Differences are cosmetic only; all versions have the same guts, all use the same materials (mineral crystal, stainless steel bezels, fiber reinforced polycarbonate case and a silicone strap).

Good info from DCR:

Here’s what the Suunto 5 has that the Suunto Spartan Trainer doesn’t:

– Increased battery life from 10hrs to 20hrs in regular modes, and 30hrs to 40hrs in extended modes

– Changed from plastic bezel (base option) to stainless steel bezel

– Changed from plastic screen (base option) to mineral glass

– Added adaptive training plans (not on Suunto 9)

– Added sleep quality metric (not on Suunto 9)

– Added stress tracking metric (not on Suunto 9)

– Added body resources metric (not on Suunto 9)

– Added VO2Max fitness level

– Changed GPS chipset from MediaTek to Sony

– Changed GPS recording track modes from Best/Good/OK to Best/Good

– Added additional GPS options: GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS

– Added intelligent battery modes: Performance, Endurance, Custom

– Made the bezel appear slightly more swanky than the plasticky looking Spartan Trainer

– Slightly decreased temperature tolerances: –10°C to 50°C for Suunto 5 vs –20°C to 60°C for Suunto Trainer

– Approx. the same weight: 66g for Suunto 5, to 57g/66g/74g for Suunto Trainer variants

– Only can connect to Suunto/Sports Tracker platform/apps (not Movescount)

– It’s got a new square box. The first new structural box design for Suunto in like 30 years.

Effectively they’ve blended the FirstBeat physio type metrics from the Suunto 3 (stress, body resources, VO2Max tracking) with the new Suunto 9 GPS chipset related features (intelligent battery and tracking modes). The other tweaks are mostly cosmetic or downstream impacts from the previous two items. So in case you were wondering what the average of 3 and 9 are:

Still, let’s say you’re looking at the Suunto 9, what are you giving up by going for the Suunto 5?

– No barometric altimeter (in Suunto 9 Baro)

– No compass

– Lesser battery life: 20/40h vs 25/50/120hrs (depending on mode)

– No adjustable brightness level

– No touchscreen (buttons only)

– No access to legacy Movescount platform

On the flip side, the Suunto 5 has the following features the Suunto 9 doesn’t:

– Has stress tracking metrics

– Has body resources (aka body battery) metric

– Has sleep quality metrics

– Has V02Max tracking/metrics

– Has adaptive training plans

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Suunto 5 Compact GPS Sports Watch

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