The Suunto Race 3S appears to be a smartwatch crafted for the most active users. Weighing a mere 56 grams, it boasts a titanium bezel, sapphire glass, an exceptionally bright AMOLED display, and free offline maps. Additionally, the manufacturer has incorporated a significantly improved heart rate sensor and an AI-powered training assistant. We will explore whether these enhancements make it the definitive choice for runners. This is our comprehensive review of the Suunto Race 3S.

Suunto Race 3S Review: A Watch for Runners, Not Gadget Enthusiasts

Design and Build Quality

Scandinavian design extends beyond furniture; it also shines in the aesthetics of Finnish brands like Suunto. The Race 3S is no exception. This watch features a versatile look that suits both male and female wrists, embodying a sporty character without being overly conspicuous.

The build quality is remarkably high. The watch’s bezel and casing are made of titanium, while the screen is protected by sapphire glass, known for achieving a scratch resistance level of 9 on the Mohs scale. The display itself is large, bright, and exceptionally clear, ensuring excellent visibility in both direct sunlight and shade.

The touchscreen operates flawlessly, allowing for intuitive navigation of the interface. Swiping down reveals widgets—simply tap any widget to view detailed information such as step count, sleep data, weather, and more. Swiping up brings you to the various sports modes.

The watch features three physical buttons. The central button confirms selections or goes back, while rotating the crown scrolls through pages. The upper button activates sports modes from the main screen, but its function can change depending on the current display. The bottom button offers a quick press for backward navigation and a long press to return to the watch face. You can also customize a shortcut for a long press of the bottom button from the watch face view.

On the underside, you’ll find a slightly convex sensor array and pins for the magnetic charger. Its lightweight design (56g or approximately 2 ounces) and slim profile (11.4mm or 0.45 inches) ensure comfortable wear.

The version reviewed, Titanium Orchid, features a soft silicone strap combining purple and light gray, creating a very appealing look. Its perforated design adds to its distinctive appearance.

The 22mm strap features a quick-release mechanism and is compatible with straps from other Suunto watches, making it easy to swap if you own other models from the brand.

Wearing Comfort

The Race 3S is a lightweight and well-balanced watch that remains unobtrusive during both daily activities and extended training sessions. Its minimal weight, relatively thin profile, and flexible silicone strap make it easy to forget you’re even wearing it.

The numerous perforations in the strap enhance comfort by allowing skin to breathe, preventing excessive sweating even during intense physical exertion. The watch’s waterproof rating of 5 ATM means it can withstand swimming and everyday water contact, though it’s not suitable for scuba diving. Suunto also advises against exposing it to high temperatures, such as those found in saunas or hot baths.

Another factor contributing to comfort is the impressive battery life. Unlike some smartwatches from brands like Apple or Samsung that require daily or bi-daily charging, the Race 3S offers significantly longer use. In typical daily usage, the watch lasted 5-6 days on a single charge. The actual battery life will vary depending on settings such as screen brightness, always-on display mode, and the use of specific modules. A full charge takes approximately 1.5-2 hours.

Suunto App and Connectivity

The Suunto app is an essential companion for the watch, providing access to maps, training plans, performance analysis, and integration with popular platforms like Strava and TrainingPeaks. The app also offers extensive customization options for the watch, including watch faces, widgets, and Suunto Plus apps, along with various sports modes. Users are encouraged to explore the app thoroughly to unlock the watch’s full potential.

However, one notable drawback is the synchronization process between the app and the watch. Whenever the watch detects a pending change, it initiates a lengthy synchronization, which temporarily prevents other adjustments. There is currently no option to cancel a synchronization once it has started, which can be frustrating.

Smart Features

The Suunto Race 3S does not aim to be a full-fledged lifestyle smartwatch. Instead, it focuses on features vital for active individuals: notifications, offline music playback, an alarm clock, widgets, and basic tools like a flashlight and timer. While sufficient, this represents a minimal set of smart features compared to some competitors.

