SUUNTO SPARTAN SPORT WRIST HR BARO

The Suunto Spartan Sport looks rugged and durable, and its touchscreen means you can swipe around the watch intuitively, with three buttons to help where needed. The watch was simple to use when running, acquired a GPS signal quickly and tracked flawlessly, even on routes with tunnels or dense tree-cover. The touchscreen didn’t work well in the rain, but the buttons cover the essentials.

During exercise, the Suunto read my heart rate 5-6bpm higher than our control medical-grade sensor. It gives a VO2max reading after each workout, and mine was a little low, consistent with an overestimated heart rate. My sleeping heart rate also read high, but the watch told me I’d spent a quarter of the night dreaming – perhaps I was being chased by a tiger.

The Suunto Movescount app is frustratingly bare-bones, and you need to use the desktop version for most of the advanced functions (mapping routes, planning workouts and examining data). For a quick run after work, it’s a hassle. However, Suunto’s heat maps are a highlight. They allow you to see where other people are running or cycling in your city, so you can crowdsource some great routes.

You can plot with virtual breadcrumbs and use the ‘find back’ function to navigate back to your start point – a potential lifesaver in the mountains – and given the right season, the ‘max speed’ ski feature would be dangerously fun. 7/10

Suunto Spartan Sport Wrist HR Baro From £459, suunto.com