GPS Watches / Review
Suunto Vertical 2 review: the best materials Suunto has sold, on a battery that shrank
Sapphire, titanium, maps and a flashlight at a price Garmin charges for polymer. The trade is the solar lens Suunto took away, and this review is mostly about whether you will miss it.
By Mike M.Updated Spec-sheet researched, not worn by us
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The verdict
The watch and its alternatives
Stock photoThe watch under review
Suunto Vertical 2 Titanium
Rechargeable GPS7.6 /10Sapphire, titanium bezel, 1.5-inch AMOLED, offline maps, flashlight, 20 days per charge, 100 m. Score below.
Check price · Amazon#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Suunto Vertical 2 Titanium
- Stock photo
Alternative: the solar one
Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar
Solar GPS8.1 /10Same sapphire and titanium with a solar lens: 60 days with sun, 74 g, MIP screen, no flashlight.
Check price · Amazon#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar
- Stock photo
Alternative: the battery one
Garmin Instinct 3 Solar (50mm)
Solar GPS8.7 /10No sapphire, no maps, and a battery Garmin rates unlimited with solar.
Check price · Amazon#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Garmin Instinct 3 Solar (50mm)
Verdict and score
What it is built for
Suunto's page calls it the "ultimate adventure watch for outdoor expeditions and training," and the feature list backs the second half more than the first: a 466 × 466 LTPO AMOLED, 115-plus sport modes, an improved optical heart-rate sensor and offline maps with route navigation. The expedition case rests on the power-saving GPS modes (up to 250 hours) and the sapphire.
Battery in real modes
| Mode (Suunto's wording) | Vertical 2 | Vertical Titanium Solar (previous) |
|---|---|---|
| Daily use: smartwatch mode | up to 20 days | up to 30 days (60 with solar) |
| Daily use: standby only | up to 40 days | up to 60 days (1 year with solar) |
| Training: all systems + multi-band | up to 65 h (60 h AOD) | up to 65 h (90 h with solar) |
| Training: all systems, single-band | up to 75 h (70 h AOD) | up to 90 h (140 h with solar) |
| Power-saving GNSS modes | up to 250 h | up to 500 h |
The AMOLED costs a third of the daily-use figure before solar is even considered, and the loss of solar costs the rest. Sixty-five multi-band hours is still a long weekend of continuous tracking with margin, and 250 hours in power-saving mode is a real expedition figure. It is a good battery. It is not the reason to buy this watch over the one it replaced.
Durability and what fails first
The lens is sapphire and the bezel is titanium, which means the two parts that usually age a watch will not. The case is glass-fiber reinforced polyamide, water resistance is 100 m (no dive rating; Suunto lists a 10 m snorkeling depth-meter function), and the operating range is -20°C to +55°C. Suunto's page carries no MIL-STD-810 line, so we do not credit one.
Navigation and maps
Offline map storage, waypoint and visual route navigation, GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/QZSS/BeiDou with four systems simultaneously, and a recording rate you can drop from Best to Low to buy hours. The 1.5-inch screen is the largest in this class and makes the map genuinely usable, which is not true of every 1.3-inch mapping watch.
Daily wear
87 g with a 22 mm silicone strap, a digital crown for browsing, touch and buttons, a flashlight, and an AMOLED that wakes on wrist-raise (leave it always-on and Suunto's own figure drops to 60 GPS hours). It is a large watch; the 125 to 175 mm wrist range on Suunto's page is a fair guide.
Who should skip it
Anyone buying a Suunto to stop charging: get the Vertical Titanium Solar while it is still sold. Anyone who does not need maps: the Instinct 3 Solar is rated unlimited and costs less. Anyone who swims past the pool: 100 m with no dive rating is fine for laps and rain, and the fenix 8 is the mapping watch with a 40 m dive rating. The brand-level argument is on Suunto vs Garmin.
In detail
Spec sheet and score
Stock photoThe watch under review
Suunto Vertical 2 Titanium
Sapphire, titanium bezel, 1.5-inch AMOLED, offline maps, flashlight, 20 days per charge, 100 m. Score below.
EvidenceResearched · not worn by us
| Power class | Rechargeable GPS. A rechargeable lithium cell charged from a cable. Days to a few weeks per charge; the cell ages with every cycle. |
|---|---|
| Battery (smartwatch) | Up to 20 days daily use; up to 40 days standby |
| Battery (GPS) | Up to 65 h all-systems + multi-band (60 h always-on); up to 75 h single-band |
| Battery (max GPS) | Up to 250 h in power-saving GNSS modes |
| Glass | Sapphire crystal |
| Bezel & case | Titanium bezel; glass fiber reinforced polyamide case |
| Water rating | 100 m |
| Display | 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED, 466 × 466 |
| Maps & GPS | Offline maps; GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, BeiDou |
| Flashlight | Integrated LED flashlight |
| Weight | 87 g / 3.07 oz |
| Operating temp | -20°C to +55°C (-5°F to +130°F) |
How the 7.6 score breaks down
- Battery & power independence (25%)
- 7
- Durability of materials (25%)
- 9
- Serviceability & lifespan (20%)
- 6
- Field usability (15%)
- 9
- Value per decade (10%)
- 7
- Mission fit (5%)
- 7
What the spec sheet supports
- Sapphire and titanium at the price of a polymer Garmin.
