Is The SUUNTO Race 2 a Case for Fitness Wearables On The Trail

A longtime lover of cycling tech, even I get exhausted by the relentless push of data in our lives, including every minute of a ride. This tech fatigue intermittently makes me ditch the cycling computer with its obtrusive metrics that blast into your eyeballs when you’re trying to relax and shred the trails. 

The Suunto Race 2 sports watch has been a welcome breath of fresh air – something about having data on your wrist and not in your eyeballs is liberating. A long-term user of the Garmin Fenix and Forerunner series, I am accustomed to the range of data offered by fitness wearables, and have often ditched the cycling computer for a simpler, wrist-based option.

The release of the Suunto Race 2 is a real game-changer for cyclists, mountain bikers and multisport athletes, especially those reluctant to use a regular cycling computer. The unit is completely packed with features – significantly more than most cycling computers on the market – and is integrated with the surprisingly intuitive and feature-packed Suunto app.

Unboxing and first look at the Suunto Race 2

I received my Suunto Race 2 just over a week ago, and have been using the device exclusively on rides, hikes and runs to get the most hands-on experience with the unit.

Unboxing and setting up the Race 2 is simple – the box comes with the face and 22mm quick-release silicone strap separated. You simply snap the silicone band in place, turn the watch on and get started. Download the Suunto App, throw the watch on charge using the provided proprietary charger with a USB-C connection and you’re ready to go.

First things first: the Suunto Race 2 is marketed as significantly smaller and lighter than its predecessor, the Suunto Race. The Race 2 features a 1.5″ AMOLED display with 466×466 resolution and 2000-nit peak brightness. It features LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) to help lower power use by allowing the display to dynamically adjust its refresh rate on the fly.

Control-wise, the Race 2 features a digital crown as well as two buttons, a touchscreen interface and sapphire glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity – handy for those who tend to touch down on the trail (don’t we all, at times?). The Race 2 is available with a stainless steel or titanium body, and the complete weight, including strap, comes to 75g and 65g respectively.

Being pitched primarily as an ultra-trail running watch, the Race 2 features a massive 55hrs of activity time using GPS, perfect if you’re racing a 24-hour mountain bike event or simply don’t fancy charging a watch after every ride. If you participate in a range of activities, it’s likely the Race 2 has you covered, with 115 sports modes plus options for customisation.

One of the big selling points with the Race 2 is free offline maps. Accessible via the app, it’s a case of connecting to Wi-Fi, putting your watch on charge and downloading the desired maps – no Trailforks account required. I downloaded the Australia map as well as some European maps ahead of upcoming travel. It did take a few attempts to download, requiring me to disconnect and reconnect the Wi-Fi, but once downloaded you can get your bearings using the map, assess distances between locations and pan and zoom – all on your wrist.

Using the Suunto Race 2

Initial thoughts on the Suunto Race 2 were mainly comparative to my long-term watch, the Fenix 7, and what really stood out was how bright and easy to read the face was. While Garmin has moved to an AMOLED display with more recent offerings in their Forerunner series, the difference between the Fenix 7 and Race 2 was like chalk and cheese. Regardless of bright glaring sun or overcast weather, the Race 2’s display was dazzling compared to Garmin’s offerings.

It was easy to connect to existing accounts using the app, and Suunto supports a range of third-party training connections. For me, though, it was as easy as logging into TrainingPeaks through the Suunto app, which meant that structured workouts synced directly to the watch.

It’s not just about workouts though – the key point of the Race 2, aside from its epic battery life, is offline maps. Navigating through the app, you can upload a route from just about anywhere using a GPX or KML file, or you can create a route on the app itself. With the bright display, it was easy to follow the route on your wrist. The mapping feature also allows you to calculate distances between waypoints, as well as navigate using the compass.

