Finally, a Wear OS Smartwatch I Don’t Absolutely Hate

There ’s no acquiring around it : The Suunto 7 smartwatch is abig , buirdly boy . gargantuan smartwatches can be polarise , but in a world of sharply average Wear o devices , the Suunto 7 is a refreshing admonisher that the Android vigil platform does n’t have to go down on as severely as it currently does .

So what ’s different about the Suunto 7 ? Well , if you ’re into smartwatches mostly for their advanced technical school feature , not much . It has most of the feature of speech you would expect from a Wear O vigil , including NFC payments , smart notice from apps , an AMOLED touch screen , and wise assistant consolidation . It ’s also got introductory action - tracking covered with built - in GPS and uninterrupted heart charge per unit - monitoring . But the Suunto 7 is n’t meant to be a modus vivendi - first watch . If you know anything about Suunto as a society , then you know this is a physical fitness - first watch . And , on that front , it stand apart from other Wear OS lookout that have essay to go all - in on fitness .

Suunto 7

It’s big.

It’s big.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

What is it ?

Suunto ’s first Wear OS smartwatch

Price

You can see how big it is on my wrist. That’s a 50mm case, baby! You can see the heat map watch face here, too!Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

$ 500

extremely accurate metrics . Does n’t look like a fitness - first watch . Ability to download offline maps . Tracks 70 mutant / natural process . Heat maps !

You can see how big it is on my wrist. That’s a 50mm case, baby! You can see the heat map watch face here, too!

You can see how big it is on my wrist. That’s a 50mm case, baby! You can see the heat map watch face here, too!Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

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Big sizing may be a go - off to some . A lil pricey .

Most high - timbre running watch amount from well - prise brand like Garmin and Polar . Those sentinel work on proprietary software , imply there are fewer third - party integrating or apps . It ’s not a big deal if you do n’t care about that sorting of thing , but there are folks out there who require both a great track watch and a well - stocked app store — ideally in a design that does n’t see like it ’s been thoughtlessly reach down from the ‘ 80s . It may not be a huge overlap , but you could also argue the case that no one has really extradite a compelling case of what a Wear OS fitness vigil would look like . ( I retrospect aCasio watchrecently that try out to do this , but it fall somewhat brusk of the mark . )

Then again, look at how easy notifications are to read because of how BIG the text is.

Then again, look at how easy notifications are to read because of how BIG the text is.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

The Suunto 7 , however , is compelling . It ’s passably snappy , thanks to the compounding of a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 fleck and 1 GB of RAM . ( That ’s about as canonical as you want to get with a Wear OS gimmick specification - impudent ; a 3100 chip with 512 mebibyte RAM work OK , but you do live more lag . ) But , again , it ’s not the only watch tamp that power under the cap . What is different is the Suunto 7 successfully utilizes Suunto ’s expertise when it comes to GPS - trailing and offline maps . Plus , its fitness - trailing metrics are so far among the most exact I ’ve test on a Wear OS watch .

The big matter I can say about the Suunto 7 is that I feel like I ’m wearing a dinner party scale on my radiocarpal joint . That ’s because while most smartwatches have cases in the 40 - 44 mm mountain chain with an 18 - 22 mm shoulder strap , this with child son has a whopping 50 mm case and a 24 millimetre strap . This is n’t a dealbreaker for everyone , but if you ’re like me and have more petite wrists , it ’s not idealistic . Many women I ’ve spoken to in my years of reviewing smartwatches regularly complain about too - big display that make wearing jackets or long - sleeved shirt cumbersome . Plus , grown watches be given to be much heavier . On smaller articulatio radiocarpea , that can be distracting during outside activities , or just so downright uncomfortable to the degree of being unusable . ( I ’m looking at you , LG Watch Sport . Hiss . )

But the Suunto 7 is actually middling light ! If you detest gargantuan display , well , there ’s no acquiring around that . But in full term of all - day wear , I found the Suunto 7 comfy . That ’s likely due to the fact the case is n’t metal — it ’s made of “ glass fibre reenforce polyamide . ” It palpate like a higher - quality credit card , but not in a chintzy elbow room like theFossil Sport ’s nylon case .

A closer look at the optical heart rate sensor on the back. You don’t get SpO2 sensors like with some more advanced fitness trackers, but the jury’s out on how useful those metrics are anyway.

A closer look at the optical heart rate sensor on the back. You don’t get SpO2 sensors like with some more advanced fitness trackers, but the jury’s out on how useful those metrics are anyway.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

Maybe I ’ve just gotten old , and year of squint at screens has destroyed my already - tremendous eyesight , but another thing I appreciated about the bigger showing was legibility . The bezel is obtrusive , but I constitute reading notifications on the Suunto 7 to be comfortable than on almost every other sentinel .

It ’s also a plus that the Suunto 7 comes in a mixed bag of vividness . My revaluation unit of measurement was the sandstone / turn out Au jazz group , and it look rather decent in soul . Despite being an open fitness sentry , it does n’t necessarily look like it . If you dig the oversized sentinel trend , this is the rarified fitness - first wearable that I could totally see myself wearing to a formal event . ( If you like the OMG SPORTS ! ! ! ! aesthetic , or a more staid blueprint , however , there ’s plenty of alternative color option . )

But enough about design and style . The Suunto 7 also fork out on fitness - trailing . When I tested the Casio Pro Trek , which also promised excellent GPS capability , I came across a few technical difficulty with getting a reliable GPS signal . That ’s understandable grant that New York City , where I test , is a GPS nightmare . But I did n’t have that problem at all with the Suunto 7 .

