At a Glance: Quick Ratings
Heart Rate Functions
Fitness / Sport Features
Ease of Use
Battery Life
Where To Get It
A Deep Dive Into The Suunto 9
The Suunto 9 is a technical multisport GPS watch designed for athletes demanding the very best from their sports watch. What makes the Suunto 9 stand out is the amazing battery life – up to 120 hours with GPS and an intelligent battery life management system.
It even provides smart reminders to ensure it lasts as long as you need it to. Made to last – the Suunto 9 is designed for long, hardcore training and ulta-racing. You can rely on the Suunto 9 – it’s been tested to the extreme for thousands of hours in the most extreme, harsh and tough environments. The Suunto 9 has been reviewed by CardioCritic
Video Review
Pros
Cons
In short, the Suunto 9 is for the ULTRA athlete – for those who look at a 10k run like a mere warm up session. If you’re not training / racing for more than 4 or 5 hours at a time then stick to the Suunto Spartan Trainer wrist HR or even the far cheaper Suunto Spartan Trainer (amazing value for money).
In Ultra Battery mode you can expect a whopping 120 hours of GPS waypoint tracking (no HR). The Suunto 9 also includes a Barometric Pressure sensor giving access to useful features such as Storm Alarms and other sophisticated Weather functions. So we’ve got phenomenal battery life, weather alerts and storm warnings so it’s becoming clear the Suunto 9 is for the extreme outdoor performer.
Coupled with these great features it has everything the elite performer would expect from off the wrist Heart Rate, 80 different sports profiles including multisport options and powerful training load and recovery analysis. The Suunto 9 is for elite athletes who demand essential training functions with performance monitoring metrics all wrapped up in a robust, water resistant (100m) case topped off with a sapphire mineral glass face.
Battery Modes
The Suunto 9 has 4 x battery modes :
- 25 hours – Performance Mode
- 50 hours – Endurance Mode
- 120 Hours – Ultra Mode
- Custom mode – you choose what’s important and it tells you the expected battery life
The various battery modes affect the duration of the battery by altering the following parameters
- GPS Accuracy
- Display Timeout
- Wrist HR
- Touch Sensors on/off
- Brightness
- Vibration alerts
- Bluetooth
It is possible to change the battery mode in the middle of an exercise session (press & hold middle right button)
Suunto 9 – Key Features
FusedTrack
Suunto have used the “Fused” prefix to describe a more accurate method of measuring a certain parameter by combining GPS data with barometric pressure data (FusedAlti) and internal accelerometers for speed / distance (FusedSpeed).
HOWEVER .. in the case of FusedTrack Suunto have done something frankly amazing. In ULTRA battery mode the GPS is only sampling every minute or even less.
The Suunto 9 uses data from the gyroscope, compass and motion accelerometer to fill in the speed, distance, direction data between the missing GPS co-ordinates. I have seen an amazing review on DC Rainmaker’s site that shows some stunning accuracy comparing a track recorded with FusedTrack to that of a Garmin Forerunner 935 in full 1 second sampling mode.
What does it mean in the real world
When you set your Garmin to UltraTrac battery mode – the GPS track is made up of straight lines between co-ordinates taken ever 60 seconds or so … If you switched back on yourself between samples this change of direction will be missed and the track will show you went straight from A to B.
With the Suunto 9 and FusedTrack all the “wiggling about” between data points is tracked and saved giving a far more accurate representation of the actual route. Great job Suunto !!
Sizing & Specifications
Mapping and App Support
The Suunto 9 is supported by Suunto’s movescount.com website and their iOs and Android movescount app. Having your phone connected to the Suunto 9 gives access to smartphone alerts and notifications and maps (on the phone).
Following Routes
Using someone else’s Route (publicly shared)
Top Alternatives
Next Model UP
This is the top of the range in Suunto’s ever increasing range of fitness watches.
When I first read the press release I was a little uncertain how the Suunto 9 fitted in with the existing Suunto Spartan range … to be honest, I’m still a little uncertain. Take a look at Suunto’s own COMPARE features – looking at the Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR. Spartan Ultra and this model.
There’s so much overlap it’s quite hard to determine any substantial differences. Most of the differences can be found in the GPS & Navigation section.
Next Model DOWN
This is where the confusion starts for me … what is the model BELOW the Suunto 9. It could be the Suunto Spartan Ultra – but their features are just so similar.
Alternative Models?
