If you want better button controls
Choose Garmin Forerunner 165. It scores 4.9 vs 2.8 for button controls, with a 4.3 overall score.
Suunto Race S Review
Bottom Line
Choose the Suunto Race S for excellent GPS, mapping, AMOLED visibility, long battery life, and standout value. Skip it if reliable wrist heart rate, onboard music, contactless payments, or full smartwatch features matter most.
Best for
Best for runners, trail users, MTB riders, hikers, and triathletes who want strong GPS, offline maps, a bright AMOLED screen, broad sport modes, and high value in a compact sports watch.
Not for
Not for users who need consistently reliable wrist heart rate, advanced sleep accuracy, onboard music, contactless payments, voice features, or a Garmin-like smartwatch and motivation ecosystem.
Verdict
The Suunto Race S lands as a high-value endurance watch with unusually strong agreement around GPS accuracy, mapping, display quality, battery life, and design for the price. Reviewers repeatedly praised its AMOLED screen, offline maps, route tools, training depth, and compact comfort, especially for runners, hikers, MTB riders, and triathletes. The tradeoff is that it behaves more like a focused sports watch than a full smartwatch: notifications and music controls are basic, onboard music and payments are missing, and the crown or menus can feel inconsistent. Heart rate evidence is the biggest split, ranging from precise enough in some tests to unreliable enough that several reviewers recommended a chest strap. Sleep and wellness metrics also drew doubts.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
51 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.015 (29%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.418 (35%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.412 (24%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.44 (8%)
-
Very negative below 1.52 (4%)
Pros highlights
-
Value for money is the clearest consensus strength, with nearly every reviewer framing the Race S as aggressively priced for its mapping, GPS, AMOLED, and training feature set.
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Battery life is strong overall for an AMOLED sports watch, but reviews vary from excellent to shorter-than-claimed depending on always-on display and navigation use.
-
GPS accuracy received the strongest overall praise, with many reviewers calling tracks precise, strong, pristine, or among the best they had tested.
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Mapping and navigation are standout strengths, with repeated praise for offline maps, route planning, responsiveness, and trail usefulness, despite setup and routability limits.
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Display quality is a consistent strength, with repeated praise for the sharp AMOLED panel, color, clarity, and readability.
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Brightness is consistently praised, with reviewers describing the screen as bright, vibrant, and easy to view in demanding conditions.
Cons highlights
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Heart-rate accuracy is the most divided attribute: several reviewers found the updated sensor solid or precise, while others reported poor readings and recommended an external strap.
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Onboard music storage is a notable weakness, with multiple reviewers calling out the absence of music downloads or internal playback.
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Smartwatch features are intentionally limited: some reviewers liked the cleaner sports-watch focus, while others wanted a fuller smartwatch experience.
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Button controls are mixed, with several reviewers finding the digital crown fiddly, delayed, awkward, or unpredictable despite useful physical input.
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Charging convenience is more mixed because reviewers liked quick charging but disliked the proprietary pad, alignment, or travel requirement.
-
Sleep tracking drew mostly negative or cautious evidence, with reviewers reporting underreported sleep, inaccurate stages, or a lack of confidence in the data.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Smartwatches, this product is above average in mapping and navigation, value for money, companion app quality, near average in display quality, coaching features, below average in blood oxygen tracking, Bluetooth connectivity, health tracking accuracy.
Comparison summary
51 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher14 (27%)
-
Same as average within 0.3 pts20 (39%)
-
Below average 0.4+ pts lower17 (33%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| blood oxygen tracking | 1.0 | 3.5 | -2.5 |
| Bluetooth connectivity | 1.5 | 3.7 | -2.2 |
| health tracking accuracy | 2.0 | 3.9 | -1.9 |
| contactless payments | 1.0 | 2.8 | -1.8 |
| sleep tracking accuracy | 2.1 | 3.7 | -1.7 |
| onboard music storage | 1.6 | 3.0 | -1.4 |
| mapping and navigation | 4.5 | 3.4 | +1.1 |
| value for money | 4.8 | 3.8 | +0.9 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better charging convenience
Choose Suunto Vertical 2. It scores 4.9 vs 2.8 for charging convenience, with a 4.2 overall score.
If you want better flashlight usefulness
Choose Suunto Race 2. It scores 5.0 vs 3.0 for flashlight usefulness, with a 4.0 overall score.
If you want better heart rate accuracy
Choose Huawei Watch GT 6 Pro. It scores 4.7 vs 3.2 for heart rate accuracy, with a 4.0 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
- Similar: GPS distance alerts The reviewer found Race S kilometer beeps close to the Garmin Forerunner 965.
- More expensive: price The Race S is positioned as cheaper than the Garmin Forerunner 965 among AMOLED sports watches.
- Worse: GPS accuracy test The reviewer reported Race S beating the Forerunner 965 in one GPS test.
- Better: step counting accuracy The reviewer found Race S step counts low versus Apple Watch and other trackers.
- Worse: GPS accuracy test The reviewer reported Race S beating Apple Watch in one GPS test.
- Similar: GPS track accuracy The reviewer compared Race S land GPS favorably with the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
- Worse: sports and exploration features The reviewer said Suunto's sports and exploration feature range outdoes the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
FAQ
Is the Suunto Race S good for GPS and navigation?
Yes. Reviewers repeatedly praised GPS accuracy, offline maps, route planning, and navigation responsiveness, especially for trails, hikes, MTB rides, and endurance training.
How accurate is the heart rate sensor?
Heart rate evidence is mixed. Some reviewers found the updated sensor solid or precise, but several others saw inaccurate readings and recommended a chest strap for serious training.
How long does the battery last?
Battery life is strong for an AMOLED sports watch, with many reviewers reporting about a week of use or strong GPS runtimes. Always-on display, navigation, and frequent GPS workouts can shorten it.
Does it work well as a smartwatch?
It works best as a sports watch with basic smartwatch extras. Reviews mention notifications and phone music controls, but also note missing onboard music, payments, richer replies, and broader smartwatch features.
Is the screen easy to read outdoors?
Yes. Reviews consistently describe the AMOLED display as bright, sharp, vibrant, and readable in sunlight, forest shade, and other outdoor conditions.
Who is the Suunto Race S best suited for?
It is best for runners, hikers, triathletes, MTB riders, and endurance users who want GPS, maps, broad sport modes, and strong value more than a full smartwatch ecosystem.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - DesFit
- Review score
- 4.4
YouTube - The Quantified Scientist
- Review score
- 2.7
YouTube - Aesthetic AL
YouTube - Chase the Summit
- Review score
- 4.1
Article Reviews
enduro-mtb.com
- Review score
- 4.4
the5krunner.com
- Review score
- 4.2
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