also be operated via the touch display.
There are no surprises with the strap: it is exactly the same as the Suunto 9 Peak Pro. You can swap the straps between the watches, which is very easy and quick thanks to the quick-change straps.
What is new?
At first glance, the Suunto Vertical surprises mainly by its size: the case diameter has grown by 6 millimetres, which benefits the display in particular. Instead of 1.2″, it is now 1.4″ and also has a better resolution (280 instead of 240 pixels). For me, this was one of the biggest criticisms of the Suunto 9 Peak Pro, which has now been eliminated with the new model.
In addition, the watch has also received a dual-frequency multiband GPS and navigation via offline maps – which in turn is linked to an increase in the internal memory to 32 GB.
The Titanium model (as already mentioned above) has a solar module that is intended to extend the battery life. At the same time, however, the battery life has been significantly extended.
Advantages
Display
Suunto must have done more than just adjust the size of the display. I find it much better overall – also in terms of contrast and brightness.
Due to the better readability, it no longer bothers me so much that I always get at least three values displayed in the layout of the data pages.
Battery / Solar
The battery life of the Suunto 9 Peak Pro was phenomenal. With the Suunto Vertical, you can add about 50% more power, even with the stainless steel version (without solar). With the Titanium Solar, the runtime even doubles! In the best GPS mode, it records a whopping 60 hours.
With my test watch, I still had 61% battery after 4 weeks of normal training (with additional playing around and testing)! During that time, the watch was in the sun a lot, but I didn’t expect that kind of endurance.
Design
That may not be a really important argument for a running watch. But I really like the design of the watch. It’s simply a robust, functional instrument – and it looks just like one.
Neutral
Optical heart rate monitor
I had hoped that the larger contact surface of the watch would improve the optical measurement of the heart rate. Unfortunately, I also have the problem with the Vertical that I have to wear it really tight to avoid false heart rate readings.
The remedy is a different wristband: with a soft, flexible nylon strap I had no problems at all and very reliable measurements.
Structured training sessions
Unfortunately, nothing has changed here compared to the Suunto 9 Peak Pro… I still miss the possibility to adjust the display for structured training sessions. The display duration at the beginning of a new section is also too long for me. Overall, however, the watch can be used well for such training sessions.
Having the complete map material for Europe on the watch is a really cool feature. Especially since I like the map display very much and you can also switch between three modes.
The only thing I’m missing is routing, for example to calculate the best route back to the start while on the road. But Coros is no further along here either, and Garmin didn’t develop this functionality in a day.
WLAN
With the Suunto Vertical you can download the map material via WLAN. Unfortunately, that’s all you can do. I would like the watch to synchronise with the Suunto servers. But that still works via Bluetooth on the mobile phone.
Potential
I see a lot of potential in the functions, some of which are being implemented for the first time. A firmware update could definitely make real routing or sync via WLAN possible. The hardware platform of the Suunto Vertical is certainly promising.
Disadvantages
Price
It’s not really fair to always measure all other manufacturers against Garmin. But of course it is obvious to take a close look at the market if you want to spend 600 or even 800 euros on a running watch.
For 800 euros, I can get a Garmin Fenix 7 Sapphire Solar, which can do what I see as potential in the Suunto Vertical. Coros’ Vertix 2 is even 100 euros cheaper, but it doesn’t come close to Garmin’s range of functions.
Conclusion
The Vertical is a very well-made, reliable watch with enormous battery life and exciting features like map navigation. It is certainly a little more expensive in comparison. However, when making a comparison, you should think carefully about which functions you really value in everyday training.
