Suunto 5 Peak Review, Summary & Model Comparisons

Today Suunto announced a long-awaited 2022 update to their Suunto 5 model and I’ve had a month of use of the 5 Peak so here is a detailed review of what I found, warts and all.

The Suunto 5 Peak name might confuse you and you might think it’s a slight modification to the Suunto 5 from 2019, it’s not, further on in this review we shall quickly see a significantly re-designed Outdoors/Adventure/Extreme-Sport/Multi-Sport watch that’s visually different from what came before. Impressively, the feature list is very similar to that found on the 9 Peak at twice the price.

The Suunto 5 Peak is a small format adventure/tri watch and everyone seems to love the classier looks but they love the price tag even more.

This is a media watch directly from Suunto, this review is NOT paid for and I buy watches that I use for my training.

With that, let’s go.

 

I like the Suunto 5 Peak and I’ve had it on my wrist for a month of detailed testing to prepare for this review.

If you are looking for a small format, mini-adventure-cum-multi-sport smartwatch then this could be it. And it could be ‘it’ at a very nice price when you consider the impressive range of features.

What is the Suunto 5 Peak

Suunto Ambit 3 morphed first into the Spartan Trainer, then to the Suunto 5 and now to the 5 Peak. Yet these are 4 different watches for similar price points. The latter three reflect Suunto’s ability to modify another watch from their range to create a tempting, mid-priced offer.

Key Differences

• Water resistance – 30m (vs 100m for Suunto 9 Peak)
• 20 hours GPS recording time (vs 25h for 9 Peak) although reduced GPS usage can deliver an impressive 100-hour battery life in ‘tour’ mode.
• 5 Peak lacks the compass, weather features, blood oxygen & barometric altimeter of the 9 Peak
• Think of the 5 Peak as a cheaper 9 Peak but the lower price tag comes from a non-premium outer casing and three fewer navigational sensors.

Key Similarities

Bearing in mind the limitation of those differences,

• The extensive sports and navigation features are very similar on the 9 Peak and 5 Peak.
• Standard 22m interchangeable straps
• A similar visual look.
• Same menus, same app

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There is nothing totally new to see here. 5 Peak uses Suunto’s existing features, sensors and looks in a new repackaged watch. Thus the Suunto 5 Peak in hardware terms is a Suunto 3 with a few extra sensors and an improved quality face. Yet it is styled like the Suunto 9 Peak and shares almost all of that watch’s software features. Strangely the last Suunto 5 was visually similar to the original Ambit (two models earlier) as both shared a similar antenna, however, that antenna is now integrated into the watch case.

The interesting thing about Suunto’s last two watch releases is that both the 9 Peak and 5 Peak are small format watches, suitable for smaller wrists. Does Suunto plan a larger version of these same watches or have they found a profitable niche targeting smaller-wristed athletes? Hmmm.

Suunto 5 Peak keeps the same Valencell HR sensor of the Suunto 5, albeit with upgraded algorithms. The BLE and GNSS chips are upgraded too, sharing the Sony CXD5605GF chip with the 9 Peak. The rear case and 43mm case size is like the Suunto 3, whereas the face looks like the 9 Peak. OK the case is the same diameter as the 9 Peak but the screen is smaller at 1.2″ vs 1.1″ and the resolution slightly lower at 218px x 218px (vs. 240x20px, 9 Peak).

5 Peak and 9 Peak share the same 22m strap size. The 5 Peak is about half the weight at a featherlight 39g yet a tad thicker at 12.9mm (vs 10.6mm 9 Peak)

 

 

 

Who Will Buy the Suunto 5 Peak?

Suunto 5 Peak offers quite a bit more than the existing Suunto 5 model and offers nearly as much as the 9 Peak at a much lower price

• You will most likely be a keen amateur athlete perhaps also considering a sweet piece of tech to support some mini-adventures you have planned. You’ll be pleased to hear that Suunto’s app is great for route planning and benefits further from good heat maps.
• If you are looking for a watch with a quality 24×7 aesthetic then this fits the bill
• If you are a smaller-wristed person or just prefer the esthetics of a smaller watch case, face and screen then 5 Peak is a good option.
• You are an app-centric person who wants to consume everything either on your wrist or on your smartphone, no more visits to those pesky PC apps, MAC apps or web platforms. Suunto is only a smartphone app and watch.
• You want a lightweight, connected watch to support advanced sports sensors and usage with links to a large range of 3rd party platforms like Strava.
• You want multi-day battery life to give you long periods of stress tracking, sleep tracking and wellness support.

