Suunto Race 2 General Discussion
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@2b2bff for me the last OHR that did not work almost at all during activity was the S9 Baro, since the S9 Peak I could rely on it for most activities, and every watch improved a bit. Race 2 is good for me also mountain biking and strength training, but for my own watch (and for comparisons) I use a chest strap all the time.
Fact is, that you make it sound like the software itself is not developed
The OHR firmware is updated often, and for example the Run is getting even better OHR readings with new firmware, same happened to Race 2, since I got it until now performance improved. Race during development had terrible OHR, locking on cadence in all activities, and right now works very well in all my tests. -
@isazi
Thanks itās quite the number I expect, with the fast charge (during shower) it made it usable this way, I think Iām still too in love of my mips to switch to amoled but I will maybe give it a try depending on what came with SV2
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@isazi ok. Maybe I have been a bit harsh and English is not my native languageā¦
Having a Race S I can see that the sensor itself seems to read HR quite well. If I step out of the door to go for a walk, more often than not the HR reading is about the same as what my chest strap reads. Should be around the 70 or 80 mark. Sometimes it shows on that occation 105 or 110. The same as Iām walking through the park. Most time it shows something realistic, part of the time it is way off. For no appearant reason. Watch is firm on my arm, I donāt hold something in my hand, I donāt adjust the watch on my arm. Just strangeā¦
Therefore I think the sensor itself - hardware - is good enough, just the software that is interpreting the data needs tuningā¦ -
@Ecki-D. said in Suunto Race 2 General Discussion:
Still waiting for a Vertical S (with no AMOLED) or a 10PP with maps
Yes, please. I really hope that the smaller watches wonāt be limited to the less premium models like the Run. It was only four years ago that the 9P was released and marketed as āthe thinnest, smallest and toughest watch Suunto has ever made.ā
The SR2 looks like it wears well with a thinner body and redesigned lugs, but Iām not in the market for a larger screen on my wrist. I am glad the option is here for those that appreciate or need it, but I prefer my tech to do its job while staying out of the way as much as possible.
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Can any of the testers whoāve been wearing one (@isazi, etc.) comment about whether the new WHR design leaves an imprint on the wrist? It looks very similar to Garminās which always left a large, irritating circle on my wrist, especially after tightening it down for activities.
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@duffman19 nothing irritating, but my wrists are both accustomed to wear tight watches
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My impression is that there is nothing new that we havenāt already learned from the leaks. There is new more powerful SoC, larger display, improved HR sensor, improved charger, and slightly longer battery life, but no new features compared to what we already have in the latest update. And twice the $$$ (at least in the USA). Is this a good way to summarize it?
Also, there are troubling examples of reduced GPS accuracy.
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I too have been testing the Race 2 for months. I have the titanium version. What I think is vastly improved over other Suunto watches, this includes the Run, Race 1, Race S and Vertical.
- This is the most comfortable Suunto watch I have ever worn. I typically wear smaller watches for sleep; Race S or Run but the Race 2 is as comfortable even though much larger. It is thinner and lighter than Race 1 and the lugs are different so extremely comfortable sleeping or exercising.
- OHR on Suunto watches has never worked well for me, not the Run or the Race S. (Run is better with new firmware but still not perfect). However the new OHR on the Race 2 is finally usable for me and as good as my Apple Watch Ultra 2. I am getting excellent OHR across all exercises and during daily use. A big win for me.
- The screen is amazing. I am not a fan of AMOLED and have long complained in the bright Colorado sun at altitude the screens are hard to see. The LTPO is great in the sun and now I am conflicted:) Comparing with the Vertical I prefer the Race 2 overall, it is as good in the sun and much, much better in shade and cloudy weather.
- The CPU is fast and raise to wake is great as is panning maps on the watch.
Battery life is great, I recently tested Ultra Mode on a 4 day fastpack trip and my estimates ranged from 80h to 133h during the trip.
I am using with a textile band that sold with the Suunto Run, the watch is extremely light and comfortable.
Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing
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Now that the heart rate monitor has been significantly improved, it looks quite promising. That said, itās really too much for me, and fortunately Run suits all my activities perfectly. Now Iām even more curious to see what Vertical has to offerā¦
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@Brad_Olwin Thanks Brad, really valuable feedback as I know you are a huge vertical fan, to be honnest I had always considered the sharp lugs on suunto a design flaw that I have to cope with and I was glad they change it on the race S that my wife use, nice to read.