The product from other brands with the closest functionality to the Spartan Ultra is the Garmin Fenix 5 (also consider the Fenix 3 HR). The Fenix range, like the Suunto 9 and Spartan Ultra are aimed at customers looking for a ROBUST outdoor solution with ABC functionality (Altimeter, Barometer & Compass watches) and multiple sports modes plus training load and recovery analysis
Garmin Fenix 5 – Garmin’s top of the range ABC watch with wrist based HR for outdoor adventure and beyond
Garmin Fenix 3 HR – Garmin ABC watch with wrist based HR for the outdoor adventurer / multisport athlete
Review Summary
Here’s the bottom line – if you’re not partaking in racing or training events over 6 or 8 hours consider the Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR (unless you need the weather / barometric features …).
If you are participating in training / race events over 10 hours or events over several days where charging the watch is not an options then consider the Suunto 9 or Spartan Ultra. What makes the Suunto 9 different to the rest of the Suunto and Garmin adventure racing watches is the FusedTrack feature.
Technical Specifications
GENERAL
| Bezel material: | Stainless steel |
|---|---|
| Glass material: | Sapphire crystal |
| Case material: | Glass fibre reinforced polyamide |
| Strap material: | Silicone |
| Weight | 81 g / 2.86 oz |
| Wrist sizes: | 130-230 mm |
| Strap width: | 24 mm |
| Integrated wrist heart rate | Yes |
| Customizable watch faces | Yes |
| Touch screen lock | during exercise |
| Touch display | Yes |
| Color display | Yes |
| Vibration alert | Yes |
| Automatic daylight saving time | Yes |
| Water resistance | 100 m (according to ISO 6425) |
| Battery type | rechargeable lithium-ion |
| Firmware upgradable | Yes |
| Time, date | Yes |
| Alarm clock | 1 configurable alarm |
| Dual time | Yes |
| Automatic timekeeping | Yes |
| Countdown timer | Yes |
| Stopwatch timer | Yes |
| Languages | EN, CS, DA, DE, ES, FI, FR, IT, JA, KO, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SV, ZH* |
| Backlight | LED |
| Configurable backlight | brightness / mode |
| Button lock | during exercise |
| Display type | matrix |
| Display resolution | 320 x 300 |
| Battery indicator | percentage / icon |
| Metric and imperial units | Yes |
CONNECTIVITY
| Smartphone compatibility | Most common models supported, check here for detailed compatibility list |
|---|---|
| Connectivity (between devices) | Bluetooth Smart |
| Phone notifications on the watch | Yes |
| Compatible with online sports communities | Strava, TrainingPeaks, MapMyFitness and more |
| Watch software updates from cloud | Yes |
| Compatible with Suunto Movescount App | Yes |
| Compatible with Suunto Movescount | Yes |
| Compatible with Suunto app | Yes |
PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS
| Operating temperature | -20° C to +55° C / -5° F to +130° F |
|---|---|
| Storage temperature | |
| Recommended charging temperature |
BATTERY LIFE
| In time mode | 14 days |
|---|---|
| With 24/7 tracking and mobile notifications | 7 days |
| Training mode with GPS | 25h / 40h / 120h |
| Intelligent charge reminders | Yes |
COMPASS
| Digital compass | Yes |
|---|---|
| Tilt compensation | Yes |
| Declination correction | Yes |
| Direction scale | degrees |
| Needle | north indicator |
| Compass accuracy | 5° |
| Compass resolution | 1° |
24/7 ACTIVITY TRACKING
| Step counter | Yes |
|---|---|
| Calories burned | Yes |
| Activity targets | steps, calories |
| Heart rate assisted daily calories tracking | Yes |
| Daily minimum heart rate tracking | Yes |
SLEEP TRACKING
<table”>Sleep duration
Duration, average HR during sleep
Bed timesYesTime awakeYes
OUTDOOR FUNCTIONS
GPS TRACKING & NAVIGATION
| Satellite systems | GPS |
|---|---|
| GPS recording rate | Best, Good, OK |
| Waypoint and visual route navigation | Yes |
| Zoom levels in navigation | Yes |
| Auto zoom based on route shape | Yes |
| Breadcrumb trail in real time | Yes |
| Route planning with altitude profile | Yes |
| Outdoor maps by satellite, terrain and topography in web by Mapbox, Google Maps & Android | Yes |
| Heatmaps to browse and show on Moves | Yes |
| Route planning with heatmaps | Yes |
| Personal route library synced to watch | Yes |
| Point of Interest (POI) navigation | Yes |
| GPS track analysis | Yes |
| Track logging, viewing and sharing | Yes |