Just driving home the big-ness with a quarter for scale, plus the Apple Watch Series 5.

Just driving home the big-ness with a quarter for scale, plus the Apple Watch Series 5.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

This sentinel also comes with heat function , both in the Suunto app and as a cool watch case . That means you’re able to see where other Suunto substance abuser in your area like to run , boost , walk , bike , or whatever outside activity you like . This can be ready to hand if you ’re the character who ’s at a loss for where to exercise when you ’re on the road . Plus , so long as you have a good wi - fi connection , downloading offline maps onto the Suunto 7 is degraded and intuitive . And while the lookout man is mostly gear toward outdoor fancier , it does reckon a act of indoor options among the 70 sports and activities it tracks .

https://gizmodo.com/preview/looking-for-a-smartwatch-or-fitness-tracker-these-are-1830476513

Suunto comes with its own app preloaded on top of Google Fit . You also have to download the app onto your earpiece to get the most out of it , so that part is a minute more inconvenient , but that ’s true of most , if not all , physical fitness - first sentry . The Suunto app is n’t quite as metric - heavy as Garmin ’s or Polar ’s comrade apps , but you do get more insight than you would from Google Fit . In increase to the usual metrics , including length , distance , median step , kilogram calorie burn , and average / max heart rate , you also get information like estimate recovery time , training onus , cadence , and EPOC , which is Suunto ’s way of mensurate an activity ’s intensiveness . For hiker and lead runners , there ’s also helpful info like ascent and pedigree meter .

BEZEEEEELS.

BEZEEEEELS.Photo: Victoria Song (Gizmodo)

On a psychometric test political campaign , my telephone lumber 5.16 mi with an average pace of 10’10 ” . The Suunto 7 by comparing , lumber 5.24 Swedish mile and an medium gait of 10’04 ” . That ’s pretty solid . Sometimes you see variant with split times even if overall results terminate up averaging out to be in the same ballpark . However , the Suunto recorded splits that were consistently about 10 seconds faster than my phone . And as far as fittingness - tracking goes , consistency is much more important than hyper - accuracy . I got similar solution on a shorter 3 - mile run at a 10’04 ” stride , which the Suunto 7 logged as 3.05 miles and a yard of 10’02 ” .

The Suunto 7 is as accurate as any other wrist - base tracker when it come to heart pace . It was on par with the Apple Watch Series 5 , as well as the Polar H10 chest strap — both of which I wore during each test run . The Series 5 tended to underreport my metrics compared to my earpiece and the Suunto 7 , but the difference was trifling — each gimmick delivered reproducible solvent . I would say the Suunto 7 is a smidge more precise base on my testing , but not to the extent that would make a noticeable divergence to anyone other than an elite athlete .

The Suunto 7 is also on equality with other Wear O scout when it come in to stamp battery living , with an reckon two days on a single charge and 12 hours of GPS use . In real life , particularly if you ’re going do GPS - hard activities , you in all likelihood get about a sidereal day ’s worth . For example , a 52 - minute of arc run with GPS nuke about 25 percent of my battery . But the vigil lasted me the rest of the day once I stopped using exponent - intensive features . It ’s nowhere near the shelling sprightliness you ’d get on a watch with a transflective screen or something a little less potent — like the Fitbit Versa 2 — but it ’s moderately stock for something in this category .

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So , is this it ? The mythical wearing oculus sinister lookout man that could bring conservation of parity to the smartwatch game ? Not a chance . At $ 500 , the Suunto 7 is priced like a fancy Garmin , which means it ’s pretty much a smartwatch that only suits the most consecrate of outside fancier . The watch proffer you more forward-looking features in terms of tracking workouts than a Series 5 , but the Apple Watch still has the boundary when it come to features like LTE connectivity , ECG capableness , and other wellness and health - related features . And that ’s all for the same Leontyne Price . Likewise , when it comes to mechanical man - friendly watch , Samsung is go to give you a better overall experience with either the Galaxy Watch or the Galaxy Watch Active2 — also for a good price .

But , for active common people , the Suunto 7 is one of the best smartwatch options out there right now when it total to giving you advanced features and in - astuteness fitness tracking . ( Though , if sleep - trailing is your thing , the Suunto 7 is not ideal due to the want of a aboriginal app , middling shelling life , and large sizing . you’re able to do it , but it ’s not cracking . ) If you ’re looking for a Garmin or Polar alternative , the Suunto 7 is a great selection . It ’s not perfect , but it is the first Wear OS watch I ’ve worn in a while that I felt offered anything worth a 2d coup d’oeil .

README

A unspoiled option for multitude who require a physical fitness - first Global Positioning System smartwatch that does n’t skimp on more advance smartwatch features .

Great accuracy ; also has heat maps and downloadable offline mapping .

One of the more knock-down Wear OS watches out there with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip and 1 GB of RAM .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.