Suunto Race S general discussion

szleslie

@Squirrel Great news because I asked my “friend” Google Gemini about it. It said synchronisation is not possible between phone and watch while the watch is recording an activity. On my Garmin Epix gen 2 I recorded an activity which was a hike, loaded a previously synced route after the recording was started. When I arrived to my destination I created a new route in Osmand on my phone. Shared it to Garmin Connect then send this new route to the watch. I loaded it while the Epix was recoding the hike and followed the newly loaded route.
So It works the same way on Race s. I just want to be sure.
Thx your and Audaxjoe’s answer!

Audaxjoe

@szleslie only caveat I’d say it you need wifi or data to plot a new route. So in remote areas planning a new route may not be possible.

I think packaged like kamoot you can download maps to your phone, but not sure about this. I do use Kamoot but have never needed to plot anything offline.

ChrisA

@Audaxjoe if on iOS you can use an app called Mapout, where you can download offline maps to your phone. With it you can easily “paint” routes with your finger and then share the GPX file with the Suunto app. Works completely offline. It’s 6 or 7 € if I remember correctly.

szleslie

@Audaxjoe Osmand is offline. It can create a course without internet connection.

Audaxjoe

@szleslie I see that is on Android. Very good to know that what ever operating system you have there is a none data way of making a new route.

szleslie

@ChrisA Oh man. Mapout is a fantastic tool. Thx for the recommendation.

szleslie

I asked the Suunto Support about course upload during activity. They answered the opposite. It is not possible. What is going on?

Here is their answer:
"When you use the Suunto Race S watch to record an activity, it is currently not possible to push new routes directly from the mobile app to the watch. The route must be synced to the watch through the Suunto App before recording the activity. Once the activity starts, it is not possible to receive new routes in real time.

Once the activity has been recorded on the watch, you cannot switch to another route during the activity. In other words, only one synchronized route can be used for navigation in the activity recording. If you need to switch routes, you need to end the current activity and reselect the new route you want to navigate to start a new recording.

To ensure that the activity goes smoothly, it is recommended that you sync all the routes you plan to use to the watch in the Suunto App in advance, and then select the desired route navigation before starting the activity.

If you need to use multiple routes, it is recommended to select and record them separately in different activities.
"

isazi

@szleslie it is possible with Android, but not with iOS

Tieutieu

@isazi @szleslie I can confirm it works perfectly well on my SRs and IOs (also on my SV)
[edit : an active connection of phone to internet is needed with ios]

I use it a lot, and I tested it again right now to check

Scenario :

I have routes routes planned on SA, not used in watch => I Choosed one to use in the watch, not the other
started exercice using navigation on the route
after exercice started, went to SA to pin the second route to “use in watch” => route is synced, exercice still recording
went to navigation option in the current exercise still recording => I can change for new route
Went to SA to create another route, pinned it also to send to watch, then went to options => now I have the 3 routes that I can use

So it works perfectly fine.
The only situation I have faced a watch bug was : I have once tried to edit in SA the same route I was navigating ON => this case makes watch crashed.

szleslie

@isazi Great. I am on ios.

szleslie

@Tieutieu OK. I believe. I will order one and try it.

isazi

@Tieutieu oh good, this is new, always worked for me on Android but didn’t work on iOS in the past

Tieutieu

@isazi it as always worked for me on iOS as far as I can remember, on my sv and after that on my SRs, since beginning it was released

defencee

Can anybody show, please, how looks “Strength Exercises” from Suunto Plus.
And when will a full-fledged strength training designer with exercises be expected?

Egika

@Tieutieu correct.
It has been working with iOS for years.
The difference to Android is, that syncing routes from the phone needs an active internet connection with iOS.

Tieutieu

@Egika oh yes I forgot to mention that !

szleslie

I ordered a Race S Titanium to try it out. It is in my hand. Firmware 2.43.12, App 2.46.3. I am on iOS 18.5 with an iPhone 13 Pro Max. I will test it to see which one to keep (Epix gen 2 Sapphire or Suunto Race S).

Route sync works fine. I started an exercise with navigation using a route on the watch. Then uploaded a new route to the watch while it was recording the activity. Selected a new route without any issue. It works. Thx for your help!

(Just a side note. I am not interested any metric any more. I use my Epix for timekeeping/wake up alarm/countdown timer/activity recorder (heart rate strap+cycling power meter to control my load no training in the future, maybe I will do some but to do that I will need a computer.) and navigation. That map render, rotate, zoom in/out is much quicker and smoother. I ordered one at release but sent it back because it was so different from Garmin. I will test it and decide which one to keep. I hope this Race S will not be worse than the Epix regarding software stability. There is an other option, Amazfit T-Rex 3. I had it for some days at release. Sent it back for a same reason as Race S. Time will tell.)

Tieutieu

@szleslie using SRs since release last year, never had any issue

szleslie

I did a route import test without internet connection. I am sad about the results (maybe I missed something). I knew that Suunto app can not create a route in offline mode. It is not a problem since Osmand and the recommended Mapout does the job. But, and it is a huge but, the Suunto app can not import the route in offline mode. It says No internet connection. I tried to share from Mapout directly to the Suunto app and as a second option import from saved file with no luck. Is there a method to do this? What if there is no cell coverage and I need to create a route? Garmin is almost the same. With no internet Garmin Connect app can not receive a new route. I had to download the Garmin Explore app to import a new route. It has a limitation because it handles the imported file as a course. It said it will be decrease the points of the imported route. It was a 600 meter long route and after the import it become worse than the original and there is no turn by turn. Garmin explore can create a route but the map has less details, paths are missing. I tried the Amazfit Zepp app (I do not have any watch from them at the moment) and it worked without any issues. It imported the route and there was a send to device button. I am not part of a South Pole expedition where there is no cell coverage only sat comm but it would be nice if it would work offline. It was two weeks ago when I needed to create new routes to my Garmin Epix during my hike two times. I was lucky there was cell coverage. What if there is no internet connection. On Garmin I can use the watch to create routes but it is not convenient at all.

szleslie

@szleslie It seems to me when I try to import/share a route to Suunto/Garmin/Zepp/Bryton app they need an internet connection to do something with the gpx on their servers and load it back to the app then to the device. Only the Zepp app seems to accept the import but I do not have a device with me I am not sure about the result on the watch. When offline the import is not possible except the Zepp but in the app the imported route has less points than the original gpx and cut corners and not follows roads perfectly. I uploaded the Mapout crated gpx file to two different gpx visualiser page. The track follows the roads or paths fine. When the garmin watch create a route itself the result is perfect as well. So it is not a watch limit.