The Suunto 9 Baro Titanium, the Finnish manufacturer launched a new GPS multisport watch a few weeks ago. The Suunto 9 Baro Titanium is not completely new. Rather, it is based on the almost three-year-old Suunto 9 Baro.
In the new variant, Suunto uses a high-quality titanium bezel. Titanium is an extremely durable and at the same time very light material. In short: a perfect material for a GPS multisport watch that can withstand a lot.
The Suunto 7, the Finnish wearable manufacturer, introduced a new sports watch at the beginning of the year. Polar had already made a comparable attempt years ago with the M600 – and it failed miserably. In contrast to previous models, Suunto is using Wear OS from Google for the first time. Does that also apply to the Suunto 7?
No, that much can be revealed at this point. In my opinion, the Suunto 7 is even one of the best, if not the best, smartwatches with the smartwatch operating system from Google. But Wear OS also has its pitfalls, which tarnish the basically very positive overall impression of the Suunto 7.
Design
Suunto 9 Baro Titanium
Those who prefer more discreet watches have definitely come to the wrong address with the Suunto 9 Baro Titanium with a diameter of 50 millimeters and a thickness of 16.5 millimeters. The watch has a (very) bulky and bulky appearance, as we are used to from Suunto.
If you are looking for a more compact watch, you should either take a closer look at the brand new Suunto 9 Peak or, for example, the Polar Vantage V2 from the competition. The Suunto 9 Peak is 37 percent thinner and 36 percent lighter than the multisport watch.
The design of the Suunto 9 Baro Titanium is nice. It comes with no frills and looks rather simple on the wrist despite its bulky and bulky appearance. It is operated either via the touchscreen or via the three physical buttons on the right-hand side.
The transflective display with “flat feet” has 320 x 300 pixels and is protected by sapphire glass. The display can also be conveniently operated with your finger. However, the “touch” function is only activated when one button on the side is pressed. The touchscreen reacts quickly to inputs.
The watch face of the Suunto 9 Baro Titanium can also be adjusted. There are nine predefined dials, which in turn can be customized with different colors. Additional dials cannot be transferred to the multisport watch.
On the Suunto 9 Baro Titanium underside, we find the optical heart rate sensor and four charging pins. We charge using the included charging adapter, which is magnetically attached to the watch. Caution: The charging adapter must be positioned very precisely. Otherwise, the watch will not be charged.
Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH
The Suunto 7 is admittedly a bit clunky, but this does not hurt weight and comfort. The Finnish manufacturer has opted for a classic design with a round touchscreen display. With the wristband, the smartwatch weighs a comfortable and absolutely not annoying 70 grams.
The Suunto 7 is available in four different colors: All Black, Black Lime, Rosegold, and Graphite Copper. There are four mechanical buttons on the side. One of these is on the left, and three are on the right. They don’t protrude from the case, so they don’t interfere. They also have a comfortable pressure point. This button can be used to pause/resume a sporting activity, for example, without having to operate the touchscreen. In addition, for example, the Wear OS app drawer can be started as well as other individual apps.
The impeccably processed housing is made of glass fiber reinforced polyamide and is waterproof up to 50 meters. The round, high-resolution AMOLED display is protected with scratch-resistant gorilla glass. The protection seems sufficient; my watch didn’t show a single scratch even after about a month.
Speaking of charging: The scope of delivery includes a charging adapter that is magnetically attached to the charging pins. The optical heart rate monitor (WHR) and the charging PINs are located on the underside. In addition, we find a soft and, therefore, very comfortable to wear armband (can easily be exchanged) and an additional armband loop in the scope of delivery.
Key Features
| Suunto 9 Baro Titanium | Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH | |
| $ | CHECK PRICE | CHECK PRICE |
| Brand | Suunto | Suunto |
| Model | 9 Baro Titanium | 7 Graphite Copper ZH |
| Compatibility | Android + iOS | Android + iOS |
| Display type | Matrix | AMOLED |
| Display resolution | 320 x 300 | 454 x 454 |
| Weight | 76 g / 2.68 oz | 70 g / 2.47 oz |
| Wrist circumference | 130-220 mm | 130-220 mm |
| Touch screen | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | Available | Available |
Suunto 9 Baro Titanium
The Suunto 9 Baro Titanium is easy to set up. When starting for the first time, select the language and store a few more data, and the watch is ready for use. It is not even essential to pair it with the smartphone, although this is ultimately recommended.
Because only the Suunto app, which is available for Android and iOS, gives you a complete overview of all activities and workouts. A web interface, such as the one available from Polar or Garmin, is no longer available with Suunto.
The watch can be connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth. The watch informs about incoming notifications either with a slight vibration and/or with a beep. All notifications can then be sent to your smartphone if you wish. The Suunto app can be used to determine from which apps notifications are shown.
The display of the notifications on the watch is rather simple and cannot be deleted directly. This, in turn, happens via the smartphone. Emojis are also not supported. Instead of the emojis, you see a few dots – nothing more. Responding directly to it does not work either.
By the way, calls can be accepted (or rejected) directly on the watch, but the smartphone is still necessary. The Suunto 9 Baro Titanium does not have a built-in microphone, so calls cannot be made directly through it.
Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH
Configuring is very easy thanks to Wear OS. When the clock is started for the first time, a setup assistant greets you. Select the language, copy the Google account (if desired) to the watch, and you’re done. After the setup, a short tutorial is started automatically, in which the most important functions and controls are brought closer to us.
