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I wasn’t surprised to discover that Suunto has given the Spark some protection against sweat and rain. The IP55 rating doesn’t extend to the charging case, which is reasonably compact and thin enough to slip into a pocket or running belt if you need to carry it with you.
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Suunto offers two control methods, but not the kind I like to see on earbuds designed for exercise. There are touchpads placed on the outside of both headphones, which I usually find difficult to use when running or with sweaty hands. Even Suunto states that the one-click controls can be easily operated by accident. Fortunately, the controls are well spread out across the speaker units, and accidental triggers were rare. These touch controls can be tapped or held to skip back and forward the track. They can also adjust the volume or play and pause the sound. You can also use them to trigger metronome tracking and exercise modes. This is all great, but I wish they would also switch between EQ modes.
Head gesture controls are not working. This uses some of the standard motion sensors found inside most smartwatches to record head gestures or vibrations to answer or reject a call or skip a track. I’ve used them previously on Suunto headphones, and my experience wasn’t great. If you’re walking or sitting on a bike, that’s perfectly fine. When you’re running, your head naturally moves a lot, and this causes you to accidentally turn off the controls. It gets annoying quickly.
Excellent sound for open ears
Photography: Michael Cao
Bottom line, the Suunto Spark sounds great. I’ve tested a lot of open-ear headphones and headphones, and I’d put the Spark alongside the best, including Shokz, Anker, and Bose.
Whether it was the overall depth of sound or the versatility of the fit, I was impressed. They’re also great at not letting wind get through and drown out your podcasts or calls. A large part of this strong performance lies in the available EQ modes, which (as mentioned) must be enabled from the Suunto phone app. This is the same app used to set up Suunto watches. It’s not the prettiest, but the headphones section is very easy to use.
There are four equalizer presets with an additional custom option, giving you greater control over the sound profile compared to other Suunto headphones. The switch to air delivery is what makes this possible. Air Conduction works by placing the speakers close to your ears and they behave similar to traditional earbuds. One of the major benefits of bone conduction is the ability to offer much greater sound customization.
