Suunto 7 Review: For a particular kind of person

Smartwatches have been known to inspire movement. We’ve written about the gamification of our fitness through the use of the Huawei GT 2e, or how the Apple Watch changed one editor’s life, but the crux of both of these is that a buzz or a progress meter on your wrist can be enough motivation to get you moving.

The question is whether every watch holds this same motivation. On the surface most smartwatches are pretty similar, they track steps, heart rate, exercise, maybe sleep, and they tell the time. Yet some don’t drive dedication where others do.

The Suunto 7 is, on the surface, a smartwatch but it isn’t what I’d consider to be inspirational. Out of the box the Suunto 7 comes with a built in GPS, offline maps, over 70 sports modes and the range of smartwatch features associated with Wear OS by Google. It lacks some basic features which are replaced with an impressive display, and great GPS technology, but you’ve got to be able to walk before you can run.

According to research, much of the motivational factors that smartwatches establish come from the psychological mechanisms that achieving your daily goals create. For Apple Watch users it may be closing your rings, or on Fitbit you’ll get the buzz that reminds you to stand up every hour, all accompanied by a reward of some sort when you do as your watch says. 

Completing these tasks makes users psychologically believe that they are achieving the perceived benefits associated with this task. For example, even if you always stood up every hour you’re more likely to feel accomplished doing it if your watch celebrates it. It’s pretty much like a digital sticker chart. 

Despite the impressive tracking tech we’ll talk about later on, some of these basic motivational features are missing. Using Suunto Wear OS you can’t set up step, movement, or calorie burn goals, only a weekly workout goal in hours. You can however set these up in Google Fit, connect your watch to your Google Fit account and share data between the two. But even if you’re trying to up your step count that feels like a lot of steps. Even if you do use Google Fit this still means no on-wrist celebrations celebrations, no motivations, no extra push to get you those sweet, sweet endorphins.

Wear OS and Google Fit are the basis for a range of wearables, many non-Apple smartwatches run a combination of bespoke software and Wear OS. The problem with this is that Wear OS is buggy. While using it allows for NFC through Google Pay, Google Assistant, and can make up for missing features on the manufacturer software, it is rare for the two systems to work well in tandem.

Much of the time you’ll miss out on watch features by using Google Fit or visa versa. The Suunto 7 is an excellent example of this, while yes you can set up goals in Google Fit that you can’t on the watch itself, the synching between the two isn’t seamless and you’re unlikely to get every notification that you sign up for. If you’re looking for inspiration in the form of push notifications you’ll need to go searching for it.

It also means that in order to look through your stats, you’ll need to switch back and forth between two apps or just be content with compromising on one.

Speaking of compromise, you’ll need to compromise your wrist space to accommodate the sheer mass of the Suunto 7. Its housing some junk in its trunk, but she’s real thicc. This may not matter to some people, but on my wrist it was downright gargantuan. While not necessarily heavier than other watches it really is in your face, and on your wrist, and sliding slightly down into your hand as well.

In saying that the large scale is to accommodate the 1.39-inch AMOLED display which is frankly stunning. It is vibrant and large enough to utilise the offline maps efficiently and with that in mind is ostensibly made for the outdoorsy exerciser with the GPS tracking the real standout here.

With the companion app available on Android or iOS you can map your outdoor running or cycling routes, see tracks taken by the local community of Suunto users, and look into your workout through extensive analytical data. See your 30-Day summary which gives you a snapshot of how much more or less you’re exercising within this time frame. As someone with a lot of spreadsheets created to show me a big green percentage when things improve, this feature spoke to me on a very personal level.

I’m genuinely impressed with the accuracy of the GPS tracking, during testing it picked up times when I would stray from the path by no less than a metre and reflect this on my running map. As opposed to other watches I’ve used where you see the general path which you’ve taken, the Suunto 7 seems to pick up greater detail. Even in remote areas where I had little to no phone reception, the Suunto continued to pick up the finer details of a track which is great for the detail-orientated athlete.

Unfortunately this kind of accuracy can be draining and the battery isn’t up to the task. During a 50 minute walk the battery was down by 20%, that means for morning exercisers you’ll be starting the day off at a deficit. Even on days when I was too lazy to get out and about in the morning, the Suunto struggled to make it through the day. Oftentimes I'd be on the train by 8:30am and already sitting at 70%, and by 3:00pm I'd be in the mid to high 20% range.

Toggling notifications off didn’t do much to alleviate these battery woes, neither did switching the GPS tracking to ‘good’ rather than ‘best.’ The only time I saw any dramatic change was after disallowing location settings on the device which bolstered the battery to last through the day. When 3:00pm rolled around the watch would be on closer to 40% which is a marked improvement. However, turning off the main feature of a smartwatch so that it can last through the day is counterproductive. You shouldn’t have to disable premium features for a device to operate well enough to last a day.

While panicking that I wouldn’t be able to tap off of the train at the end of the day does get my heart rate up, I can’t say that this battery anxiety was the best motivator to get me moving quicker.

Suunto 7 - Final thoughts

While the Suunto 7 houses some great tech, its battery power and reliance on Wear OS and Google Fit let it down. I can see the benefits of the GPS tracking, and visually the screen is stunning however this watch is made for a very specific person.

If you’re looking for a solid day to day smartwatch then this isn’t for you. Especially with a price tag of $599 its features simply don’t reflect the cost, you’d be better off opting for a bougie Fitbit or Garmin instead.

On the other hand if you’re an avid hiker, runner, outdoor cyclist then this may be a good investment for you - even if just to track these adventures in minute detail.

Anula Wiwatowska

Offsite Editorial Lead | Instagram

Anula is the Off-Site Editorial Lead for WhistleOut Australia, and an award winning tech journalist. She has been writing about the Australian telco industry, and consumer technology for over five years, and has been known to tell her Uber driver which phone they should upgrade to next.

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