Suunto may be working on a screenless heart rate monitor to take on Garmin

• A leak suggests Suunto is working on a screenless fitness tracker
• The device would monitor your heart rate and health
• Photos have appeared but few other details are known

Screenless fitness bands are having a moment right now, with the likes of the Fitbit Air and the Garmin Cirqa showing that you don’t need a display to get a great wearable. Now, it looks like Suunto might be about to enter the fray with its own screenless option, and it might end up ditching the expensive subscription as well.

The device was first spotted by the5krunner, which found a listing in the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority database. This described a Suunto heart rate monitor under the codename HR264, and it follows similar listings made in South Korea and Singapore in recent weeks.

Unfortunately, we don’t know much else about the device. The listing does not include a product name, price or features list, so much of the details remain unknown for now. As pointed out by the5krunner, we don’t even know if the device is a chest strap, armband, wrist-worn tracker, or something else.

However, the5krunner notes that “certification photos of its HR264 heart rate monitor show a rechargeable optical band used for 24/7 recovery tracking,” with images appearing to show the product measuring roughly 44mm in height and 30mm in width.

Suunto’s app is currently free and offers an optional paid AI coach on the side, and it seems the HR264 heart rate monitor could take a similar approach. That would help it avoid the kind of expensive subscription that is required for devices made by the likes of Whoop.

Still ‘months away’

Suunto has established itself as a maker of impressive smartwatches, with the likes of the Vertical 2 scoring highly when we reviewed it. And Suunto has past pedigree with heart rate monitoring, with its Race 2 smartwatch performing well in this area when we tested it last year.

But the HR264 would be the company’s first foray into screenless devices, and this is a very different area to compete in because the user experience relies almost entirely on the product’s companion app. But as our reviewer noted when they tested the Vertical 2, “While Suunto’s smartphone app is perfectly acceptable, I’d argue it isn’t as good nor as all-encompassing as Garmin.”

Still, there’s time for Suunto to get this right ahead of the HR264’s launch, which the5krunner believes could still be “months away.” When that happens, there will be another screenless fitness tracker for interested users to investigate, and that competition could help drive the industry forward if it brings something new to the table.