Suunto Race 3S General Discussion

[isazi]

@martintrail things may change because this is not official, it is just me helping here.

[cosme.costa]

@isazi said:

@cosme.costa not right now, need to wait a bit more

The waiting is not a problem if eventualy we get something

[isazi]

@cosme.costa again, nothing official, I have seen that there is development for Vertical 1, but nothing being in testing yet. The issue is that Vertical 1 has less resources than Race (and even less than more recent devices) and so it needs special care just for it. Plus a different display technology.

[cosme.costa]

@isazi Yeah @isazi I understand all this and that you can only tell us a little portion of what you know. I hope something will come eventualy. Thanks for the hints!

[VoiGAS]

Compared to the Race3S the Run2 looks like a pretty nice deal. Smaller Battery and less BlingBling Materials - but thats it. Comparable to Garmins Forerunner 9xx vs Fenix Models

[Tieutieu]

@VoiGAS But Run 2 has limited sport modes and options to personnalize, no Suunto plus. SRs target is more towards “wild people” than run 2 imho.

[snow*]

@VoiGAS said:

Compared to the Race3S the Run2 looks like a pretty nice deal. Smaller Battery and less BlingBling Materials - but thats it. Comparable to Garmins Forerunner 9xx vs Fenix Models

I swapped the SRs with a Run 2 (mostly curiosity), with the idea of switching to the Race 3S later, but I think I’ll stick with the Run 2. It’s perfect for me and performed great during my last race. Even though I won’t be using the OHR, it really impressed me.

[Egika]

@VoiGAS said:

Compared to the Race3S the Run2 looks like a pretty nice deal. Smaller Battery and less BlingBling Materials - but thats it. Comparable to Garmins Forerunner 9xx vs Fenix Models

For me, Run 2 is not an option. It does not have many of the sports I am doing. Like kayaking etc.
Plus there are no S+ apps.
These are the biggest differences apart from the ones you mention.
And Blingbling materials don’t do the sapphire justice. It is a lot more scratch proof, as my watched show.

[VoiGAS]

@Egika Sure, but when the RaceS was released nobody said “lower quality glass” and a lot of people had no problems with Gorilla. Maybe Saphire is a little bit better, but when using the Watch it will be the weight you notice. Not Titanium/Saphire - if you are not banging against something. I don’t argue its better, but 350€ vs 500€ is a big difference. Everyone can decide for himself if its worth this difference

The thing with the Sportmodes / Suunto+ is a different thing. Limitation of features is als something we know from Garmin and I always liked that Suunto chose a different way. But now - hmmm…

With the RaceS luckily I have what I believe is the best “bang for buck” without software restrictions. If only the display would be a little better 🫤

[Egika]

@VoiGAS this is how my Race S looks right now

I am trying to say that the price difference is not just a single feature, but a bundle of features:
High end materials, new OHR, new baro sensor, more memory, offline music, S+, more sport modes, etc.

[VoiGAS]

@Egika What did you do???

But yes, I am sure there is a reason for the price increase and everyone can decide if its worth the extra money. Its just my personal opinion that its not

[Tieutieu]

@VoiGAS said:

@Egika What did you do???

But yes, I am sure there is a reason for the price increase and everyone can decide if its worth the extra money. Its just my personal opinion that its not

+1 !! I’ve brought my SRs almost everywhere (climing indoor, outdoor, beach, water, mtb, skiing, moutains…) and the screen is like brand new ! I guess I’m far from being a “true” tester !!

[sky-runner]

@Richard-Thygesen said:

@Egika how does it work for old people eyes?
I like the some but need to be able to read the screen without reading glasses.

I am 56 years old. I cannot comment specifically about Race 3S, but I can say that I have both Race S and Vertical 2, and once I’ve got Vertical 2, my Race S has been in a drawer ever since. Despite Race S being smaller and lighter, the bigger screen size makes it easier for me to read the screen, especially when using map and climb guidance. For example, on the climb guidance screen, when using Race S I absolutely cannot see the remaining climb distance. The same applies to time of day at the top of activity data screens and to map labels. Also, when reading notification text, the larger screen does make the difference. Also, the same applies to complications on many watch faces. There are probably other areas as well.

[raven]

@Egika My Race S looks brand new but I don’t use it as a hammer either.

[Squirrel]

Price seems a bit over the top at USD 600.
500 EUR (presumably including sales tax / VAT)
vs.
600 USD + tax, so about ~650 USD?
What? At first I thought it was a typo on Suunto website.
We’ll see how the sales go and when is the steel version coming out.

[Prenj]

Looks like a nice watch. Sapphire glass and brighter display are welcome addition. But the price is a tough pill to swallow. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see enough to justify the price bump. But then again, this might be just problem for existing suunto watch owners. To be honest previous race/race S watches had pretty competitive pricing strategy. At 350€ I might be tempted to buy it. At 500, not so much. I’d rather buy Race 2 tbh.

[Highlands]

IMHO, it’s an awesome, future proof watch. Very suitable for people who buy watches rarely. Buy one now and forget. Not that the current models are bad. I consider my V2 Ti the best watch for my needs on the market even though they could improve the mapping feature.

[Brad_Olwin]

When you comment on price, compare to the Ti version of Race S that was US $450 as noted here https://forum.suunto.com/post/199589 by @squirrel. Then the price bump is not as large given chip costs have dramatically increased.

[raven]

@Brad_Olwin said:

When you comment on price, compare to the Ti version of Race S that was US $450 as noted here https://forum.suunto.com/post/199589 by @squirrel. Then the price bump is not as large given chip costs have dramatically increased.

However, if someone doesn’t care about titanium, and they were looking at the base model Race S, then the lack of an equivalent version of Race 3S becomes important. (Note: This is not me; I got the Titanium Race S partly for the material and partly for the Courtney band colorway. But other people than me exist.) Pointing out pricing when there’s no “entry level” model that previously existed is fair, I think.

[Jason M]

Apologies if this has already been addressed but I tried to read all the comments and its hard to keep up with.

My question is - Are there any software differences between the Race 2 and new Race 3s as I looked at some reviews and it seems to have new software that my Race 2 doesn’t have.

Thank you!