If you can afford the notably more expensive 9 Peak then the extra you get is a newer optical HR sensor (SpO2), touchscreen, higher quality materials and more serious adventure sensors (barometric altimeter, magnetic compass)

Q: Should I upgrade from my Suunto 5?

A: Yes but only if you want a different ‘look’. It is a better watch with a few more features, different hardware and, in my opinion, a sleeker more modern aesthetic but insufficient features to warrant an upgrade on that basis alone.

 

Design Thoughts

I like how Suunto have moved their sports watches forward over the last few years. I like the look and feel of the hardware shell and the software does the job in a fairly logical and sensible way.

The screen lets it down for me and that hasn’t really moved on so much recently. It needs to be bigger and more readable.

My experience with the Suunto 5 Peak for this review was based on pre-release software and that’s a little slow at times. That said, it’s probably no slower than my top-end Garmin Fenix 6 Pro .

 

General usage

Suunto’s recent changes to their smartphone app have now settled down nicely. There’s no longer a web interface, it’s just your watch, the app and any links you have to 3rd party services like Strava or Komoot. The 5 Peak works well alongside the app as it syncs reliably and Suunto are now confident enough in that connection to allow silent firmware updates directly from the app to the watch.

In the Box

The clean-looking & compact box contains an old-style Suunto charging clamp, the Suunto 5 Peak watch and pieces of paper you will never read.

Special Uses: Connected Health, Activity Tracking, Sleep, Fitness, Physiology Insights & Recovery

The Suunto 5 Peak is a smartwatch so you get all the basic connected features like notifications and 24×7 HR.

Suunto  Peak covers the super-basics with steps & calories but there is much more advanced physiology support as the watch develops a good grasp of your training loads, VO2max, sleep, sleep HR and recovery times and uses HRV feedback for 24×7 readiness states like Garmin’s Body Battery. Along similar lines, this data is mirrored on the app where there is more scope to glean deeper insights – for example, with larger format graphs.

Whilst Garmin’s physiology features are extensive, they are also somewhat complex & unwieldy in places. Contrast that to Suunto. Suunto mostly incorporates widely useful and key metrics for good-to-recreational level athletes, for example, readiness to train from an HRV-stress perspective as well as readiness-to-train from a CTL/ATL perspective. Those metrics are not as complex as the acronyms sound and there are also super-simple physiological numbers like ‘recovery time’ in hours. As you ramp up your training, these kinds of insights become crucial. If you don’t quite know what to do with those pieces of data, simply uses Suunto’s adaptive training guidance which tells you the best type of training to do ‘today’.

More Info: Suunto’s Training Load

 

Suunto’s platform is easily extended to link to your favourite apps.

 

Special Features: Suunto Plus

Suunto Plus offers a range of ‘apps’ and you can add one of these to your workout before you start. These include insights into fat/carb burn, weather & Strava Relative Effort. More recently, Suunto introduced 3 new types of special apps that automatically detect and record repeated efforts – hills, loops and intervals.

Climb – Hill training

The CLIMB ‘app’ works for extended or repeated climbing activities. So, as two examples, this covers a runner performing fast, repeated hill reps as well as a climber trekking up a series of long hills. The display and recording of each climb as a lap is automated and the trigger is 10m of continuous ascent, once that kicks in you get to see the climb-specific metrics like ‘vertical metres’ and ‘% grade’. It might also be worth adding that you can also show Grade Adjusted Pace (Suunto call it normalized, graded pace NGP), vertical speed (m/hr) and vertical metres.

 

Loop – Lap timer

The definition of a ‘loop’ is somewhat nebulous, which is great as it will cover laps of a running track, repeats of a piste when XC skiing or bike laps of your local park. The loop is defined from the point where you manually press LAP and is then automatically triggered later by proximity to that point, I’m guessing the GPS sensitivity is something like +/-5m.

The LOOPS are treated exactly like traditionally triggered LAPS. So there is a LOOP summary displayed at the end of each LOOP, it’s shown for 20-seconds after which the LOOP screen shows your progress through the current lap. LOOPS are summarised at the end of your MOVE and LOOPS are shown on the Suunto app when you sync your data. I would LOVE AND USE this feature on my Wahoo Element or Garmin when cycling but only Polar has something similar.

