Suunto Race 3S: 38 Hours of Dual-Band GPS and a Paid AI Coach

Suunto’s new Race 3S records up to 38 hours with every satellite system and dual-band reception on, in a watch that weighs 56g with its strap. That is six hours more than the Race S it replaces, but the5krunner’s launch coverage puts the US price at $599, $250 above the Race S launch price. For trail runners and endurance athletes choosing a small GPS watch this autumn, the question is whether the hardware upgrades justify that jump, and whether a new paid coaching service changes the math.

What Happened

Race 3S replaces the Race S, which launched in June 2024. It goes on sale on 15 October in the UK (£435), Europe (€499) and China, and on 29 October in the US and Canada ($599). There are three colours at one price. Suunto skipped the 2S name and hasn’t announced a full-size Race 3.

The hardware changes, per the5krunner:

• Battery. Suunto credits a silicon-carbon anode battery for 38 hours in all-systems dual-band mode, 45 hours in single-band, up to 120 hours in power-saving GPS modes and up to 12 days as a smartwatch.
• Display and materials. The 1.32-inch AMOLED now peaks at 2,000 nits, more than three times Race S’s 600, behind sapphire crystal with a titanium bezel on every version.
• Internals. The Ambiq Apollo 510 processor from Race 2, a six-LED, four-photodetector optical heart rate module, five satellite systems, and 64GB for free worldwide offline maps, double Race S’s capacity.

Race 3S also launches alongside Suunto AI Coach, a chat-based coach inside the Suunto app. It answers questions about an athlete’s own training with charts, tables and maps, and builds structured workouts, training plans and routes that sync to the watch. Buyers who pair and activate the watch by 31 December 2026 get three months free. Suunto hasn’t published the price that applies after that.

Why It Matters

The price is the harder question. The5krunner notes that Race 2, with a larger 1.5-inch screen and 55-hour battery, starts at $499, so athletes who can carry the bigger watch get more for slightly less. Against Garmin, Race 3S sits between the Forerunner 570 ($549.99, 14 hours multi-band, no maps) and the Forerunner 970 ($749.99, 21 hours multi-band). The closest rival is the COROS Apex 4 at $479, which records 41 hours of dual-frequency GPS and lasts 24 days in daily use, though with a dimmer memory-in-pixel screen.

Accuracy is still unproven. The5krunner’s testing found the Race 2’s sensor underreported heart rate during hard efforts, and Race 3S accuracy and heart rate testing is pending in October. The Run 2, which shares the satellite figures on Suunto’s spec sheet, scored 90% in their GPS accuracy test, against 75% for Race S.

What This Means for Athletes

AI Coach puts Suunto alongside Garmin Connect+, which the5krunner calls the closest equivalent: a paid tier that adds AI insights. The5krunner argues an in-app coach sees richer data than outside tools, including heart rate variability, sleep and full training history, while general AI tools are gaining access to Strava and phone health data. That data-access fight is the same one behind Garmin’s API terms change that shut down Intervals Pro. The5krunner notes that Suunto’s watches, offline maps and SuuntoPlus apps carry no ongoing charges, and Suunto’s launch material confirms the maps stay subscription-free.

Two features aren’t there at launch: Race Planner, a pacing tool that Suunto says will arrive in a later update with no date, and music streaming. Offline music works from launch, and contactless payment is China-only.

Source: the5krunner

Content created with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy.