Garmin Fenix 6 vs. Apple Watch Series 6 vs. Suunto 9 Baro: Which is Best for You?

Garmin Fenix 6, Apple Watch Series 6, and Suunto 9 Baro Comparison

1. Garmin Fenix 6

The Garmin Fenix 6 sits right at the top of the extensive tree of Garmin watches, and represents the best of everything the company has to offer right now. The sixth series comes in what seems like a million different skews depending on what you’re looking for in a multi-sports or running watch. Garmin Fenix 6 is suitable for various outdoor sports, such as gym & fitness, running, golfing, cycling, swimming and so on.

The Fenix series is a family of fitness trackers that pretty much has it all when it comes to outdoor fitness and adventure tracking. Stepping things up a notch, Garmin released the Fenix 6 range in August 2019, offering users a slight update in design and some welcome new features over the Fenix 5 Plus.

Here's what's totally new/changed in the Fenix 6 series:

• Split product line into two portions: Pro and Base. Pro has WiFi, Maps, Music, Golf Maps;

• There are three sizes of watches: 42mm (Fenix 6s), 47mm (Fenix 6), 51mm (Fenix 6X);

• Adds solar charging to Fenix 6 Pro Solar: Termed “Power Glass”, this will increase battery life on sunnier days;

• Adds Trendline Popularity Routing Visibility (Pro): This allows you to actually see the ‘heatmaps’ on your device;

• Adds map display themes: This includes high contrast, popularity, marine, dark, and outdoor;

• Adds new widget glances concept: Basically shrinks widgets to 1/3rd the screen size, so you can see three at once;

•  Adds new PacePro feature: This replaces old-school paper race pace bands, creating pace targets for race based on grade/reverse splits/etc…

• Adds new Power Manager feature: Gives detailed information about the impacts/tradeoffs of features on battery life;

• Adds new Power Modes feature: Allows you to create custom power/battery modes, with time remaining per activity;

• Adds new MARQ Expedition ultra-long mode: For multi-week GPS activities. Basically shuts off everything except reduced rate GPS tracking;

• Adds ski resort maps: These started on the MARQ series, with 2,000 ski resorts worldwide;

• Adds golf maps pre-loaded: Previously you had to manually load these one by one, also, more detailed golf features;

• Adds support for wrist-based swimming HR: This was teased recently on the FR945 beta updates;

• Adds new ultra-low battery mode: Gets up to 80 days of battery life, but super basic watch functionality only;

• Revamped ClimbPro with new coloring: Now matches the Edge 530/830 styling;

• Increased data fields per page: Up to 8 fields on the 6X, and up to 6 fields on the 6S/6;

• Increased screen size and reduced bezel (varies by model, but up to 36% bigger screen size on the 6X;

• Reduced ‘lug to lug distance’ on Fenix 6S: This should help those with smaller wrists, more on this later;

• Reduced thickness of all devices. The 6S shrunk by 10%, the 6 by 7%, and the 6X by 15%;

• Changed from MediaTek GPS chipset to Sony GPS Chipset: Like every other new Garmin 2019 device;

• Battery life increased: Up to 80 days in battery saver mode for 6X, and up to 120hrs in max battery mode for 6X.

Pros of the Fenix 6:

Cons of the Fenix Series 6:

Where to Buy Garmin?

You can go Garmin Official Website , and don't forget to sign up at Extrabux (What is Extrabux?) , then you can get 6% super cashback from Extrabux! Sign-Up Bonus: Free to join it & get $20 welcome bonus!

2. Suunto 9 Baro

The Suunto 9 Baro is known for its extensive battery life and endurance modes that'll keep you chugging for 30+ hours. It uses a large watch face with a touch screen option which makes for a sleek and stylish GPS watch. This isn't as heavily featured as other Garmin watches and doesn't have upgrades like touchless pay or music control. It does, however, use onboard layered maps, which are a nice addition. 

The Suunto 9 Baro stands out for its touch screen and buttoned design that features extended battery life, enough to make it through most ultra-distance events. The look is sleek and simple, using the Suunto app that has many integrations to choose from.

The Suunto 9 smartwatch is a chunky beast. It’s 50mm in diameter and 7mm deep, with a stainless steel bezel and a composite case and weighs 76 grams.

The Suunto 9 works just as well for running, swimming, hiking or mountaineering: in fact there are over 80 sport profiles available. It’s also useful for gravel riding, cyclocross or mountain biking, where a cycling GPS is prone to end up covered in dirt.

