Update: we've tested this out! Head straight to our Suunto 9 Peak smartwatch review.
This came out of the left field, for me at least, but Suunto just announced its latest running watch/outdoor watch, the Suunto 9 Peak. As the name might suggest, the new Suunto 9 Peak is built upon the foundation laid by the Suunto 9 and 9 Baro, but the new watch is comparatively smaller and thinner than the mega-bulky Suunto 9 Baro.
The Suunto 9 Peak might be slim but it certainly isn't flimsy: it features a 'titanium Grade 5' bezel, sapphire crystal lens and 'titanium Grade 5' and glass fiber reinforced polyamide case. It also has an impressive battery life in battery saver mode, admittedly not something an average recreational runner will use too often but it's good to know there are options.
Best Suunto watch incoming?
Suunto 9 Peak: price and availability
The Suunto 9 Peak is available now for pre-orders at Suunto UK for a recommended retail price of £629. Products will start shipping 17 June 2021.
It comes in four colourways, including Granite Blue Titanium, Birch White Titanium, All Black and Moss Grey.
US/AUS prices TBC.
Suunto 9 Peak: features
I know you're all here to learn more about the battery life so let's get that out of the way: the Suunto 9 Peak can last for up to two weeks (when oHR is turned off) in smartwatch mode and up to a week in heart-rate tracking mode. GPS battery life is 25 hours (not too shabby) but with different battery saver modes it can all the way up to 170 hours. Granted, in 'Tour' mode, it probably doesn't measure much apart from maybe the time.
Much like other Suunto watches and especially the Suunto 9 Baro, the Suunto 9 Peak is pretty resilient and features premium materials and it's also water rated to 100 ATM. The new 9 Peak is also way thinner than the 9 Baro, as you can see it on the image below. The watch face has a diameter of 43 mm and it's only 10,6 mm thin. The Suunto 9 Peak weighs 52 grams.
It might be due to the slimmer body but the display on the 9 Peak is lower resolution than the one found on the 9 Baro. That said, the 240 x 240 pixels resolution is far from being too low-res for a running wearable. the Suunto 9 Peak introduces a new watch face that showcases your weekly training and 'inspires new routines', as Suunto puts it. Other Suunto 9 watch faces are also available via the Suunto App.
Blood oxygen monitoring is a brand new feature on the Suunto 9 Peak, although we have seen it in other wearables. The blood oxygen monitor can be used to see how well you acclimatise during altitude changes. Again, not something you will use when you jog a casual 5k around town but for people who liked the OG Suunto 9 Baro, this feature might come in handy.
The Suunto 9 Peak has turn-by-turn navigation and also features those cool running and cycling heatmaps we've seen in the Suunto 7. There are 80 sport modes on board straight out of the box.
And finally, the Suunto 9 Peak can update 'over the air', unlike previous Suunto watches that needed to plugged into your computer for updates.