- Offline maps and a flashlight on a Suunto for the first time in the Vertical line.
Where it falls short
- The Vertical 2 dropped solar; the original Vertical Titanium Solar still has it.
- 100 m rating, no stated MIL-STD line, no dive rating.
Skip this if…
…you wanted a Suunto that never sees a charger; buy the first-gen Vertical Titanium Solar instead.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Suunto Vertical 2 Titanium
Stock photoAlternative: the solar one
Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar
Same sapphire and titanium with a solar lens: 60 days with sun, 74 g, MIP screen, no flashlight.
EvidenceResearched · not worn by us
| Power class | Solar GPS. A rechargeable cell topped up by a solar lens. Weeks between charges; the cell still ages like any lithium battery. |
|---|---|
| Battery (smartwatch) | Up to 30 days daily use (60 days with solar); standby up to 60 days (1 year with solar) |
| Battery (GPS) | Up to 65 h multi-band (90 h with solar); up to 90 h single-band (140 h with solar) |
| Battery (max GPS) | Up to 500 h in power-saving GNSS modes |
| Glass | Sapphire crystal |
| Bezel & case | Titanium Grade 5 bezel; glass fiber reinforced polyamide case |
| Water rating | 100 m |
| Display | 1.4-inch matrix (MIP) |
| Weight | 74 g / 2.61 oz |
| Operating temp | -20°C to +55°C (-5°F to +130°F) |
How the 8.1 score breaks down
- Battery & power independence (25%)
- 9
- Durability of materials (25%)
- 9
- Serviceability & lifespan (20%)
- 6
- Field usability (15%)
- 8
- Value per decade (10%)
- 8
- Mission fit (5%)
- 7
What the spec sheet supports
- Solar, sapphire and titanium at 74 g, lighter than a fenix 8 51mm.
- 500 hours in power-saving GPS is the highest Suunto figure and beats the fenix 8 Solar 47mm's max-battery figure without solar.
Where it falls short
- Previous generation: no flashlight, dimmer MIP screen, older optical heart rate.
- 100 m water rating, no MIL-STD claim in Suunto's specs.
Skip this if…
…you want the brightest screen and a flashlight; that is the Vertical 2.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar
Stock photoAlternative: the battery one
Garmin Instinct 3 Solar (50mm)
No sapphire, no maps, and a battery Garmin rates unlimited with solar.
EvidenceResearched · not worn by us
How the 8.7 score breaks down
- Battery & power independence (25%)
- 10
- Durability of materials (25%)
- 8
- Serviceability & lifespan (20%)
- 7
- Field usability (15%)
- 9
- Value per decade (10%)
- 10
- Mission fit (5%)
- 8
What the spec sheet supports
- Garmin's own table shows the 50mm solar model doubling the 45mm in GPS-with-solar hours (260 vs 130).
- Physical buttons, a monochrome display readable in full sun, and a flashlight with a red mode.
- 10 ATM rating and a MIL-STD 810 claim on a watch that costs less than half a fenix.
Where it falls short
- No maps: it navigates breadcrumb trails and waypoints, not topo maps.
- The solar figures assume three hours a day at 50,000 lux, which is midday sun, not a sleeve.
- Garmin does not name the lens material; treat it as strengthened glass, not sapphire.
Skip this if…
…you need on-wrist topo maps, or you wear long sleeves and work indoors, where the solar math never happens.
#ad · Price set by Amazon · Disclosure for the link to Garmin Instinct 3 Solar (50mm)
How we scored this
Watches we claim to have worn or tested: 0
Plenty of sites say they took every watch up a mountain. We didn't, and we say so. What we do instead: read the maker's own battery table mode by mode, check what the lens and case are actually made of, note the water rating and whether a MIL-STD-810 claim exists, ask how long the maker keeps updating the line, and score every pick on a public rubric weighted for a decade of ownership. Every figure links to where it came from.
Scores are editorial judgments from that documented research, not test results. Commissions never set a score or decide a pick. The rubric and its weights are published.
Questions
Frequently asked
How long does the Suunto Vertical 2 battery last?
Suunto states up to 20 days in daily use, 40 in standby, 65 hours of multi-band GPS (60 always-on), 75 hours single-band and up to 250 hours in power-saving GNSS modes.
Does the Suunto Vertical 2 have a sapphire crystal?
Yes. Suunto lists a sapphire crystal and a titanium bezel on the Titanium models.
Is the Suunto Vertical 2 waterproof?
Suunto rates it to 100 m water resistance with a 10 m depth meter for snorkeling. It carries no dive rating.
Keep reading
Related on Bezel & Bearing
Receipts
Sources
- Suunto — Vertical 2 Titanium Black product page and tech specs (checked 2026-09-20)
- Suunto — Vertical Titanium Solar Black product page and tech specs (checked 2026-09-20)
- Garmin — Instinct 3 Solar Series Owner's Manual, Battery Life Information (checked 2026-09-20)
We don't own or wear-test these watches and we don't pretend to. Battery, glass, case and water figures come from the maker's own owner's manuals, spec pages and press releases (linked on every product), and where a figure isn't published we say so. Prices are set by Amazon and change often, so we don't print them. Read the full method.