Suunto Race 3S: One-minute review
Suunto has been pretty great over the last few years at delivering mid-to-premium smartwatch options, but if there was one miss, it was the Suunto Race series.
As we pointed out in 2024, the Suunto Race S felt premium in terms of its design despite being cheaper than many of its rivals, but the heart rate tracking left a lot to be desired. It was followed by a Race 2, with no smaller ‘2s’ model.
With Suunto announcing a new model, the Race 3S, though, we expected big things. What we got, however, was almost the inverse of the Race and Race 2: The price is up (way up), and while there are some neat improvements ranging from “nice to have” to catching up with rivals, its fitness tracking is, thankfully, much better.
And at this price, it really needed to be. Whereas its predecessor launched at $449, this model is $150 more. In a market that’s already crowded with excellent budget and mid-range smartwatches and fitness trackers, it feels a little like Suunto has overshot its category somewhat.
Suunto Race 3S: Specifications
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Water resistant? |
Suunto Race 3S: Price and availability
- Starts at $599 / £435 / AUS$999
- Much pricier than the prior Race S model
- Available in three color options
Available in three colors of Titanium, the Suunto Race 3S will set you back considerably more than its predecessors, somewhat undoing the charm of the last model.
It’s not the most expensive smartwatch around, but that puts it close to Garmin’s Forerunner 570 and a whole $200 more than an Apple Watch Series 12.
My review unit is the pink-hued ‘Orchid’ colorway, but there’s also a black version (handily called ‘Black’), as well as a grayish ‘Feather’.
Suunto Race 3S: Design
- Display is nice and easy to read
- Digital crown and button combo is easy to learn
- Titanium and sapphire crystal
If you were wondering where the extra budget has gone in the Suunto Race 3S, then it’d be fair to say some of it has been lavished on the exterior.
The watch comes with a titanium bezel like the Garmin Fenix 9, with a very slight lip over the AMOLED display. Will it survive a sharp rock on your next trail run? I’m not at liberty to hurl it in the name of science, but the Sapphire Crystal glass will definitely protect against just about anything else.
On the underside, you’ll find a reworked heart sensor (more on that later), and I’m pleased to see the Race 3S continue with the more traditional “pin” design for installing the straps. They’re the usual polymer fare here, but the colored strips are a nice touch that give it a little more personality.
On the side, you’ll find two navigation buttons and a digital crown, while you can prod at the screen with your digits, too. All in all, navigating is really easy to pick up, so if this is your first smartwatch, there’s a good chance you can hit the ground, well, running.
Suunto Race 3S: Features
- A step up from its predecessor in almost every aspect
- Tougher, faster, and larger storage
We’ll get to performance shortly, but much of what Suunto has put in the Race 3S feels like natural extensions from the prior model, and helps it keep pace (pun intended) with its rivals — if not actually outstripping them.
The processor is faster, but it’s not as if you’re running third-party apps that can really push it to its limits (Suunto doesn’t support them), and the whole thing has dropped 4g in weight to be a little more comfortable (although I’m unsure you’d notice it much).
There’s one thing that I can’t get my head around, though, and that’s the storage capacity being increased. Despite Suunto’s onboard maps being relatively small in size and the ever-climbing price of computing components, including storage, Suunto has doubled the 32GB onboard storage to 64GB.
I’m not complaining (if you’re the type to put music on your watch, you’ll no doubt appreciate it), but I wonder if the whole package may have been a little cheaper with a smaller storage SKU. It’s also worth noting that there are no streaming services here; it’s all offline MP3s.
There are also no NFC contactless payments, which is a shame.
Suunto Race 3S: Performance
- 12 days of battery life
- Accurate heart rate readings
- AI coaching subscription feature
The Suunto Race 3 comes into its own with its heart rate tracking this time around, and it’s a huge step beyond anything else from the Race range.
Throughout testing, I found the new optical heart rate sensor to be in near lockstep with my Apple Watch Series 11. Suunto puts this down to more sensors, and if you’re worried about that affecting battery life, then there’s good news on that, too.
Despite the brighter display (which is very welcome in sunlight, or what’s left of it in good ol’ Blighty), you’ll still get around 12 days of general usage in smartwatch mode. Naturally, the more you’re using it to track your exercise routines or prodding at the screen, that’ll decrease, but you’re still getting around 35 hours (in my testing) with the always-on display active and multi-band GPS tracking.
New this time around is an AI coaching subscription feature (just like, well, every other wearable apart from Apple and Samsung now), with Suunto getting on board the trend with machine learning and chatbot-style Q&A. In essence, it means you can pull out your phone and ask it to put together a summary of your week’s training, highlight the difference month on month of your fitness, or ask questions about your recovery rate.
This stands separate from the existing Suunto Coach, and will essentially allow you to interrogate your data using natural language support and build fresh fitness plans on demand, like the Google Health Coach
As with a lot of what’s on offer here, it’s good to see Suunto closing the gap to its rivals, but I’m more curious about its MCP, which will allow the likes of Claude or Cursor to access your health data.
Scorecard
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Struggles to justify the price hike |
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More storage will no doubt make some happy, but no NFC |
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Excellent heart rate tracking and solid GPS |
Should I buy?
Buy it if:
You want excellent heart rate tracking
The Suunto Race 3S is great at heart rate tracking, with impressive accuracy in our testing.
You’re looking to upgrade your older Race model
The increased screen brightness, smaller footprint, and additional software features.
Don’t buy it if:
The Suunto Race 3S is considerably pricier than some of its rivals, so you’ll need to weigh up how much the impressive heart rate tracking is worth to you.
Also consider
A top-tier expensive running watch from Garmin.
Read our fullGarmin Forerunner 970 review
A cheaper but still excellent running watch from Coros
Read our fullCoros Pace 4 review
How we tested the Suunto Race 3S
I’ve been testing the Suunto Race 3S while walking, swimming, and in the gym. I tested it across a more rural area, and in central London on my way to the office.
And, as ever, I had my Apple Watch Series 11 on the opposite wrist to monitor any differences in heart rate tracking and GPS positioning between them.
