UKH

Thinking of getting a new watch and like the look of the Suunto 5 or maybe the Spartan Sport which seems very similar in spec...

Any opinions or alternatives?

I've had a s Spartan sport for a year. Good for trail running,mountain biking, general hill walking & winter mountaineering. Bought for alt imeter which has worked well. Battery life ok on "good" GPS setting. Less of a training watch I think than Garmin. Online software and app now not well supported but does link to strava for bit more analysis  

Which is all hidden behind a paywall now. And it seems daft to pay for the watch and then have to pay for Strava. 
 

It’s not what you asking for but my recommendation is either the Garmin Fenix 5 or 6, depending on your budget. 

Bought the Mrs a suunto 5  a while ago ,it's not very good

Screen is poor in virtually all light conditions , battery not great , doesn't lock in to satellites easily, or at all sometimes 

Glitchy interface, weird charging things where it turns itself on and off a lot so warning beeps all the time and was a bastard to get it to synch to the phone app although that seems to be not so bad

I've got a 6 year old ambit peak which is still basically faultless so really disappointed that this new watch appears to be a big step back

Just to add a bit of contrast to the Suunto arguement, I had an Ambit Peak3 HR and had a number of problems with it and lost data whilst training for races. Whilst I know its not the Suunto 5 it kind of sealed my opinion on the direction they were going compared with Garmin and Polar.

This resulted in me going to Garmin and never losing anything and I think a much better quality and app etc. Garmin connect gives you just as much if not more than strava, so ive stopped using Strava now. 

The Fenix 3HR is a good starting point if money is tight on ebay for about 100 quid, or if you are a bit more keen to spend the Forerunner 945 is essentially a Fenix 6 in a smaller case.

Polar wise I have never had one but friends who use them like them.

Thanks....

Hearing similar opinions.....the Suunto 5 reviews don't look great. I'm looking at Garmin aswell......I partly have an old bias as had a couple of their car satnavs years ago which weren't great!

After much rage I gave up with my Suunto Ambit as I had so many syncing issues and lost activities. Immensely frustrating as there is nothing wrong with the physical device just ruined by Suunto’s awful software.
 

I have a Fenix now and am very impressed, no syncing issues and find it a lot more intuitive to use.

I think of you can't face having a garmin, coros or polar is a better answer today. I think suunto are kind of lost a bit, and that's quite sad.  Their new mobile software is weak in features compared to moves count, though maybe slightly more reliable. 

I like my ambit 3 vertical, but when it dies, it won't be a suunto that replaces it. 

I have been so impressed by the polar hr strap I got that it might just be a polar again... Waiting to see what happens in the grit x in terms of updates. 

From what I've heard the polar software is good for analysis. 

I really like my Suunto Traverse, but the web app is quite poor, also problems interfacing with Strava when I use it for sea kayaking. unlike my Garmin bike computer which works seamlessly with  Strava. I’ll be a lot happier when (if?)they sort out the Suunto App issues

More than happy with Garmin Fenix 5, i don't really see what the issue is that people have with them, i run with 5 or 6 friends regularly, all Garmin Fenix, no major issues, a few little bugs now and then but firmware is updated regularly for older models so they generally get worked out.

Tha.ks e eryo.e for comments....been looking at the reviews etc online...

I actually like the Garmin Vivoactive 3 which is a bit older but also seems very good value at £149!! They all seem to come with small straps though....my wrist is 235 mm.....the straps go to 202 max!! Certainly not made with climbers forearms in mind!