Race S Tempting Me Back Into Suunto...
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@andrewjknox I was in a similar situation of being intrigued by Suunto Race S. I ended up mostly switching from Garmin Fenix 7X to Suunto Race S and using as everyday watch and for all my current training despite a few glaring shortcomings when compared to Fenix 7X. I must admit that I really enjoy its light weight and comfort, especially once I’ve switched the original band to a hook and loop nylon band (Abanen brand).
Still, it likely will not be sufficient for me for longer ultramarathons or summer adventures in 2025. I am looking to buy either an another Suunto model (such as an improved Race or Vertical with better HR sensor) or perhaps a new Coros watch with Amoled display and a longer battery life of either of them is released. If not, I’ll have to either use my old Garmin or buy another Garmin.
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@sky-runner With a 50h battery life on Ultra mode the Race S should be enough for all ultras 200k and less. The only missing feature would be maps, which I really don’t need in a race. The route, altitude profile, Climb Guidance will work. Plus, if you wear a belt you will get ZoneSense.
Something else you might like is the nutrition feature Näak has implemented, I have found it very useful and much better than a food or drink reminder. I have had issues with nausea and the Näak food and liquid calories seem to work better for me. -
@sky-runner Even though I’m not looking to replace my Fenix 7X (just my Pace 3), I reckon Suunto will have something based on the success of the Race series soon enough - larger battery with sapphire glass. Perhaps an increase in watch face size to 51mm? The “Race X” perhaps?
I think then I’ll go full Suunto as I don’t need a shed-load of the Garmin features. Of all the brands, it’s the one I’d love to go all-in on and support them.
Main requirements for me on that kind of watch are mapping, battery life, sapphire watch face, large watch face, a climb pro/guidance feature and accurate sensors. Sort of indifferent between AMOLED & MIP in fairness though the former would be nicer. I’m never going to have one watch to rule them all as it’s not possible given the opposing requirements between a daily driver and a mountain adventure.
I’ll have to check out that nutrition feature @Brad_Olwin in more depth, thanks for the heads-up
PS: Ordered the watch last night even though I’m recovering from a triple hernia surgery and no running until late January - too excited to start using it!
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@Brad_Olwin you mean in ultra battery mode you have the route line - breadcrumb but not maps , like suunto 9?
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@gerasimos Yes exactly like the 9 plus with the added benefits of climb guidance.
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@Brad_Olwin thanks!
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@Brad_Olwin said in Race S Tempting Me Back Into Suunto...:
With a 50h battery life on Ultra mode the Race S should be enough for all ultras 200k and less
No, I am not going to consider Ultra (GPS only) mode. That’s not accurate enough for the distance because of the possible GPS glitches. I’d strongly prefer to have at least All Satellites and preferably All Satellites + Dual Band. And in general extended modes are infrequently used and therefore less well tested.
I’ve already had a negative experience with Suunto in the past when Ambit 3 Peak was supposed to last 30 hours in extended battery mode and it lasted less than 26 hours, and distance was highly inaccurate. I am not going to repeat that mistake. That spoiled my Western States experience.
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@andrewjknox said in Race S Tempting Me Back Into Suunto...:
I reckon Suunto will have something based on the success of the Race series soon enough - larger battery with sapphire glass. Perhaps an increase in watch face size to 51mm? The “Race X” perhaps?
This would be great!
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@sky-runner Wow, I think that was the first time I read about Ambit3 Peak not being accurate. I thought its still the benchmark or at least one of the best
But always good to hear different opinionsEdit: Or do you just mean the endurance mode?
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@VoiGAS yes, he was referring to battery saving mode.
Back in Ambit times, the low power GPS indeed was not really accurate. You could select between 1s, 5s and 60s fix rate. nothing else
This has changed dramatically with the introduction of FusedSpeed and FusedTrack, not to speak of the new GPS chips themselves. -
@Egika Right, this was also unusable on the Ambit3 Vertical I had. But on the 9 and now the Race S the GPS only mode is perfectly usable. I didn’t know about the settings of the ultra mode @Brad_Olwin mentioned, thats very interesting!
For my maximum distance of 50k the Race S with maps and navigation in Performance mode is sufficient - about 18 hours if you use the navigation screen a lot. Should also be ok for 100k I guess. -
@sky-runner A3Peak did not use 1s fix. Ultra mode on Race S uses 1s fix and all satellites but at lower power. I guess I am not all that concerned with how perfect my track is. More focused on the race and time to aid and in/out of aid. Mostly use the watch for climbs/descents and food now with Näak nutrition guide.
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@Brad_Olwin A complicated thing, these different battery modes from different Suunto models…
https://www.suunto.com/de-at/Support/faq-articles/suunto-vertical/how-do-i-get-the-most-of-battery-modes-with-suunto-vertical/ says the Ultra mode also disables OHR.
I think the endurance mode could be the best option, as it is stated that it uses all satellites - just no multiband and no maps. Its the equivalent of the best 9PP setting.
Could not find the same article for the Race S, but the behaviour should be the same -
@VoiGAS Even more complicated than what Suunto has listed for the watch… Endurance mode on Race S is enough for most but not all of the ultras I enter. Some have 48h cutoffs and I typically am 40h+ for those. I use a belt when racing anyway so I would rather have OHR off.
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@Egika said in Race S Tempting Me Back Into Suunto...:
@VoiGAS yes, he was referring to battery saving mode.
Back in Ambit times, the low power GPS indeed was not really accurate. You could select between 1s, 5s and 60s fix rate.Yes, it was the 5s mode. Down in the canyons it started to glitch measuring the distance really long and by the end of the race it was doubling the distance, consistently adding 0.01 mile for every 10 steps. Somehow it ended up adding distance from GPS and distance from accelerometer together, which resulted in doubling the distance.
Ambit wasn’t as accurate as people think. Yes, at the time it was one of the most accurate watches - thanks to its large GPS antenna. But recently I compared an Ambit 3 Peak track from some years ago against a recent track from Garmin Fenix 7X recorded with multi-band mode. The difference was like day and night - Garmin with dual band was so much more accurate around curves and switchbacks following the trail perfectly. I also think that the Airoha GNSS chipset that was used in Fenix 7 is more accurate than the new Sony chipset used in Race S. The distance is similar, in fact Suunto Race S distance tends to be a tiny bit longer, but Garmin’s track seems to be more precise. Unfortunately Garmin seems to have switched to the new Sony chipset too.