 

Sprint – Running pace | Cycling power

The ‘Sprint’ app identifies harder efforts during the workouts while running or cycling and further includes functionality to allow for WARMUP/COOLDOWN. A SPRINT is triggered when either pace or power increases by 25% and then this works in the same way as LOOPS to introduce the various elements of displaying and recording the sprints.

Caveat: Using GPS causes a 5-10 second delay to identify the effort both when starting and ending the effort – for shorter efforts this notably reduces the usefulness. However, with a footpod or power meter, the delay is shorter. This delay is similar to that on Polar watches and is required to exclude false surges from being recorded as a Sprint

Live Snap-to-Route

The live Snap-to-Route is a novel feature that I’m not sure needed to be invented. That said, innovation always needs applauding and I have to concede that there are some valuable uses for this interesting addition to the Suunto stable. So, having just contradicted myself, yes it needed inventing!!! 🙂

Live Snap-to-Route is intended to be used in scenarios like urban races where a) you can download the route before you start off and b) where the GPS is likely to be impaired. At the start of the race or workout, you load up a course in the sports profile’s navigation menu, instead of using the normal ‘Routes’ option you choose ‘Snap to Route’.

To be clear: This feature will be mostly used when you know the route eg in a race. The pre-loaded route file is used to improve the accuracy of the speed/distance metrics.

When you are in the race/workout you will still get all the regular off-route type messaging and you can switch across to the navigation screen, however, that’s not quite the point here.

The Snap to Route feature changes the behaviour of the watch and how it interprets the GPS signal. Instead of determining your positional changes ie to work out speed and distance, instead, the prime focus of Snap to Route is to work out where you are on the route. As you progress along the route the determination of true distance should be better when taken from the route file rather than from GPS. It’s a bit weird to explain.

To cut to the chase, the live Snap-to-Route does appear to give improvements to the accuracy of instant pace although not always. We know that instant pace is always pretty much wrong from GPS in all but the very best GPS reception conditions. You could get very creative with this feature and plan all of your runs and rides so that you always follow a course…or buy a footpod like Stryd.

The algorithms stop if you deviate from the course too much and naturally they will be affected by a series of incorrect GPS readings but it should give fairly decent speed/distance numbers. When you re-join a course the algorithm kicks in again…clever stuff.

If you are the kind of urban runner that wants a perfect Strava record of your route in Manhattan or London or Paris then Snap-to-Route will give you the aesthetics you desire…people like me will have to put up with Strava maps full of squiggles! Hey, each to their own.

Take Out: Some urban racers and highly organised runners will think this is brilliant. I certainly do think Snap-to-Run is super-innovative but will never use it.

 

 

 

Key Uses: Navigation & The Extremes

Suunto’s pedigree is the outdoors and they have historically produced watches for that market. It’s their job! As the name PEAK implies, this watch is built for the outdoors. The shell feels durable and is certainly very light.

 

Here are some screens from the app to give you a flavour of heatmaps, POIs and route creation.

 

 

Suunto covers most of the bases for everyday adventures. The Suunto 5 Peak is a ‘companion on the wrist’ and provides key route guidance and some environmental feedback. The only major downsides here are that the Suunto 5 Peak might be considered small for some and there are no onboard maps. Perhaps you get around the lack of maps by using a paper map or the Suunto app on your smartphone, depending on the kind of navigation you need to do.

When the going gets tough it’s probably a Garmin, Suunto or Coros you’d feel more comfortable with on your wrist.

Key Uses: Sports, Swim, Bike & Run

The Suunto 5 Peak shares the same sports features as previous models and that means you have a comprehensive & wide-reaching set of sports features that will be perfect fo more than 95% of you reading this.

If you are a predominantly single-sport athlete then the Suunto 5 will probably have all you need with the ability to display appropriate metrics and pull some of them from a range of 3rd party sensors like power meters and chest straps. Recreational multisports are nicely covered but if you are training for Age Group triathlon glory then you’ll always buy a Garmin – if you are training for fun, enjoyment or a challenge then Suunto is a good option.

Special Uses: Partner Platforms

There are a large number of linkups with 3rd party sports services where you can share your stats with friends via Strava or impress them with a full Re-Live video of your route.

