Everything else works. But when you're actually working hard, it falls apart.
From Finland comes a quiet challenge to the established order of premium sports wearables: Suunto's Race 2 arrives at $499 asking whether excellence must always carry the heaviest price tag. The watch offers serious athletes a beautifully crafted instrument—dual-band GPS, an 18-day battery, and a display that holds its own in sunlight—at a cost that undercuts its nearest rival by $250. Yet even the most promising tools carry their contradictions, and the Race 2's heart rate sensor falters precisely when athletes push hardest, reminding us that value is never simply a matter of subtraction.
- Suunto has spent years trailing Garmin and Coros, but the Race 2 represents a genuine leap—arriving with specs that embarrass watches costing $250 more.
- The watch's heart rate sensor becomes unreliable above 140 bpm, a critical flaw for high-intensity athletes who depend on that data to train intelligently.
- Its touchscreen is too sensitive—a wet sleeve or a raindrop can hijack the interface—and the cluttered activity menu turns simple navigation into an endurance event of its own.
- Suunto is positioning the Race 2 as a premium-but-accessible alternative, betting that elegant design, superior waterproofing, and a lower price will outweigh its gaps in smartwatch functionality.
- The watch is landing well among endurance athletes and design-conscious buyers, but those needing music storage, contactless payments, or trustworthy heart rate data during intense efforts are being pointed elsewhere.
Suunto has spent years playing catch-up to Garmin and Coros, but something shifted recently. The Finnish brand began releasing watches people actually wanted, and the Race 2 represents its most ambitious effort yet.
The numbers make a compelling case. At $499 for stainless steel or $599 for titanium, the Race 2 undercuts the comparable Garmin Forerunner 970 by roughly $250—while offering a faster processor, a brighter 1.5-inch AMOLED display, a slimmer 76-gram body, and battery life stretching to 18 days in smartwatch mode or 55 hours with GPS active. Its 10ATM waterproofing rating doubles what the Garmin offers, making it a credible companion for swimmers and triathletes.
The watch is a pleasure to hold. The stainless steel testing unit arrived with a coral orange strap and made an immediate impression—sleek and almost delicate against the chunky norms of the category. After nearly two months of testing, including high-intensity workouts and the occasional knock, it showed no scratches or wear. The sapphire glass display is bright and readable in direct sunlight, and the watch faces feel uncluttered and elegant.
Friction points exist, however. The touchscreen is overly sensitive—a long sleeve or rainwater can accidentally trigger the interface—and the activity menu is poorly organized, requiring minutes of scrolling to find a specific sport among 115+ options. The glass collects fingerprints and sweat with enthusiasm.
As a fitness tracker, the Race 2 is genuinely comprehensive, covering everything from trail running and mountaineering to wheelchair sports and mermaiding. The Suunto app analyzes workouts in thoughtful detail and includes personalized coaching accessible enough for beginners. GPS accuracy across five satellite systems proved reliable, and battery life matched the advertised claims through weeks of regular use.
But step counting, calorie estimates, and heart rate tracking all fell short in testing. Compared against an Oura Ring 4 and a Whoop MG, the Race 2 frequently miscounted steps by up to 1,000 and ran calorie figures high. Most critically, the heart rate sensor—accurate enough at rest and during moderate effort—became erratic above 140 bpm. Worn alongside a Polar H9 chest strap during intense intervals, the watch's readings grew chaotic, a meaningful shortcoming at this price.
Amazon buyers have awarded it 4.9 out of 5 stars, praising the display and design. Suunto's own platform shows 4.2 stars, with complaints clustering around heart rate accuracy. One longtime Garmin user who switched praised the clean ecosystem and crisp screen but found the heart rate monitor failing during rowing and high-intensity movements—reading 140 bpm while a Garmin on the opposite wrist showed 170.
The Race 2 is a beautiful, capable watch for endurance athletes who prioritize GPS reliability, battery life, and design. For those who need trustworthy heart rate data at high intensity—or smartwatch features like music and payments—the search continues.
Suunto has spent years playing catch-up to Garmin and Coros, but something shifted in the last two years. The Finnish brand started releasing watches that people actually wanted—the Run for casual joggers, the original Race as a budget alternative to Garmin's premium models. Now comes the Race 2, and on paper, it looks like Suunto's best work yet.
The numbers tell part of the story. The Race 2 costs $499 for stainless steel or $599 for titanium, which undercuts the comparable Garmin Forerunner 970 by roughly $250. For that price, you get a faster processor, a larger and brighter 1.5-inch AMOLED display, more accurate heart rate sensors, a slimmer and lighter body at 76 grams, and battery life that stretches to 18 days in smartwatch mode or 55 hours when using GPS. In some respects—battery endurance, for instance—it actually outperforms the pricier Garmin.
