Article by Jeff Valliere
Suunto Race
$549 Sapphire Titanium
$449 Stainless Steel
Update: Full In Depth Suunto Race Review CLICK HERE
Introduction:
Suunto drops a surprise on the GPS sports watch market today with the release of the all new AMOLED Suunto Race. I was invited to attend a very small release event a few days ago, where I was fortunate enough to be provided with the sapphire titanium version for review. I have only had it for two days and have a lot of testing to do before my forthcoming full review, but just wanted to provide some details here and my initial impressions.
What’s interesting and exciting:
The AMOLED display is the big story here. While this is not the first Suunto with AMOLED (see the Suunto 7 smart/sports watch), this is a massive leap forward, as the Race is a legit top of the line GPS sports watch with excellent spec battery life, reportedly up to 26 days in daily use mode (without OHR running) and up to 40 hours of GPS use at the highest quality dual band GPS setting, I could barely get through a full day with the Suunto 7 on average and here we have a 12-26 day smartwatch no training battery life.
HRV - New for Suunto, the Race has HRV Tracking
24/7 Heart Rate, health tracking and training metrics
Free downloadable detailed maps69 grams in sapphire/Ti
A very competitive price
At $549 for the sapphire ti version, with an AMOLED display, long battery life, free downloadable maps, dual band GPS and a rich feature set the race is very competitively priced. Garmin’s similar screen Epix 2 and Pro can be almost double the price. Or, save $100 on the stainless with no compromises except for the materials/weight. Either way the Race is a very competitive option.
1.43’ screen on a relatively small watch - I am impressed with how Suunto has reduced the bezel and managed to squeeze a very large 1.43’ screen into a very reasonably sized watch, a watch that is significantly smaller than the Garmin Epix Gen 2 Pro 51mm (left below) and is similar in size to the Epix Gen 2 47mm which only has a 1.3” screen vs. 1.43” here.
AMOLED 460x460 resolution display - crisp, bright and clear, the AMOLED screen displays a wide range of vivid colors that are very easy to read. The double the price Epix 2 Pro 51 mm checks in at 454 x 454 resolution.
Large Digital Dial plus 2 button design - Navigation of the widgets, menus and operation of the sport modes and functionality is really quick and easy with the digital crown (dial) and two button design).
General First impressions:
While I have only been using the watch for 2 days and have a lot of testing ahead, overall initial impressions are quite positive. The Race is light and comfortable on the wrist, OHR, GPS, altimeter, step count, etc… all seem to be accurate in my initial assessments. The AMOLED screen is bright, crisp and easy to read and so far battery life is at least as good as advertised.
Stay tuned for my full comprehensive review coming soon!
Also please check out my initial impressions of the Suunto Wing, an open ear headphone also launching now HERE
The Suunto Race will be available Oct 17 at Suunto and other retailers
EUROPE Men's & Women's SHOP HERE
Europe only: use RTR code RTR5ALL for 5% off all products, even sale products
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