| Intelligent battery modes | >Performance, Endurance, Ultra, Custom |
ALTIMETER
| Barometric altitude | Yes |
|---|---|
| GPS altitude | Yes |
| Combined GPS and barometric altitude (FusedAlti™) | Yes |
| Altitude in daily mode | Yes |
| Total ascent/descent | in exercise |
| Vertical speed | in exercise |
| Automatic alti/baro profile | Yes |
| Log recording rate | 1 s |
| Resolution | 1 m |
| Range | -500 – 9999 m |
WEATHER
| Sunrise/sunset times | Yes |
|---|---|
| Storm alarm | Yes |
| Sea level pressure | Yes |
| Automatic alti/baro profile | Yes |
| Temperature | Yes |
| Temperature display range | -20° C to +60° C / -4° F to +140° F |
| Temperature resolution | 1° C / 1.5° F |
| Pressure resolution | 1 hPa |
| Move altitude graph in Move summary | Yes |
TRAINING FUNCTIONS
INTERVAL TRAINING
| Setup intervals | on watch |
|---|---|
| Interval guidance during training | Yes |
HEART RATE (requires HR belt or wrist HR monitor)
| Heart rate measured from wrist | Yes |
|---|---|
| Heart rate belt compatibility | Bluetooth Smart belts |
| RR interval | with Suunto Smart Sensor |
| Heart rate in beats per minute | Yes |
| Records heart rate in swimming | yes, with Suunto Smart Sensor |
| Heart rate graph in real time | Yes |
| Calories | Yes |
| Peak Training Effect | Yes |
| Personal heart rate zones | Yes |
SPEED AND DISTANCE
| Cadence based speed and distance | Yes |
|---|---|
| GPS speed and distance | Yes |
| Chrono | Yes |
| Foot POD support | Bluetooth Smart |
| Autolaps | Yes |
| Manual laps | Yes |
| Analysis of pace, speed graphs and tracks on the map | Yes |
TRAINING RECOVERY
| Training based recovery time | Yes |
|---|---|
| Recovery time daily view | on watch |
| Feeling stored after training to watch | Yes |
TRAINING LOAD
| Logbook with Move details | on watch |
|---|---|
| Move summary with lap details | on watch |
| Training load with totals by sport | on watch |
| Training logbook for long term overviews | Yes |
| Training analysis with graphs, lap tables, maps, totals | Yes |
| Training insights totals duration/distances by sport | Yes |
| Training types stored to Moves | on watch |
SHARE AND RELIVE
| Move sharing to social media | Yes |
|---|---|
| Move rating and commenting | Yes |
| Follow other members and get feedback via activity stream | Yes |
SPORT EXPERTISE
SWIMMING
| Pool swim pace and distance | Yes |
|---|---|
| Openwater swim pace and distance | Yes |
| Records heart rate in swimming | yes, with Suunto Smart Sensor |
| Swimming time by pool length, lap, total | Yes |
| Swimming stroke rate, count and type | Yes |
| Automatic intervals | Yes |
| Interval lap table | Yes |
| Lap table for swimming analysis with stroke and pace | Yes |
| Interval guidance with swim pace/duration/distance training support | on watch |
| Stroke efficiency (SWOLF) | no |
CYCLING
| Cycling speed | Yes |
|---|---|
| Average speed in real time | Yes |
| Bike POD with speed/cadence support | Bluetooth Smart |
| Bike power meter support | Bluetooth Smart |
| Bike Power (W), average and maximum (with power sensor) | Bluetooth Smart |
| Bike Lap and Lap Maximum Power (with power sensor) | Yes |
| Power distribution and graphs | with power sensor (available in Suunto Movescount.com) |
| Peak Power Curve for peak power outputs | with power sensor (available in Suunto Movescount.com) |
| Real-time lap table with avg HR, avg power and avg speed | Yes |
| Interval guidance with power/speed/heart rate | on watch |
RUNNING
| Running pace | Yes |
|---|---|
| Suunto FusedSpeed™ | Yes |
| Running power with Stryd sensor | Yes |
| Foot POD calibration | automatic |
| Lap comparisons | Yes |
| Average, max, lap pace in real time | Yes |
| Interval guidance with running pace/heart rate/distance | on watch |
MULTISPORTS
| Change sport mode during exercise | Yes |
|---|---|
| Preconfigured multisport modes | Yes – 80 |
| Post-analysis of multisport exercise by sport | Yes |
| Multisport exercise summary on watch | Yes |
SPORT MODES
| Customizable sport modes and displays | Yes |
|---|---|
| Graphical displays in sport modes | heart rate, speed and altitude |
| Available measurement parameters | > 50 values on watch |
| Numeric displays in sport modes | 1-7 fields, lap table view |
| Pre-installed sport modes on watch | > 80 |
| Sport modes for specific purpose (racing, intervals, long training…) | Yes |
