Finnish sports wearable manufacturer Suunto has announced the Suunto 9 multi-sport GPS watch with a rather impressive five day battery life. That might not quite compare to the two week battery life of the Garmin Fenix 5, but it's an awful lot better than most other fitness trackers out there, especially when you consider the five days includes GPS recording.
The five day battery life is only achievable if you put it into Ultra battery mode, but you can also choose from Performance and Endurance modes: Performance brings battery life down to 25 hours. You can however create your own custom battery modes depending on what you need to use the Suunto 9 for.
Suunto gives you a rather handy battery life estimation once you start GPS recording, so you can see if you'll have enough power to track your activities. If you don't, simply change the battery mode. The impressive battery life is possible thanks to Suunto's FusedTrack algorithm, which combines GPS and motion sensor data to help improve accuracy and reduce the watch's reliance on GPS alone.
All that battery power can go towards recording data in over 80 sport modes, as well as heart rate data, route navigation, sunrise/sunset times, storm alarms and many other features. It seems Suunto has packed everything bar the kitchen sink into the 9 to make it the ultimate sports watch companion.
You can view recorded data on the watch itself, on in the Suunto companion app. You can view your activity history along with sleep data, all of which can be shared with other users in the Suunto community. The Suunto 9 itself is a bit of a looker, combining a stainless steel bezel and buttons with a silicone strap to make it comfortable to wear for long sessions.
The Suunto 9 will be available from 26 June in black or white, and you can pre-order it now for £499 without a heart rate belt, or with one for £559.