Suunto 5 Peak knows how many carbs you’ve shredded

Suunto has launched the Suunto 5 Peak, a powerful mid-range sports watch out to do battle with Garmin and Polar.

The follow up to 2019’s Suunto 5, the Peak is 41% lighter than its predecessor, and weighs just 39g. To put that in context, it’s substantially lighter than the newly announced Fenix 7X that tips the scales closer to 80g.

It has a price tag of $329, which puts in alongside the Polar Vantage M2 and Garmin Forerunner 245 – and undercuts the Polar Grit X, a natural competitor.

It boasts a fairly unisex 43mm case with a silicone 22mm strap, so it shouldn’t be too bulky on small wrists. The screen is a fairly low-res 1.1-inch 218 x 218 LCD affair that won’t be winning many awards.

But while the Suunto 9 Peak saves on weight, it also aims to go big on battery.

The GPS tracking has three power modes, with the standard Performance mode lasting 20 hours. However, there’s Endurance mode that yields 40 hours and Tour mode extending things to 100 hours.

Normal, enthusiast runners will want to keep to the standard GPS mode for accuracy’s sake, and 20 hours isn’t too shabby, and is on par with devices such as the Forerunner 245.

The Suunto 5 Peak isn’t just about running, and there’s 80 sport modes to get stuck into. And it brings across some of Suunto’s most interesting software features.

The GPS tracking plays nicely with the company’s 3D route finding, and you can get turn-by-turn directions from the wrist.

You will also get access to the adaptive training programmes as well.

There’s also a brand new feature called Burner, which attempts to estimate the grams of fat and carbs burned during workouts, which can help guide refuelling post workout.

Elsewhere, there’s a host of heart rate-driven wellness features including sleep tracking, stress monitoring and a recovery/readiness estimate, the kind we’ve seen on Fitbit, Whoop and Oura devices.

And there’s also music capabilities, but via MP3 rather than streaming services.

It’s a decent set of features for the price, although we were highly critical of the Suunto 5’s tracking prowess in our review back in 2019 – so we will reserve judgement until we get hands on with our review.

The Suunto 5 Peak is set to cost $329 and has gone on sale now in ‘select markets’ – although availablity will increase in Europe on 1 February and will get a wider release in Spring 2022.