Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar Review

The Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar is extremely well made, boasts incredible battery life, and offers great accuracy. Recent updates have improved the performance, making the model feel fast and snappy to use. You'll love this watch if you love Suunto's solid, well-made design. It may not be the best pick for you if you prefer your equipment to contain all the latest bells and whistles, but if you need a dependable GPS watch, consider this model.

Performance Comparison

Accuracy

To determine accuracy, we tested the GPS chipset and heart rate sensor carefully. For GPS accuracy, we compared the readings after taking the watch on a known 2.8-mile track to see how close it came. For heart rate accuracy, we ran with a watch on each wrist for 0.5 miles, using a Polar H10 chest strap—known for its scientific accuracy—as the benchmark. GPS testing was all conducted on the same day to keep weather conditions as similar as possible for each watch. For the heart rate tests, each watch was tightened to the same level to maintain a controlled fit. We then exported all data and matched the timestamps to provide a fair comparison between the chest strap and the wrist-worn devices.

The Suunto Vertical did great in both the HR and GPS testing. For heart rate, our data shows a difference of +/- 3.70 BPM. For GPS, the watch produced a difference of +/-0.08 miles, which was one of our most accurate models. If you need even greater accuracy, you can record with the multi-gnss function. We are confident in the Suunto platform and its sensors — if you need near-perfect accuracy, a chest-worn heart rate monitor is your best bet.

Activity Usage

The Suunto Vertical excels during activities, providing everything you need to tackle a challenging route, expedition, or workout. The 49mm case size is perfect, in our opinion, adding slightly more screen real estate without fully stepping up to the largest 51 mm case. This allows the watch to feel easily readable and accepting of lots of data without feeling overly large or clunky. The sapphire glass is durable while offering solar charging for long days out in the sun.

The data screens are well-designed, and a host of modes and metrics are offered, which are easily customizable in the Suunto app. The app also can provide suggested routes, which can then be forwarded to your watch for easy access when you get to the trailhead. Navigation is easy to use either via the buttons or touch screen and offers detailed maps, breadcrumb tracks, and turn-by-turn navigation.

Everyday Use

After extensive testing, we found the UI to become more intuitive than at first glance. Interaction on the Vertical Titanium Solar can be operated with the touchscreen or dedicated buttons. There are some weird instances, though, where the main central button operates differently in various apps and widgets. The UI inconsistencies took a bit to get used to. We prefer a dedicated back button and home button that remain the same no matter what screen you're on.

The Vertical provides a host of health metrics, like sleep, HR, and performance. These are useful for understanding your training and how well you are likely to perform. These can either be viewed in widgets on the watch or in the companion app. This app is one of our favorites and offers a great design and easy interaction. The ability to link your phone provides items like Find My Phone, remote music controls, and notifications. With tons of battery life, you should have no problem tracking your daily activities and health data for up to weeks at a time. Suunto continues to improve on this model with firmware updates and has come a long way since its first release. We are glad Suunto is committed to updates and it provides us confidence that they stand behind their products.

Extra Features

The Vertical has all of the normal functions you'd expect on a high-end GPS watch: sport modes, health tracking, and daily smartwatch functions. However, it does lack a few extra features other watches might offer. This isn't to say that more is always better, and Suunto keeps this watch simple and focused. Small devices can easily get overly cluttered and filled with features you never use. Other watches stuff every metric and widget under the sun, which you may glance at once before never looking at again. Suunto does a good job of adding things you want, but doesn't fill up on extras you may not need.

For some, it may be hard to accept fewer features at a higher price. A few examples of features we like not offered on the Vertical are contactless payments, actual flashlight, and red light mode. It does, however, provide third-party app downloads, but these are also a bit limited and don't add any additional features that aren't already integrated into the watch. While they add minor customizations, they don't provide much in the way of key additions to the feature set. Still, the features it does include are perfect for those who want premium basics such as an ABC (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass) with topographic navigation and don't need potentially excess software features.

Wearability

By far, the greatest part of the Suunto Vertical is the design. We love the 49 mm case size and wish this was the standard over the 47mm. This watch is beautifully made, with large portions of titanium surrounding both the case and bezel. While it is slightly thicker than others, this allows for increased battery performance. The directional buttons have a satisfying travel that feels firm and precise. Removable watch straps fit excellently, although the pin strap keeper design tends to be felt into the wrist bones when resting the hand or working at a desk. Readability is great even in full sun, thanks to a crisp, bright screen and dark blacks. If you appreciate fine craftsmanship, we wouldn't deter you from this model; its simplicity and elegance are the largest selling points.

Battery Life

With 85+ hours of GPS tracking couple with solar charging, the Suunto Vertical offers industry-leading battery life in the 49mm case size. This should be more than enough for most adventures and multi-day trips. If using the battery-saver mode during your downtime, you can expect extended life, which is great for expedition use. Suunto makes it easy to choose a battery mode at the start of a workout, which we also appreciate. These various modes alter the performance of battery draining features, decreasing performance but increasing battery life. GPS watches have come a long way, and we are impressed with the substantial battery upgrades Suunto has been able to provide. If you have held off purchasing a Suunto because of lower battery life, you don't have to wait any longer.

Should You Buy the Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar?

If you desire simplicity and build quality, we don't think you will be disappointed with purchasing the Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar. There are other options that offer more features, but these often go unused. If you have a specific feature you are looking for, we'd recommend seeing if the Suunto Vertical offers it using their product page.

What Other GPS Watches Should You Consider?

At a slightly higher price point, the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar is an option you might consider. It has a great blend of features, performance, and usability. For those who desire the elegance and build quality of Suunto, check out the Suunto Race. With an updated AMOLED display, UI, and equally fast software, this is a great option at a more attainable price point.