Suunto Race review: the best smartwatch for fitness fanatics

The Suunto Race is a big smartwatch, and that’s one of the most important elements to keep in mind when you’re looking to buy it. It measures 49 x 49mm, which makes it as long as the supersized Apple Watch Ultra — but unlike the Ultra, the Race is round, so it’s just as wide as it is tall. If you have a smaller wrist, it’s going to dominate it. I was sent the titanium model, which weighs in at a substantial 69 grams, and the cheaper steel model rocks the scales at an enormous 83 grams. To put it into context, that’s heavier than two Apple Watch Series 9 smartwatches.

The Suunto Race is massive, but unfortunately, the 1.43-inch display isn’t as large as I’d like it to be due to chunky bezels. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, for comparison, has a much smaller 44mm frame but squeezes in a larger 1.5-inch display.

Thankfully, it’s a great panel. It uses AMOLED tech, sports a 466 x 466 resolution, and is protected by sapphire crystal glass. It’s clear and crisp, with vibrant colors and inky blacks. I’ve had no issues reading it in the (admittedly rare) strong British sunlight, and I have no complaints about how it looks.

The always-on display is good, too. When toggled on, it fades out to a dim backlight but still shows a minimal time display, so you can still glance at the time without waking the screen. This will depend on the watch face you use, and unfortunately, there are only 13 to choose from. You can change the color scheme of these 13 faces, but it’s jarring to go from basically any other smartwatch to one with such a dearth of watch faces available.

You can control the watch using the touchscreen, but if you’re anything like me, you’ll find the prospect of a rotating crown much more enticing. Roll the crown to move smoothly through the menus and push it down to select. There’s a back button below the crown, while the button above changes depending on the context. As ever, with rotating crowns, it’s easy to use, and the watch feels responsive and fast. If I had one complaint, it’s the haptic feedback tied to the crown’s rotation. I wasn’t keen on this and tried to turn it off, but switching that off also turns off vibrations for notifications. It should go without saying that these two settings should not be tied together. I’ve learned to live with it, but I’d rather I didn’t have to.

If you’ve used a fitness watch recently, then the list of the Suunto Race’s sensors and specs will look very familiar. You get GPS connectivity for location tracking, a heart rate sensor, sleep tracking, stress tracking, a daily energy level, training recovery, and a bunch more advanced features. There’s no option for an LTE connection, but since it doesn’t have any ability to store music or run apps independently, you’re not going to need one.

The quality of the sensors is good. The heart rate sensor has tallied well and compares well with other heart rate trackers from Polar, Samsung, and Garmin. The blood-oxygen tracking seems a little off. It reported my sleeping blood-oxygen level around the 80% mark, which, I am told by a doctor, would mean I was dead. But I’ve noticed those issues in a number of smartwatches, and they are likely connected to not wearing the watch correctly at night.

Nestled within the watch is an ample amount of storage, no matter which of the two models you pick. The stainless steel Race gets 16GB, while the titanium model gets 32GB. Don’t put too much stock in how much storage you get, though, as it’s of limited value unless you’re big into downloading maps. Since there’s no ability to download apps or music, the storage is largely there for offline map access. It’s a valuable resource, don’t get me wrong, and I love the map feature — but I was able to download the entirety of the United Kingdom’s map while barely tickling the internal storage. It’s great there’s a lot of storage, but there’s not that much to do with it.

The processor isn’t specified anywhere, but performance is good. It responds quickly to rolling the crown, and I only experienced moments of lag or hitches when opening maps or anything that queries the storage space — but it’s never a long pause. It can take a few minutes for the GPS to connect when starting an exercise, though, and that can be irritating. However, it’s by no means a deal-breaker.

It’s unsurprising that the Suunto Race excels at fitness tracking, but the depth of the options on offer still surprised me. Although the Suunto Race is positioned primarily as a running smartwatch, it can happily handle any exercise it’s capable of.

The Suunto Race runs Suunto’s proprietary software, and while that means excellent tracking, it comes with downsides as well. I’ve found the settings to be lacking, like the previously mentioned vibration settings, and other elements are similarly simplified. It’s not bad by any means, but it certainly feels like there’s work to be done.

