Pat PilcherSummary
Suunto RUN
PAT PILCHER reviews a mid-price fitness tracking watch that won’t require a second mortgage but will last the distance.
$499.99
If running/jogging and the whole fitness thing is your jam, then there’s a strong chance that you’ve probably already heard of Suunto. Their latest watch, the Suunto Run, is an affordable AMOLED sport-centric fitness tracker.
Even though I am no runner (my exercise maxes out at pint lifting), I went wrist-on with it to see what it’s capable of. It might not have all the bells and whistles of more costly models such as Suunto’s Race S/Race, but it does bring some nifty features to the game, such as offline music storage and a track run mode.
Like other running watches/fitness trackers, the Suunto Run offers accurate GPS tracking and enough post-workout analysis to make even the most ardent jogger gush with joy.
A key selling point of the Run is its price. At $500, it’s more affordable than similarly specced AMOLED options from competing brands. It comes in bright red, black, light grey and rather vivid yellow/lime green (which I was sent to review).
Charging it via the supplied USB puck and attaching its strap, I was pleasantly surprised at how thin and light it was. The strap is a nylon fabric doodah that significantly improves over the usual silicone straps, which are sweat traps and skin irritants for many people. The Run’s slinky lightweight design and sensible strap mean it doesn’t get in the way and is super comfortable to wear. As the Run uses a standard strap attachment, you can swap out the fabric strap for any 22mm watch strap.
It might be plastic, but the RUN isn’t flimsy or cheap. This is probably due to the addition of a thin alloy bezel. Equally nice, it’s also rated as waterproof to 50m, so taking a dip with it is unlikely to be a problem.
Driving the Run doesn’t require a degree in rocket science, either. There are just three buttons: forward, back and a digital crown for selecting and scrolling through on-screen menus, all of which make the Run intuitive to use. The Run’s vivid and bright 1.32-inch AMOLED touchscreen is a highlight, and proved readable under direct sunlight.
Behind the screen are an altimeter, pulse oximeter, and GPS. On the underside of the Run is a heart rate sensor. Being a Suunto gadget, you can hook up external heart rate/step sensors and pair Bluetooth ear-gear. However, unlike its more expensive siblings, the Run can’t pair with external cycling sensors.
You’d want to pair a set of earbuds because of the 4GB of storage on the watch set aside to store MP3 music. While that equates to a paltry amount of music, you don’t have to lug a phone/music-playing widget while running. The Run lacks an NFC wallet, so you’ll still need to carry a card/cash/wallet/purse should you want a post-workout coffee.
As you’d expect, it packs plenty of exercise-tracking modes. In total, Run Can Track has 34 different sports. These include swimming and a new track run mode that Suunto says delivers improved distance and pace tracking. Sadly, opening chip packets wasn’t included.
A mobile app that keeps things connected to your phone is a bit of a Swiss army knife. With it, I could create custom sports modes and customise the tracked data. All the data collected is displayed as widgets with a bewildering array of acronyms and charts. While the sheer volume of data analysed initially seems boggling, once you’ve mastered what it all means, it can help optimise your fitness levels from your workout routines.
In use, I found the Run’s GPS chops to be decent. It uses the same Sony GPS silicon as its more costly counterparts from Suunto. Its heart rate tracking is also pretty good, as it was usually close to my Galaxy Watch readings.
However, I did notice that compared to my Galaxy, the Run reported lighter step counts. This could well be an issue with either watch, plus the discrepancies were usually not that large. Personally, I prefer a step count on the lower side, as it motivates me to walk more.
The Run also supports sleep tracking, showing hours slept and the quality of your sleep by tracking sleep stages such as REM cycles and light/deep sleep. In addition to its health tracking chops, the Run will also alert you to phone notifications and has a handy weather forecast widget. What it’s lacking, however, is the offline maps that come with the Suunto Race and Race Swatches. If ultra-distance marathon running is a priority, this might give you pause for thought.
When it comes to battery life, the Suunto Run outdid itself. Where my Galaxy watch gives me a day and a half to two days of use, the Run stayed alive from a single charge for an impressive 12 days. Using features such as GPS tracking did drop that down to just 20 hours, so your mileage will vary with use.
While it lacks some of the bells and whistles of its more costly counterparts, the Run is an excellent option for runners/joggers who do not want to incur their bank manager’s wrath when buying a fitness tracker watch.