Starting an activity is as easy as hitting the top button, selecting the workout profile by tapping on whatever is illustrated and scrolling to your selection, then tapping the crown to confirm. In this pre-workout menu, you can select the type of navigation you prefer (breadcrumb, POI, bearing or compass), as well as enabling any sports apps you’ve downloaded if using the SuuntoPlus features – more on that later.

If you’re not vibing with the default workout profiles offered in the watch settings, you can also create and modify existing profiles – from golf to gymnastics, martial arts to motorsports and even parkour – the Suunto Race 2 really has almost every sport covered.

My initial ride featured a few efforts that popped up as an option pushed from TrainingPeaks, and I was comparing the wrist-based heart rate data to the Fenix 7. Wrist-based heart rate requires a firm fit, so I kept the fit comparable between the two units. On upload, it was obvious which unit had traced the heart rate more accurately – with the Race 2 charting the spikes of an interval session, while the Fenix 7 flatlined at 120 for the first half of the ride before starting to read the heart rate more accurately.

Using the Race 2 in a cross-country race, the bright screen made it easy to see heart rate data and lap times on the fly – no need for a cycling computer, the watch allowed me to check in on key metrics intermittently, without feeling like a slave to the numbers on my stem.

Features galore

What I didn’t quite expect from the Suunto Race 2 was the sheer amount of features jam-packed into the watch – far more than I can touch on in a single review. Key features I discovered on the Race 2 and grew to love during our short time together included the Find My Phone feature – which calls your phone when you can’t find it (for me this is at least 3 times a day) – and the flashlight feature, both found in the control panel accessed by hitting the lower button.

For those looking for fitness gains, Suunto displays Training Load and Stress balance on the watch face, with a visual representation of fitness. Speaking of watch faces, similar to Garmin IQ, SuuntoPlus (accessible through the app) gives you the option of downloading customised graphics, as well as sports apps.

Downloading sports apps through SuuntoPlus allows you to add more data pages during workouts. Key sports apps for mountain bikers include the Shimano E-Bike Systems app and Shimano Di2 electric shifting apps. For example, the Shimano E-Bike System app displays assistance mode, assistance percentage and battery life. The Shimano Di2 app displays gear selection, Di2 battery life and heart rate.

Our Take on Suunto Race 2

In the short time I’ve had to play with the Suunto Race 2, I have to say I’ve been mighty impressed. A long-term user of fitness wearables, the Suunto Race 2 has taken the best features available market-wide and rolled them into a single package. It was only a few rides in before I decided to stop wearing two watches to cross-reference data, and the Garmin has been sitting on the kitchen bench since then.

For those who love the quirks of customised watch faces, the Suunto app isn’t quite at the same level as Garmin’s range, but for all other data the user experience is similar – though dare I say the Suunto app feels more sophisticated, as map downloads, app downloads, routing and customised workouts are all accessible directly through the app.

Delivering physiological data (VO2, sleep data, heart rate variability etc.) is a key focus for many wearables, but the Race 2’s metrics seem a little less intrusive. Perhaps it’s because of the breadth of features available on the Race 2 and the Suunto app. The main data page features all the usual numbers – sleep data, heart rate variability, calendar, workout data, recovery and training load (to mention just a few) – but the app includes multiple pages such as training, calendar, maps, and the SuuntoPlus gateway. That broader spread of functionality shifts the focus away from recovery and sleep data in a way I’ve not experienced with other platforms.

For me, this is a win, and it shifts the emphasis of the Race 2 away from black-box recovery and VO2 metrics, and back to what really matters – time on the bike and hours in bed. The Suunto Race 2 has stayed firmly on my wrist since it first left its box. For those who value battery life, a quality display and robust mapping features but want something a little different from a cycling computer, the Suunto Race 2 could be just what you’re looking for.

More info on the Suunto Race 2

RRP: $899 AUD
Display: 1.5″ AMOLED display with 466×466 resolution and 2000-nit peak brightness.
Material: Stainless steel or titanium body
Complete weight: Including strap – 75g and 65g respectively.
Available at: Suunto Australia website