Users expecting advanced functionalities such as contactless payments, calls, a speaker, a microphone, or integration with streaming services might find it lacking. If smart features are a higher priority than extensive sports capabilities, you might consider alternatives running WearOS, Samsung Galaxy Watches, or Apple Watches. For those interested in affordable smartwatches with basic fitness tracking, you might find articles such as Huawei Band 10: An Attractive Price, You Won’t Want to Take It Off Your Wrist or Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Lite: Budget Smartwatch Discount helpful.

The interface is widget-based, offering quick access to a wealth of data relevant to daily use, including step count, calories burned, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), recovery status, sunrise/sunset times, weather, barometer and altimeter readings, a compass, notifications, a flashlight (brightened screen), and a timer.

The Suunto Race 3S is the first Suunto watch to allow users to upload their own music. While this is a significant advantage for many, it comes with a limitation: music files can only be copied via USB cable from a computer or an Android phone. The watch does not support streaming services like Spotify, Deezer, or Amazon Music.

Health Monitoring Features

The Suunto Race 3S monitors essential health parameters including heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), heart rate variability, and daily activity. It tracks sleep (including naps) with generally reliable data, although occasionally it slightly underestimated actual sleep duration.

Similarly, heart rate variability and step count readings are consistent. Heart rate and blood oxygen levels were compared against a home blood pressure monitor and a pulse oximeter, yielding surprisingly close results. International reviews also highlight the Race 3S’s accuracy during workouts, with readings closely matching those from chest straps.

Sports Features

This is where the Suunto Race 3S truly excels. The watch offers over 100 activity modes, detailed running data, load and recovery analysis, race performance predictions, and the EnergySense feature, which continuously estimates your remaining energy reserves. The Race 3S not only records workouts but also provides tools to plan, analyze, and progressively improve your training.

For runners, metrics such as cadence, ground contact time, and vertical oscillation are particularly valuable. For outdoor and trail athletes, the extensive navigation and offline maps are crucial. After a workout, a summary can be viewed on the watch screen, with additional details available in the Suunto app. Furthermore, if your account is linked to Suunto partners (e.g., Strava, TrainingPeaks), data is automatically uploaded to these platforms.

Navigation and Offline Maps

The Suunto Race 3S does not come with preloaded maps, but they can be easily downloaded via Wi-Fi using the app. Region-specific maps can range from hundreds of megabytes, while entire countries can be several gigabytes. If you don’t fill the memory with music, you can upload a substantial portion of the world’s maps to the watch.

Map sections can be quickly zoomed using the scrolling crown and panned with the touchscreen. The maps include street names and points of interest (POIs). It’s worth noting that before a map fully loads, black, square tiles are displayed momentarily. In smartwatches from other manufacturers, the map is often blurred before rendering. Suunto has opted for a different approach.

GPS accuracy during workouts and navigation is excellent. Acquiring a navigation signal takes only a moment, and the recorded route accurately reflects the actual path traveled.

What is Suunto AI Coach?

The most significant new feature is the Suunto AI Coach. This assistant leverages historical and current training data, allowing users to ask questions, analyze results, request training plans, and receive personalized recommendations. The AI Coach operates within the app (without sharing data with external tools), but the generated plans and routes can be transferred to the watch.

Extensive conversations with the AI Coach about fitness levels and potential activities to improve them proved insightful. For instance, setting up treadmill walk-run intervals became easier, with the AI Coach helping to define durations and frequencies. Monitoring progress was also streamlined, given the AI Coach’s access to all relevant data.

The AI Coach is also incredibly helpful for individuals who prefer not to interpret complex metrics like Training Stress Score (TSS), Chronic Training Load (CTL), Acute Training Load (ATL), or Training Stress Balance (TSB) independently. The AI can quickly analyze and explain these data points. Beyond training metrics, the AI Coach can discuss other topics of interest, readily providing answers.

