I found a smartwatch just as reliable as mine (but much cheaper).

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I’ve noticed that many of the advanced sport watches I test are moving more towards “smart assistant” with their hands-free communication and payment solutions. Others, such as Polar and Suunto – two brands I’ve tested over the past two years – are focusing on health and fitness tracking.

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Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to test the Suunto Race 2 and found it to be one of the best sports watches available today. It has an integrated LED flashlight with a vibrant AMOLED touchscreen, as well as improved battery life.

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I had the chance to test the Suunto Race 2 earlier this year and found it to one of the most impressive sports watches on the market. The new Suunto Vertical 2 is $100 more expensive, but it offers a more durable build and a few additional improvements. The extra cost is not the only thing that makes the Suunto Vertical 2 more expensive. The stainless steel version of the Vertical 2 is 1 mm thicker and weighs 86 grams less than the Race 2.

I don’t like the design change of the rotating dial on the center right button being replaced with a button. I liked scrolling through data on the Race 2 with the dial, but with the new button of the Vertical 2, I found myself swiping the touchscreen more.

Swiping the screen is easier than turning a dial when you’re in the middle an activity. It’s a minor inconvenience, but it still needs to be mentioned.

Ever since Garmin launched a sports watch with an LED flashlight, I’ve worn a Garmin on one wrist just about every day. I find myself using the LED flashlight almost daily for a variety of purposes, and it has become a must have feature for my watches.

We saw Amazfit launch the T-Rex 3 Pro with a LED flashlight, and now Suunto joins the party. Unfortunately, Suunto needs to do a bit more work on the utility, since activating the LED flashlight results in a default brightness of 50%.

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Screen swipes or button presses are needed to switch the flashlight from 50% to 75%, 100%, 25%, red light, SOS mode, breathing white light, or red alert light. There are no options to set a default light mode and no way to enable certain modes for various workouts, such as breathing white light mode when running to help make others aware of your presence as you run. Given that the hardware and basic functions are just fine, a simple software update would go far to improve the feature.

It’s not clear to me what battery magic Suunto is performing, but even with the always-on display and the highest location tracking accuracy, the Vertical 2 should last for up to 65 hours. For comparison, the similarly sized 47mm Garmin Fenix 8 Pro with the same level of location tracking accuracy and always on display has a reported battery life of just 23 hours.

The Fenix 8 Pro offers quite a bit more connectivity and is also priced twice as much as the Suunto Vertical 2. Thus, if you are looking for a sports watch with an AMOLED display and long battery life the Vertical 2 is perfect for you.

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Suunto experienced questionable heart rate accuracy in the past, but that was fixed with the latest sensor in the Race 2 and thankfully that same sensor is in the Vertical 2. Heart rate accuracy has proven to match closely with my arm and chest mounted sensors, and the Vertical 2 additionally supports connections to those external sensors if you prefer to use them instead.

The model I was sent for testing includes the Pine Green watch band, seen above. I like the color of the band, but realize it’s probably not for everybody. Also, the pin that you insert into the opening on the buckle is tough to insert, and I didn’t enjoy pushing so hard down into the underside of my wrist to secure the strap.

Instead, I purchased a Suunto fabric band since I find those types of bands much more comfortable to wear at night while tracking sleep and while working out.

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The Suunto Vertical 2 is compatible with the SuuntoPlus App Store, but most of the apps are utilities, such as watch faces and partner collections, rather than the apps you find on Apple, Garmin or Google smartwatches. It also supports basic notifications from your smartphone and, if you own an Android connected to the watch, you can reply directly to messages.

One thing to note during my evaluation period is that there is an issue with the Suunto smartwatch app connecting to the Suunto Vertical 2 on the new iPhone 17 models. Suunto has a notice that it is working to resolve the issue, but I simply used my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 to test the Vertical 2 for this review and that was a seamless experience.

ZDNET’s buying advice

Based on my years of using the LED flashlight on Garmin watches, it’s a no-brainer for me to pay the extra $100 to get the flashlight on the Vertical 2 I used it every day during my review, despite the need to improve the flashlight utility for regular use.

I am comfortable with the always-on display because of the battery life. It is one of the few watches that have an AMOLED screen. Suunto continues its impressive performance and offers great hardware as well as a great app that includes lots of coaching, detailed tracking, and guidance.