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amazon Suunto 7 reviews
Suunto, a Finnish activism brand, has a serious following among fitness fanatics. With the new Suunto 7 smartwatch, the company is now throwing a worn-out workout shoe into the lucrative sports lifestyle world. The Suunto 7 is its first smartwatch with Google’s WearOS platform, which boosts its appeal. While the design will still appeal to core fans of the brand, it’s less sporty than some of Suunto’s other GPS watches and trackers.
Design
The Suunto 7 looks similar to the Suunto 9, released in 2018. It has a fiberglass-reinforced polyamide case, a stainless steel bezel, and a soft and wonderful silicone strap. There are four buttons on the case, each made from the same stainless steel as the bezel, and they are large enough to be accessed even with gloves on.
At 50mm, the watch is large on all wrists. However, at only 70 grams, it’s not heavy. It’s lighter than the Suunto 9 and slightly heavier than the Apple Watch Series 5. The 1.4-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels is housed under a piece of Gorilla Glass. All of this makes the Suunto 7 a tough beast. The watch is shock-resistant, water-resistant to 50 meters, and Gorilla Glass will keep the screen scratch-free. Suunto is pushing the lifestyle aspect, but don’t worry that the watch has softened because the Suunto 7 feels very durable.
Is it trendy? That is the hardest part for Suunto to get the right. It’s been making GPS watches for ages, but none of them are watches I want to wear every day. The Suunto 7 is supposed to be different. So do I want it on my wrist when I’m not exercising?
My review watch comes in a plain white and burgundy color combination, giving it a cool spring vibe. The lightweight makes up for the overall size, but it doesn’t fit into a shirt sleeve easily because it’s quite thick.
Sophistication makes it unique as a sports watch. Many of the fashion brand Fossil’s WearOS watches are thinner, and at 15.6mm, the Suunto 7 is 5mm thicker than the Apple Watch Series 5. It doesn’t attempt to replace the Michael Kors or Kate watches.
It is trying to become more useful and more palatable for everyday wear. I think it was successful.
Software and usage
That is the first time Suunto has used Google’s WearOS on a smartwatch. Previously, it used its fitness software. The performance is solid. It’s fast and smooth, something that’s rarely said about WearOS smartwatches, and doesn’t disappoint in normal use.
Suunto has four buttons on the case to play; this is not necessary. The button in place of the crown, and the button below it, is customizable. By default, they are associated with music playback and timer, respectively. The button above the crown opens the Suunto’s fitness app, and the button on the opposite side of the case is the menu or back key.
That is a frustrating setup. You’ll press the menu button the most; however, it’s the most awkward, and you can’t remap the menu button to its normal position on the crown. Worse, there’s no rotating crown to navigate through multiple menus, and WearOS’s screen is a bit more comfortable. It’s a touch screen or nothing.
On the other hand, WearOS works as you’d expect. Swipe up for notifications, left for Google Fit, right for Google Assistant, and down the dashboard. There is a small selection of watch faces, most unimpressive, apart from one based on Suunto’s heatmap running scheme. That shows popular trails nearby and looks great, as long as there’s activity nearby. It can be set to show a variety of other activities, too.
Some common WearOS issues can be found here. Notifications are a pain, or more specifically, notifications are a pain. I love how you can interact with the information that comes from your phone, including canned responses to messages, the opportunity to read and reply to emails, and the ability to view information at a glance quickly. But WearOS keeps reminding me of the same notifications over and over again. It will do so until they are removed on the phone, or the list on the watch is deleted.
I like to run the watch without additional apps, which helps with performance. However, they can be installed through Google Play. Spotify is a popular download, and it works well on WearOS, providing full control over your music. It’s fast enough when the watch is connected to Wi-Fi but slows down a bit when connected to your phone. That’s representative of all the apps on WearOS – it works, but it’s not great.
where can you get a Suunto 7 online
SUUNTO 7 GPS Sports Smart Watch: Buy it now
Suunto 7, GPS Sport Smartwatch with Wear OS by Google – Black (Renewed): Buy it now
SUUNTO 7 GPS Sports Smart Watch (Renewed): Buy it now
Fitness app Suunto
Suunto’s fitness app is accessed via the button on the top right and contains more than 70 different sports tracking modes. Some options include walking, running, biking, swimming, boxing, and horseback riding. It connects to Google Fit, Strava, and Endomondo, plus has its GPS and mapping system. The maps show popular and uncommon walking, running.
Sadly, this isn’t easy to test as current advice is to stay indoors. However, I managed to get in a few hits to the gym and walk before that happened.
The fitness app is very easy to use. Just choose your sport and swipe to get started. I instinctively wanted to use the touchscreen to stop a workout at the end, but that can only be done with the physical buttons. It’s a shame there’s no option for both.
On-screen data is comprehensive, showing pulse and heart rate, elapsed time, calories, peak exercise performance (PTE), excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) data, and recovery time. You have access to distance, speed, cadence, altitude, descent, and lap data as you walk. It’s comprehensive, clearly visible on screen, and relatively accessible to newbies. That is important, as too much information will reduce the appeal of the Suunto 7 to non-hardcore fitness fans.
However, much of what makes the Suunto platform appealing will only appeal to those who exercise intensively. Exploring local routes will be most helpful for those away from home and still want to get out and about, while the social aspect connects you with other Suunto owners who give their best. Some of the activities shared publicly inside the Suunto app go beyond my admittedly modest athletic abilities, keeping me from sharing my feeble 50-minute local walk. The Suunto 7 may be inferior to previous Suunto watches, but the platform’s people are generally unchanged.
Battery and performance
Amazingly, with the fearsome WearOS battery life can be, the Suunto 7’s battery is solid. Workout for about an hour per day, the Suunto 7’s 450mAh battery lost about 50% of its capacity with the ambient display. That means practically getting two days of use out of the watch, something that’s easily achieved if you turn off the always-on display.
Suunto has managed this through some exciting technological advancements it has worked with Qualcomm. A low-power coprocessor now handles fitness tracking, removing the Snapdragon 3100 platform and reducing power consumption.
Suunto says the watch will last a full workday and still record a three-hour workout on a single charge. That seems achievable. The battery is charged using a plastic magnetic tube that attaches to the back of the watch. It is exclusive, so don’t lose it.
Overall performance is excellent. Suunto’s close relationship with Qualcomm has paid dividends, as the smartwatch’s software works smoothly and fluidly, even when using apps like Spotify. The OLED display is colorful but unlike any recent smartwatch I’ve used. Using the Suunto 7 every day is a comfortable, effortless, frustration-free experience, which can be a rarity for WearOS watches.
The Suunto 7 succeeds in two other areas where WearOS watches often fail. It offers a usable two-day battery life and good overall performance but doesn’t quite make it into a crowd-favored lifestyle smartwatch. That’s because the design doesn’t have universal appeal and the hyper-focused sports features aren’t relevant to the casual fitness fan.