SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar Review: The Ultimate Adventure Companion Tested

There’s a unique kind of anxiety that sets in when you’re deep in the backcountry, hours from the nearest trailhead, and you see that dreaded low-battery icon flash on your GPS watch. I’ve been there. Pushing for a summit in the Cairngorms, with the weather turning and the light fading, my trust was entirely placed in a device that was slowly giving up the ghost. It’s a moment that turns an epic adventure into a nerve-wracking ordeal. For serious hikers, trail runners, and mountaineers, a reliable GPS watch isn’t a gadget; it’s a lifeline. The market is flooded with options, but finding one that combines military-grade durability, truly exceptional battery life, and pinpoint-accurate navigation is the holy grail. The challenge is sifting through marketing hype to find a device that performs when everything is on the line.

What to Know Before You Invest in an Outdoor GPS Watch

A GPS Units, especially a high-end sports watch, is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for safety, performance tracking, and exploration. It solves the fundamental problem of knowing precisely where you are, where you’re going, and how your body is performing under stress, all without relying on a fragile smartphone with a notoriously short battery life. The main benefits are profound: enhanced safety through reliable navigation and storm alarms, improved training via detailed performance metrics, and the freedom to explore remote areas with the confidence of having offline maps wrapped around your wrist. It’s an investment in your passion and your well-being.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone who pushes their limits outdoors—the long-distance trail runner, the multi-day hiker, the alpinist, or any endurance athlete who needs unwavering reliability and data. They value durability over flashy smart features and prioritize battery life and GPS accuracy above all else. Conversely, this might not be the right tool for a casual gym-goer or someone primarily looking for a smartwatch to handle notifications and contactless payments. For them, a less rugged, more lifestyle-focused watch from Apple or Samsung would be a more suitable and cost-effective choice.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Wrist Feel: A large watch face is excellent for map readability, but can feel cumbersome on smaller wrists or get caught on jacket cuffs. The SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar measures 49mm x 49mm x 14mm, a considerable size that provides a fantastic 1.43-inch screen. We found it surprisingly lightweight and comfortable for its size, but it’s a factor to consider for all-day, all-night wear.
• Capacity/Performance: This is the heart of the watch. Look at battery life in different modes (daily use vs. full GPS tracking). The Suunto’s claim of 60 days in daily mode and 60 hours in high-performance dual-band mode is class-leading. Also, consider GPS chipset quality; dual-band GNSS, which accesses multiple satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, etc.) on multiple frequencies, is the gold standard for accuracy in challenging environments like deep canyons or dense cities.
• Materials & Durability: The wilderness is unforgiving. Look for materials like sapphire crystal for the screen, which is incredibly scratch-resistant, and bezels made from stainless steel or titanium. Military-grade testing (MIL-STD-810H) is a strong indicator that the watch can withstand temperature shocks, drops, and pressure, ensuring your investment lasts.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: A complex interface is the last thing you want to deal with when you’re exhausted on a trail. The best watches balance a feature-rich experience with an intuitive user interface, combining responsive touchscreens with tactile physical buttons that work with gloves or sweaty hands. Long-term care is minimal, mainly involving keeping the charging contacts clean and updating the software via its companion app for new features and bug fixes.

Choosing the right GPS watch is a significant decision for any serious outdoor enthusiast. It’s about finding a partner for your adventures that you can trust implicitly.

While the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

First Look: Unboxing the Rugged and Refined SUUNTO Vertical

Pulling the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar from its minimalist packaging, the first impression is one of purposeful, premium engineering. This isn’t a delicate smartwatch; it’s a tool. The 49mm stainless steel case feels substantial yet surprisingly light on the wrist, weighing in at just under 90 grams. The sapphire crystal glass sits flush with the bezel, promising resilience against the inevitable scrapes and bumps of outdoor life. Compared to some of its bulkier competitors, the Suunto Vertical has a distinctly clean, Scandinavian design ethos that looks just as good in the city as it does on a mountain ridge.

Setting it up via the Suunto App on our smartphone was seamless. The watch paired quickly, and we were prompted to download offline maps for our region. The 32 GB of onboard storage is generous, allowing for huge swathes of the world to be stored directly on the device. The 1.43-inch LCD screen is large, bright, and exceptionally clear, especially in direct sunlight where many displays falter. The combination of a responsive touchscreen and three satisfyingly tactile physical buttons is a welcome design choice, ensuring full functionality even with gloves on or in wet conditions. It immediately feels like a significant upgrade, particularly for users of older Suunto models like the 9 Peak Pro, who will appreciate the vastly improved map usability on the larger display.

In the Field: A Deep Dive into the SUUNTO Vertical’s Performance

A spec sheet can only tell you so much. To truly understand a device like this, you have to take it where it belongs: the great outdoors. We put the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar through its paces over several weeks, from long trail runs in dense forests to multi-day hikes in the exposed, rolling hills of the Peak District, evaluating the features that matter most to adventurers.

Battery for the Long Haul: Is 60 Days a Reality?