To exploit the full potential of the Suunto 7, it is recommended to install the Google Wear OS, Google Fit, and Suunto apps on your smartphone in advance.
Although the case is a bit bulky and large, there is a pretty thick black border around it. The case does not come close to the bronze-colored bezel.
Technical Specifications
| Suunto 9 Baro Titanium | Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH | |
| Sensor | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU | GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU |
| Mirror material | Synthetic sapphire mirror | Gorilla Glass |
| Shell material | Glass fiber reinforced polyamide | Glass fiber reinforced polyamide |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, NFC, Strava, TrainingPeaks, Endomondo, etc. | Bluetooth, NFC, Keep, happy running laps, dumb |
| Stress and recovery | No | Yes |
| ANT+ | Yes | Yes |
| Compatible with third party apps | Yes | Yes |
| Swimming metrics | Yes | Yes |
| Stroke efficiency | Yes | Yes |
| Post-exercise analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Sleep duration | Yes | Yes |
| Pedometer | Yes | Yes |
| Activity history | Yes | Yes |
| Calories burned | Yes | Yes |
| Recovery Time | Yes | Yes |
| Heart rate monitor | Yes | Yes |
| Battery Type | Rechargeable lithium-ion | Rechargeable lithium-ion |
| Battery life | 40 Days | 14 Days |
| Wireless charging | No | No |
| Water resistance | 5 ATM (100 meters) | 5 ATM (50 meters) |
| Weather information | Yes | Yes |
Suunto 9 Baro Titanium
Tracking daily activities is one of the “basics” of a multisport watch. Of course, the premium smartwatch from Suunto can do these things as well. The data can be viewed either directly on the watch or clearly in the Suunto app. If you want, you can also set individual activity goals in terms of steps and calorie consumption.
The Suunto 9 Baro Titanium counts the steps quite reliably, although the number tends to be a bit too high compared to other watches. The watch probably reacts a little too sensitively to movements and counts these as steps. It looks good at the end of the day, but it doesn’t reflect reality.
Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH
The Suunto app for the smartphone is rather poor in functionality in combination with the Suunto 7. Normally, the number of steps, the calorie consumption, and a sleep analysis are also provided – not so with the Suunto 7. Here, the range of functions is limited to the activities/training. Only a weekly training goal can be defined. This is a pity.
Sure, there are apps in the Google Play Store that you could put on your smartwatch for sleep analysis. The GPS recording is okay. If you look at the recording in detail, you will notice that the Suunto 7, mainly in the forest with tall trees, does not always take it so precisely, and there are visible but tolerable deviations. In any case, the Suunto delivers more accurate results than the Polar Ignite.
Battery Life
Suunto 9 Baro Titanium
According to Suunto, the GPS multisport watch lasts between 25 and 170 hours in training mode – depending on the battery mode. If the watch is used exclusively in time mode, it should even be possible to run for up to 14 days—a realistic figure. The watch takes some time while charging. A charging process takes well over two hours if the watch has 10 percent remaining battery.
Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH
We come to the subject of the battery. With a capacity of 450 mAh, it is quite generous. Suunto officially states a runtime of up to two days and in training mode with activated GPS up to 12 hours.
For a real sports watch, on the other hand, that would be disappointing runtimes. Top athletes will choose the Suunto 9, which is not as smart as the Suunto 7.
Conclusion!
With the Suunto 9 Baro Titanium, the Finnish manufacturer has delivered a real GPS multisport watch with high-quality material. Ambitious athletes will not miss out on this smartwatch with well over 80 different sport modes, a 100 meter waterproof and very robust case with a titanium bezel, barometer, digital compass, and a successful app with detailed information.
The Suunto 9 Baro Titanium is undoubtedly aimed at athletes. You have to do without things like a neat AMOLED display, music control, and other “smart” functions with the Suunto 9 Baro Titanium. If you value it, you should definitely take a closer look at the Suunto 7 (Titanium). It is operated with WearOS and can therefore be expanded with many apps. On the other hand, the battery life is significantly worse.
The Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH is one of the best, if not the best, Wear OS smartwatch out there. It shines with a high-quality design, looks outstanding in the Graphite Copper variant (ok, that’s a matter of taste), and convinces with an overall good overall package, including the free offline maps.
However, all of this has its price: The watch currently costs a little over 500 francs in Switzerland. That’s a lot of money, especially for a Wear OS smartwatch. Yes, Google continues to treat the smartwatch operating system rather negatively. You notice this, especially if you have already used an Apple Watch or a newer Samsung Smartwatch.
Ambitious athletes should rather deal with the Suunto 5 or 9. Overall, both watches offer more sports functions and, above all, better battery life. But they only offer minimal, smart functions. Anyone looking for a mix of a good smartwatch with advanced sports functions will be happy with the Suunto 7.
Pros and Cons
| Suunto 9 Baro Titanium | Suunto 7 Graphite Copper ZH |
| Excellent design | Good display with sufficient brightness |
| Easy to read display | Comfortable, elastic bracelet |
| Integrated barometer and compass | Good performance |
| Accurate GPS | Can’t count floors |
| Good battery life | No sleep tracking |
| No blood oxygen measurement (SpO2) | No speaker (only beeps) |
| Inaccurate heart rate sensor |
