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Suunto Vertical 2: One minute review
We’ve already waxed lyrical about the improvements Suunto has made to its one of premium, fitness-orientated smartwatches, with the latest Race 2 receiving a solid 4.5 stars out of a possible 5 late last year.
Suunto has done away with the rotating digital crown of the Race 2, instead opting for three physical buttons. We assume this is because they are a little easier to operate with gloved hands (spoiler alert: they are), much like the best Garmin watches.
The Suunto Vertical 2 offers a plethora of built-in workout profiles, the ability to download and navigate via offline mapping, a digital compass and the ability to receive some smartphone notifications via a tethered device.
This, plus the enormous claimed 250-hours of battery life in its most efficient GPS-logging mode means this is one smart smartwatch that can handle the toughest trails.
Suunto Vertical 2: Specifications
|
Component |
Suunto Vertical 2 |
|
Price |
£529 / $599 / AU$999 (Stainless Steel) or £629 / $699 / AU$1,099 (Titanium) |
|
Dimensions |
48.6 x 48.6 x 13.6 mm / 1.91 x 1.91 x 0.54″ |
|
Weight |
86g (Stainless Steel) / 74g (Titanium) |
|
Case/bezel |
Glass fibre reinforced polyamide case, stainless steel or titanium bezel, sapphire crystal glass |
|
Display |
1.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 466 x 466 resolution |
|
GPS |
Dual-band GNSS: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU |
|
Battery life |
Up to 20 days in Smartwatch mode, up to 20 days in Time mode, up to 65 hours in dual-band GNSS mode (extended modes up to 500 hours) |
|
Connection |
Bluetooth |
|
Water resistance |
100m (10 ATM) |
Suunto Vertical 2: Price and availability
- Two versions on sale: Stainless Steel and Titanium
- Stainless Steel costs £529 / $599 / AU$999
- Titanium costs £629 / $699 / AU$1,099
The Stainless Steel Suunto Vertical 2 actually comes in at the same price as the Titanium version of the Suunto Race 2, but adds the previously mentioned flashlight and clever battery modes. It’s also a chunkier watch in general.
Alas, opting for the range-topping (and better looking) Titanium version sees the price rapidly escalate to a figure that tips into Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED territory, which is arguably the watch the Vertical 2 is chasing here.
Value score 4/5
Suunto Vertical 2: Design
- Vertical 2 is slightly thicker than Race 2
- Rotating digital crown is gone
- Build quality looks and feels solid
Full disclosure, I really like the look and feel of the Suunto Vertical 2. It gives off the impression that it has been hewn from a solid piece of metal — in this case, a big old chunk of stainless steel.
Suunto provides a rubber strap that attaches to the watch itself via a pair of fairly standard pins. These are slightly fiddlier than bespoke systems found on the likes of the Apple Watch Ultra and most Garmin models, but it is a tried-and-tested fixture that works.
The rubber band itself is full of holes (many more than the Race 2), designed to increase airflow when worn on the wrist. But this is also a boon if you plan to take the watch into water, as it drains nicely and there’s no need to worry about drying it out afterwards.
Sitting 13.6mm proud of the wrist, this isn’t a discreet timepiece that can easily be worn under shirtsleeves, and at 86g for this steel version, it certainly feels very heavy.
For someone with skinny wrists, like me, it looks a little ridiculous. But I suppose that’s the point, it’s a rugged adventure watch that’s designed to look like something the Special Forces might wear. Unfortunately, there’s only one size to choose from.
Interaction is taken care of via three buttons mounted along the righthand flank of the toughened bezel, while the AMOLED display itself is touchscreen-enabled, allowing for swipes and prods to navigate the various widgets and menus.
Where the Suunto Race 2 uses a rotating digital crown to scroll through said widgets, it is a case of manually depressing the top and bottom buttons here. This is a much better system for operating with gloved hands, or for when precipitation makes interacting with a touchscreen impossible.
Design Score: 5/5
Suunto Vertical 2: Features
- Upgraded optical heart rate sensor
- Faster processing speeds than original watch
- Massive battery life
When compared to the Suunto Vertical 1, which used a rather naff MIP-based display and solar ring to boost battery life, the difference really is night and day. That AMOLED display is bright and crisp, making it really easy to see all of the numerous data streams it is capable of processing.
We would need several pages and a great deal of your time to go through absolutely all of the features but suffice to say, the Vertical 2 can track pretty much every activity you can think of (115 sport modes in total), while keeping an eye on heart rate, location, elevation and much more.
There’s a built-in compass, the ability to download and navigate via offline mapping and a built-in flashlight for those treks that roll right through the night. The main widget panel on the watch can be customized to suit your specific needs by moving your most-used widgets to the top of the menu, but it is the dedicated battery modes that lend the Vertical 2 a more extreme, wilder personality.