Special Uses: Native Running Power & Cycling Power Support

One interesting feature that a high-end Polar or Suunto watch shares is the native support for running with power (Stryd) meaning that running power is enmeshed with the zones, alerts and other features of the watch to the same extent that HR or speed is. Garmin does NOT have native running power.

Suunto 5 Peak GPS and oHR Accuracy Review

It’s easy to sum up the GPS and heart rate performance of the Suunto 5 Peak – both need TLC.

The following 10 workouts show a mixed bag of performances from the 5 Peak. Many are fine but a few are certainly not fine and Valencell need to tweak the new HR algorithms a bit more.

Here are some results from GPS accuracy testing and most of my testing was with the firmware fix for GPS that will be in the retail version.

1 – Run – Easy GPS, Suburban

Apple Watch 7 blue (best), Suunto (yellow) 2nd, Garmin Fenix 6 Pro (worst)

 

 

2 – Run – Easy Gps, suburban & open riverside

Apple Watch 7 (blue, best), Suunto 5 (pink) and Coros Pace 2 (green) about the same, Garmin Fenix 6 PRO (orange, worst)

 

 

3. Run – 10-mile formal test route

I’ve run this route with just about every GPS sports watch ever. The Suunto 5 Peak was below average. Compared to the original Suunto 5 (blue) which uses the same Sony chip the difference is stark. Perhaps that external antenna on the original Suunto 5 and Ambit 3 was one of the reasons they gave awesome GPS tracks? (yep!).

4. Ride – Surrey Hills, Wooded and open, out and back

All devices were generally OK but the 5 Peak had a few moments of madness where it was poor (pink)

 

 

5. Ride – Richmond Park, open parkland, easy GPS

Perfect, apart from this one section (yellow)

 

6. Run – Thames Riverside, under trees, tricky GPS

This used older firmware omitting a subsequent GPS fix. Suunto 5 (pink) cuts corners and can’t stay on track (representative image)

 

 

7. Run – Kingston, urban, very tricky GPS

This used older firmware omitting a subsequent GPS fix. Suunto 5 (pink) had difficulties in hard urban conditions, AW7 was good.

 

 

Product Options – Cases, Straps & Prices

Price: Eu299/$329

From: Here

There are 4 widely available colours with 3 more at specialist retailers, all come at an RRP of Eu299/$329

 

 

 

 

As time passes, Suunto tends to introduce the ability to swap out case components to further customise the watch colours or, perhaps, bundles that include a chest strap.

Suunto 5 Peak Specifications vs Suunto 9 Peak vs Suunto 5

Here are the Suunto 5 Peak specifications taken directly from Suunto.com. A couple of the ones that don’t look right I’ve put a ‘?’ by. Also here is the Suunto 9 Peak vs Suunto 5 vs Suunto 5 Peak comparison. I’ve highlighted in bold some of the more noteworthy differences.

