Suunto Announces High End Spartan Ultra GPS Watch and Movescount Revamp

Spartan Ultra Collection

Suunto, sister company of mountain and cycle specialists Salomon and Mavic today announced the successor to their high end multi-sport Ambit 3, the Spartan Ultra.

Hand made in Finland, water resistant to 100m and featuring a sapphire crystal it continues the full multi-sport, vertical focus and guided route navigation of the Ambit 3 Vertical and Peak in a new and what appears to be a less bulky yet still super rugged form factor. Most significantly the relatively weak screen view ability of the Ambit 3 is said to be improved with a new wide viewing angle, sunlight readable color touch screen.  I am always a bit skeptical of touch screens with wet sweaty fingers but the Spartan also has 3 buttons.

Dozens of sports modes are pre-installed. 24/7 activity tracking is now included but no wrist heart rate model has been announced. It remains to seen how well the Spartan will compete with the Garmin Fenix 3 HR (Garmin overview including Fenix 3 HR here) with its wrist heart rate and lower price. The wild card is potentially Suunto's more engaging online and mobile experience, particularly for the vertically minded athlete.  

The Ultra Spartan will be available with a Black or Stealth Titanium bezel at $799 and in White and Black with a steel bezel, $699. Chest heart rate sensor extra. More details in July. On sale August 2016.

Movescount Revamp 

Park City Round Valley Heat Maps and Routes. Movescount

Suunto's excellent Movescount site gets a renewal effective June 7 with a refreshed, mobile friendly user interface. Movescount now aggregates and displays millions of user Moves as heat maps, by activity, to help athletes and explorers find the best places to run, cycle, hike, and even open water swim. We particularly look forward to trying the new Training Insights which visualizes your training load along with how you are feeling to help you make better training decisions.