The Suunto M5 is a heart rate monitor aimed at the fitness enthusiasts out there, coming with a USB Movestick which allows for the wireless transfer of your workout data to the movescount website.

It’s really easy to setup, enter your personal details and you’re ready to go.

There are a number of options to choose from: fitness test, exercise, suggestion along with options showing your previous workouts. The exercises are designed to get your heart-rate between a certain range for a period of time.

The Suunto M5’s heart-rate monitor is very easy to use and comfortable. No setup is required as the watch finds it automatically. It’s also detachable so you can wash the strap after those long workouts!

The exercises are not aimed at a specific workout but are based on time and heart-rate, so any exercise is ok with it.

It doesn’t have the facility to do splits / laps and to get distance, you will have to use an optional shoe Pod to capture distance as there’s no inbuilt GPS.

Pros:

* Easy to setup and use

* Ideal for the avid athlete

* Linked in with movescount gives a history and allows you to plan your fitness regime

Cons:

* No inbuilt GPS

* Exercises are limited

* Only captures heart-rate alone, optional extras are required for more data

Summary

The Suunto M5 is an ideal tool for those athletes looking to grow or maintain their fitness. Suunto has a good following in the athletic community and its integration with movescount helps cement its use to athletes

Score: 3/5