Suunto

Race S Series

Overall

#50 in

Fitness Trackers

according to Reddit Icon Reddit

Sentiment score70% positive
38
6
10
Last updated: Sep 11, 2026

Reddit Reviews

Reddit IconAithor86
11 months ago

Hola, pasé del fenix 6 pro al suunto race, y lo hice porque el altímetro empezó a fallar al año, pero bien exagerado, el servicio técnico de Garmin es una vergüenza, se llevaron el reloj y me dijeron que todo estaba bien, obviamente para trailrunning si las métricas de desnivel acumulado no son buenas, no sirve de nada. Suunto en GPS y altímetro no tiene rival, todos los días la misma ruta y clava las pendientes, el ascenso guiado es muy bueno también. Si buscas algo fiable, para mí no tiene rival en ese aspecto, outdoor TOTAL. Si buscas guías de entrenamiento, música, pagos con el reloj, etc... chorradas varias pues Garmin no tiene rival, y en cuanto a Coros, veo mucha copia de Garmin, podría ser una mezcla entre Garmin/Suunto. En cuanto a la medición del pulso, una cinta siempre, absolutamente siempre, será mejor. En cualquier reloj. Llevo 6 meses con el race y ahora no sé si venderlo y pillar el vertical 2. 🫣🫣, ¿qué me recomiendas?

Reddit Iconawwwwkward
9 months ago

I recently finished a 34hr race and had 40% battery left on my Suunto Race, using the regular/not optimized battery setting.

8 months ago

Suunto Race. Recently ran a 34 hour race and still had 48% battery left.

Reddit IconBig_Log_6471
11 months ago

I had the Race S, really liked it until the GPS just stopped working after 6-months. Good product until then, just pick a retailer who has a generous returns or replacement policy. Note OP mentions they are beginner-ish; if they are using a service like Runna to manage training plans, I really did not like the Runna integrations onto Suunto. I hated the data screens and pace notifications for interval or tempo sessions especially, but I'm comparing that to an Apple Watch I had before the Suunto.

Reddit Iconblue_lemonflesh
11 months ago

I recently switched to suunto and they are great. The race s is more affordable and pretty good. However for a first running watch I believe garmin is a bit too pricey. They also added many paywalls within their app and various features also are behind a paywall. I've also been told that their app isn't very good. My recommendation is the huawei gt4. (I've used it for 2 years). As it's an older model now, it is very cheap. It has very good battery life, good gps, good heart rate monitoring and many smart watch features. Great for running! If you're thinking about getting one, watch the review from the quantified scientist on youtube. I don't think you'll be missing out on much compared to garmin and again, way cheaper

Reddit IconBored-Viking
8 months ago

Suunto Race S, has standard programs for XC and Biathlon

Reddit Iconbrainicus
11 months ago

I think if you dig in my posts you could find a few detailed comparison answers.  I personally would stay away from Run, as it’s a different underlying platform from the rest of Suunto family and is thus incompatible with many Suunto features like S+ apps. Moreover, it seems it was more of a one shot attempt at alternative to the development that started with S9PP and isn’t going forward. Race S is a great watch though, which brings me to my next point. V3 is more akin to Race, so your real comparison is down to S vs M3. Both size, screen size, weight, and price wise.  Sleep, recovery, and general activity tracking is absolutely better on Polar assuming you can stomach their embarrassingly outdated app. They promised to overhaul it next year, but for now it is ass ugly and keeling over. That said Polar does have a web version (Suunto doesn’t anymore), with tons of useful reports and features. Also included are several adaptive fitness programs, from their  running programs to FitSpark to paid Fitness program. I think their training load and training load status are far easier and more intuitive for most people to deal with than Suunto’s stuff licensed from TrainingPeaks. On a flip side, Suunto has a very gorgeous and super informative app with ton of features (and sadly ridden with many bugs) and many great watch features targeting more advanced users, from ability to import workouts from third party systems, to track running mode, to structured workouts targeting specific intensity ranges not just plain 5 zones like Polar, to ZoneSense, to climb guidance, S+ apps and device integrations, and so on. I believe Suunto and Race S do have an edge for more training and fitness oriented people.  Getting to things like accuracy I’d say Suunto owns Polar on GPS (M3 is quite decent but not as good as Races). Also Polar tends to do some weird altitude thing that results in elevation gains 20-30% lower than other watches. On OHR, it’s the opposite. I find Polar far more stable and accurate. If you care about heart rate, unless you go for the latest gen, you’ll want that chest strap with Suunto for sure. Accidentally, Race S is better than other Suuntos, but far from perfect.  I’d say if your focus is more on general wellness and activity tracking and your fitness needs are generally to support that, M3 will be a great choice. If you need something sportier and with more advanced modern day training features go Suunto.  One other consideration is Suunto does update their watches with new features regularly (like 3-4 times a year) and does so for years. On a flip side, those updates lately bring unwanted bugs like HR dropping out in the middle of an activity, sleep tracking not working, etc.  Now my personal solution when faced with a similar dilemma?  I have Vertical 2 on one hand and Polar Loop on another. I do have V3 too for morning orthostatic, jump, and VO2 Max tests and a few other things Polar does well.   It’s either that, or get a single Garmin really… 

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