Hope one day we will see a red shift for night mode appear, on my side Iām really use to the torch on my watch and I canāt considered a watch without this feature but reading how you feel conviced by amoled and the watch make it appealing anyway -
@v.sacre said in Suunto Race 2 General Discussion:
No waouw effect for me with this new Suunto Race 2.
Hope that Vertical 2 will impress me much more.I would call it Race 1.5
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@Tami999 The hardware in the Race 2 is more future-proof and after a few major updates (e.g. in a year) it could be a completely different watch, just like the 9PP or Vertical were at launch and today.
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@sky-runner I have not seen any issues with GPS accuracy but most of my testing is in Colorado and not typically GPS challenging.
Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing
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The Race 2 is a sort of exasperated āfineā but when compared to the Run really feels like two different companies made each watch. Having MP3 music playback on the Run and not back porting it to Race / Race S might have made sense if there were technical limitations of the older hardware, but now with a refresh with Race 2 itās like they forgot they had the feature on the cheaper watch. Perhaps that will come in an update to Race 2.
Possibly more troubling is the charger, which yet again is a different design. They changed it for the Run, and now changing it again for the Race 2. While likely not a real issue for most people who will only ever have one or the other watch, it still seems like Suunto isnāt well optimized to make a design that can last more than three months or so. Compare with the Apple Watch which still uses the same overall charger design since the original; new cables can charge faster, but I believe an original charging cable would still work with todayās models.
At least now those choosing between sizes of Race and Race S should be less concerned about the optical sensor differences, although really my guess is for ambient walking around 24/7 the optical was ok for the original, and for actual workouts people should have a chest strap anyway, especially as itās a requirement for ZoneSense.
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@raven The old charging cable was just a piece of crap, so really there is nothing to miss.
The same, but less bluntly, can be written about OHR in older watches.
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I think Suunto really nails it for the SR2. The biggest issue right now is because at launch, the new processor and sensor does not give additional value yet. Thus, this seems to be an incremental update. I think if we have previous Suunto watches, we should wait for the full upgrade on the software front to leverage the new hardware.
But, the screen itself looks amazing. It seems, from what I saw from videos and photos, the distance between the glass and the screen seems closer. It seems itās also 120hz as well which makes it very fluid.
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@maszop said in Suunto Race 2 General Discussion:
@raven The old charging cable was just a piece of crap, so really there is nothing to miss.
The same, but less bluntly, can be written about OHR in older watches.
The charging cable from the Run is a piece of crap? Thatās the last revision they just did a few months ago, and the Race 2 differs from that. My point is the Run and Race 2 should have the same charger, given they have been released near each other and likely one design is superior to the other.
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@raven Race/Vertical 2 are not a newer version of the first-generation Race/Vertical.
The Suunto Run is a completely different tool.
Different hardware, different software, different features, different customer group, etc. -
Iām clearly failing to communicate.
From a practical point of view, it makes more sense for a company to have one standard charger that can be used on all their devices. If one goes out and buys an Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 (imagine a family (two parents and a teenager) where three people all want different devices from the same company), then my understanding is they would all get chargers compatible with each other.
Now imagine if two people in the same family went and got a Suunto Run and a Suunto Race 2. They get two different chargers incompatible with one another. If they go on vacation together, they need to bring both cables and not just one. Is there a good reason for this from a consumerās point of view? I donāt think so.
Suunto could simplify their inventory if they had the same charger on both devices. Given they were released a few months apart, this should have been simple to coordinate. Instead, itās as if the Run was made by Polar or Coros, despite having Suunto branding. They clearly didnāt talk to the Race 2 team.
For another comparison, look at watch bands. I havenāt checked, but I imagine if there were two people in a family with a Run and Race they could exchange watch bands if they desired. Now imagine every watch Suunto released had a separate line of watch bands, and one could never use a watch band from a Run on a Race 2, etc. Now if Iām wrong and Run bands are not compatible with Race 2 then that emphasizes my āpeople arenāt talking to each otherā point.
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@raven Yes, but it took Suunto many years (since the 9Baro) to produce a reasonably good charging cable. Better late than never.
Apparently, the Suunto Run solution wasnāt as good as it seemed. A similar situation arose earlier ā changing the cable in the 9 Peak and 9 Peak Pro.
