Suunto Race 2: A brighter and lighter watch makes for a serious Garmin contender

Date:
Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:11:07 +0000

Description:
The Suunto Race 2 picks up where its predecessor left off, with a brighter screen, lighter chassis, and a faster processor.

FULL STORY ======================================================================One-minu te review

Its hard to stand out in a crowded field of fantastic fitness trackers, and while the Suunto Race had a lot of great ideas, its execution was ever-so-slightly off.

We awarded it 3.5 stars out of 5 , finding issues primarily with heart rate tracking accuracy while noting its cheaper than many of its rivals despite feeling premium.

That gives the Suunto Race 2 a lay-up to be one of the best fitness trackers around, right? Fix the minor issues, and itll be a winner. Thankfully, Suunto has taken advantage of the legwork done by the first Race, and its successor is better in just about every way.

It looks great, performs well, and is just as intuitive for a fitness tracker newcomer as it is to someone thats been tracking their bodys rhythms for years. With two and a half weeks of battery life and a relatively lightweight design, its comfortable to wear to bed for sleep tracking, too.

That does come at a cost (its more expensive than the original), but its easily one of our favorite fitness trackers of 2025 so far. Suunto Race 2: Specifications

Component

Suunto Race 2

Price

429 / $499 / AU$899 (Stainless Steel) or 529 / $599 / AU$999 (Titanium)

Dimensions

49 x 49 x 12.5 mm / 1.93 x 1.93 x 0.49 "

Weight

65g

Case/bezel

Glass fibre reinforced polyamide

Display

AMOLED display with 466x466 resolution

GPS

GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS, BEIDOU

Battery life

18 days in Smartwatch mode, 30 days in Standby time mode, up to 200 hours in power saving mode

Connection

Bluetooth

Water resistant?

100M Suunto Race 2: Price and availability (Image credit: Future) Two versions: Stainless Steel and Titanium Steel starts at 429 / $499 / AU$899 Titanium is 529 / $599 / $999

One of the big draws of the Suunto Race was its price, but the Suunto Race 2 fixes the problems with the original Race at the cost of a higher price tag. The Stainless Steel model is more expensive, while the Titanium model
ratchets the price up again.

Its now around the price of a Garmin Forerunner 570, so hardly beyond the
pale even with the increase.

Expect discounts around the usual sale seasons like Black Friday, but itll give Suunto Race 1 owners looking to upgrade some sticker shock, for sure. Value score: 4/5 Suunto Race 2 review: Design (Image credit: Future) 1.5-inch display Feels premium to hold and wear Straps feel comfortable

As mentioned, there are two versions of Suunto Race 2: Stainless Steel, and Titanium. Our review unit is the former, in the Coral Orange colorway. In all honesty, three out of four of the Stainless Steel models have the same black chassis color but with different straps, while the Feather Gray is a more off-white color.

Titanium models are, again, the same chassis, but with two different color options; outside of the material choice, youre getting the same general
design throughout.

Straps attach with a pin system, whichwhile a little fiddlydoes mean theyre more secure than other rivals. The display is 1.5 inches (slightly larger
than the 1.43-inch panel on the Race 1), and is brighter, too, now up to
2,000 nits. (Image credit: Future)

Two hardware buttons flank a digital crown for scrolling through menus, and the display is touch-sensitive, too, which could give it a leg-up over non-touchscreen rivals that can feel slightly less intuitive.

On the underside, there are the sensors, and the straps have gaps in them, which can make them feel more breathable than fabric-based alternatives.

Theres a pleasing weight to the Suunto Race 2. It doesnt feel flimsy or too light, but its not too light where it feels cheap, either. Thats a tough balance to find, so kudos to the team at Suunto for finding a way to make it feel premium while not being too heavy to wear to bed. Design score: 4.5 / 5 Suunto Race 2: Features (Image credit: Future) Built-in GPS No music storage

Were still sad offline music streaming isnt more common across fitness trackers, as it feels like such an obvious inclusion, but at least if you
dont need a killer playlist, you can take your Suunto Race for a run without your phone safe in the knowledge theres GPS built in.

Its accurate, too, doing a good job of identifying my location whether I was in busy London streets or riverside pathways closer to home. It matches up almost perfectly with my Apple Watch Ultra, which is my main tracker of choice. You can download maps for offline usage, too, something Garmins Instinct line doesnt have.

There are over 115 sport modes included, too, running from the usual suspects like running and cycling, to strength training and more bespoke workouts like mountain trail runs.

Battery life is great, too. In smartwatch mode you can expect 16 days, while GPS mode reaches 55 hours - five hours more than the Suunto Run 1.

As youd expect, it ties into the Suunto Coach app to offer detailed workout metrics beyond whats available on the watch, and this data can be imported directly into the likes of Strava for ease of tracking and sharing with friends (and rivals). Features score: 4.5/5 Suunto Race 2: Performance (Image credit: Future) Brighter display Faster processor Improved heart

Weve already noted the improved display brightness, and that means its much easier to read the Suunto Race 2s Always-On panel in direct sunlight.

Another of our issues with the last model was its clunky UI, and theres not a whole host thats different here aside from the fact that performance is improved thanks to a processor that Suunto reckons is twice as fast as the last generation. That makes moving through widgets much slicker on the
device.

While some sleep tracking often feels binary, requiring you to trigger a specific mode (see the Apple Watch lineup), Suunto has done a great job of picking up on the occasional afternoon nap when I was feeling under the weather, as well as offering sleep stages and phase breakdowns.

Still, the elephant in the room is heart rate. Could Suunto fix the biggest issue with the Race 1? As it happens, yes, yes it could, offering similar results to those found on the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which weve tested against
a highly accurate Polar H10 heart rate monitor and finding it the current
gold standard for wrist-based heart rate measurement.

Not only that, but the Race 2 tracks heart rate variability while youre sleeping. As someone with a heart condition, which means overnight tracking
is particularly important, thats a huge boon. Still, it only provides an average, rather than ad hoc information about your HRV. Performance score: 4.5/5 Scorecard

Attribute

Comments

Score

Value

Great value at the low-end, but the stainless steel version is a little too pricey

4

Design

Great, stylish design thats comfortable to wear all day

4.5

Features

No music storage is a shame but everything else is great

4.5

Performance

Major heart rate improvements

4.5 How we tested the Suunto Race 2

When testing the Suunto Race 2, I took it on some very light running
exercises and on rucking excursions in a local, rural area.

To test its GPS, I visited London to assess its accuracy amidst larger buildings and more signal noise, and wore it regularly during the day and at night to judge the heart rate and sleep tracking. Buy it if...

You want a great fitness tracker

With accurate sensors and GPS, and a ton of workout modes, the Suunto Race 2 is well worth a look for competitive runners and intermediate athletes.

You want long-lasting battery life

The 55 hours on offer in GPS mode is among the best around, and the 16 days
in smartwatch mode isnt shabby, either. Dont buy it if...

Heart rate isnt important to you

The Suunto Runs heart rate accuracy isnt as good as its younger brother, but it is $100 cheaper, which could sway you in its direction.

You want smartwatch features

Theres no NFC payment features or installable apps here, despite the Titanium model costing more than the Apple Watch Series 10. Also consider

Garmin Forerunner 570

The best running watch from Garmin right now.

Read our full Garmin Forerunner 570 review

Coros Pace Pro

One of the best non-Garmin alternatives.

Read our full Coros Pace Pro review

First reviewed: October 2025



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/suunto-race-2-review


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