The Suunto 7: A Wear OS-powered smartwatch for the everyday adventurer

This post is brought to you by Suunto.

The world of wearables has gotten increasingly vast in recent years. There are literally options for every segment of the market, whether you’re looking for something affordable and simple, or something that packs a little bit more power. For many sports enthusiasts out there today, it can be difficult to come to a decision on which smartwatch to buy—do you go for an everyday smartwatch that might lack the advanced features you need? Or do you go for something that’s rugged enough to accompany you on your activities?

The new Suunto 7 is one of the wearables today that might just give you the best of both worlds, and fits into both sports and everyday life activities. This is the first Wear OS-powered smartwatch from the company, which means that it’s a pretty sweet combination of the sports-tracking expertise of Suunto and the functionality of Wear OS and its suite of apps.

Adventure-proofing for every situation

Suunto says that the Suunto 7 has been designed and tested in Finland to be “adventure-proof”, so that the smartwatch is suitable for any situation. This means that the smartwatch is water-resistant when submerged in 50m of water, while the smartwatch design is also shock-proof and dirt-proof. 

There are also over 70 different sport modes, covering activities ranging from running and cycling, to more extreme sports like skiing and surfing. Advanced training metrics for these activities are available within the Suunto mobile app, which help users to track their performance across the wide activity of sport modes available.

Additionally, the Suunto 7 comes with built-in heatmaps for 15 sports activities, along with some serious tracking and navigation technology. This includes access to satellite systems beyond GPS, including GLONASS, Galileo, and Beidou—which is ideal for those of you who regularly go hiking and exploring. There’s also a useful feature that creates a virtual breadcrumb trail, so that your steps can be re-traced (if you were to get lost).

While the watch works with both the Wear OS and Suunto mobile apps, you can also opt to sync the data from Suunto’s smartwatch with partner communities such as Strava. And of course, the Suunto 7 works in standalone mode for a lot of features, including heatmaps—so even in the middle of the wilderness, you’ll still have a trusty companion. In fact, local offline maps and heatmaps are automatically downloaded whenever the watch is connected to WiFi during charging.

A sleek package for everyday wear

The company’s focus on creating a smartwatch that fits in with everyday life is certainly reflected in its design, with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass surrounded by a stainless steel bezel to offer a blend of durability and style. For the Copper Graphite version, the grey, matte finish of the watch body contrasts nicely with the copper-coloured bezel—which you can see in the images. And if you want to switch things up, the straps are easily removable via a quick release mechanism.

You get a touchscreen 1.39” AMOLED display, too, which pushes a resolution of 454×454 pixels at a peak brightness of 1000 nits. AMOLED displays offer deeper blacks and greater contrasts, and as such, visibility of the Suunto 7’s display is decent, even under sunlight.

As mentioned earlier, the Suunto 7 runs on Wear OS, while it’s powered by Qualcomm’s Wear 3100 chip. This means that you have access to Google’s suite of smartwatch apps: Google Fit, Google Pay, Google Assistant, and of course, Google Play. This means that you get to choose from a wide variety of apps on one of the most popular smartwatch operating systems around, along with a bunch of intuitive features to help you throughout the day. Plus, you’ll even be able to control music playback on your phone from your wrist, and send voice commands to Google Assistant as well.

To keep the lights on, Suunto says that the Suunto 7 has enough juice to last 12 hours in continuous GPS Tracking mode, with 48 hours in smartwatch mode. In a nutshell, the idea here is for you to use the smartwatch as your daily timepiece, and still have enough battery to squeeze in a workout at the end of the day. Suunto also estimates that a single charge can even last up to 40 days in battery saver mode—which is certainly impressive.

Adventuring technology integrated with the everyday functionality of Wear OS

While the Suunto 7 is a clear representation of the company’s commitment to “adventure”, the everyday functionality offered by Wear OS means that the smartwatch is great for everyday wear as well. From the design of the smartwatch, to the vibrant AMOLED display—it’s basically the best of both worlds. 

There’s also Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity for auto updates, along with an altimeter, a barometer, and a wrist-based heart rate monitor. All of these sensors combine to offer you advanced sports tracking, as well as daily health monitoring as you go through your daily routines.

If you’re looking for a smartwatch that has the functionality and looks to be an everyday wearable, along with the technology to track your adventures? The Suunto 7 might just hit the sweet spot for you.

Just like all Wear OS smartwatches, the Suunto 7 is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, and is priced at RM2,399. Recently launched in Malaysia, you can pick up the Suunto 7 at Suunto’s official Lazada store, and there’s even an early bird promo where you can pick up a free wireless charging notebook worth RM499, while stocks last. There’s also a giveaway promotion available on Lazada, with a Kamiliant luggage set worth RM399 up for grabs. Meanwhile, there are 5 colour options available for the Suunto 7: Graphite Copper, White Burgundy, Lime Green, All Black, and Sandstone Rosegold.

To find out more, click here for Suunto’s official website.