I was given the Suunto 5 GPS sports watch from Backcountry, but this review is my personal opinion. I will immediately address the elephant in the room: the backlight/contrast on the watch is abysmal. I spoke with Suunto's tech support about this deficiency, and they noted this problem, since I am a product tester. I am hoping a software update can remedy this before the product hits the market, or that they fix it immediately. In bright sunlight, the display is readable. In a dimly lit room, however, it is difficult to see. The toggle mode only allows two levels of "brightness." At times, I shone my phone's flashlight on the watch as I operated it inside my house. Thinking it was a defective watch, Suunto sent another one, and it behaved similarly. Display aside, I really like the Suunto 5. Out of the box, the set up was intuitive. I tested the product before the .pdf instructions were available and had little difficulty with its functionality. I never wore a sports watch before, and now that I have the Suunto 5, I am finding myself becoming more health conscious as a result of this device. I use it to track my steps, sleep quality, heartbeat, and stress level. There are seemingly unlimited sports modes on the device, so you can log and keep track of any activity you choose. I use the watch to track my walking, running, and biking, and it functions well in both wet and dry weather here in Pennsylvania. It pairs easily with Strava, my biking app of choice. When the watch is synced to the Suunto app on my phone or iPad, the data output/display is tremendous. A word of caution, however; the Suunto app and the Movescount app do not play well in the sandbox (perhaps it is because the Suunto 5 is so new????). It took an hour of troubleshooting to discover that the Movescount app had to be deleted on my iPhone for the watch to sync with the Suunto app. I am a 5'6" female with an athletic build and small wrists, and the watch has a large footprint for a female. However, a smaller footprint would make reading the display more difficult. The Suunto 5 is durable, lightweight and comfortable, even on rugged, bumpy mountain bike rides. I am super-impressed with the battery life. I went for four LONG days of activity without a charge, and when the battery ran low, it sent me a reminder to charge it. The color, dimensions, and quality of material are as featured on Backcountry's website, with the exception of the display. As stated earlier, the backlight/contrast is VERY dim. This would be a tremendous watch IF I could see it better.
Sharon H., backcountry.com
June 20, 2019