The headline feature of the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar is its almost unbelievable battery life. Suunto claims up to 60 days in daily mode and 60 hours in the most accurate, power-hungry dual-band GPS mode. Our testing confirms that this isn’t marketing hyperbole; it’s a game-changer. After a full charge, we wore the watch 24/7 for sleep tracking, daily steps, and notifications, and threw in five to six hours of GPS-tracked activities per week. Two full weeks later, the battery was still sitting comfortably above 30%. This experience is echoed by numerous users, one of whom stated, “Battery – lasts absolutely ages, I tend to charge it every two weeks, after wearing it day and night and doing plenty of GPS activities.” You genuinely forget when you last charged it.

The solar charging capability, integrated into the ring around the watch face, provides a noticeable boost. While it won’t power the watch indefinitely during heavy use, we found that on long, sunny days outdoors, it effectively counteracted the battery drain of daily use and even slightly topped up the charge. Suunto’s claim of a 30% endurance boost in sunny conditions feels accurate. For multi-day expeditions, ultramarathons, or thru-hikes, this feature transforms the watch from a great tool into an essential piece of safety equipment. The psychological freedom of not having to ration GPS usage or carry an extra power bank just for your watch is immense. You can simply focus on the trail ahead, confident your watch will outlast you. It’s a feature that really sets it apart in a competitive market.

Pinpoint Precision: Dual-Band GNSS and Offline Maps Put to the Test

For many, the primary reason to buy a high-end GPS watch is for reliable navigation. This is where the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar truly excels. The inclusion of dual-band (L1+L5) frequency support and its ability to connect to all five major satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU) simultaneously delivers staggering accuracy. We tested this in notoriously difficult environments: running between the tall buildings of Manchester, which can create a “canyon” effect that confuses lesser GPS units, and hiking through a dense, wet forest under heavy tree cover. In both scenarios, the watch locked onto a signal almost instantly and provided a track that was smooth and precisely aligned with our actual path on the map. One user, a long-time Garmin devotee, made the switch specifically for this, noting the Suunto’s “GPS and altimetry precision are beastly, far exceeding my previous devices.”

This accuracy is perfectly complemented by the free, downloadable offline topographic maps. Using the Suunto app, downloading the map for our entire region took about 15 minutes over Wi-Fi. On the trail, the maps are fantastic. The large 1.43″ screen makes them genuinely useful for navigation, a significant improvement over smaller-screened watches. Panning and zooming using the touchscreen and buttons is fluid, and seeing your pre-planned route overlaid on the terrain gives an incredible sense of security. As one user who completed the National 3 Peaks Challenge noted, creating routes in the app and downloading them to the watch with the offline maps was “especially useful.” This combination of world-class GPS hardware and beautifully integrated offline mapping makes the Suunto Vertical an explorer’s dream.

Built to Endure: Design, Durability, and Daily Usability

Suunto built this watch to take a beating. The use of sapphire crystal and stainless steel isn’t just for show; it translates to real-world toughness. Throughout our testing, the watch was knocked against rocks, scraped on branches, and submerged in streams without picking up a single scratch on the screen or bezel. It has been tested against U.S. military standards for resistance to extreme temperatures, shock, and pressure, and it certainly feels like it. Despite its ruggedness, it remains comfortable on the wrist. One user, initially concerned about the size, was pleasantly surprised, finding it “light and the feel on my wrist was super comfortable.” The innovative strap design, which uses a metal pin instead of traditional loops to secure the excess strap, is a small but brilliant detail that prevents snagging.

The user interface is a blend of touchscreen and physical buttons, which we found to be the ideal setup. In daily use, swiping through widgets for weather, heart rate, and sleep data is intuitive. During an activity, especially in the rain or with sweaty hands, the three large, tactile buttons are invaluable. A German user confirmed this, noting that when sweat made the touch display “react poorly,” he could still “navigate via the buttons, so it still works.” While some long-time users of other brands might miss a dedicated “back” button, the UI is logical and easy to adapt to. The large screen makes all data fields, whether on a custom watch face or during a workout, incredibly easy to read at a glance, a crucial factor when you’re fatigued and just need the key info.

Beyond the Trail: Advanced Training and Health Metrics

While its outdoor prowess is the main attraction, the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar is also a formidable training partner. With over 95 sport modes, from running and cycling to climbing and swimming, it covers nearly any activity imaginable. The data it provides is both deep and actionable. We found the running power metrics (measured from the wrist, no pod needed) particularly useful for gauging effort on hilly terrain, and the training load and recovery time suggestions helped prevent overtraining.

The 24/7 health tracking provides a holistic view of your well-being. It monitors heart rate, blood oxygen (SpO2), sleep stages, and stress levels, providing a comprehensive picture that goes beyond just your workout sessions. One user who tracked their runs for nine months found the detailed analysis of VO2 max, cadence, heart rate, and training load “enormously helpful” and credited it with having “significantly improved my running technique and joy.” The Suunto App does an excellent job of presenting this data in an easy-to-understand format, with clear graphs and trends over time. While the wrist-based heart rate can sometimes lag during high-intensity interval training—a common limitation for all optical sensors—we found it to be generally reliable for steady-state efforts and all-day tracking. For absolute precision, it pairs seamlessly with an external heart rate strap.