There’s a catch, however. Three months of access are free if the watch is activated by December 31, 2026. After this trial period, a subscription fee will apply, though Suunto has not yet announced the pricing. One reason for the undisclosed pricing is reportedly to gather data on how users utilize the service. Suunto also plans to make the AI Coach available for more compatible watches in early 2027.

Another announced AI-related innovation is Suunto MCP (Model Context Protocol), which will be free for all Suunto users. MCP is a universal communication standard that grants the AI assistant access to private files, databases, or cloud storage like Google Drive, in this case, personal training data. Coros already employs a similar approach to integrating training data with its AI assistant.

Suunto Race 3S Specifications and Pricing

Here are the key specifications for the Suunto Race 3S:

• Model: Suunto Race 3S
• Build Quality: Glass fiber reinforced polyamide, titanium bezel, sapphire glass, 22mm silicone strap
• Water Resistance: 5 ATM (suitable for swimming)
• Display: AMOLED, 1.32 inches, 466 × 466 pixels, up to 2000 nits brightness, adaptive refresh rate 5–60 Hz
• Navigation: Dual-band GNSS: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, and QZSS (L1/L5 bands)
• Processor: Apollo 510
• Storage: 64 GB
• Smart Features: Free offline maps with contours, place names, roads, and waterways (no subscription); offline music playback after headphone pairing; phone notifications
• Health Features: Optical heart rate sensor (six LEDs and four photodetectors); Valencell technology; step counter; calorie burn tracker; sleep monitoring
• Sports Features: Over 120 sports modes; AI Coach; load, recovery, HRV, and sleep analysis; future smart race strategy (pacing/effort planning, considering altitude profile, weather, and race goal)
• Battery: Silicon-carbon, 380 mAh
• Battery Life:
  • Dual-band GPS mode: Up to 38 hours
  • Endurance mode: Up to 45 hours
  • Training mode: Up to 10 days
  • Daily use: Up to 12 days
• Sensors: Optical heart rate sensor, barometer, compass, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Dimensions & Weight: 46 mm diameter; 11.4 mm thickness; 56 g (approx. 2 oz)

The watch is available in three color variants: Titanium Black, Titanium Orchid, and Titanium Feather. Its price, regardless of the version, is approximately $550 USD (based on the original price of 2199 PLN).

The watch is packaged in a slim box that also includes a soft 22mm silicone strap, a magnetic charging cable, a quick guide, and warranty information.

Conclusion and Our Opinion

The Suunto Race 3S is an excellent sports watch that performs exceptionally well in its most critical areas: GPS accuracy, maps, heart rate monitoring, screen readability, and wearing comfort. It is lightweight, durable, and boasts a more refined aesthetic than many other sports watches. The inclusion of free offline maps is a valuable asset, particularly for hikers and trail runners.

The watch is packed with features tailored for outdoor sports and trail running enthusiasts. The new AI Coach, an artificial intelligence assistant, promises personalized training plans, answers to training-related questions, and seamless synchronization of created workouts and routes with the watch.

The main considerations are the price and the scope of its smart features. For approximately $550 USD, you get a superb training watch, but without contactless payments, call functionality, a microphone, speaker, or integration with streaming services. Furthermore, the AI Coach might become an additional cost after its free trial period, with Suunto yet to disclose its subscription fees.

The Race 3S is primarily recommended for runners, trail athletes, and individuals who prioritize advanced training analysis, accurate GPS, navigation features, and robust build quality over extensive everyday smartwatch functionalities like payments or streaming media. If you’re looking for an everyday smartwatch with payments, call capabilities, and convenient music streaming, you might find other brands or models more suitable.

Source: Self-published, Suunto. Opening photo: Jolanta Szczepaniak

About Post Author

Sankesh Verma

Sankkesh Verma is a technical guy who brings a unique combination of strategic, creative, and technical expertise to identify elements that constitute success, propose solutions, and help build them. He is the founder of “Webbpearl” which is a highly-acclaimed web development agency that offers web design and development, mobile app development, and digital marketing. More importantly, he is the admin of Techtiper.

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