From the Vertical to the Race - pros and cons

[General_Witt]

Hello everyone, as a previous owner of a Vertical and now a Suunto Race I would like to share with you my impressions of the pros and cons of the two watches, out of curiosity to see if you also came to the same conclusions.

PROS

• The display of the Race is on a much higher level than the Vertical. The colors, the sharpness, especially when you look at it briefly. It is just more readable. I suspect that when AMOLEDs will no longer affect the battery so much the old MIP displays will remain just a memory of the past.
• Linked to the display talk is the one about maps. The “dark” map with the Race is really gorgeous to see at night, much much better than the Vertical. The normal map, thanks to the brighter colors, makes it easier to distinguish the route and map elements, especially when looked at in a hurry (e.g. riding a bike).
• The watch in the titanium version is light enough to forget you are wearing it, and compared to the Vertical it gives a less clunky feeling on the wrist. I’d happily wear the Race in the evening at a restaurant, while I wouldn’t know whether to wear the Vertical.
• The side crown greatly increases the usability of the watch compared to the old 3 buttons on the Vertical, making finding informations and navigating through menus easier.

CONS

• Battery. Compared to the Vertical Solar the shorter battery life is very noticeable. It is still okay because by my calculations it lasts between 8 and 10 days with at least 3-4 weekly activities, but the Vertical lasts so much longer that I miss it in this regard.
• The Race’s display reactivates fairly quickly when you bend your wrist to see the time, but not enough for how I’d like it to.
• On the lag I have already written elsewhere that there is little of it and it is not a problem, it’s more fluid than the Vertical, but if there was even less it would be great to have the first Suunto “fluid” lag-free watch.
• The Titanium version metal tint (light gray) gives an overall plastic and cheap feeling to the watch when compared to the Vertical. The Vertical looks sturdier, more durable and less like a child toy.
• The GPS of the Race seems a little bit less accurate than the Vertical in urban environments.

[Egika]

@General_Witt I agree with your conclusions 100%
If it wasn’t for the weight, I’d stick with the all black Race.

[zhang965]

For lagging watch, it really depends on the users, I crossed a reddit comment, this person has no any feeling about lag, even on vertical

[General_Witt]

@zhang965 As discussed in another thread if you expect the same fluid scrolling that you have on an Iphone on the Race or Vertical then these watches are laggy for sure. If you use the Race or Vertical in their typical scenario (outodoor and indoor sports) then the lag is a non issue.

[General_Witt]

@Egika Absolutely. If there was a “black titanium” model, as in the Suunto 9 series, I would have bought it immediately. The titanium alloy of the Race feels and looks like it’s plastic.

[zhang965]

@General_Witt said in From the Vertical to the Race - pros and cons:

@zhang965 As discussed in another thread if you expect the same fluid scrolling that you have on a Iphone on the Race or Vertical then these watches are laggy for sure. If you use the Race or Vertical in their typical scenario (outodoor and indoor sports) then the lag is a non issue.

Yes, i sold my vertical , I cannot accept a watch from 2023 lag like this .

[ChrisA]

@General_Witt said in From the Vertical to the Race - pros and cons:

It is still okay because by my calculations it lasts between 8 and 10 days

Actually that’s pretty accurate of what I got out of the first charge - pretty exactly 8 days with everything on. Turned off SpO2 now and maybe it’s a day or two more then.

[Pier Luigi Cingolani]

@ChrisA using AOD, when in the dim state the time is “flickering” for me. It’s hard to explain, but it seems the number are ever so slightly “pulsing”. Have you noticed that or would you say it’s a bug? It does not bother me at all tbh, bit I wouldn’t want it to cause increased burn in…

[ChrisA]

@Pier-Luigi-Cingolani no… No flickering. Numbers seem to move a bit from time to time, which would prevent burn in.

[Egika]

@Pier-Luigi-Cingolani yes, the flickering depends on the ambient light and cannot always be noticed.

[BrunoH]

@General_Witt you think AMOLED will make MIP obsolete, but you miss Vertical’s battery life? I wouldn’t buy the funeral bouqet quite yet

[GiPFELKiND]

@Egika where is the ambian light Sensor in the saphire Display?

[Egika]

@GiPFELKiND somewhere in the lower part of the screen.

[mikekoski490]

@GiPFELKiND On my Vertical Ti, its a hole seen at the bottom of the display within the circular solar cell. Its similar looking to the front screen camera punch hole in a cellphone.

[General_Witt]

@BrunoH This was my thought before trying the amoled screen of the Race. Even with the shorter battery life, just after 3 days of use, I can tell you 100% that I won’t be coming back to mip displays, ever.

[BrunoH]

@General_Witt and I’d rather not wear a lighthouse on my wrist Good luck to you and your Race.

[General_Witt]

@BrunoH If you choose the mode where the display only partially activates when you move your wrist the overall effect is very dim.
You got the full brightness only if you fully activate the watch with a button.
When in DnD mode the display does not activate at all unless you press a button.
The only real “lighthouse” scenario is when you activate the watch in a very dark room.

[Pier Luigi Cingolani]

@Egika ok, I’m am just asking because it’s very noticeable in every lighting conditions really. Additionally, when the gesture is set to “partial” wake mode, the flickering is way less noticeable. In AOD, it’s almost like the colour is not stable… So you’re saying this is the expected behaviour and won’t cause screen problems down the line?

[Pier Luigi Cingolani]

@Pier-Luigi-Cingolani @Egika update. This is most likely a bug, as it’s always happening with the new watch face (the one that lunched on the race) but it isn’t with the other 2 watchfaces I tested (the one that lunched with the vertical and another one). Not a big deal but probably worth looking into.

[Tieutieu]

@General_Witt thanks for sharing your experience !
All you said explain why I keep my beloved SV.
But I have absolutely no doubt that sooner or later (most probably sooner) amoled tech (or other tech) will reach and overpass mips tech.
That the way technology goes : what you though to be unreachable one day completely outpassed it the next day !

But even I if love so much keeping my old watches, In those « terrifying » environmental days, I’d love to see Suunto providing a recycling program so I could get some kind of voucher in exchange for my old devices so I could get a new one.