Walking Equipment and Accessories

Suunto Spartan Ultra GPS Watch | Review

Suunto are a Finnish company with more than 80 years of experience to their name. They were founded by renowned orienteer Tuomas Vohlonen, after the outdoor enthusiast invented a mass-production liquid-filled compass in 1936.

Of course the modern equivalent of the compass is the GPS system and these days that’s what Suunto specialise in. The name “Suunto” comes from the Finnish word for direction, and their Spartan Ultra GPS Watch lives up to the name and the legacy of the company.

The GPS watch offers a battery life of us to 26 hours in training mode. That’s all the while maintaining an outdoor-grade colour touch screen and heart-rate monitoring. It’s a cool, slick design that sets its apart from a lot of its bulky rivals on the market. You could even argue that it’s better looking than a lot of non-sports watches. This is the kind of watch which will get the guy you’re sitting next to on the train awkwardly staring at your wrist everytime you look out the window.

“The Spartan Ultra GPS watch is built to withstand whatever conditions your outdoor adventures can throw at it.”

It’s also incredibly durable. There’s a story that in 1939 a Finnish soldier was shot by a Russian sniper during the Winter War and survived when his Suunto M-311 field compass took the bullet for him. Suunto’s products aren’t certified as bulletproof, but they have continued that tradition of toughness – the Spartan Ultra GPS watch is built to withstand whatever conditions your outdoor adventures can throw at it.

The route navigation and recording data is accurate, even over water, where many GPS watches struggle. The compass and barometric altimeter direction make use of FusedAlti technology to ensure you always stay on course.

The wild Suunto Spartan can often be found lurking in tree branches and dense forest. The species places a priority on punctuality. Photo: Chris Johnson.

In 1939 a Finnish soldier was saved from a bullet by his Suunto compass. Photo: Chris Johnson.

...and it's incredibly simple and convenient to charge it as well. Photo: Chris Johnson.

You’ll also gain access to the community-powered Suunto Movescount training world, where you can monitor all your data, work with peer group comparisons, insights and peer-to-peer coaching. The watch isn’t cheap with options starting at £599 and going up into the £600s, but this is the kind of thing you buy once and keep hold of – one the serious athletes out there.