Today, Suunto has unveiled their latest flagship watch, the Suunto 9 Peak.
As the name suggests, this isn’t a new-new flagship watch but an iteration of their excellent Suunto 9 Baro.
One of the smallest & lightest flagship multi-sports watches on the market
The stand out feature is its design, being considerably smaller than the Suunto 9 Baro while retaining all the advanced features and performance.
As someone with relatively thin wrists, I can see how many people would like something a little sleeker on their wrist, especially if you plan to wear this 24/7 in a professional environment.
The new minimalistic Nordic design is 37% thinner and 36% lighter. The thin profile will be particularly appealing, allowing you to wear the watch
The face has also dropped 14% in size, going down from 50mm to 43mm, but it will make a big difference, making this the same size as the Suunto 3 while being thinner.
Suunto 9 Peak vs Garmin Fenix 6 – Similar size to the Fenix 6S but better battery
Looking at Garmin, the Fenix 6 range is the likely alternative. The Fenix 6S is the closest in size, with a 42mm case weighing in at 60g for the steel version. However, this is 14.2mm thick, and the battery performance ranges from 25hours to 50hours in the max GPS mode.
Suunto 9 Peak vs Suunto 9 Baro vs Garmin Fenix 6 Series – Dimensions & Battery
Suunto 9 Peak adds new features – Blood oxygen monitoring, Bluetooth 5, faster charging
While slimming things down, Suunto managed to squeeze in a few upgrades while they are at it.
It now can measure blood oxygen level to help determine acclimation levels at higher altitudes. The press release doesn’t state if this is a manual test or can be 24/7, similar to Garmin.
It now uses Bluetooth 5, which should have various connectivity benefits, and Suunto are claiming that sync speeds have been doubled
It also charges from flat to 100% in just 1 hour.
Suunto claim this has improved battery life with 25 hours in best GPS mode up to 170 hours of GPS recording capacity in Tour mode. However, the Baro also states these times, but the 170h tour mode wasn’t available at launch.
Price and Availability
| Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
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Suunto 9 Baro GPS Sports Watch with Long Battery Life and… | £382.44 | Buy on Amazon |
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Garmin fēnix 6S Pro, Ultimate Multisport GPS Watch,… | £479.00 | Buy on Amazon |
The Suunto 9 Peak will be available in two different styles with four nature-inspired colours:
Granite Blue Titanium and Birch White Titanium, made with sapphire glass and grade 5 titanium £629 and All Black and Moss Gray, made with sapphire glass and stainless steel £519. Available for pre-ordering from 26th May. In-store at select retailers and on-line at Suunto.com from 17th June.
The Suunto 9 Baro has an RRP of £539, so technically this is launching at a lower price point. However, the Baro has been out for years now and is currently £431.20 on the Suunto website and the white version has been under £400 on Amazon since the start of May.
The black model has been as low as £357 until recently when it went out of stock.
Full Press Release
Suunto, global leader in sports watches, dive computers and precision instruments, launches its newest flagship watch, the Suunto 9 Peak, the thinnest, most powerful and uncompromisingly durable watch in brand history. Inspired by the award-winning Suunto 9 Baro, the Suunto 9 Peak is designed for adventures and peak experiences, in a sleek form factor that fits seamlessly on the wrist for ultimate comfort. Tested in the harshest conditions, the Suunto 9 Peak boasts up to 170 hours of GPS recording capacity in Tour mode, blood oxygen measurement, a full battery charge in one hour and built to match users’ high expectations for a sports wearable companion, training tool and adventure partner.
“When we design a new watch, we start by assessing the desired user experience and combine that with our latest technology developments. We found that many people wanted all the features of the Suunto 9 Baro, but in a smaller, streamlined form factor, without compromising on battery life or the feature set. Our team of designers and engineers worked closely together to develop Suunto 9 Peak as an answer to this need,” says Heikki Norta, Suunto’s president. “Building on our heritage of 85 years crafting products for adventure, we are proud to release this watch with a new minimalistic Nordic design.”
The Suunto 9 Peak comes with all of the industry-leading features the Suunto 9 family is known for, including 80-plus sport modes like running, hiking, mountain biking, skiing and swimming, customizable screens to show the most relevant data for your exercise, an intelligent battery management system, accurate wrist-based heart rate monitoring, in-depth weather insights and expansive on-watch navigation capabilities.
All-new features for the Suunto 9 Peak include:
- Minimalistic Nordic design, which is 37% thinner and 36% lighter than the award-winning Suunto 9 Baro
- Blood oxygen level measurements to help determine acclimation levels at higher altitudes
- Automatic backlight intensity adjustment depending on lighting conditions
- Faster charging: 100% battery in 1 hour
- Improved watch strap with new metal fastening pin
- Added watch face that showcases weekly training metrics and inspires new routines
The Suunto app integrates with the Suunto 9 Peak, enabling users to effectively plan routes with sport-specific heatmaps and popular starting points, which can be built and transferred to the watch for offline navigation. The mobile app allows user to discover new locations, create points of interest and a look back on previous adventures with personal heatmaps. Also, the sync speed between the Suunto 9 Peak and the Suunto app is now doubled with Bluetooth 5, the latest iteration in Bluetooth technology.
“You learn quickly while traveling that having gear you can trust can mean the difference between a life changing experience and a failure,” says Chris Burkard, Professional Photographer, Global Adventurer, and newest member of the Suunto Brand Ambassador Team. “The Suunto products for me epitomize adventure worthy equipment and that’s why I trust them in the harshest of conditions and for prolonged use. It’s been hard to find something that feels as comfortable on my hand as a camera, the Suunto 9 Peak may have just secured its spot.”
The Suunto 9 Peak will be available in two different styles with four nature inspired colours:
Granite Blue Titanium and Birch White Titanium, made with sapphire glass and grade 5 titanium £629 and All Black and Moss Gray, made with sapphire glass and stainless steel £519. Available for pre-ordering from 26th May. In-store at select retailers and on-line at Suunto.com from 17th June.
Posted by Mighty Gadget Blog: UK Technology News and Reviews
