Feature request: Extend Race 2 freediving depth beyond 10 m

[Fabrice Angeli]

Hi Suunto team,

I am a Suunto Race 2 user and an indoor and outdoor freediver.

I would like to ask whether Suunto could consider extending the current 10 m depth limitation of the Race 2 in Snorkeling/Mermaiding mode, or potentially add a dedicated Freediving mode.

I am currently practicing indoor freediving and progressing towards deeper freediving in open water. The current 10 m limitation means that the Race 2 cannot be used as a depth instrument once training goes beyond 10 m.

I understand that the Race 2 is not designed as a dedicated dive computer. However, since the watch is already water-resistant to 100 m, I wonder whether the 10 m limitation is mainly software-related and whether it could be increased through a future firmware update.

For example, having a 20–30 m Freediving mode, with basic freediving metrics such as:

depth
dive time
surface time
descent/ascent speed
depth alarms
vibration alerts

would make the Race 2 much more useful for freedivers who use it for both indoor and outdoor training.

I would personally be very interested in such an update, rather than having to purchase a separate watch solely because of the current 10 m limitation.

Is there any technical reason why the Race 2 cannot measure depth beyond 10 m, or is this limitation primarily related to the current software/mode design?

Thanks to the Suunto team for considering this feature request.

[Egika]

@Fabrice-Angeli this has been discussed before.
See here why it is not possible in an easy way without compromising altitude accuracy:
https://forum.suunto.com/post/111155

[Fabrice Angeli]

@Egika Thank a lot you for this initial explanation and clarification. However, this information dates back to 2022 and mentions an improvement with the Suunto 9 Peak Pro. As of May 2026, my question regarding the Suunto Race 2 remains unanswered.

[Egika]

@Fabrice-Angeli the concept is independent from the watch model.
The physical principle is the same:
Depth measurement eats up the bits of the sensor resolution that are then missing for the may more difficile altitude measurement.
10m of depth measurement have the same pressure difference as the whole athmosphere up to space. The sensor needs to cover an absolute pressure difference of 2bar (1 below and 1 above sea level)
Now you want at least a max altitude of 8848m with a resolution of 1m and a certain SNR.
Unfortunately you already have spent half of the sensor resolution for the 10m depth…

If you want 20m or 30m of depth, you stretch the sensor from 2 bar to a total pressure range of 3 bar or even 4 bar. This reduces accuracy by half best case…

[Fabrice Angeli]

@Egika, Thank you for the clear explanation of the physical principle. If I understand correctly, the limitation is ultimately related to the pressure range supported by the sensor and the trade-off between underwater depth measurement and altitude resolution.

Does this mean that the pressure range of the sensor used in the Suunto Race 2 has not significantly increased compared with the sensors used in older Suunto models?

If the pressure range of the sensor in the Race 2 has actually increased over the years, it would be very interesting to know its exact range in bar. This could potentially leave some room for a software evolution allowing a greater depth range in apnea mode, while accepting a certain reduction in altitude resolution.

Could you clarify the actual pressure range of the Race 2 sensor?

[2b2bff]

@Egika said:

If you want 20m or 30m of depth, you stretch the sensor from 2 bar to a total pressure range of 3 bar or even 4 bar. This reduces accuracy by half best case…

Just curious: Does the Ocean has two sensors to just a very limited resolution?

[Squirrel]

@2b2bff I was wondering the same thing. Either two sensors, or mediocre altitude measurement compared to other watches.