Quick Specs
What I Like
What I Don't
Straight talk before the specs: I do not own this watch yet. This is a product overview, my read of what Suunto has published, and the hands-on review comes once I have lived with it. What I can tell you first hand is why Suunto gets my attention at all. A Suunto Core has been on my wrist since about 2009, through three combat tours, and when the first unit finally died, Suunto replaced it free and mailed my original band back. Seventeen years of that kind of service buys a company a serious look at their flagship adventure watch.
The Spec Read
Two numbers stand out. First, battery: up to 65 hours of training with dual-band GPS running, up to 250 hours in tour mode, and up to 20 days of normal daily use with heart rate on, 30 with it off. That is battery measured in weeks. Second, the integrated LED flashlight. A light built into a watch sounds like a gimmick until you remember what dad life looks like. Hands full of sleeping kid, a 2am hallway walk, finding the thing that rolled under the truck seat. A light that is always on your wrist is a light you actually have.
The rest of the sheet reads like it should at this price. A 1.5 inch AMOLED display at up to 2000 nits, so it should hold up in full Texas sun. Sapphire glass, a stainless steel or grade 5 titanium bezel, 100 meter water resistance. A three-button interface you can run with gloves on. Free, high detail offline maps with no subscription, and 115 plus sport modes. One honest gap: Suunto does not publish case size and weight anywhere I could verify, so I will not guess at either. If wrist fit matters to you, try one on first.
Who It Is For
The dad whose weekends point away from pavement. Hunting, rucking, camping, trail miles, or just the guy who refuses to charge a watch every night. If you live on roads and want racing tools, the Race 2 runs a hundred dollars less. The Vertical 2 is the expedition version: bigger battery, the flashlight, built to stay out longer.
The Honest Math
Steel colorways run $599: All Black, Black, Pine Green, Canyon, and Arctic Gray. Titanium runs $699 in Titanium Black or Titanium Sage. No sale pricing on this watch at the time of writing, and nothing behind a paywall after purchase. Given what a $149 Core gave me over seventeen years, the math does not scare me. Get it
Every Dad Carry is an approved Suunto affiliate through impact.com. Links on this page pay the site a commission at no extra cost to you. I did not receive this product free, and this overview is published ahead of my own testing.
After Action Report
On paper this is the Suunto I would pick for the long haul: a 65 hour dual-band battery, a real flashlight on your wrist, and free maps forever, from the company that replaced my dead Core for free and kept me a customer for seventeen years. The verdict comes once I have lived with it.
MIKE MANNING
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