Suunto 9 Peak (review and specs)

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

Suunto 9 Peak

SPECS

Physical:

Bezel material: Stainless steel or Titanium Grade 5
Glass material: Sapphire crystal
Case material: Glass fibre reinforced polyamide
Strap material: Silicone
Strap width: 22 mm
Wrist sizes: 125-175 mm (accessory strap -215mm)
Weight: 62g / 52g (titanium)
Display resolution: 240 x 240
Battery life (might change to more):
25h in GPS best (GPS+Glo) (*) / 50 / 120h / 170h (all on including standby light)
7+ days in time mode with 24/7, notifications and standby light
14 days in time mode only

HW Changes compared to S9:

New GNSS Antenna (GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU)
New OHR2
New Bluetooth 5.0
SpO2 Sensor
Ambient light sensor
Better screen for increased readability and better contrast
New Altimeter component and placement

REVIEW FROM USING THIS WATCH FOR QUITE SOME MONTHS.

My first impression after unboxing the was about the design. I have never ever seen such a beautiful device. The S9P breaks the limits of the smartwatch/sport-watch expectations. Its now a watch. Not a “strange kinda watch that you have to explain to your friends what it does and if they are sporty/nerdy they will care else they wont”. Its a watch that also does sports :-).

The size of the watch is comparable to size of the S3 and thinner perhaps. The screen size is like the A3 smaller than the S9 but with more density than the pixels of the S5 and much much better contrast. The watch snugs nicely on you and with the Titanium version of 52g you don’t notice wearing it. Since it thin, it slides easily in / your jacket. It allows you to finally wear it 24/7 and not notice it on you all the time. That is also great for casual events / life.

Let’s check the hardware:

I tested the S9P for months. I have compared it to some competitor watches and of course the A3.

GNSS(GPS) -> One of the best , if not the best, GPS watch out there**
Instant pace / speed (run/bike), excellent due to both fused speed and the GNSS improvement.
Altimeter. Improved altimeter mainly due to the positioning but also due to the fact that the component is not so “hollow” to keep water/moisture/dirt.

OHR2. The best I have used. I have never used a belt for months now. It works over my tattoos as well. The only thing I did not like about this OHR is the fact that sometimes with walking it lagged on rapid changes.

SpO2. Welcomed metric. Currently it’s on demand measured but it should become part of 24/7 and analysis. Useful for Acclimatization and perhaps Covid-19.

Ambient Light Sensor. A very important feature that might get overlooked at first sight. This sensor will allow you to have a constant STANDBY light and not worry about battery life or visuals. When the sun is out the screen will use its transreflective properties. When the light is dimmer it will light up showcasing its nice contrast rapidly and efficiently. The sensor reacts very very fast.The screen will be visible for you all the time no matter what conditions.

Battery life GPS: Official specs 25h / 50h / 120h / 170h. However the unofficial specs and after testing should be much higher. I get about 29h with all on (OHR + standby light). So that is to be seen in practice.

Battery life time mode: 7+ days with 24/7 notifications + standby light and about 3h - 5h of training. I had up to 10d with many features on and less training. Daily it consumes with some DND for the night about 8%-10% with my configuration.
14 days + on timemode only. Those estimate can be higher.
Bluetooth 5 for faster sync
Fast charging 30mins - 60mins for 0-100%

Software:

Based on the S9/Suunto OS but with some HW based additions / changes
Spo2 instant measurement (24/7 coming later)
Ghostracer / Pacer
Snap-to-route. This is really cool and can help for tough GNSS based races (ie cities, tunnels, canyons), keeping the pace and the mileage constant.
OTA (over the air updates) Yes you can update your watch via the Suunto app
Power off option (yes that is a feature)
Backlight options for adaptive backlight based on the ALS (Ambient light sensor).
Raise to wake option, either always on or on only during the activity

Apps:

OTA support
Turn by turn to route waypoints for navigation

I have added also some pictures and videos made by the community of testers to see how the watch looks in real life usage.

GPS Best can go up to 30h+. These are the preliminary official specs that might change. Some testers had even more battery life than 30h on GPS best + OHR.

Pictures

Here are some community pics from testers etc

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AhMpQKs6WT5MF7e86

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

This is a big thank you to all testers that made this happen.