The watch itself is a pleasure to hold. Our testing unit arrived in stainless steel with a coral orange strap, and the first impression was striking: sleek, elegant, almost delicate compared to the chunky sports watches that typically dominate this category. The design feels rare in a watch with these specifications. The materials are serious too. The stainless steel or titanium construction can handle dust, drops, and temperatures from minus 20 to 55 degrees Celsius. It carries a 10ATM waterproofing rating, meaning it can withstand 100 meters of water pressure—double what the Garmin Forerunner 970 offers. That's enough for swimmers and triathletes, though not for deep diving. After nearly two months of testing, including high-intensity workouts and the occasional bump, the watch showed no scratches or wear.
The 1.5-inch AMOLED screen is genuinely bright and readable in direct sunlight, protected by scratch-resistant sapphire glass. The watch faces are elegant and uncluttered. But there are friction points. The touchscreen proved overly sensitive—a long sleeve or rainwater could accidentally trigger the interface. The glass collects fingerprints and sweat stains. More frustratingly, the user interface itself feels poorly organized. Want to select a specific sports activity? You'll scroll for minutes. It would help immensely if activities were grouped by category.
As a fitness tracker, the Race 2 is comprehensive. It monitors over 115 sports, from mainstream cycling and swimming to niche pursuits like horseback riding, wheelchair sports, and even mermaiding. For runners and hikers, it breaks activities into granular categories: trail running, vertical running, track running, nordic walking, mountaineering. The watch includes dual-band GPS, a compass, an altimeter, and offline maps you can download from the Suunto app. The app itself is thoughtful—workouts are analyzed in detail with sport-specific stats presented clearly, and it includes personalized coaching snippets suitable for beginners. It's comparable to the well-regarded Polar app but more accessible.
Performance is where things get complicated. The GPS navigation is reliable, using five satellite systems like top-tier Garmin and Coros watches. Our testing unit proved accurate for distance and elevation calculations. Sleep quality assessment and ambient temperature readings worked well. Battery life matched the claims—our unit typically lasted two weeks with four hour-long workouts per week and frequent GPS use. The app connectivity and processing speed never lagged.
But step counting, calorie burning, and heart rate tracking all fell short. When compared against an Oura Ring 4 and a Whoop MG fitness tracker, the Race 2 frequently miscalculated steps by as much as 1,000, and calorie counts ran significantly high. The heart rate sensor was the real disappointment. At rest and during moderate exercise, it stayed relatively accurate. Above 140 beats per minute, the readings became erratic and unreliable. During a test wearing the Race 2 alongside a Polar H9 chest strap monitor, the watch's heart rate data grew chaotic during intense effort—a notable shortcoming for a watch at this price point.
Amazon customers gave the Race 2 4.9 out of 5 stars, praising the display, design, and comprehensive tracking. Suunto's own reviews landed at 4.2 stars, with complaints clustering around heart rate accuracy. One buyer, a Garmin defector of eight years, loved the simplicity of the Suunto ecosystem and the crisp screen but noted the heart rate monitor failed during rowing, wall balls, and ski erg work—showing 140 bpm when a Garmin on the opposite wrist read 170. The Race 2 is a strong fitness watch for endurance activities like trail running and rowing, and it's genuinely beautiful. But if you need reliable heart rate data during intense efforts, or if you want smartwatch features like music storage or contactless payments, you'll need to look elsewhere.
Notable Quotes
The HR monitor works great for running, but when I'm on the skierg, rowing machine, doing wallballs, etc., the HR monitor is inaccurate. I put on my wife's Garmin on my opposite wrist and it worked perfectly, but my Race 2 was saying HR was 140 when I knew I was in the 170s.— Amazon customer review
As a Garmin escapee, eight years in the Garmin camp, I find the Suunto ecosystem refreshingly simple compared to the growing complexity that seems to be engulfing Garmin these days.— Amazon customer review
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
So Suunto finally has a watch that feels like it belongs in this conversation. What took them so long?
They were making solid watches, just not exciting ones. The Race 2 feels like they stopped trying to be Garmin and started asking what they could actually do better. The design is the proof—most sports watches look like they were engineered by someone who'd never seen a wrist.
But the heart rate tracking is broken above 140 bpm. That's a pretty fundamental failure for a $500 watch.
It is. And that's the frustrating part. Everything else works. The GPS is reliable, the battery lasts, the screen is beautiful. But when you're actually working hard—when the data matters most—it falls apart. It's like building a car with a great interior and then the engine misfires under load.
Who is this watch actually for, then?
Runners and hikers who don't do high-intensity interval work. People doing steady-state endurance. Anyone who wants a beautiful watch that won't break and costs less than the premium Garmins. But if you're doing CrossFit, rowing, or anything explosive, you need to bring a chest strap monitor or look elsewhere.
Is the price justified?
For what you get—the build quality, the battery life, the GPS accuracy—yes. It's $250 cheaper than the Forerunner 970 and in some ways better. But that heart rate issue is a tax on the price. You're paying premium money for a watch that can't deliver premium data when it matters.
Would you buy it?
I'd buy it for trail running. I wouldn't buy it if I cared about heart rate zones during hard efforts. The watch knows what it is—a beautiful, durable fitness tracker. It just doesn't know it has a blind spot.