Race 2: GPS, cadence and distance accuracy vs previous Suunto models
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@Gunnar said in Race 2: GPS, cadence and distance accuracy vs previous Suunto models:
@jjpaz you have definitively too much time
but thanks for your testing and reporting 
Thanks! No, no much time, I have relied on algorithms that perform the calculation and text very quickly based on the analysis of the data.
Now I will continue enjoying the watch and not comparing watches
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Just chiming in with my experience. I own a number of different watches (Garmin Fenix 8, Garmin 970, COROS Pace Pro, Pace 4, and Suunto Race (1), Race S, Race 2). I also own a measuring wheel. Compared to every other device and my measuring wheel, the Suunto Race 2 measures 0.5 - 1.5% short every single run. All other devices compare very favourably to each other, with the Race 2 being the sole outlier. It doesnāt matter if it is on hilly trails or open flat roads, or anything in between. The Race 2 consistently measures shorter than the others, including compares against the measuring wheel and other officially marked distances.
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@Finnjf Thanks for this comment! For me, distance accuracy is perhaps the single most important factor. Iāll stick to Race 1 until this is addressed!
How come this hasnāt come up during field testing?
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I know itās a topic for R2 here, but nevertheless the question about V2ā¦ for me, it seems that the calculation is also a bit shorter on V2 in comparison to V1
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I donāt see any issue with distance report on my Vertical 2. When I bike, I normally track GPS distance with my Vertical 2 and a Wahoo Bolt (version 2). They report identical distance to the degree of 1/1000 (which is probably me pressing the start while beginning my ride and itās not exactly at the same time on both devices). I donāt measure runs with another GPS but I wonder if it would be any different.
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Good evening everyone, Iām new and just purchased a Race 2.
This morning I did my first 15km test run and, out of curiosity, I put my old Amazfit T-Rex2 on the other wrist (weāre talking about a ā¬160 watch).While I was running, I immediately noticed a difference in distance measurement between the two watches, and in the end I measured 15,260m (Amazfit) and 15,210m for the Race 2.
Itās only 50m, but I was curious about it while running; it seemed like my instant pace was consistently slower than what Amazfit was showing.
This leaves me very surprised because I initially thought Amazfit was doing the wrong thing, but then, searching online, I came across this thread.
At this point, Iād like to know if I still have time to replace my watch (I donāt know if Amazon accepts returns), or hope for a future update that will fix this strange anomaly.
Iām very disappointed and dissatisfied. In the meantime, Iād like to thank the thread author, who did a truly excellent job with all the tests. Thank you, and sorry for the length.
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@Ger43 50m of difference in a 15K run is not so much, itās inside the āaccuracy toleranceā. For example, yesterday I run 18K, flat and straight, without turns, and perfect clear sky and no buildings (perfect conditions for GPS) and Race 2 measured 90m less than Vertical (~0,5%, in perfect conditions).
The curious thing here is that Amazfit, according to public tests and reviews usually measures in the āshortā way when compared to other watches (Garmin, Coros, Suunto,ā¦), so probably here Race 2 would be measuring the systhematic ~1% less distance when compared to other watches.
If you like the watch enjoy it. Itās a beatiful and accurate watch, and also very confortable.
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I actually love it, so Iām a little disappointed because the watch is really nice, but the thought that my workouts and the averages Iām trying so hard to maintain are somewhat distorted by an inaccurate clock reading is quite discouraging.
Iāll do some more tests; this week Iāll try to see how it performs on intervals.
This is the today comparison from Strava of the 2 results:
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@gkaempfer said in Race 2: GPS, cadence and distance accuracy vs previous Suunto models:
I donāt see any issue with distance report on my Vertical 2. When I bike, I normally track GPS distance with my Vertical 2 and a Wahoo Bolt (version 2). They report identical distance to the degree of 1/1000 (which is probably me pressing the start while beginning my ride and itās not exactly at the same time on both devices). I donāt measure runs with another GPS but I wonder if it would be any different.
According to reviews and if you search a bit Strava atletes, Vertical 2 seems more similar to previous models in terms of accuracy. No drastic cuts, measured distances close to GPS raw distances and other devices.
If you search a bit Strava athletes wearing Race 2, thatās a different history. You can see official distances 1%-1,5% shorter than GPS raw distances (and distances measured with other devices) so the behavior is there.
The question is: why this behaviour? It is known by Suunto? I would say that it would be known by Suunto, I doubt that they arenāt aware of this, taking into account sponsored athletes, testers, etcā¦
Or maybe no one is taking care in GPS accuracy anymore and all the accuracy is centered in the optical HR sensor, who knows! -
@jjpaz my runs with V2 are about 0,5% shorter than those with V1
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@SuperFlo75 not a good news
The most infuriating thing is that in all the reviews in YouTube, not a single person mentions this anomalyā¦
Itās all well and good to praise the battery, the great display, the myriad of features, but Iād say the GPS accuracy remains the most important thing to review and compare for a sports watch of this caliber.Today I went for a 2km walk, and when I compared it to the Amazfit, it shaved 10 meters off the 2km markā¦
Of course, over 2km, the difference is small, but if we consider the error per kilometer, over a half marathon, the final race pace changesā¦ these are the basics for even a poor runner like meā¦
Knowing youāre running at 5.00/km when youāre actually running at 4.52 radically changes the perception of running.
