Are you in the market for a new GPS watch? You most likely have come across the Garmin and Suunto GPS watches, and you may be wondering whether one is better than the other. Both product lines are reputable, and your choice will come down to your needs and preferences.
Some key considerations to make when choosing a GPS watch include:
This article will give you a brief overview of both companies and review their range of GPS watches. It will then compare Suunto vs. Garmin in regards to their various tools.
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Suunto was incorporated in 1936. It is a Finnish company headquartered in Vantaa, Finland. It manufactures and sells a wide range of products, including diving watches, sports watches, computers, musical instruments and lifestyle watches.
Garmin is an American company based in Olathe, Kansas. It was incorporated in 1989 as Pronav. Garmin Ltd. specializes in GPS technology, including its applications in marine, automobile, and outdoor activities. GPS wearables, such as GPS watches, are one of their most recent item lines.
They started out as a small company with the US army being their only client. The company has grown steadily over the years, developing itself as a known brand in GPS products.
Suunto has a large selection of GPS watches, ranging from budget to mid-range as well as premium quality watches. Below is a brief overview of the top Suunto GPS watches and their outstanding features.
This is a premium quality Suunto GPS watch. It is a multisport watch with 80 sports modes. Its quality build makes it suitable for extreme adventure and racing.
It is fitted with a barometer for accurate altitude reading and a wrist heart rate monitor. Its design also incorporates the Suunto’s FusedTrack algorithm, which combines GPS and motion sensor data for accurate tracking.
It has an intelligent battery that can last up to 120 hours. It is water-resistant up to 100 meters deep. It is Bluetooth-smart and compatible with the Suunto app and other online sports apps. It is available in 4 colors.
This is another premium quality GPS watch by Suunto. It is similar to the Suunto 9 Baro in many ways. Like the Suunto 9 Baro, it is water-resistant for up to 100m, has an intelligent battery which can last up to 120 hours, incorporates FusedTrack technology, can track 80 or more sports, has Bluetooth connectivity, and can monitor your average heart rate!
It differs in that it does not have compatibility with apps other than the Suunto app. Also, it reports limited aspects of the weather, such as sunrise, sunset, and altitude, unlike the Suunto 9 Baro which also has a storm alarm, temperature and altitude profile, and pressure resolution.
The Suunto 7 GPS is a mid-range GPS sports smart watch. It can track over 70 activities. It has smart widgets such as the Wear OS by Google, which allows you to see meetings, create to-do lists, view incoming messages and calls, and make payments via Google Pay.
Its battery can last up to 12 hours in GPS mode and 40 days in battery-saver mode. It is Bluetooth smart but does not have compatibility with the Suunto app and other sports apps.
It only has a GPS without the Fusedtrack technology. It also does not have sleep tracking capabilities and its weather features are only limited to Google Weather. It is water- resistant up to 50 meters.
The Suunto 5 is a compact GPS sports watch. It is fitted with a battery that can last up to 12 days in power saver mode and 20 hours in GPS mode. It is Bluetooth-smart and offers GPS navigation.
It offers 80 sports modes and is water resistant up to 50 meters. It monitors heart rate during sleep as well as during activity. Its weather feature is limited to sunset and sunrise only. It is available in 7 color options.
The Suunto 3 is primarily a fitness tracker with GPS connection. Its battery can last up to 40 hours in training mode without GPS and 30 hours in GPS mode. It has Bluetooth compatibility with most smart phones.
It offers 70 sports modes and is water resistant up to 30 meters. In terms of sleep tracking, it only tracks duration and quality. Its weather feature is limited to sunset and sunrise only through the Suunto App. It is available in 7 color options.
This is a multi-sport GPS watch preferred by experienced endurance athletes. It has a particularly high quality build to withstand harsh conditions outside. It has a 100 meter water resistance.
It is fitted with a practical wrist heart rate monitor. Its battery can last up to 12 hours in training mode. It offers 80 sports modes. Its other impressive features include route navigation with POI, digital compass, and a Breadcrumb view of maps.
It is available in 2 color options. There is also an option for the Suunto Spartan Baro. This has similar features to the Suunto Spartan Sport, except that it can record and report more weather aspects, such as sunrise, sunset and altitude, storms with a storm alarm, temperature and altitude profile, and pressure resolution.
The Suunto Ambit3 Peak is a multisport GPS watch suitable for sports and adventure. It connects wirelessly to most smartphones. It also has connectivity with the Suunto app for additional features. Its battery lasts for about 30h in GPS mode.
Its other impressive features include bike power support, weather information, route navigation, and customizable on-the-go. You have the option to choose between the Suunto Ambit3 Peak GPS Unit with a wrist HR and one without. It is water resistant up to 100 meters.
The Garmin range of GPS watches are classified into 5 different series, as follows: Vivoactive, Venu, Forerunner, Instinct, and Fenix. Below is a general overview of the top Garmin GPS watches in each series.
The Vivoactive Garmin series includes the Vivoactive 3, Vivoactive 4, and Vivoactive 4S smart GPS watches.
The Garmin Vivoactive 4 keeps track of your energy levels, respiration, menstrual cycle, stress, sleep, heart rate, and hydration, among other aspects. It also has safety features such as incident detection during select activities, and it can send your exact location to your emergency contact.
The watch has a music sync feature that allows you to download songs to your playlist from different apps, including Spotify, Amazon music, and Deezer. Its battery can last up to 8 days in smartwatch mode and 6 hours in GPS mode. It is available in different colors and sizes.
The Garmin Vivoactive 3 can be personalized with thousands of apps and widgets, as it is compatible with both Android and iOS devices. Its design incorporates the Garmin Pay contactless payment solution which works for supported cards.
It comes preloaded with over 15 indoor sports apps, including swimming, running and yoga among others. Its battery life lasts for 7 days in smartwatch mode and 13 hours in GPS mode. It also monitors your oxygen volume.
The Garmin Vivoactive 4S is similar to the Vivoactive 4 in many ways. For instance, it also has Pulse Ox that tracks different physical aspects. You can download songs from music apps, it can be personalized with thousands of free apps and widgets, and it includes the Garmin Pay contactless payment solution.
It is different from the Garmin Vivoactive 4 in that it is a smaller size and has a shorter battery life. Its battery lasts up to 7 days in smartwatch mode and 5 hours in GPS mode. Also, it has over 20 preloaded indoor sports apps.
The Garmin Venu is similar in every way to the Garmin Vivo 4S, except for its size, exterior and battery life. It has a bright AMOLED display. Its battery life is up to 5 days in smartwatch mode and 6 hours in GPS and music mode.
The Garmin Venu Sq Music is similar to the Garmin Venu, except that its display is rectangular and its battery lasts longer in smartwatch mode (6 days). The screen is brightly colored and is always in “on” mode, so you can take a quick glance at the time.
The Forerunner series includes Forerunner 45, 745, and 945 in the premium range, and 245 and 935 in the mid-range category.
The Forerunner 945 is designed as a premium triathlon and running smart watch. It has a high music capacity, and you can download songs or create playlists on various music apps.
Its most unique features are its performance monitoring functionalities, such as Vo2 Max, and its training status with adjustments for altitude acclimation status, training load focus, recovery time, and aerobic and anaerobic training effects. It also has full-color onboard maps and safety features.
Its battery can last up to 2 weeks in smartwatch mode, 10 hours in GPS mode, or 60 hours in Ultratrac mode.
This is an easy-to-use running watch with free training and support. It is fitted with a wrist heart rate monitor, and the built-in GPS tracks your distance, pace, intervals, and routes. It also has safety features and a decent battery life: seven days in smartwatch mode and fourteen hours in GPS mode.
The Garmin Fenix 2 is available in 7 styles and 24 color options. It has a rugged exterior design to withstand the toughest environments. It is constructed to US military standards for thermal, water, and shock resistance. This GPS watch has 3 built-in axis compasses, a barometric altimeter, and additional global navigation satellite systems.