	Suunto 5	Suunto 5 Peak	Suunto 9 Peak
GENERAL
Bezel material	Stainless steel	Stainless steel	Stainless steel or Titanium Grade 5
Glass material	Mineral crystal	Polyamide	Sapphire crystal
Case material	Glass fibre reinforced polyamide	Glass fibre reinforced polyamide	Glass fibre reinforced polyamide
Watch diameter	46mm	43mm	43mm
Watch thickness	13,5mm	12,9mm	10,6mm
Strap material	Silicone	Silicone	Silicone
Strap width	22 mm	22 mm	22 mm
Wrist sizes	130-210 mm	130-210 mm	125-175 mm (accessory strap -215mm)
Weight	66g	39g	62g / 52g (titanium)
Customizable watch faces	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic firmware updates over the air	no	yes	Yes
Touch screen lock	no	no	during exercise
Touch display	no	no	Yes
Colour display	Yes	Yes	Yes
Water resistance	50 m	30 m	100 m
Battery indicator	percentage / icon	percentage / icon	percentage / icon
Battery type	rechargeable lithium-ion	rechargeable lithium-ion	rechargeable lithium-ion
Firmware upgradable	Yes	Yes	Yes
Time, date	Yes	Yes	Yes
Alarm clock	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dual time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Integrated wrist heart rate	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blood oxygen	no	no	Yes
Automatic timekeeping	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stopwatch timer	Yes	Yes	Yes
Countdown timer	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vibration alert	Yes	Yes	Yes
Languages	CS, DA, DE, EL, EN, ES, FI, FR, HE, IT, JA, KO, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SV, TR, ZH*, TH*, ZHTW*	CS, DA, DE, EL, EN, ES, FI, FR, HE, IT, JA, KO, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SV, TR, ZH*, TH*, ZHTW*	CS, DA, DE, EL, EN, ES, FI, FR, HE, IT, JA, KO, NL, NO, PL, PT, RU, SV, TR, ZH*, TH*, ZHTW*
Backlight	LED	LED	LED
Configurable backlight	Yes	Yes	Automatic brightness
Button lock	during exercise	during exercise	during exercise
Display size	1,1″	1,1″	1,2″
Display type	matrix	matrix	matrix
Display resolution	218 x 218	218 x 218	240 x 240
Metric and imperial units	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic daylight saving time	Yes	Yes	Yes
PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Operating temperature	-10° C to +50° C / 15° F to 120° F	-20° C to +55° C / -5° F to +130° F	-20° C to +55° C / -5° F to +130° F
Storage temperature	-30° C to +55° C / -22° F to +130° F	-20° C to +55° C / -5° F to +130° F	-20° C to +55° C / -5° F to +130° F
Recommended charging temperature	0° C to +35° C / +32° F to +95° F	0° C to +35° C / +32° F to +95° F	0° C to +35° C / +32° F to +95° F
BATTERY LIFE
Intelligent charge reminders	Yes	Yes	Yes
In time mode	12 days	up to 10 days	14 days
with 24/7 tracking and mobile notifications	7 days	up to 7 days	7 days
Training mode with GPS	20h / 40h	20h / 40h / 100h	25h / 50h / 120h / 170h
COMPASS
Digital compass	no	no	Yes
Tilt compensation	no	no	Yes
Declination correction	no	no	Yes
Direction scale	no	no	degrees
Needle	no	no	north indicator
Compass accuracy	no	no	5°
Compass resolution	no	no	1°
CONNECTIVITY
Connectivity (between devices)	Bluetooth	Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5
Compatible with Suunto app	Yes	Yes	Yes
Phone notifications on the watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
Music/Media controls on the watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
Send predefined answers to incoming messages  (Android)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Compatible with online sports communities	Strava, TrainingPeaks, Endomondo and more	Strava, TrainingPeaks, Endomondo and more	Strava, TrainingPeaks, Endomondo and more
Watch software updates from the cloud	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic over the air software updates	no	yes	Yes
Smartphone compatibility	Most common models supported,	Most common models supported,	Most common models supported,
ACTIVITY TRACKING
Step counter	Yes	Yes	Yes
Calories burned	Yes	Yes	Yes
Activity targets	Steps, Calories	Steps, Calories	Steps, Calories
Activity history	Yes	Yes	Yes
Calorie burn rate and heart rate during daily activities	Yes	Yes	Yes
Daily minimum heart rate tracking	Yes	Yes	Yes
SLEEP TRACKING
Sleep duration	Duration, average hr, sleep quality	Duration, average hr, sleep quality	Duration, average hr
Bedtimes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Time awake	Yes	Yes	Yes
Deep sleep	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sleep quality	Yes	Yes	Yes
STRESS AND RECOVERY
Daily resource level	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stress and recovery status	Yes	Yes	Yes
GPS TRACKING & NAVIGATION
Satellite systems	GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU	GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU	GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU
Intelligent battery modes	Performance, Endurance, Custom	Performance, Endurance, Tour, Custom	Performance, Endurance, Ultra, Custom
GPS recording rate	BEST, GOOD	BEST, GOOD, LOW	BEST, GOOD, OK, LOW
Waypoint and visual route navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zoom levels in navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto-zoom based on route shape	Yes	Yes	Yes
Breadcrumb trail in real-time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Route planning with altitude profile	Yes	Yes	Yes
Outdoor terrain and satellite maps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Global heatmaps for 20 sports	Yes	Yes	Yes
Route planning with heatmaps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Personal route library synced to watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
Snap to route	Yes	Yes	Yes
Point of interest (POI) navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes
ETA (estimated time of arrival)	Yes	Yes	Yes
