@sapphireforever I have 3 (yes 3 ) watches and I wholeheartly suggest you get the Race and you’ll not regret it. First of all I too had ‘mixed’ feeling about the HR (spikes during Rest, too low on bike and too high on runs). After the 2 or 3 updates of the Race and Vertical (this was my HR impressions based on) the only minor issue with the HR is the initial lock to cadence when running. Of coure I never, never really run without HR belt so I couln’t care less about the ohr.
So if you use belt during runs there is no reason for you to hold off. I would not state it as better HR sensor since as I can see the sensor is same, it only has 2 extra LEDs.
One other observation I had and I believe this is the reason the smaller watch got more LEDs is that when the watch is bigger the band holders dont dig in your wrist and elevate the HR sensor. This is the reason I think for my wrist the Suunto Ocean has the most accurate HR since it goes so smooth over my wrist (this little mm count compared to the Vertical/Race) and the sensor sits very nicely on the skin.
Concerning the responsivness of the UI this has been addressed with the latest FW accross all watches Race/Vertical/Ocean. In the end I believe they all have the same cpu/mem components. There is no chance the Race S has better cpu than the Race or Veritcal.
Cheers.