Best watch ever. But some things to know
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Hi,
After a while with the Vertical and a very sort test of the Titanium Race (which I didn’t like at all), I decided to buy the Steel Race as a second watch because there was an offer in a shop. I like this watch a lot and the weight is fine (I have had an F6X Titanium Solar for 5 years. That watch has the same weight as the Steel Race)What I have found is the latest firmware updates made the watch to be much much better than when I saw the Titanium Race. The black color feels also better. This watch is now my primary device.
Good and not so good things:
- Sleep tracking is pretty accurate. It detects naps or if I wake up and then resume sleep. I have had two bad reports and sometimes is not perfect but in general it works incredible well. Even better than Garmin for me and much better than the tracking of the Vertical. Very good work here Suunto.
- WHR works when sleeping and in workout (not perfect, but mostly works). It works better than the Titanium Vertical for me, which sometimes is stuck with totally bad readings. I also need to try a nylon strap and see if accuracy is increased. WHR does not work fine during the day for me. Another user in this forum said me that It seems an issue with the widget that reports x2 the real data (It also happens to me and some other users I have been speaking to).
- GNSS very accurate. Similar as the Vertical
- Altimeter very accurate but I need to manually recalibrate it before workout to start with the real readings.
- Step counter seems different than in the Vertical (after the latest update). It’s like the Race counts now more steps than the Vertical, but I’m not sure since now I’m on holidays.
- I was reticent about Amoled but the screen is very nice even under direct sunlight and I have found that underwater while swimming, it seems more readable than the Vertical.
Missing things to know:
- Multiple sensors of the same type not supported yet. Cyclists and triathletes should be aware of this.
- Wake up alarms for weekdays (every watch of the market does have this fixed even Chinese brands, but Suunto’s). I usually do teleworking on Tuesdays and Thursdays (so not the same wake up time from Mondays to Fridays). But you can be retired, be an student, work shifts… It is not understandable how such a basic thing has not been fixed yet.
- I miss the custom battery mode when in workout so I can use maps without using the performance mode (like in the Vertical). This should be taken from the Vertical, so both watches are aligned in software.
Other things
- A rest screen is missing by default for every sport. Trail running, swimming…This is important when running/swimming long and stopping at aid stations, so you know your rest time while the total time counter is not stopped. Ideally we should be able to choose to pause GNSS.
- Intervals support should be improved with alarms.
- Turn by turn notifications should be improved. Ideally with support on race imported tracks.
- Better maps with contour lines (when possible)
- The brightness, even in low is very good. It would be nice if the brightness level could be adjusted with the wheel. Even lower should be nice.
- The flashlight is very bright. It would be interesting if It could be adjusted with the wheel.
- I think we should be able to use only GPS mode. It is there in all other watches from the competence and I think the devs here are limiting the potential of the watch without any reason, which is bad for Suunto and the users. This will boost battery a lot (not only Garmin, i.e. Coros Vertix 2s), and accuracy should be more than enough in several conditions.
- Missing an additional activity for multi stage runs and trainings with backpack (Marathon Des Sables, Volcano Ultramarathon, Desert Ultra, 4 Deserts,…) https://forum.suunto.com/topic/11039/rucking-activity-and-trail-running-with-backpack
- All Suunto watches should have ideally all data synced. So my sleep of the Race is synced in the Vertical and the trainings of the Vertical in the Race, and everything inside the app.
That’s everything I think.
I have been a Garmin user for about 10 years with several Fenix, Forerunner and Instinct devices. I have also used Coros and Amazfit watches.Software needs a bit of work but this is my best watch now. I love accuracy and the navigation is so good…Best watch ever for the price.
Keep up the good work. -
I’m finally selling the Race, as I sold the Vertical. I’m also cancelling the Race S I bought for my wife. All are extremely good watches. The hardware is very good but the OHR. But despite Suunto is doing a lot of good work, the software is still not where others are. I miss the multiple sensor thing and the alarms. And I need to have a web portal (which, as far as I understand, is not going to happen).
I don’t like to read the data in a 6 inch screen. This is my main reason to go back. I’m pretty sure everything is going to be perhaps fixed soon, but this last thing. Perhaps it’s me (the first post of one of the threads suggesting a web site has near 1k votes though). I also understand that Suunto had a bad time and that has done an incredible nice work in the last year. That work, hearing the users, makes the difference that is moving Suunto to make their best devices ever. I hope I can return in the near future if things evolve a bit more.In the previous post and this, I pretended to be constructive putting in one thread everything that is still there. This is not criticism, just an honest opinion and that can be different of others, of course.
Just wanted to thank you, specially to the users, as individuals for all the help and nice things in these forums.
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I find that I use Runalyze and Tredict as web apps to give me data on a bigger screen. Check them out, even for your new device as they sync with a wide range of sources…
Good luck
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@Desdinova thanks. We know about 3rd party sites. It has been discused a lot before. It’s not the intention to start again that thread.
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@dreamer_ No worries! Just a heads up, as its something you may find useful with any device!
