Race 2 (issues and comments)

chrissg032

I realize a lot has been mentioned, but I’d like to share some thoughts and issues I’ve encountered after about a week or so with the Race 2:

Resources information from the app is not as that the same as the watch
Recovery information on the watch is not the same as reflected in the app.
On the stock watch face, it shows exercise amount over the last four weeks. When you click it, it seems to show whatever activity was done the most over the past week. For running specifically, can this metric be shown with all running activity distance, and time rather than either treadmill or outdoor?
I have had a few hard drops with heart rate sensing on one run this last week specifically. During a treadmill run over the last mile or so, it registered my heart rate dropping to around 110 to 115 for two separate blocks of time. Chest strap was matching watch sensor for all other points in the run. Actual heart rate during those two drops was around 140. It seems to be an isolated incident. The watch was snug and worn correctly. A watch reset was done and seems to have fixed it.
Pulse ox measurement on the watch doesn’t seem to match the app. On a few occasions, the watch showed the most recent measurement at 92% where the application showed 98% at the same time.
ZoneSense data field doesn’t seem to be working yet.
Sleep score always shows the same whether on the app or in the watch. Overall, the sleep data needs some work. The bug with the sleep score always showing 79% seems to be widespread.
The watch face during always on mode from the stock watch face would look a lot better if it stays centered. It seems to move around a bunch, which just isn’t as aesthetically pleasing. Additionally, a more detail rich AOD would be great (at least with the date)
I ran while it was raining recently, and water on the screen makes it jump all over the place. It would be great to have the ability to turn off the touchscreen for everything except the map screen. A quick toggle in the controls menu would be beneficial.
Various reviewers stated that there is NFC capability. Looking forward to the future and hoping there is some form of mobile payment on the watch using this function.
Street names would be a great addition to the maps. Personally, I don’t really care about re-routable maps on the watch. But street names would be great (I’m sure you’re already working on this).
I had to reset my watch once due to the UI becoming sluggish/HR issues. Thankfully, this fixed every issue I was having! Unfortunately, the watch didn’t pick up on all of the sleep data and HRV from the prior week. It simply started fresh as if I had never even used this Suunto platform. It would be great if the watch would synchronize with the application better.
Notifications look great, but when I turn on notifications for all applications, the icons for various apps default to the same icon as a text message. It would be very beneficial for the application icons to be accurate as to what the notification is.

Overall - I have used watches over the past 10-15 years from nearly every company out there. I really like what Suunto has done with the recent watches. I tried the race 1 when it first came out and I liked it, but the UI was very sluggish and the heart rate sensor was poor. The upgrade with the screen, the heart rate and processing power really made this watch stand out for the price so I wanted to give it another chance. After a solid week, aside from a few issues that can be fixed in future software updates – I am very happy with this watch compared to the likes of its competitors in the same price range. The overall feel and look on the watch is outstanding. Build quality and materials are excellent. The future potential of this watch is very promising and I’m looking forward to seeing the updates moving forward!

Hopefully we can see some beta access to the next software release so users can provide more feedback. Thank you for reading!

burrowsnp

@chrissg032 I have noticed the same things and it’s actually very disappointing having had a Vertical in the past that was pretty much bug free and most recently using the Garmin 965. My biggest frustration is my chest straps don’t seem to be staying paired during workouts. I have tried the Garmin HRM Pro and Wahoo Trackr. In settings it shows paired, before I start the workout I make sure it’s paired, it shows the battery is good, but once workout is started it doesn’t appear that it’s connected. This is also why I think ZoneSense is broken.

During my run this morning on the warm up my HR was stuck at 77-90 when it was really around 120. So to correct I had to stop, paused the watch to let it find my HR, restart. Then within a minute it cadence locked and jumped up to over 160 when I was still running easy for my warm up. Had to stop again. I then went through my VO2 intervals which seemed okay but I wonder if it was actually capturing my max HR during the 1 minute intervals. All of this would be no issue if the chest strap would work. Also really loved having ZoneSense on the Vertical, so bummer not being able to see that.

I’ve been a bit disappointed with battery as well. During workouts it checks out, but daily use is not great. I suspect part of that is because the brightness seems really high despite it being set to low.

Tomas5

@chrissg032 would be great if somebody from suunto could confirm which bugs are recognized by suunto and that fix is being prepared.

chrissg032

@burrowsnp I agree about the brightness. Sleep mode needs to be scaled down a bit. When it’s not in sleep mode and it’s dark in the room or outside, it scales up rather than down (maybe an issue with the ambient light sensor in that environment). I didn’t see the same issues with the HRM though. Could be related to the ZoneSense issue - I haven’t used ZoneSense yet myself, so I hope it gets fixed as it seems quite useful! I disable wrist HR for runs when I use an external HRM (using the Garmin HRM Pro and sometimes the COROS HRM). The problem I’m having is we’re all waiting on an update from our friends at Suunto as to whether these are known issues that will be addressed in a software update, or will some of these be blown past and have us wait for two or three more release cycles. Garmin watches have similar issues and it’s sometimes upwards of a year before they get all the bugs out. I’m testing the new Coros watch as well and it’s basically bug free right out of the gate. Not to mention when you engage in their forum, the team actually responds (and often times it’s the CEO himself). The watch has a ton of potential - just a few hot fixes needed soon. Would be a good idea for Suunto to reach out to some of us passionate users to beta test devices before public release so these can ironed out.