The heart of the Suunto 9 is a 320x300 pixel resolution touchscreen with a shiny sapphire crystal glass. Its backlight can be turned on by pressing one of the three buttons on the right side of the watch; it can be set to go to sleep to conserve battery. Even when not backlit, the range of standard watch faces is easy to read.

Once you wake the watch up, you can swipe down through a range of screens with details of heart rate, recovery status, steps, training, altitude, sleep and fitness level. Behind each of these screens, there’s more detail that you can swipe left to access, usually including history. 

Swipe up from the watch face and there are yet more screens, letting you start to log an exercise, navigate, see your exercise history, set timers or access your settings. Plus you can use the buttons as shortcuts to some of these screens. Swipe right and the Suunto 9 will return to the watch face.

It sounds complicated, but is actually very intuitive, assisted by the really sharp, sensitive touchscreen and prompts on the display.

Pros: 

• Robust

• Good touchscreen

• Decent battery life

• Value vs industry leader

Cons

• Less functionality than other smartwatches

• Mapping functionality in Suunto app is difficult to use on a phone

• No basemap when navigating

Where to Buy Suunto?

You can go Suunto to buy Suunto Suunto 9 Baro!

3. Apple Watch Series 6

The Apple Watch Series 6 is the most powerful smartwatch introduced by Apple so far. Available in aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium, the Watch features for the first time a blood-oxygen sensor and a brighter always-on display.

The Apple Watch Series 6 comes in two sizes, three finishes, and two connectivity options. With a brighter always-on Retina Display, the Series 6 is available in 40 or 44mm, in aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium, and with GPS connection or GPS + LTE.

The Apple Watch Series 6 introduced two new colors to the aluminum version: blue and (PRODUCT)RED alongside silver, space gray, and gold. It has the S6 processor, which is up to 20% faster than the S5 chip. This generation also introduced the blood oxygen sensor, which is recommended just for well-being and is not approved by the FDA like the ECG app is.

The Apple Watch Series 6 has a third-generation optical heart sensor, Digital Crown with haptic feedback, a built-in compass, an always-on altimeter, and a second-generation speaker and mic. With Emergency SOS and International emergency calling, you can quickly call for help and alert your emergency contacts.

Apple Watch Series 6 also detect if you’ve taken a hard fall, then automatically call emergency services for you. The Noise app alerts when decibels reach levels that could damage your hearing. It’s also water-resistant up to 50m in the water.

Pros of the Apple Series 6:

Cons of the Apple Series 6:

Where to Buy Apple Watch?

You can go Best Buy to buy apple watches, then you can get 1% cash back.

Verdict for Garmin Fenix 6 vs. Apple Watch Series 6 vs. Suunto 9 Baro

This is a close battle between Apple vs Garmin vs Suunto because each watch is so different in look and provided features. The Apple Series 6 looks better and offers more streamlined, standard features for the everyday fitness enthusiast. 

The Fenix Series 6 & Suunto 9 Baro, on the other hand, is designed more for the running professional. So, if you are a runner and you want a top-of-the-line watch for performance metrics and navigation, then this is the clear winner.

The Fenix Series 6 vs Suunto 9 Baro

The two things that the Suunto 9 has going for itself is the default usage of sapphire crystal glass and its affordability. While Garmin also offers an option for a watch that uses sapphire crystal glass instead of Power Glass, that entails an additional fee that adds to an already more expensive product. Suunto 9, on the other hand, is significantly more affordable than its competitor. Listed prices online are around two hundred dollars cheaper than the Fenix 6, and you may even be able to find better deals that give you an even bigger bargain.

On just about everything else, though, the Fenix 6 proves to be the better smartwatch. It has better compatibility, and is more flexible in usage because of its greater variety of sensors and a wider array of recognized sporting activities. It’s also suited for longer use even with the GPS on, outlasting its competitor by an impressive eleven hours. While it’s not as sturdily built as the Suunto 9 by itself, it’s still a good choice for aspiring outdoors people and seasoned athletes alike.

Extrabux is an international cashback shopping site, offering up to 30% cashback from 10,000+ Stores!

24S, SSENSE, MATCHESFASHION.COM, Shopbop, NET-A-PORTER, FARFETCH, YOOX, Eastbay, End Clothing, Macys, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks OFF 5TH, Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges, Bloomingdales, Coggles, Harrods, Kohl's, Urban Outfitters, ASOS, Missguided, etc.

Join to get $20 welcome bonus now! (How does Welcome Bonus work?)