Suunto  9 Peak Pro

After hours of research on the web (Coros, Polar, Garmin, Suunto, Samsung, Casio), looking for sports watches with GPS AND built-in maps, I settled upon the Suunto 9 Peak Pro. It had all the sensors, all the activity tracking capabilities one could ask for, at a fairly reasonable price (well, at least compared to Garmin). Plus, it was attractive, not chunky, and seemed to have a good build quality. Once at home, the first problem cropped up. The included strap wasn't big enough for me to wear this watch. I could barely pass the tang through the outermost hole on the strap, and in that position, the secondary securing pin wouldn't really fit into any of the holes. My wrist is about 21.5cm (~ 8.5") in circumference. I realize this is towards the upper end of the scale. But I've never had a problem with any Garmin or other sport watch I've owned. For reference, from Reeds Jewelry website: "... watch bands are manufactured to standard lengths. For women, the standard is between 6 3/4 inches and 8 inches, depending on the style and manufacturer. For men, the standard watch band measures between 7 3/4 inches and 9 1/2 inches, again, depending on the style and manufacturer." For Suunto, this is a nope. The bigger problem is the Peak Pro has no included basemaps. REI says it does, but it doesn't. REI's website description of this watch says: Visual Map Display Yes Basemap Yes My main focus on this puchase was to have offline GPS locations plotted on a base map, on the watch. Not transmitted to my cellphone. Not displayed later at home on my computer. On. The. Watch. It records tracks or routes, allows you to import them into the device, but has no background map capability (unlike many Garmin watches). Having a breadcrumb trail is not the same as displaying same over some frame of reference. If you live in an area where cell coverage is spotty, or non-existant, you'll understand the desire for a display that includes not just a breadcrumb trail, but also typical map elements nearby (like the less expensive Suunto 7 does, BTW). I recalled the salesperson mentioning some sort of return policy, so I decided to take it back. I have other watches, including a smartwatch with many of the health/fitness functions, but without the GPS and mapping. Didn't really need a $500-600 watch that couldn't do what I wanted. The return experience was also less than stellar. Everything was boxed as originally received, I had my receipt. The guy who took the return was pleasant and helpful, but his colleague kept butting in to the discussion, casting aspersions on my return and saying it should not be accepted. So, in short, fine watch, unless you happen to have large wrists, and unless you want actual on-board basemaps for offline use.

After hours of research on the web (Coros, Polar, Garmin, Suunto, Samsung, Casio), looking for sports watches with GPS AND built-in maps, I settled upon the Suunto 9 Peak Pro. It had all the sensors, all the activity tracking capabilities one could ask for, at a fairly reasonable price (well, at least compared to Garmin). Plus, it was attractive, not chunky, and seemed to have a good build quality. Once at home, the first problem cropped up. The included strap wasn't big enough for me to wear this watch. I could barely pass the tang through the outermost hole on the strap, and in that position, the secondary securing pin wouldn't really fit into any of the holes. My wrist is about 21.5cm (~ 8.5") in circumference. I realize this is towards the upper end of the scale. But I've never had a problem with any Garmin or other sport watch I've owned. For reference, from Reeds Jewelry website: "... watch bands are manufactured to standard lengths. For women, the standard is between 6 3/4 inches and 8 inches, depending on the style and manufacturer. For men, the standard watch band measures between 7 3/4 inches and 9 1/2 inches, again, depending on the style and manufacturer." For Suunto, this is a nope. The bigger problem is the Peak Pro has no included basemaps. REI says it does, but it doesn't. REI's website description of this watch says: Visual Map Display Yes Basemap Yes My main focus on this puchase was to have offline GPS locations plotted on a base map, on the watch. Not transmitted to my cellphone. Not displayed later at home on my computer. On. The. Watch. It records tracks or routes, allows you to import them into the device, but has no background map capability (unlike many Garmin watches). Having a breadcrumb trail is not the same as displaying same over some frame of reference. If you live in an area where cell coverage is spotty, or non-existant, you'll understand the desire for a display that includes not just a breadcrumb trail, but also typical map elements nearby (like the less expensive Suunto 7 does, BTW). I recalled the salesperson mentioning some sort of return policy, so I decided to take it back. I have other watches, including a smartwatch with many of the health/fitness functions, but without the GPS and mapping. Didn't really need a $500-600 watch that couldn't do what I wanted. The return experience was also less than stellar. Everything was boxed as originally received, I had my receipt. The guy who took the return was pleasant and helpful, but his colleague kept butting in to the discussion, casting aspersions on my return and saying it should not be accepted. So, in short, fine watch, unless you happen to have large wrists, and unless you want actual on-board basemaps for offline use.