The watch can monitor your heart rate and stress. It also comes with preloaded activity profiles. Finally, you can stay connected to the global fitness community via automatic data upload which is synced to your phone.
It has a battery life of up to 14 days in smartphone mode, 16 hours in GPS mode, and 40 hours in Ultrac battery-saver mode.
The Garmin Fenix FX plus is the ultimate, premium multi-sport GPS smartwatch. It is available in various options: watch only, watch + heart rate monitor, watch + band, and watch + HRM-tri heart rate monitor. It is also available in 12 color options.
Some of its outstanding features include the Pulse OX acclimation sensor, its rugged scratch-resistant design, a large storage capacity (up to 500 songs), and the Garmin Pay contactless payment solution. Its battery can last up to 20 days in smartwatch mode and 13 hours in GPS mode with music.
These noted GPS watches display trackable data in real time. You can customize the type of data you would like displayed. Options include speed, clock, distance, calories and pulse, among others.
One aspect that distinguishes the Garmin from Suunto is that some Garmin GPS watches, such as the Garmin Fenix 5X Plus, allow you to customize data directly on the screen. All Suunto watches, on the other hand, require you to customize your data via the app.
Garmin and Suunto watches also have different lengths of battery life. However, mid-range and premium Suunto GPS watches have an intelligent battery feature that indicates the battery time left when in a specific mode. If the battery is running low, the watch suggests that you change to a power-saving mode.
On the other hand, Garmin GPS watches do not have an intelligent or smart battery. Premium-range Garmin GPS watches, such as Garmin Fenix 5 and the Forerunner 935, have different battery operational modes. Some Garmin GPS watches have the UltraTrac mode. This mode will turn off the GPS every once in a while and make use of fast-processing to track time, which saves power.
In terms of battery life, Garmin GPS watches have a battery life that ranges from 24 to 60 hours max, while Suunto GPS watch battery life ranges from 25 and 120 hours max. Generally, Suunto watches have a longer battery life than Garmin watches. Out of all Garmin and Suunto GPS watches, the Suunto 9 has the longest battery life.
Some Garmin GPS watches such as the Garmin Fenix series have luminous cartography ability in full color. Suunto devices do not have this capability, but you can download a GPX and display it on your watch. The downside for both brands of GPS watches is that their screen sizes are too small for you to take a good look at the maps.
Suunto is preferred for outdoor activities such as running, mountaineering, and skiing because its premium range watches have tools related to altimeter as well. These features can help guide you even if you go off the main route.
Different Suunto and Garmin GPS watches incorporate different heart rate monitoring features. While some have a wrist sensor, others have an optical heart rate monitor. Also, some do not have a heart rate checker at all.
The more sophisticated watch models offer 24/7 heart rate monitoring. They then use the tracked data to check on your adrenaline/cortisol and your sleeping patterns.
Up to the last few months of 2020, Suunto watches used the Movescount App. They have since transitioned to an app put out by Suunto which is compatible with most Suunto GPS watches. Meanwhile, Garmin uses the Connect app.
Both the Suunto and Connect apps allow users to process the data they track, upload photos and videos, add notes and descriptions to their workout data, share the data on social media apps and sync to other sport apps and services. The connect app has additional features, such as being able to customize workouts and challenge friends to competitions.
Most Suunto and Garmin GPS watches allow you to play music remotely. Some watches, such as the Suunto 7 and 9 and the Garmin Forerunner, have the capability to download music onto a playlist. Others can store up to 1,000 downloaded songs. Others are compatible with music apps such as Spotify.
To be able to play music via your GPS watch, you need a pair of Bluetooth-compatible earphones or headphones.
Both Suunto and Garmin GPS watches are great options. For each brand, there is a wide range of choice, with different price and functionality options. Identify what features are most crucial for you and narrow down those watches that have those features. Then, narrow down further as per your preference and reviews of the particular GPS watches.
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