GPS track analysis	Yes	Yes	Yes
Track logging, viewing and sharing	Yes	Yes	Yes
ALTIMETER
Barometric altitude	no	no	Yes
GPS altitude	Yes	Yes	Yes
Combined GPS and barometric altitude (FusedAlti™)	no	no	Yes
Altitude in daily mode	no	no	Yes
Altitude acclimation with blood oxygen	no	no	Yes
Total ascent/descent	Yes	Yes	in exercise
Vertical speed	Yes	Yes	in exercise
Automatic alti/baro profile	no	no	Yes
Log recording rate	1 s	1 s	1 s
Resolution	1 m	1 m	1 m
Range	-500 – 9999 m	-500 – 9999 m	-500 – 9999 m
WEATHER
Sunrise/sunset times	Yes	Yes	Yes
Storm alarm	no	no	Yes
Sea level pressure	no	no	Yes
Automatic alti/baro profile	no	no	Yes
Temperature	no	no	Yes
Temperature display range	no	no	-20° C to +55° C
Temperature resolution	no	no	1 C
Pressure resolution	no	no	1 hPa
Move altitude graph in Move summary	Yes	Yes	Yes
ADAPTIVE TRAINING GUIDANCE
Intensity and duration based real-time guidance during a workout	Yes	Yes
Automatic 7-day training plan to improve your fitness level	Yes	Yes
INTERVAL TRAINING
Setup intervals in watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
Interval guidance during training	Yes	Yes	Yes
HEART RATE
Heart rate measured from wrist	Yes	Yes	Yes
Heart rate belt compatibility	Bluetooth HR belts	Bluetooth HR belts	Bluetooth HR belts
RR interval	with Suunto Smart Sensor	with Suunto Smart Sensor	with Suunto Smart Sensor
Heart rate in beats per minute	Yes	Yes	Yes
Records heart rate in swimming	with Suunto Smart Sensor	with Suunto Smart Sensor	with Suunto Smart Sensor
Heart rate graph in real-time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Real-time average heart rate	Yes	Yes	Yes
Calories	Yes	Yes	Yes
Peak Training Effect	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recovery time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Personal heart rate zones	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fitness level (VO2Max)	Yes	Yes	Yes
SPEED AND DISTANCE
Cadence based speed and distance	Yes	Yes	Yes
GPS speed and distance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chrono	Yes	Yes	Yes
Foot POD support	Bluetooth Foot Pods	Bluetooth Foot Pods	Bluetooth Foot Pods
Autolaps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manual laps	Yes	Yes	Yes
Analysis of pace, speed graphs and tracks on the map	Yes	Yes	Yes
TRAINING RECOVERY
Training based recovery time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recovery time daily view in watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
Feeling stored in the watch after training	Yes	Yes	Yes
TRAINING LOAD
Logbook with Move details	Yes	Yes	Yes
Move summary with lap details	Yes	Yes	Yes
Training load with totals by sport	Yes	Yes	Yes
Training logbook for long term overviews	Yes	Yes	Yes
SHARE AND RELIVE
Move sharing to social media	Yes	Yes	Yes
Move rating and commenting	Yes	Yes	Yes
Follow other members and get feedback via the activity stream	Yes	Yes	Yes
SWIMMING
Pool swim pace and distance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Openwater swim distance	Yes	Yes	Yes
Records heart rate in swimming	Yes	Yes	Yes
Swimming time by pool length, lap, total	Yes	Yes	Yes
Swimming stroke rate, count and type	Yes	Yes	Yes
Stroke efficiency (SWOLF)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic intervals	Yes	Yes	Yes
Interval lap table	Yes	Yes	Yes
CYCLING
Cycling speed	Yes	Yes	Yes
Average speed in real-time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Bike POD with speed/cadence support	Bluetooth Bike Pods	Bluetooth Bike Pods	Bluetooth Bike Pods
Bike power meter support	Bluetooth Power meters	Bluetooth Power meters	Bluetooth Power meters
Bike Power (W), average and maximum (with power sensor)	Bluetooth Power meters	Bluetooth Power meters	Bluetooth Power meters
Bike Lap and Lap Maximum Power (with power sensor)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Real-time lap table with avg HR, avg power and avg speed	Yes	Yes	Yes
Interval guidance with power/speed/heartrate	Yes	Yes	Yes
RUNNING
Running pace	Yes	Yes	Yes
Suunto FusedSpeed™	Yes	Yes	Yes
Suunto FusedTrack™	no	no	Yes
Snap to route	Yes	Yes	Yes
Running power with Stryd sensor	Yes	Yes	Yes
SuuntoPlus™ Ghost runner	Yes	Yes	Yes
Foot POD calibration	automatic	automatic	automatic
Lap table in watch and Suunto app	Yes	Yes	Yes
Average, max, lap pace in real-time	Yes	Yes	Yes
Interval guidance with running pace/heartrate/distance	on watch	on watch	on watch
MULTISPORT
Change sport mode during exercise	Yes	Yes	Yes
Preconfigured multisport modes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Post-analysis of multisport exercise by sport	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multisport exercise summary on watch	Yes	Yes	Yes
SPORT MODES
Customizable sport modes and displays	Yes	Yes	Yes
Graph displays in sport modes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pre-installed sport modes on watch	> 80	> 80	> 80
SuuntoPlus™	Yes	Yes	Yes
SUITABLE FOR SPORTS	Running	Running	Running
	Trail running	Trail running	Trail running
	Treadmill running	Treadmill running	Treadmill running
	Pool swimming	Pool swimming	Pool swimming
	Openwater swimming	Openwater swimming	Openwater swimming
	Walking	Walking	Walking
	Triathlon	Triathlon	Triathlon
	Orienteering	Orienteering	Orienteering
	Mountaineering	Mountaineering	Mountaineering
	Ski Touring	Ski Touring	Ski Touring
	Alpine skiing	Alpine skiing	Alpine skiing
	Snowboarding	Snowboarding	Snowboarding
	Telemark skiing	Telemark skiing	Telemark skiing
	Weight training	Weight training	Weight training
	Circuit training	Circuit training	Circuit training
	Crossfit	Crossfit	Crossfit
	Cycling	Cycling	Cycling
	Indoor cycling	Indoor cycling	Indoor cycling
	Mountain biking	Mountain biking	Mountain biking
	Hiking	Hiking	Hiking
	Trekking	Trekking	Trekking
			Climbing

