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    Suunto Race S optical heart rate sensor accuracy

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Suunto Race S
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    • VoiGASV Offline
      VoiGAS Silver Members
      last edited by

      My experience with the Race S OHR is very good, better than S9 Peak and S5. But I have no Garmin to compare and wear the watch tight above my wrist


      Race S
      Ambit3 Vertical

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      • R Offline
        RdoubleC
        last edited by

        I just bought a Race S and am having problems with the heart rate accuracy, it seems to read double my actual heart rate when resting. I use an external sensor for activities so not sure how it would stand up then, but the resting rates are often way off. Shown here alongside the Pace 2 that I was upgrading from which is reading accurately.

        I’ve tried everything I can find, soft reset, hard reset, toggle 24/7 monitoring, tighten, loosen, move watch, downgrade firmware to previous version, nothing seems to solve it. Do I have a faulty watch, is it a software issue that will hopefully be solved at some point, or is it innate to the sensor and will likely always be like this?PXL_20250209_165600690.jpg

        G T 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • G Offline
          gerstlauer Bronze Member @RdoubleC
          last edited by

          @RdoubleC I don’t think yours is faulty, mine has always been absolutely junk as well. Last night reading 85-90bpm when my actual HR was in the 40/50s.

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          • TieutieuT Offline
            Tieutieu Platinum Member
            last edited by Tieutieu

            Even if some OHR may work better here and there, also in other brands, this is an infinite debate.
            On me I’ve never found from now any good OHR for intense activities. For daily use, sleep tracking… it works very fine.
            Whenever I want accuracy (trail running, cycling…), I use the HR belt.

            But regarding Suunto OHRs, they’ve been improving over years (S9b <<< Sv < Srs). On me the SRs works better, but Not a very big difference with my SV.

            Suunto’s devices at home :
            Vertical titanium solar
            Suunto Race S
            S9pp titanium sand
            Suunto Wing
            S9B titanium Ambassador edition, A3P, X6

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            • Brad_OlwinB Online
              Brad_Olwin Moderator @dariof
              last edited by

              @dariof The Apple Watch is supposedly the best OHR out there. For me an AWU works OK on easy, sustained runs. I always have some OHR dropouts and on intervals AWU is not good. Suunto OHR for me is worse. I always wear a belt for exercise. However for 24/7, sleep and not exercise I find Suunto and Apple identical.

              Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

              T 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
              • W Offline
                wilfley.brad
                last edited by

                did you resolve this? I have the exact same issue - i can compare to my garmin or just check my own pulse and the Suunto is regularly 2 times actual…

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                • sky-runnerS Offline
                  sky-runner Silver Members @sky-runner
                  last edited by sky-runner

                  If Suunto is unable to provide a better WHR accuracy, then Suunto should at least support multiple sensors.

                  Personally I can’t wear a chest sensor during longer events. I get skin irritation on the chest to the point of bleeding. I guess that is because of salt accumulating in that area and compression straps of hydration vest moving the chest sensor. I started using Coros armband HR sensor, and it is very good, but it doesn’t support ZoneSense. A good solution would be to use an armband HR sensor for longer events and a chest HR sensor for shorter runs and workouts, but that is impossible without constantly having to re-pair the sensor.

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                  • T Offline
                    TuanNT @Brad_Olwin
                    last edited by

                    @Brad_Olwin I have the same bad experience with OHR while running on my newly bought Suunto Race S and I just return to the dealer for checking. It give me the inconsistent heart rate data, sometimes it bump up very high and some times no heart rate signal while I still maintaining the steady speed on the flat road. This morning, while seating at the office, My heart rate should be in normal range 45-50 but it is bump up to 90 - 100 ad I cannot measure the SPo2 on my watch, I tried to measure SPO2 several times and it says it is only 70 which is super ridiculous. I feel sad then go to Suunto Vietnam directly after that, now i need to wait for their check.

                    sky-runnerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • T Offline
                      TuanNT @RdoubleC
                      last edited by

                      @RdoubleC May I know how is the heart rate on your watch now. I got the same issue as you and now I am waiting the answer from Suunto Vietnam after leaving my watch there one week for checking.

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                      • sky-runnerS Offline
                        sky-runner Silver Members @TuanNT
                        last edited by

                        @TuanNT said in Suunto Race S optical heart rate sensor accuracy:

                        This morning, while seating at the office, My heart rate should be in normal range 45-50 but it is bump up to 90 - 100

                        While reading this I decided to check what my Race S is currently showing as I am taking a coffee break at work. The watch is showing 120-140 while I am sitting still and my pulse is clearly about 50 - I have manually counted it. This is ridiculous!

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