Last spring, a highly anticipated product arrived from Finland to Runnerinn, both for us and for all lovers of outdoor sports. The clues speak for themselves. but in case you still hadn´t guessed it, it´s about the new SUUNTO 5.

After the ground-breaking appearance in the Suunto 9 market, it was very clear that the Finnish brand had begun a new chapter in the range of GPS watches. Completely breaking away from the old Spartan and Ambit ranges to bring together a single product with all the features. However, until then, it only covered a very specific audience because by characteristics and (especially) by price, Suunto 9 was a watch that was only accessible to top athletes. It was still needing to achieve a ground-breaking GPS and at the same time, be suitable for all audiences.

Suunto 5 has arrived to meet these expectations. Unlike its similarly priced predecessors that were manufactured in Asian countries, Suunto 5 is 100% made in Finland. This implies substantial improvements in the materials and their reliability.

Technically speaking, what does Suunto 5 offer us?

Frame: In keeping with the Spartan Trainer line, Suunto 5 offers us a small and simple screen with a very attractive dial in different colours. The buttons and the hook of the wristwatch are also the same colour as the dial, making it a very attractive watch, suitable even for elegant occasions.

Technology: The main change is found in the new Chipset, which happens to be from Sony (as was already the case with the Suunto 9), the main advantage of this change, is the greater battery life of the watch no matter how you use it. 

On the other hand, the GPS antenna is also improved and is on the outer part of the watch (which increases the Satellite’s reception speed). For the rest, Suunto 5 still has the optical pulse sensor manufactured by Valencell and the charger is still the Suunto classic clamp charger.

Benefits:

Currently (variable according to updates) Suunto 5 offers 83 different sport profiles. Therefore, it is more than suitable for virtually any athlete of any level.

The great strength of Suunto has always been the GPS. I would dare to say that road navigation is the best in the sports watch market. Very similar to that of the Suunto 9 but with a smaller screen. As well as this, there are several options that allow us to improve our adventures (return mode, storm warning, compass ...)

Another great new feature is found in its battery life. Up to 40h in power-saving mode and 20h in normal mode. This makes it suitable even for long distance races.

Thanks to the daily metrics and analysis functions, we can get to know each other better. We can find out how we have slept, our fitness, accumulated fatigue, Vo2 Max estimate, heart rate variability and other functions related to our health.

We must also highlight the training planning function, much improved compared to the Spartan edition. Knowing our daily fatigue status thanks to the sleep analysis data and daily pulse measurements, we can use this function to schedule our sessions based on the rest we need.

Finally, the synchronisation of Suunto 5 with different training platforms using the Suunto App (Training Peaks, Strava, Komoot ...) will allow us to thoroughly analyse all our sessions, as well as enjoy our GPS even more.

Pros and cons:

Basically, we found two cons: On the one hand, with the charger still being the clamp (it seems a bit obsolete with respect to other models that already have better chargers). On the other hand (I guess because I am a triathlete), I miss the possibility of having an activity profile to link several sports in the same session.

For the advantages, apart from everything mentioned above, I would emphasise above all, that Suunto has managed to accommodate all audiences with the incorporation of an affordable watch both by looking through their pockets and their technical characteristics.

I probably am not mistaken if I say that we are facing the best current mid-range watch over € 300 in the market.

BUY SUUNTO 5 IN RUNNERINN