Suunto Core Review: The Best Value Outdoor Watch?

Whether you’re travelling abroad and need to track multiple time zones, or enjoy spending time in the outdoors and want a full array of sensors to help you while on the trail, a rugged and durable watch is a must-have.

Among our favourites is the Suunto Core, one of the most iconic tool watches ever made.

But how does the Core hold up, over 10 years after its initial release?

Today we’ll be taking an in-depth look at this incredible watch, exploring all of its features and comparing it to other popular alternatives to help you determine if it has any place in your travel and trekking load out!

So, let’s get started.

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# Design and Features

Weighing only 2,26 oz (64g), the Suunto Core is a lightweight tool watch made of blacked-out composite plastic body, with an aluminium rotating bezel that offers the mineral glass screen a good level of protection from any glancing blows you might catch during your activities.

The underside of the watch is also made of aluminium, and has a built in slot to allow you to easily open the battery compartment. The Suunto Core runs on a single CR2032 battery, which can power this watch for an average of around a year to a year and a half before needing to be replaced.

The battery compartment also houses a rubber gasket that gives the Suunto Core a 30m waterproof rating; this makes it suitable for swimming and snorkelling, but not diving.

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Pro-Tip:

In order to keep your watch waterproof, remember to grease the gasket every time you change the battery. Silicone grease for o-rings works like a charm, as it will prevent the rubber from drying out and cracking and will ensure your watch remains water-tight.

The watch is extremely durably built, rugged, and will easily make it through endless treks, camping trips and outdoor expeditions. However, it is prone to accumulating scratches over time and the rubber strap is also known for needing to be replaced regularly due to breaking after prolonged use, even though ours is still holding on fine after over a year.

The Suunto Core’s large digital screen has a printed overlay to indicate in which mode your watch is, and it offers a good level of legibility with large lettering and numbers, although it is sometimes a little hard to read at a glance while in direct sunlight; with that said, you can easily adjust the brightness of the display in the settings menu, and you can always opt for the version with a positive display (black lettering on a white screen) for better visibility, instead of going for the standard negative display.

Surrounding the screen, printed on the bezel, the Core sports a 0 to 360° dial with cardinal points to allow you to use it in conjunction with the compass feature when navigating the trail.

This is an extremely well designed watch, and it’s rugged design makes it an ideal choice for the outdoors. Keep in mind, however, that at 49 mm the Core is a pretty big watch, and looks even bigger because of the large screen. It’s not as chunky as, say, most G-Shocks, but it will definitely stand out if you have small wrists.

# ABC Functions

The Suunto Core is a complete ABC watch, so it features a barometric altimeter, a barometer to measure air pressure and a compass:

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Barometric Altimeter:

The handy altimeter on the Suunto Core collects its readings by measuring air pressure via a barometer. This gives it a higher level of precision compared to models that rely on altimeters that instead get their data based on your gps position.

Now, this sounds easy on paper but is a little trickier in practice; to get a precise reading, the watch first needs to be properly calibrated to ensure your reading is correct. This can be done by using a known reference, either your current altitude or the sea level air pressure for your area. The first can be easily found on any topographical map, while the second needs to be found online, so it’s important you find these informations before you set out on your trip.

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Pro-Tip:

If you know your current altitude, you can add that to your barometric reading to obtain your local sea level air pressure reference. Use that reference to properly calibrate your watch.

On the other hand, if you know your sea level air pressure reference and add that to your barometer’s reading you’ll obtain your current altitude, again insuring your watch is properly calibrated.

Other factors that can affect your altitude reading are frequent changes in weather, since they cause fluctuations in air pressure, and keeping your watch on barometer mode while climbing or descending in altitude, since that will cause your watch to assume you’re standing still and that the changes in altitude are actually changes in air pressure.

All in all, if you are careful with calibrating your altimeter regularly; the Suunto Core will provide you with pretty accurate readings, give or take a few small differences.

Barometer:

In addition to working in tandem with the altimeter to determine your correct altitude, the barometer can also give you an indication of any weather changes that might be coming your way by measuring drops or rises in air pressure.

The trend in pressure change is indicated by a small arrow on the top of the screen. A downwards trend indicates potential bad weather, while a positive trend indicates there is a solid chance the weather will be good.

The Suunto Core is also equipped with an optional storm alarm that will warn you if the pressure drops heavily, which indicates a storm might be on the way. The value that triggers the storm alarm is fixed at a drop of 4 hPa / 0.12 inHg over a period of 3 hours, but, unlike more modern watches, it cannot be changed. This can cause the Suunto Core to occasionally give a false warning, but we found it to be accurate the majority of the time.

Digital Compass:

The Suunto Core can display a digital compass, which is of course extremely useful to help you find your bearings during your hike. Once you activate the mode, a digital compass will appear on the screen. It works pretty much like a regular compass, and can even be adjusted for declination. A fixed line on the top centre of the screen will indicate the direction you’re facing, while the degree will appear in the middle. Two small moving dots will indicate magnetic north, or true north if you adjusted for declination.

Additionally, you can also lock in a bearing if you want to travel in a specific direction or towards a landmark. The compass will then display a left or right facing arrow, depending on the direction you need to turn towards, until you’re facing the right way. You can also do this manually by facing north and then rotating your bezel indicator in the direction you want to go.

