Suunto Race Watch Review – Likes & Dislikes

Suunto has long been an innovator in adventure watches. I’ve worn them for 25 years and their latest units offer so much functionality that it’s hard to call out every feature in detail. This is Suunto’s premiere training watch, so it caters to runners, cyclists and more. I’ve now had the Suunto Race for more than six months and I’m ready to lay out a few things I like and dislike about this powerful watch.

Suunto Race Watch Features:

• Bright and crisp AMOLED screen
• Touchscreen with digital bezel
• Configurable screens to show the desired data
• Running, cycling and endless training profiles
• Durable stainless steel bezel
• Large, 49mm case
• Dual band GNSS GPS for accuracy
• MSRP: $449 ($549 for titanium)

Getting cozy with the Suunto Race

After my recent review of the Suunto 9 Peak Pro, I’m familiar with Suunto’s latest watch/app ecosystem. No question, it is impressive, but there are some nuances that remain vexing to deal with long-term. The biggest issue remains knowing where to manage the setting I’m looking for — in the app or on the watch. And, that confusion was my first hurdle (but continues now several months later). Setup is straightforward, in spite of sometimes needing to use the app instead of the watch and I’ve been able to utilize all the key functions without relying on the instruction manual.

As mentioned, most settings can be configured on the watch, with its multi-level menu structure, but be sure to get the Suunto App to store/sync your data and further manage some settings that are either unavailable on the watch or cumbersome to manage. Additionally, the app provides access to routes, mapping tools and deeper analysis over your overall health — from sleep history to fitness.

Digging into this further, the Training Zone area of the mobile app provides real-time stats on everything from training load, recovery and fitness change — with some basic analysis from your fitness history. The Suunto Coach provides tips and guidance along the way for a nice touch of AI into my performance.

Compared to some watches in the space, I’ve found the Suunto Race to have a premium feel in every way. The whole ecosystem feels refined and modern. Further, the stainless steel watch case is chunky and substantial. The industrial look is magnified by the ribbed notches around the bezel, which act like teeth to inflict damage on passing doorways or handrails. In spite of repeated impacts, the watch remains as beautiful as the first day I put it on six months ago. As you’ll see, I wear it 24/7 and even though the size is definitely bulky, I’ve gotten used to it.

But, there’s no way around the fact that it is bulky. And, that bulkiness becomes most problematic while mountain biking where the strap outriggers literally dig into my wrist bones with every bump in the trail. Even tightening it up doesn’t alleviate that. However, my wrist has definitely become tougher over time as I now have a callous to prove it. I love Suunto’s comfortable rubber strap and how the end locks in place so it’s never flopping around.

I appreciate the easy-to-use charging cable. It’s easy to situate and charge, but I have had some instances when a small bump knocked it off from charging. Luckily, the battery lasts forever, so charging is only about every three weeks. Yes, you read that right — I can go almost a month without charging. To get that kind of battery life, I don’t do anything crazy either. I keep 24/7 heart rate running and don’t enable the specific power saving feature (which turns off notifications, vibration and continuous HRM. I have been blown away with nearly a monthlong battery life with daily exercising.

There’s no way around it, the Suunto Race is a bulky device. The sawtooth bezel and chunky strap outriggers can easily inflict damage on walls and your wrist. It took some time transitioning from the much-lighter and more streamlined Polar Pacer Pro.

All this said, there are a number of things I love about the Suunto Race and a few that remain frustrating. Yeah, I could go through every minute feature of the watch, but I’m just going to highlight the most important ones I’ve found for trail running, cycling and fitness tracking.

What do I love about the Sunnto Race?

The incredibly bright and clear AMOLED display is easy to love. With several different configurations and personalization options, the large  touchscreen is a delighter. Widgets and workout data are easy-to-read under all light conditions. Touchscreen responsiveness is excellent, or you can alternatively use the digital crown to interact with the Suunto Race.

All the data provided is accurate and easy to interpret. Everything from running power to altitude measurement is solid and reliable. I can count on it for accurate GPS location and distance tracking — not to mention route finding and guiding me back home. Suunto enjoys a loyal following for their many years of accurate data capture and reporting. Navigating through the watch is also intuitive and becomes better when offline maps are downloaded. Heart rate is off by a little bit here-and-there versus the Wahoo TRACKR HEART RATE strap, but it’s within a reasonable difference compared to a more accurate chest strap. Over the course of a 30-60 min side-by-side activity, average HRM would sometimes be off by 1-2 BPM. Other times, it was spot-on.

The Suunto Race has a ton of training tools and analysis built-in. Similar to the aforementioned point, there are great tools that are baked-in or configurable to achieve your workout and fitness goals. I tend to be a more free-form fitness kind of person, but structured workouts are all supported in various ways.

The battery life is mind-blowing. Just a few weeks ago, a friend posted about why he has ditched his Apple Watch in favor of a Garmin Forerunner. Tops on that list was battery life. I’m in the same boat, having ditched my Apple Watch years ago due to its abysmal battery life. I continue to be astounded at the battery life of the Suunto Race. I charge it so infrequently, it feels like it lasts forever — because it does.

Though the watch is bulky, it is seemingly indestructible. As I said, I’ve worn the Suunto Race nonstop for 6 months. As you can imagine, it has seen its fair share of dings, but it still looks brand new. Even the serrated bezel looks unfazed by countless encounters with drywall corners, wood trim, bushes, branches and more. Plus, the strap is stretchy and comfortable for 24/7 wear. And, the buttons and digital bezel are easy-to-use with or without gloves. The screen? Not a scratch in sight.

It offers a very reliable data sync. Everyone has their platform of choice and I still use Strava because I have so much history there, and because I find value in it year-after-year. It will sync eventually, but opening the app will make that happen in a jiffy.

Regular firmware updates let me know that Suunto cares about fixing and adding features. With each of the two major firmware updates so far, I’ve noticed improved function each time. The second hit just last week and hopefully the first dislike is no longer an issue (I’ll post updates). Firmware updates are on par with what we’ve come to expect from smart phones and even electric cars.

What do I dislike about the Suunto Race?

I’ve experienced several annoying bugs along the way. Tops on that list is it will randomly stop measuring heart rate (see above) with a reboot and sync required to get it back. When in this state, you can start exercising, but heart rate will never be measured. I’ve had this happen probably 10 times in the past 6 months. Another time, the screen got completely jumbled, but a reboot fixed it up.

When rebooted, the watch doesn’t automatically sync. After experiencing the missing HR above, and rebooting, I’m ready to exercise. But, if I don’t sync the watch first, my activity gets set to an unknown time period in the past and it “disappears.” I still haven’t figured out what the timestamp is of these lost workouts, but they must exist in the 1960’s or something. The watch does warn you, saying to sync the watch before an activity, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect Suunto to correct my initial negligence and sync everything up at the end of my workout. I have 2-3 activities out of nearly 100 that have disappeared like this.

Showers can be an adventure with the Suunto Race. How so? Well, that same touchscreen that works well for daily use also gets activated by water droplets. By the time I’m done showering, it’s anybody’s guess what settings have changed as it auto-navigated through the on-screen menus. With a recent firmware update, it is relatively easy to enable button lock, but I don’t always remember to do it (actually, I rarely remember).

Mountain biking can be painful. Even snugged up, the strap outrigger digs into my wrist bone. This is exacerbated while mountain biking because of the constant drops and rough terrain. Rough trail running does also require snugging it down, but mountain biking or gravel riding can be downright painful.

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