Special thanks to @Saketo-Nemo @isazi @Joaquin @Hecke and @Brad_Olwin (our own guys here )

Bulkan

@dimitrios-kanellopoulos

Courtesy of Joaquin this photo. Compared with a3p

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

and if you dont believe me about the GPS

In many ways, the Suunto 9 Peak is unlike anything Suunto has ever introduced before. Yet in other ways, it’s everything like everything Suunto has before it. Some differences are glaringly obvious, like the the sleek new watch design – throwing away the often chunky Suunto exterior style, while somehow feeling distinctly Suunto. While other differences are only seen after a run: Absolutely perfect GPS tracks. So perfect that you’d think they might be fake.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/05/suunto-9-peak-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html

isazi

@dimitrios-kanellopoulos said in Suunto 9 Peak (review and specs):

and if you dont believe me about the GPS

In many ways, the Suunto 9 Peak is unlike anything Suunto has ever introduced before. Yet in other ways, it’s everything like everything Suunto has before it. Some differences are glaringly obvious, like the the sleek new watch design – throwing away the often chunky Suunto exterior style, while somehow feeling distinctly Suunto. While other differences are only seen after a run: Absolutely perfect GPS tracks. So perfect that you’d think they might be fake.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/05/suunto-9-peak-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know.html

I think @cosmecosta spotted some good tracks last week

markytarky

Guys, this is just my guess @Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos knows of course it or will know soon. I think Suunto will come with the new S9B as well, in some time. With new sensor and chip and etc. I think is a logical move as they have all they need to do it. It’s just a matter of time. This is at least what I pray for. I think the size won’t fit everybody.

omunoz · Watch: SV Fw: 2.40.38

Great Job guys Suunto Team,

I understand that “Snap-to-route” is only by Suunto 9 Peak because is new Sony Gps Chipset .

Thanks

jthomi

First pic of yours, S9B Spartan, S9Peak ?

@dimitrios-kanellopoulos said in Suunto 9 Peak (review and specs):

Here are some community pics from testers etc

https://photos.app.goo.gl/AhMpQKs6WT5MF7e86

Egika

@omunoz said in Suunto 9 Peak (review and specs):

Great Job guys Suunto Team,

I understand that “Snap-to-route” is only by Suunto 9 Peak because is new Sony Gps Chipset .

Thanks

There is no new GPS chipset. There is only a new antenna design with obviously better SNR.
The snap to route feature is done in the watch software and it is perfectly easy to make this available to existing S9 watches as well.
I am just wondering, if snap to route also snaps to altitude of route (which could be beneficial if the map data has good altitude and the S9 without barometric sensor is used)

cosme.costa

@isazi

DMytro

@egika I wondered that too, would be way easier to do hill repeats with my s9

A Former User

What a stunner!
Glad Suunto comming with such a watch.
The specs look good, now the hard questions:
Regardin sensors (Cadence) do we still have to use cadence+speed combo sensor?
Power meters for cycling, do they work ok?
More than one sensor of same type supported?
Regarding locking buttons, still not present right? Are the buttons easily to accidentaly click (on F6S I never needed lock)

Looking forward for info.

cosme.costa

@egika Yeah, I’m asking this myself too.

I’m also guessing that the S9 and S9P will receive some of the new GPS goodies because its is the same chip.
I also think that we could receive the OTA upgrades, watchfaces and probably more things.
From what I can see in Suunto’s web seems that the S9P will co-live with the S9 and S9B some time, so I hope they will have aligned software during this time.

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

@egika we dont have anymore any watch without a barometer up to…

However I think the chip is changed. (GNSS)

DMytro

@cosmecosta not OTAs, it listed on the website to be exclusive for s9P, which is likely due to bluetooth 5

isazi

@дима-мельниченко yeah, unfortunately I think the S9 non peak was not designed for this.

A Former User

But now the 2 questions for people running with Stryd: Are all metrics in the FIT file now and do we have structured intervals? Best case sync the trainings from Stryd to Suunto App or watch directly…

Snap to route is nice, Garmin has this feature based on the underlying maps. Works great if you have that use case.

DMytro

@isazi fine with me, it doesn’t matter where the watch cannot be used during an update. On my wrist or near a laptop.

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

@marcus-0 its not the same feature.

Stryd mertics are not imported. You can view those on the powercenter.

In regards to training sync (TP stryd) there have been some rumors / dicussions here in the forum (romain)

in7ead

Is Stryd supported?
Can I manually set the stryd calibration factor?