 

Suunto 5 Peak Review – Take Out

The Suunto 5 Peak continues a subtle shift in their products’ direction, started by the 9 Peak – smaller watches and a sleeker 24×7 design are definitely appealing to non-traditional Suunto demographics.

Suunto has a loyal, core following and this watch will also appeal to older Suunto Ambit-era owners as a sensible upgrade but not to most existing Suunto 5 owners.

When playing the most-features-comparison-game Suunto, Coros, Polar and others will always lose to Garmin despite, perhaps, being able to beat Garmin on the usability of those features in some circumstances. But the reality is that the majority of Suunto buyers don’t spend half their lives at Everest base camp…some do…most don’t. So the Suunto feature set is easily more than adequate for their customers’ needs…your needs. Indeed, at its chosen price level, the Suunto 5 Peak is a great value triathlon & adventure watch.

Suunto 5 Peak represents GREAT VALUE for a weekend adventurer or a new triathlete. The bonus is the 24×7 aesthetic.

Then we come to the app which has undergone numerous changes and enhancements in recent years. Despite my misgivings from 2019, the Suunto app is now generally ‘good’ and contains some cool stuff. Again, it doesn’t do everything but, certainly, neither does Garmin Connect. However, the app is focused on delivering many popular and useful sporting/navigational insights, it sets the balance right between ease of use and the number of features. The caveat here is that many people just buy all the features they can afford on a just-in-case basis.

One area for criticism is the watch software. Several individual features are missing on a small scale but the overall offering is certainly WAY more than merely competent. Maps on the watch are the big omission and maps do have a part to play in putting some kinds of navigation into context but watch-based maps are perhaps otherwise slightly over-egged in their usefulness on small watch screens. That said links to other specialist platforms like Komoot more than compensate for these omissions.

Suunto watches also have a ‘certain style‘ and it’s a style that I personally like. But you pay for what you get and the sleek-looking 5 Peak doesn’t share the quality materials of its 9 Peak sibling and it also lacks the full range of pro-level outdoor sensors – fused barometric altimeter, magnetic compass, latest SpO2 heart rate sensor.

I finish this review with the hope that the Suunto 5 Pea will deservedly boost the company’s success and profile over the next few years.

Price on Jan 20, 2022: Eu299/$329

From: Here