Having had a taste of smartwatch life last year with the Suunto 7 I was more than keen to get to grips with another of the company’s products – this time the Suunto 9 Peak.
You may recall that my main gripe with the 7 was its size and how it basically dwarfed my tiny wrist to the extent where it looked a bit like a manacle. I’m happy to report that the Suunto 9 Peak is far more ‘skinny wrist friendly’.
As with the 7, the setup of the 9 is pretty straightforward, with requirement for the Suunto app and integration with Google Fit for further tracking and analysis. That also lets you tie it into other apps such as things like Qantas Wellness, etc.
The Suunto 9 Peak is primarily a fitness watch – for anyone who recalled my struggles with the 7 when it came to replying to texts etc, the 9 just offers notifications and the ability to take or refuse calls from the watch, as well as controlling music players etc.
To my mind, the Suunto 9 is primarily a performance watch, something you buy when you are seriously training and want to track all the various health and body factors that go along with that. Some of the measurements seem a little bit off at times though – I was sitting at my desk cycling through the various tools and the heart monitor informed me that I was ‘stressed’.
At first I thought, ‘nice of someone to notice’, but afterwards wondered how sitting at my desk had returned such a reading…
Due to a few circumstances, I didn’t have the most optimum trial period with it. I did get to put it through its paces in the pool a few times and it performed well. The tracking on Suunto’s devices is everything that you want in one of these watches.
The majority of my remaining use of the watch was on neighbourhood walks, not really the type of user that the watch is designed for. But it performed well in the limited statistics that you can expect from an aimless stroll around the park watching doggos frolicking on the oval…
It’s clear that this watch is designed for the serious athlete and to that end I expect it would be great on a trail run or a longer hiking adventure, etc, something where you get to take full stock of all the data that the device can provide.
The Suunto app is easy to use and collates all your facts and figures for your perusal.
All in, the Suunto 9 Peak is a really good-looking watch – it’s tough and durable for sports use but also stylish enough to wear during the day or on a night out without looking so obviously like a sports tracker. That’s not really vital to me but many people are keen to track their stats morning, noon and night.
You can do that too, by the way, track how you’re sleeping. You’ll receive a report, on waking, with data about your sleep patterns. I did use this feature but found I was uber-conscious of it on my arm and it was a ‘one night only’ affair. It’s a far more compact unit to use for this purpose though if you are so inclined.
All in all, it’s easily Suunto’s most attractive looking watch but it’s definitely made more for the serious, timekeeping, step-tracking athlete than my aimless wanderings around the neighbourhood.