With a 250-hour power-saving GNSS Mode, the watch can intermittently mark GPS locations on those longer hikes or trail runs, meaning you can get back to base camp without worrying about consulting a paper map.
During testing, I forgot to download offline maps during the first hike (it’s a fiddly process requiring Wi-Fi and requiring the watch to be placed on the charger), but there was still enough breadcrumb data to allow me to navigate back to the start with ease.
Of course, once you have successfully downloaded maps, the watch gives a crystal clear view of the surrounding terrain, with details on elevation and other obstacles that may require traversing.
There’s around 28GB of storage on the watch, with mapping for Great Britain taking up around 3.3GB, so you should be good to download a fair amount of offline data that covers vast expanses.
If simply used as a smartwatch, Suunto says the Vertical 2 will last up to 20 days before it needs recharging. On that subject, the USB-C charger is now a magnetic clip, which is far more robust and easier to use compared to its predecessor.
However, the smartwatch functionality isn’t quite up there with Apple, Samsung or even Garmin’s devices, as there’s no tap-to-pay wallet functionality, nor can you store Spotify and YouTube Music playlists offline. It will only control whatever is currently playing on a tethered smartphone. For that reason, the Suunto Vertical 2 is docked a point.
Features Score: 4/5
Suunto Vertical 2: Performance
- Massive battery life
- Bezel can take a beating
- Superb display
Without wanting to create a carbon copy of our Suunto Race 2 review, we primarily subjected the Vertical 2 to plenty of outdoors exercise — strapping it to the wrist for a couple of gnarly gravel bike sessions and trail-running up a few monster hills to test its mettle.
Compared to its MIP predecessor, the AMOLED display is a million times clearer and easier to read in low-light conditions and bad weather. The touchscreen does still get a bit confused when it gets wet, but there are three pleasingly analogue buttons to navigate the simple UI.
When using the watch for the first time, an on-screen guide walks you through most of the key features and offers handy tips on how to get the most out of the numerous profiles.
GPS pin-pointing is fast, particularly when out in the wilderness, while it is possible to download a bunch of offline maps for free using the Suunto smartphone app. The app is also great for planning routes, as it’s as simple as prodding points on a map to create loops or out-and-backs. You can then send these to the watch for use later.
You do have to toggle turn-by-turn directions on, which seems weird to me, but if you pair bluetooth headphones, you can get audible prompts about upcoming directions piped into your skull, which is great for directional doofuses like me.
Suunto’s watch face also makes it very clear when you’ve strayed off the chosen route, navigating back to those trails quickly and easily. I found this particularly useful when on the bike, where I would actually strap the watch to my handlebars and use it as a sat-nav system.
There are lots of websites that go into granular detail about GPS performance, but I found it to be very accurate.
The same can be said for the wrist-based heart rate sensors. These can be a little hit-and-miss, in my experience, but Suunto’s latest effort is commendable. It only really comes undone if performing an exercise that requires grip strength or lots of wrist movement.
Strength training and even racquet sports can see it take confused readings, but it proved accurate (a Garmin chest strap was used to compare) when running, hiking and cycling.
As with lots of other modern smartwatches and fitness trackers, you can also use the Suunto Vertical 2 to track sleep and recovery cycles. Again, the accuracy was great (it largely aligned with an Ultrahuman smart ring) but it proved a very heavy and cumbersome watch to wear into bed. I whacked myself in the face a number of times with it while sleeping.
Finally, battery life is hugely impressive. While I didn’t subject it to a 250-hour hike through the Andes, I did wear it for a number of months. On average, I could easily run or cycle a couple of times a week with GPS tracking and mapping activated, hit the gym three times a week and generally use it as a smartwatch the rest of the time, and only have to charge it every 10 days or so.
Performance score: 4/5
Suunto Vertical 2: Scorecard
|
Category |
Comment |
Score |
|
Value |
It’s pricer than the Suunto Race 2 and you only get a few additional features |
4/5 |
|
Design |
It’s a handsome watch and the bezel can take a battering |
5/5 |
|
Features |
An excellent outdoors fitness watch but it lacks some smartwatch features |
4/5 |
|
Performance |
Solid battery life, a crisp display and accurate tracking |
5/5 |
Suunto Vertical 2: Should I buy?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider
How I tested
As with all smart watches and fitness trackers, I like to slot these gizmos into my busy daily life, which means dragging them to the gym, taking them on runs, wearing them in the sea during frigid winter surfs and much more.
Seeing as the Suunto Vertical 2 is aimed at particularly outdoors-y types, I laced up the trail running shoes, slipped on hiking boots and dusted off the gravel bike to get it out into some properly horrible British winter weather.
This proved a good exercise in assessing the quality of the GPS tracking, the brightness and usability of the display in inclement conditions, as well as testing the claimed battery life
First reviewed: February 2026
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