Can the Suunto 5 Peak Smartwatch Level up Your Fitness Game? I Gave It a Shot

Can the Suunto 5 Peak Smartwatch Level up Your Fitness Game? I Gave It a Shot

If there is one piece of tech that everyone seems to be getting nowadays, it would be a smartwatch. Whether they are used to track exercises or streamline the use of your mobile phone, smartwatches are quickly becoming everyone’s favourite accessory. So if you’re in the market for a new smartwatch to help you reach your fitness goals, there’s so much to love about the Suunto 5 Peak.

To me, the best thing about smartwatches is that they can help elevate your everyday life, especially if you exercise regularly. But because the range of smartwatches is so large, it can be difficult to figure out which one is the best fit for you.

We’re no stranger to testing out smartwatches here at Lifehacker Australia, so when we were offered to review the Suunto 5 Peak, we jumped at the chance.

Designed for outdoor fitness lovers, the Suunto 5 Peak is manufactured in Finland with 100% renewable, carbon-neutral energy which is a welcomed point of difference from other watches on the market.

Basic functions on the watch include intelligent battery modes, more than 80 sports modes, sleep and activity tracking, music controls, stress and recovery tracking, GPS navigation, over-the-air updates and water resistant to 30 metres.

Without further ado, here’s what I thought about the Suunto 5 Peak.

Suunto 5 Peak smartwatch
Image: Lifehacker Australia

What’s good

Sleek design

When I first got the Suunto 5 Peak, I instantly fell in love with the design. It’s both sleek and stylish and looks like an actual watch, which I appreciate.

For reference, I have a Garmin Forerunner 935  which is quite hefty on the wrist and is very obviously a smartwatch.

The other thing I noticed straight away was how light the Suunto 5 Peak was. According to Suunto, it’s 41% lighter than its predecessor and weighs around 39g — 10g lighter than the Garmin.

In addition to the sleek design and the weight, the other thing that appealed to me was the font, which was both elegant and stunning. Although a small detail, it really helped elevate the watch.

If you’re someone who is hypersensitive to strong vibrations or is just generally annoyed by them, the Suunto 5 Peak is the watch you’re after. If I compare my Garmin again, the Suunto wins me over simply with the fact that the notifications come through as more of a gentle nudge, whereas the Garmin’s vibrations are incredibly forceful.

What helps with the sleek design is the simple push-in clasp on the watch’s strap. You can tell it was designed for outdoor exercise because it holds very firmly in place which is great for when you’re running. In saying that though, the clasp will probably leave a little mark on your skin but that’s the case with many watches.

Image: Supplied

GPS tracking

A feature that is hard to overlook on the Suunto 5 Peak is its incredible mapping and navigation tools.

Using the Suunto app, you can explore new routes and mix up your own running/cycling routes and track it all within the watch.

When trying to plan out a new route in your area, there’s an option to use heat maps which allow you to see the most popular/used trails, paths, roads and tracks for whatever your chosen activity is.

This feature was super useful to me as I had just restarted my running training and was looking for a variety of different routes in my area.

By using the heat maps, I could then figure out what would work best for me for how far and how intense I wanted the run to be, based on what other runners had tracked.

If you find a particular map you like, you can name, save and transfer it to your watch within seconds so you can go out and explore it.

The built-in GPS system works almost immediately upon starting a new workout on the watch.

Something that I deeply appreciated about the Suunto 5 Peak was that you could see your CO2 emissions and the impact of your travel.

The watch would track my human-powered travels (whether that be by bike or running/walking) which I could then tag as ‘commutes’ and see how much CO2 emissions I had saved compared to if I were driving the same distance.

Image: Lifehacker Australia

Fitness features

As mentioned, with more than 80 different sports modes, the Suunto 5 Peak really comes alive when you start using it for exercise.

It’s at the point I started going for runs with it that I could tell it was designed for fitness lovers in mind.

Like most sports watches, I could quickly see my heartbeat and the pace at which I was running. But it’s what the watch did after my run that impressed me the most.

Within the app, I received adaptive training guidance and could see my fitness tracking levels to evaluate how much I had exerted in my runs. It also gave me different exercise and workout suggestions to give me a well-rounded training regime.

Another feature that I was surprised (and relieved) to see was that I was told to go a bit easier on my training if I had too many high-intensity workouts in close proximity.

Random quirks

Besides the big features of the Suunto 5 Peak, there were a few other little quirks that I appreciated.

The first is that it had both sunrise and sunset alarms (if you enabled them). It would also show the time the sun was going to rise and set on your watch face.

I used the sunset alarm the most because I wanted to know how much time I had to go for a run before it got dark outside.

Something that is neither good or bad but just rather funny was the charger. I have never seen anything like it. It’s a claw/crocodile clip-like charger that hooks onto the watch.

I suppose you could run into issues with this if you left it somewhere and needed to charge your watch.

Image: Supplied

What’s not so good

Brightness

Something that I was a little disappointed by was the brightness levels on the Suunto 5 Peak.

Because the watch was built with a colour memory-in-pixel display, it requires less power than other smartwatches might. However, the sacrifice of that seems to be the display’s brightness and vibrancy.

It wasn’t really an issue during the day but at night, it was a bit difficult to see the watch face at certain times.

I’ve seen a few other people say that they don’t like the plastic watch face but I didn’t really mind it. It didn’t impact me in any way but I can see how this might annoy some people.

Charge

Suunto claims that the watch has up to 10 days charge on ‘In Time Mode’ and up to seven days with 24/7 tracking and mobile notifications.

I found myself having to charge the Suunto 5 Peak every six or so days (with 24/7 tracking and notifications on) which isn’t too bad but it could have been better.

In saying that, it did give me a fair warning about the charge levels so I didn’t forget to charge it. It also charged pretty quickly, so that’s an upside.

Suunto 5 Peak smartwatch
Image: Supplied

Price

The Suunto 5 Peak retails at $499.99 which makes it a mid-range smartwatch.

While it is a lot pricier than other watches available, you’re still getting quite a decent amount out of it for a sub-$500 watch.

It’s also one of the cheapest Suunto watches available but still has some pretty great tech within it.

However, at that price point, you might prefer opting for a watch that is more well-rounded and less fitness-focused.

Overall verdict

Overall, I really loved my time with the Suunto 5 Peak smartwatch.

From the heat map GPS tracking to the sleek style and design, I was thoroughly impressed with the watch.

Although there were a few little things that took away from the overall experience, they weren’t deal breakers in my eyes.

For those wanting to get into fitness and level up their exercise routines, this is the perfect smartwatch for you.

You can buy the Suunto 5 Peak here.


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


Leave a Reply