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Pro-Tip:

The compass is self adjusting, but it does need to be calibrated before its first use, and also if you’ve been next to anything with a strong magnetic field that might have caused it to go out of sync.

To calibrate your compass, take the watch off and set it in compass mode, then slowly rotate it horizontally; the compass will then automatically start calibrating. Just make sure you’re in a clear area, away from metal, magnets or anything else that could affect the reading.

# Other functions

In addition to the ABC functions, the Suunto Core has plenty of other features to help you during your travels and adventures in the wild!

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Dual Time:

For any watch that is not capable of satellite or bluetooth connection, dual time is an absolute must have when travelling. At the touch of a button, you can display a second time indicator with the current hour of the time zone you’ll be visiting, saving you the hassle of having to adjust your watch.

Not only, at a glance you’ll also see the area’s local time and the time back home (or vice-versa) which we find super practical to know if it’s a good moment to call or text friends and family!

Sunset/Sunrise Time:

Another super useful feature the Suunto Core has is the ability to display both sunset and sunrise times. This is especially handy when camping or trekking, as it will give you an accurate idea of when to stop to set up camp and when to set out again on the trail.

The time can be adjusted for where in the world you currently are, down to the nearest city, and has over 400 locations available. This will ensure you get the correct information, which we’ve found so far to be extremely accurate, give or take about 5 to ten minutes.

Stopwatch, Countdown and Alarms:

The Suunto Core is equipped with a stopwatch, a countdown timer and up to 3 alarms, all of course useful for travelling, sports and spending time outdoors!

Thermometer:

You can use the Suunto Core to measure the ambient temperature in both Celsius and Fahrenheit.

As with any watch thermometer,  the Suunto Core needs to be removed from your wrist for at least 10 minutes to allow it to adjust to ambient temperature without it picking up on your own body temperature. Once given enough time to cool off, however, the reading is pinpoint.

Unfortunately, there is no way to manually adjust the reading as you can, for example, with a Casio or Garmin watch, in order to account for your body temperature and still use the thermometer on your wrist. This means the thermometer on the Suunto Core is stuck at just being used off the wrist.

# How does it compare?

Now that we taken a look at all the of the Suunto Core’s main functions and features, let’s compare it to other high-end ABC watches:

Casio Pro Trek PRG-270-1

The Pro Trek PRG-270-1 is an ABC watch with pretty much the same features as the Suunto Core. It also retails for the same price, but is also equipped with Tough Solar, meaning its battery is solar powered, and has a higher water resistance.

However, we found that the altimeter and barometer readings were less accurate when compared to the Suunto Core. The design of the Pro Trek PRG-270-1 might also be a little bit much for some, especially when compared to the Core’s more minimalist design.

The Suunto Core, on the other hand, has a larger and easier to read display than the Pro Trek. Changing the battery can also be done in minutes, and doesn’t require any special tools. When it comes to durability, both watches are comparable, although the Core will collect more visible scratches over time due to the aluminium bezel.

Garmin Instinct 2

The Garmin Instinct 2 is an rugged ABC smartwatch designed to be used for sports and outdoor activities. With integrated GPS, bluetooth connectivity and route navigation, the Instinct 2 far surpasses the Suunto Core in terms of functionality and precision, definitely giving it the superior edge when it comes to traversing the outdoors.

With that said, it also costs more than double the price when compared with the Suunto Core.

The battery life is also around 28 days in smartwatch mode before needing to be recharged, even though it can technically run indefinitely with sufficient sun exposure. The screen is also very basic to preserve battery life, but it is much brighter and more legible than the Suunto Core.

G-Shock GW-9400 Rangeman

The G-Shock Rangeman is definitely one of Casio’s best mid-range ABC watches. Compared with the Suunto Core, the Rangeman definitely edges out the competition in terms of durability, water resistance and overall ruggedness. With the addition of Tough Solar to extend battery life and Multiband 6, a radio signal receiver that automatically corrects the time, the G-Shock Rangeman is a hard one to beat.

The main advantage the Suunto Core has, just as with the Pro Trek, is the larger and more legible display, as well as more accurate sensors and a more minimalist appearance. It is also just a little less expensive, although the difference in price is too minimal to really take into account.

# Should you buy a Suunto Core?

When taking into account its strengths and limitations, and the fact that it really hasn’t changed much since it first got released over 10 years ago, should you choose the Suunto Core as your go-to outdoor and travel watch or are you better off choosing an other model?

• Considering how much is packed into this watch, we definitely recommend buying the Suunto Core. Its sensors are by far the most accurate out of any non-GPS watch we’ve tested (even though the thermometer is a little useless), and its sunset/sunrise and dual time features are incredibly handy when hiking and travelling.

• The clear weather indicator and storm warning are also a great addition. Plus, we love how easy it is to swap the battery, especially after having to learn how to open several G-Shocks over the years.

The water resistance could be a little better, it definitely shows the scratches over time, and the screen glare can sometimes make it tricky to see the display at a glance, but all in all there is no denying that the Suunto Core is simply a really awesome watch!

And there you have it, these are our thoughts on the Suunto Core.

What do you think, does this iconic ABC watch deserve a spot in your gear kit?

What other ABC watches do you like to use?

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