What Other Users Are Saying

Scouring feedback from a wide range of users, a clear consensus emerges. The overwhelming sentiment is positive, with particular praise directed at two key areas: battery life and GPS accuracy. Many, like one reviewer who switched from a top-tier Garmin Fenix 7 Pro, are “blown away” by the Suunto’s performance, citing its reliability in harsh mountain conditions as the primary reason for their satisfaction. Another user summed it up perfectly: “I don’t get along with fitness watches. I’ve had five. This one is by far the best.” The build quality and the usefulness of the large screen for maps are also frequently lauded.

However, the feedback isn’t universally perfect. A few users have pointed out occasional software bugs, such as the watch freezing and needing a restart, though many also note that subsequent software updates have resolved most initial issues. One specific and valid criticism came from a user who found that the offline maps would not load in a dense forest until the watch could acquire a GPS signal, which could be problematic in an emergency. Another minor complaint is the touchscreen’s reduced sensitivity when wet, though the presence of physical buttons provides a reliable workaround. These critiques, while important, seem to be exceptions in a sea of highly positive experiences.

How Does the SUUNTO Vertical Compare to the Competition?

The SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar operates in a highly competitive space dominated by a few key players. While it holds its own and even surpasses its rivals in some areas, it’s worth seeing how it stacks up against some popular alternatives to understand which might be the best fit for you.

1. Garmin fēnix 7S Smartwatch Multisport Touchscreen Graphite

The Garmin Fēnix 7 series is arguably the Suunto Vertical’s most direct competitor and the market benchmark. The Fēnix 7S is the smaller 42mm version, making it a better choice for those with smaller wrists who might find the 49mm Suunto too large. Garmin’s ecosystem is more mature, offering features like music storage and contactless payments, which the Suunto lacks. However, the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar generally offers superior battery life, especially in its solar configuration, and many users who have used both contend that the Suunto’s dual-band GPS is slightly more accurate in the toughest conditions. The choice comes down to priorities: if you want a slightly smaller watch with more smartwatch features, the Fēnix 7S is a fantastic option; if your priority is maximum battery life and raw navigational performance, the Suunto has the edge.

2. CooSpo ANT+ GPS Bike Computer

This is a different beast entirely and highlights a key consideration: do you need a wrist-based solution? The CooSpo is a dedicated cycling computer designed to be mounted on your handlebars. It cannot offer the 24/7 health tracking, multi-sport functionality, or on-wrist convenience of the Suunto. However, for a cyclist who only needs GPS tracking for their rides, it’s a far more affordable and specialized tool. Its larger screen is dedicated solely to displaying ride metrics like speed, distance, and cadence, making it easier to read at a glance while cycling. If your activities are 99% cycling and you don’t need the versatility of a watch, a dedicated bike computer like the CooSpo is a more practical and budget-friendly choice.

3. Garmin fēnix 7 Multisport GPS Watch

This is the standard 47mm version of the Fēnix 7, putting it right between the 7S and the Suunto Vertical in terms of size. It shares the same strengths and weaknesses in comparison to the Suunto as its smaller sibling. The Fēnix 7 offers a brilliant all-round package with a massive feature set that appeals to data-hungry athletes. It has a slightly more vibrant and higher-resolution display than the Suunto. However, the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar counters with its exceptional battery performance, free global offline maps (Garmin’s can sometimes require additional purchases), and a cleaner, more minimalist design aesthetic that many find appealing. Many former Garmin users have switched to the Suunto Vertical, citing better value and superior core performance where it counts most: navigation and longevity.

The Final Verdict: Is the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar Right for You?

After extensive testing and analysis, our conclusion is clear: the SUUNTO Vertical GPS Sports Watch Solar is a phenomenal piece of equipment and a top-tier contender in the elite outdoor watch category. It delivers uncompromisingly on the core promises that matter most to serious adventurers: staggering battery life, unerring GPS accuracy, and bombproof durability. The large, clear screen and excellent offline maps make it a truly exceptional navigation tool that inspires confidence on any trail. While it may lack some of the lifestyle “smartwatch” features of its main rivals, it doubles down on performance and reliability, arguably making it a more focused and trustworthy tool for the backcountry.

We would wholeheartedly recommend this watch to any long-distance hiker, trail runner, mountaineer, or endurance athlete who prioritizes function over frills. If your primary need is a watch that you can trust to get you out and back safely, that will last for weeks on a single charge, and that will provide you with precise, actionable data to guide your adventure and your training, then this is one of the best investments you can make. It is a truly outstanding adventure companion. If you’re ready to stop worrying about battery life and start exploring with confidence, we highly recommend you check the latest price and availability for the SUUNTO Vertical.