I really hope itās a software bug and that it gets fixed.
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@Ger43 I wouldnāt worry about 10m in 2km. In my case, Iāve sometimes had differences of 20m per km from the very first kilometer, which would be 200m accumulated over 10km.
5m per kilometer is within a reasonable range for GPS receivers and depending on the surrounding environment.For example, my yesterdayās short easy run:
Official Distance (Device Summary) 5,322 meters
RAW Distance (GPS Points Summation) 5,398 meters
Algorithmic Reduction (Distance āClippedā) -76 meters (1.42%)-70m in a 5K runā¦ This would be ~280-300m in a Half Marathon, and thatās not even mentioning the differences in pace, which are around 4-5 seconds/km (slower) difference
You can analyze your FIT/JSON data to compare official and raw data and check the real difference between those data. In Vertical, Race S, Vertical 2 those data are very close. In Race 2 thereās differenceā¦
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To add even stranger things, summary of a 17km activity recorded with both Race 2 and Vertical:
So far, this is the usual behavior; Race 2 underestimates the distance measured by GPS, correct?
And now, I go to https://www.sports-tracker.com/ and compare de info and Laps info for every recorded activity and, oh! surprise!, SportTracker shows the āRawā data and both watches are very very similar in Laps times and Paces (and not during the activity). SportTracker shows 17,3km total distance in laps (the recorded raw distance) and practically identical Laps compared one by one:
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@jjpaz So itās increasingly clear that itās simply a āsoftware glitchā and that the hardware is working fine.
Is there a way to send these reports directly to the Suunto developers?
The error seems fairly obvious and verifiedā¦ -
@Ger43 said in Race 2: GPS, cadence and distance accuracy vs previous Suunto models:
@jjpaz So itās increasingly clear that itās simply a āsoftware glitchā and that the hardware is working fine.
Is there a way to send these reports directly to the Suunto developers?
The error seems fairly obvious and verifiedā¦If you check athleteās activities recorded with Race 2 the behavior is the same. So, Iām not aloneā¦
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@jjpaz said in Race 2: GPS, cadence and distance accuracy vs previous Suunto models:
@Ger43 said in Race 2: GPS, cadence and distance accuracy vs previous Suunto models:
@jjpaz So itās increasingly clear that itās simply a āsoftware glitchā and that the hardware is working fine.
Is there a way to send these reports directly to the Suunto developers?
The error seems fairly obvious and verifiedā¦If you check athleteās activities recorded with Race 2 the behavior is the same. So, Iām not aloneā¦
Iām reluctantly thinking about returning itā¦I still have time.
But at this point, if I were to consider getting the Vertical 2, would I have the same problem? Or do you think the V2 is fine in this regard? -
Maybe @dimitrios-kanellopoulos can help. I too am getting less distance and lower pace compared to all other watches. somethimes as much as 170m per 10km (compared to AW3 that I already know is quite conservative).
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@Ger43 I canāt tell you about the V2; I have the R2 and Iām currently testing it compared to my other watches. Try asking in the V2 subforum, although it seems to be more accurate in its GPS recordings.
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This evening I tried an interval workoutā¦ 5x800ā¦
I admit Iām completely lostā¦ this evening, instead of cutting as usual, the Race2 showed me more distance than the Amazfitā¦ already in the first 3km of warm-up, I noticed a pretty clear difference, which obviously affects my pace:
the pace on the repetitions also appears quite distorted between the 2 watches :
but other factors may have also influenced this, for example the START of the 2 watches were not aligned and in any case in general testing repetitions on 2 watches at the same time is not easyā¦ but in the warm-up phase, on the other hand, the difference is quite evident.
The only difference compared to the previous two tests was that in this workout I had installed the map of my region (Lombardy, Italy). Do you think installing the map of the area where I run might have had some impact?
In any case, it now seems exaggerated in the opposite direction. Letās always assume the Amazfit is telling the truth at this pointā¦
Tomorrow Iāll do the same walking test as the other day. I want to see if the same behavior as the other day (about 10 meters less every 2 km) is confirmed or not.
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@Ger43 for a bit more detail (and to rule out one possible factor), were the watches on the same wrist / arm? Was this session (including the warm up) on the track? Just wanting to check that the Suunto wasnāt on the outside (right, if running counterclockwise) wrist vs the Amazfit on the inside / left wrist, which could absolutely swing measurements this way.
