Meet the Suunto 7 smartwatch (£386.10). Aimed at sport and outdoor lovers, it’s definitely more adventure-ready than your average smartwatch thanks to great mapping abilities.
Suunto 7 smartwatch review
Suunto 7 smartwatch review: Straight out of the box, the handsome Suunto 7 feels comfortable to wear, its silicone strap moulding quickly to your wrist. The watch boasts a large screen which is easy to check on the go – and if you’re like me and hate fiddling with buttons, you’ll love the excellent touchscreen. The screen is full colour, and it’s easy and intuitive to flick between apps and sports modes when you begin a new training session. There are a massive 70 active modes to choose from, ranging from trail running to open water swimming, meaning that if you’re like me and love to switch up how you exercise, your watch will always keep up, feeding all your data into the Suunto app so you can monitor your progress (and yes, the 7 also connects to Strava and other popular apps if you want to show off your latest speed record to your followers).
Out on the trail: The Suunto 7 is ready to get off the beaten track with you. Its mapping capabilities work offline, ideal when you’re hiking far from the nearest WiFi signal, and are totally free – there are no hidden extras you need to pay for, you simply download the map for the area you’re about to explore. Plan your route easily in the Suunto app (you can choose to follow established paths or freestyle your route), then follow it turn by turn as you hike, run or cycle. One of my favourite features is the heatmapped trails option – find inspiration by looking at the trails frequently taken by other users in your local area, a genius way to find new routes and where to start them, especially if you’re exploring closer to home and want fresh ideas. Below you can see how easy it is to see your completed route, view a heatmap of where others have explored nearby, or create a new route ready to follow (you can also import routes via GPX files).
A smartwatch designed for getting active outside needs to be tough, and the Suunto 7 is definite rugged enough to take on the elements – it boasts a shockproof case protected with scratch-resistant glass and water resistant to 50 metres, which I found waterproof enough to take swimming and to wear in heavy rain or even for a day of canyoning. On average, my watch battery lasts for two days, meaning I can map a multi-day adventure even if I’m camping – there’s also a battery-saving GPS mode you can enable, to keep going for longer.
Taking a day off from exploring? The Suunto 7 is packed with useful bits and pieces for everyday life, including Google Pay, step counting and music. And the watch looks rather smart, too, with interchangeable watch faces – perfect for wearing in the city as well as the countryside. Like to make a statement with your timepiece? Colourways on offer include my black smartwatch plus white, sandstone, graphite and black and lime.
Verdict: A joy to use and ideal for lovers of multi-sport adventure, the Suunto 7 is the perfect companion if you love changing up how you explore each day.