Getting around the watch is simple. Roll down on the crown to access a customizable list of widgets, or roll up to find a list of exercises. Pressing the top key will take you straight to the last exercise you began, while a press of the lower key will open the control panel (settings). The software is simple, but that’s no bad thing and it’s difficult to get lost.

The Race is a bit limited where smart features are concerned. You can access music controls, but there’s no onboard music storage or apps. Notifications are the strongest aspect of the smart features, and they’ll keep you abreast of your latest pings. Don’t expect to do too much with them, though — you can like or send short, pre-written replies to messages and chats but nothing else. It’s a simple implementation, and it’s not going to appeal to anyone who wants to type replies on their watch or anyone who sees their smartwatch as a smartphone replacement.

That’s not the case for the companion app, however, which is charitably described as “fitness focused.” Want to see your latest exercise and dive even deeper into your performance? Excellent! You can do that in the Suunto app, and it even explains many of the advanced terms I mentioned earlier, like EPOC and PTE.

The app reminds me of Strava — the home page has a scrolling list of your exercises, and the following pages are dedicated to when you exercised, how you’ve recovered, and how you can keep going. It feels less like a smartwatch hub and more like a pure fitness app, and it’s a little odd. Wellness elements are covered in the app, but they’re tucked away into a swipeable section of the home page. It’s definitely one of the Suunto Race’s weakest points, which feels unfair when it’s not really the watch’s fault.

Of course, this all depends on what you want from your watch. If you’re a fitness freak, then this may be exactly what you need. Athletes will certainly get a lot from it, and it’s clearly set up to appeal to them. However, it may leave a mainstream audience cold.

I’ve left this category until now, but that’s because the best should be left for last. The Suunto Race has a truly phenomenal battery life. Suunto boasts it will last 11 days between charges, and while I didn’t hit that, the watch lasted 10 days from when it was first charged to hitting 7%. Even then, it probably could have made it to the end of that 10th day on the sliver left.

Recharging wasn’t particularly swift, though. It took around two hours to fully charge the watch from that low point. Still, I’ll take two hours every 10 days over the daily charging demanded by a standard smartwatch.

That long battery life means the Race is a particularly enticing companion for those who often venture out into the wilds. The combination of offline maps and the watch’s Tour mode means it can track activities for days on end, with a few recharges from a small battery pack or brief sojourns into civilization.

The Suunto Race is currently available from Suunto, starting at $449 for the stainless steel model and $549 for the titanium. The steel model comes with 16GB of storage, while the titanium variant comes with 32GB. There’s a smaller version available, the Race S, which measures in at a still-sizeable 45mm, but I didn’t get a chance to have hands-on time with that particular model.

Really, the biggest vote of confidence in a device is whether a reviewer keeps using it after the review is over. And in this case, the answer is complicated.

Unfortunately, for the Suunto Race, it won’t be staying on my wrist after this review. In fact, as I type this, there’s a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic on my wrist. This isn’t because the Suunto Race is a bad watch — on the contrary, it’s great, as evidenced by the score above. For the right person, this is the smart device to keep close at hand (literally). The battery life is in a class of its own, the fitness tracking is truly phenomenal, and I enjoy what the software offers, even if the app is a little lacking.

Would I keep it on if some elements were different? Absolutely. The lack of cross-app support is a big issue for me, and the specter of next year’s insurance premiums being higher weighs heavily on my choice. However, it’s a watch I will definitely be reaching for in certain circumstances. It’s perfect for long hikes and other adventures, and I love how comfortable it is. Heck, if I had a smart ring that funneled data to my insurance app, then this would be a different story. But I don’t, so it isn’t.

Is it a smartwatch for everyone? No. The lack of app support and real smart features are deal-breakers for anyone looking for a more standard smartwatch experience. But if you’re looking for a gym partner that can also throw down in the wild outdoors and run a mean marathon, then the Suunto Race is well worth your money.