If you want to buy a watch which is designed for those adventuring in the outdoors under all sorts of tough conditions, then the new Suunto Vertical fits the bill. This watch has 95 different sports modes, weather forecasting, offline maps, compass and altitude readings – even storm alarms. But we must also mention one of the outstanding features of this watch is the fact it gives you 85 hours of battery life in tracking mode but a huge 60 days of power in daily use mode – both of which can be boosted by up to 30% by solar charging.
Another heartening feature is the fact the Suunto Vertical is made in Finland using 100% renewable energy so it’s about as sustainable as you can get. That’s the Finns for you – they sort of reinvented the wheel when it comes to sustainability.
Suunto started out in 1936 – more than 80 years ago – when the Finnish orienteer Tuomas Vohlonen set out to create a more accurate compass and invented a new method for manufacturing liquid‐filled compasses. These days, Suunto makes sports watches, dive computers, compasses and digital services used by people around the world. The Suunto Vertical is waterproof to 100 metres.
With these years of experience behind the brand, Suunto watches do feel different. Here at Women Love Tech, we’ve trialled the Suunto Vertical and we can assure you it’s built with a level of toughness that’s hard to beat. There are four models of the Suunto Vertical which are built using stainless steel and four models built using titanium. The titanium models have the solar charging feature and this metal gives an even higher level of toughness because it has the highest tensile strength to density ratio of any metal there is.
With all of these unusual features, the Suunto Vertical can be used as a reliable guide for outdoor adventurers who are climbing high peaks or exploring extremely remote terrain. The watch comes with detailed outdoor offline maps. You can discover and create routes with the Suunto app’s heatmaps, 3D maps and road surface type layers. When you sync these maps with the watch, you’ll have offline maps so this gives you greater accuracy for tracking your surroundings.
While the maps are very helpful and extensive, when using them we did find the user interface could be more responsive – especially when you’re using the offline maps.
An improvement on the previous Suunto 9 Peak Pro is the fact the bezel on the Suunto Vertical is noticeably smaller and this gives you more screen space. On the titanium model, the bezel is actually where the solar panel is located. The watch’s screen is made from sapphire glass and it measures 1.4 inches.
The battery life on this watch is pretty amazing
Considering all the features of this watch, we’d have to say the battery life is literally amazing. You get 85 hours of continuous exercise tracking with the titanium solar model and 60 hours with the stainless steel model. Tour mode, which still gives you accurate tracking, offers 500 hours of continuous exercise tracking.
The titanium solar model also gives you solar charging which boosts the battery life by up to 30% as long as the sunlight is strong enough. So, it’s possible the battery could last potentially up to one year without charging!
The 95 different sport modes range from trail running to swimming. A nice feature is the fact you can create custom sport modes in the Suunto app if you want to customise your own daily exercise routine.
Combined with the Suunto app and other partner services such as Strava, Training Peaks and Komoot, the watch gives you a few other options and training tools.
New to the Suunto app is a Training zone where you can follow your training load, progress, recovery and sleep analysis and benefit from training insights from AI-based Suunto coaches.
Availability: The Suunto Vertical comes in 8 different models, including four models of the Suunto Vertical Stainless Steel and four models of the Suunto Vertical Titaniium (with solar charging). These models are available from Find Your Feet and Wild Earth retailers nationally.
About Suunto: An adventure brand for 80 years, Suunto started out in 1936, when Finnish orienteer Tuomas Vohlonen set out to create a more accurate compass and invented a new method for manufacturing liquid‐filled compasses. These days, Suunto makes sports watches, dive computers, compasses and digital services. For more information, visit www.suunto.com
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