Suunto Race 3S General Discussion

Luca Pallavidino

Hello everyone, first time I actually post something. I’ve had three Suunto watches (9 peak, Vertical 1 and Race S) and was waiting for a new release but I kinda feel disappointed. The 3s is beautiful, maybe the best looking watch on the market. The materials are great, but it feels it’s not trying to catch up in terms of features. No fall detection or emergency features, no microphone, no payments, all the nice and useful little things I was expecting. Beside that, can you guys name one reason not to buy the Race 2 instead of Race 3s? Only If someone prefers a smaller watch, but it feels like the Race 2 is a better watch offer all considered.

Richard Thygesen

@Egika thanks!

isazi

@Luca-Pallavidino the watch, in this case the Race 3S, is the hardware that is being released. Software features are shared between all watches (Run family excluded) unless they require some hardware features that are watch specific (music playback in this case). If you are fine with your Race S, why change it?

Dušan Ković

I think biggest missed opportunity with Race 3S is not releasing regular steel model… If they just added stainless steel version for 350-400eur it would be really solid buy.

VoiGAS

How is the AOD display on R3S? The maximum brightness in the sun was already good enough with RS. But AOD (dimmed) not so much. Maybe with the new processor lift to wake is also faster?

VoiGAS

@Dušan-Ković Right, compared to Race2 Titanium its also 100€ cheaper. From this perspective its an interesting price

jobtoll

I bought my Race S almost two years ago. I was using an Ambit 3, needless to say it was quite an upgrade. I have been very happy with my watch and have appreciated the updates in the past two years also. It is not clear if there will be future updates, but I will be happy to use my watch as is. I do not see any new features in the Race 3 S that are close to worth $600.

isazi

@jobtoll said:

It is not clear if there will be future updates, but I will be happy to use my watch as is.

Basically we have been communicating for months that there will be, and it is planned for Q4 2026.

MLM31

@jobtoll When you buy a car, you don’t replace it every year just to get the latest gadgets; you do so when you feel it has served its purpose.
For me, it’s the same with watches. I have an S9PP, but I’m finding it hard to read these days. So, I’m interested to see what the Race 3S has to offer, and I’d rather buy a newer model that I can keep for as long as possible. I don’t think the goal of the Race 3S is for Race S users to switch to this model, but simply to provide the most up-to-date upgrade possible for new users or for those—like me—who still have an older, less capable model. As for the price, though, it is indeed quite expensive.

Steven Hambleton

@MLM31 This is 100% correct, iterative updates just keep things fresh for those looking to upgrade at the time.

The Race 2 and Vertical 2 were major updates, the Race 3S is also a major update for Race S users but the lack of stainless steel version is baffling.

sky-runner

@MLM31 said:

When you buy a car, you don’t replace it every year just to get the latest gadgets

In fact, my current car does over the air updates to get the latest gadgets.

And yes, if the watch hardware specs are capable for what is expected from it and it receives regular updates, there is no reason to replace it.

atoponce

When in the run, can you scroll the lap table display?

herlas

@atoponce don’t think this is available in any Suunto to date, let’s see if field testers can confirm this is the case in Race 3S

Egika

@herlas some things are happening to lap displays. In the release state I think it is like other devices for Race 3s

brechtvb

@Steven-Hambleton
I also completely agree with @mlm31

The price is indeed a bit too much, and I wonder if we get Bluetooth solutions on the SR3S. A thing one can expect for this price.

To add: is there Race 3 coming? What humongous price will that have.

sunter

So, what will the price for Race 3 be, then?

isazi

@sunter Race 2 titanium is 599 EUR

sunter

According to Race S, 3S and other watches, the Race 3 Stainless Steel will be around 550 EUR, and the Race 3 Titanium around 650 EUR. Meanwhile, the Race 2 Stainless Steel will be discounted by 15% to approximately 400 EUR, and the Titanium version by 20% to about 500 EUR.

elbee

@sunter said:

According to Race S, 3S and other watches, the Race 3 Stainless Steel will be around 550 EUR, and the Race 3 Titanium around 650 EUR. Meanwhile, the Race 2 Stainless Steel will be discounted by 15% to approximately 400 EUR, and the Titanium version by 20% to about 500 EUR.

A race 2 steel for 400 euro and race 3 steel for 550 euro? The race 3 is ‘t going to be 150 euro better.

A race 3 would be a direct competitor of a garmin forerunner 570, which is 499 euro. 550 euro would be a hard sell (even though I value the features a race 3 has and the garmin lacks higher than the other way around. My bank doesn’t support garmin pay and I don’t listen to spotify during my long runs. I do use navigation a lot and the added context of maps is nice to have)

Brad_Olwin

@Highlands said:

@Brad_Olwin
Here the Race S Ti - 450€
Race 3S Ti sapphire- 500€.
If they charge me 50€ for sapphire, then I get for free the better oHR sensor and other improvements?

I think the newer OHR is better, at least for me. It matches what I get from the belt even interval running (I only tested this with Tempo but will be testing with running intervals. And, I did not test the 3S but use the new HR sensor on the Run 2 and other test watches). For me the OHR sensor and sapphire are worth it. Ordered one for my daughter as it is the perfect watch for her. She runs ultras and is quite fast so the battery in Performance mode will be more than adequate for 100 mile races.