Race 3S & Race 3 rumours

matram

For us geeks. Here is more information about the new processor in the 3S.

martintrail

“Every Race 3S bought before the end of 2026 includes three months of Suunto AI Coach.” So a subscription is almost a sure thing. I have no problem with that - happy to support Suunto - but I want to get something useful, so we’ll see.

martintrail

@matram The most interesting thing is that the Apollo 510 still supports MIP displays. It has its own dedicated interface for this, in addition to MIPI DSI for AMOLED. A Vertical 3 with MIP would be technically possible. The fact that the watch is going with AMOLED is therefore purely a product decision, not a hardware limitation. So we’ll see.

Lazar Dimitrov

@matram
It’s not actually that new
Has been out since 2024. Race 2 and Vertical 2 already use the same SoC.

martintrail

@Lazar-Dimitrov Yes, true, that’s probably why there’s no hardware-related reason to split the software for the 3s, V2, and R2. So I’m curious to see what features from the R3s will make their way into other models with the same hardware.

isazi

@martintrail yes for now Race 3S users will have this feature in the Suunto App. It is a chatbot that can interoperate with the app itself, create routes, training plans, give feedback. Next year or so the feature will be open to all Suunto users, with a subscription, as far as I know.

isazi

@martintrail there are actually hardware differences between Race 3S and Race 2. Most features will also reach Race 2 and Vertical 2 (e.g. the EnergySense)

matram

@isazi
I have pretty good experience with using Claude for my training so I am looking forward to see how this will work.

Will there be some more information, a video describing the feature maybe?

isazi

I guess that I can answer some questions this morning as I have some time. I have been testing the Race 3S for a while now, before summer if I am not mistaken.

isazi

@matram I am sure there will be, if not from Suunto, from third-party reviewers. What is important is that the feedback of Race 3S users will shape this functionality that for now (and for them) it is in beta and free.

jthomi

@isazi Hopefully there is a button to switch this off.

isazi

@jthomi I have not found it

matram

@isazi
A few questions from my side if you have time to comment.

I found that the weak “memory” in the AI may cause it to overreact to the “here and now” situation loosing track of a longer term plan
Poor detection of the onset of overtraining - AI keeps pushing
AI focuses too much on things like VO2max or LT2 and does not factor in the bigger picture, e.g. poor running economy or heavy loads from other activities like gym training

This is a mixture of my experiences with Claude and with Garmin. I would be interested to hear your impressions.

isazi

@matram in my interactions with the AI Suunto Coach it was reasonable, but the feature I liked the most is the route creation based on a natural language user request (such as “create me a route of 40k for a bike ride”). I am not an AI enthusiast, just a person that experiments with it a bit.

martintrail

officially out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrSv50koAR8

isazi

The Race S was the watch I always recommended to people asking for recommendations, Race 3S has better material, updated hardware, and a crazy good OHR. It costs more than the original 3S, unfortunately, but it is probably what I would recommend right now.

Elipsus

500€, inline with the competition and todays “market value”, but ouch !

jthomi

Hopefully the comparison charts are a little off like always…

Egika

@Steven-Hambleton said:

@aiv4r Some questions remain -

Will there be a non-titanium version?
How much will the Race 3 be?
Will the Race 2 and Vertical get the same updates given they run on the same chip (Apollo 510) albeit with less storage
Will they reduce the Race 2 further?

Only Sapphire Titanium
Race 2 and Vertical 2 will receive most of the new features as long as hardware supports it.
Plus they will all receive bigger things later

Mi_chael

@Egika said:

Only Sapphire Titanium
Race 2 and Vertical 2 will receive most of the new features as long as hardware supports it.
Plus they will all receive bigger things later

Perhaps offline music ?