Suunto Race 2 reviewers like the bright screen and long battery, and disagree about the menus

At a glance

Best for: long days outdoors, and people who value battery over extras.

Skip it if: intervals dominate your week and you can't try the menus in a shop first.

Reviewers agree: GPS accuracy is among its strongest points.

They split on: the menus; TechRadar found the watch intuitive, but Gora never got used to the layout.

Price: $499 for stainless steel, Suunto's US store, 2 November 2026.

Reviewers keep returning to two things about the Suunto Race 2: the screen stays easy to read in strong light, and the battery goes the distance. On the battery, OutdoorGearLab measured 54 hours of GPS in All Systems mode, against Suunto's claim of up to 55 hours, and a full charge in 68 minutes, the quickest in its test lineup.[1] [2] [3] [4]

The display collects the warmest comments. Believe in the Run's Taylor Bodin called it the best presentation of any watch screen he's seen. In Treeline Review's four-month test, written up by Mary Beth Skylis, the Race 2 stayed legible in midday sun, at dawn and dusk, and indoors. Better Trail's Jenny Abegg had never really taken to wrist maps, yet found the AMOLED panel made them easy to check when a snowy trail faded from view.[5] [6] [7]

Field battery results depend on settings and still look strong. Abegg went from 98% to 56% across a 15-hour mountain day in Performance mode, with the screen on throughout. Bodin estimated 48 to 50 hours of full GPS against Suunto's 55-hour claim and judged that enough for most runners' biggest adventures. Anna Gora's near-two-month Live Science test, with at least four hour-long workouts a week, typically got two weeks per charge.[7] [6] [3]

GPS draws similar approval: Skylis ranked accuracy among the watch's strongest attributes, with a few small deviations around tall buildings in urban jogging. On OutdoorGearLab's known 2-mile course, the watch recorded 1.96 miles, with a track that held together under tree cover, and Bodin logged 173.53 miles against 171.61 from a Coros Vertix 2S, both set to the same tracking mode.[1] [6] [5]

Menus are where opinions split. OutdoorGearLab found the doubled processing speed immediately noticeable when scrolling menus and panning maps, and TechRadar's Lloyd Coombes called the watch as intuitive for a newcomer as for a veteran tracker. Live Science's Gora, though, never got used to the layout and described scrolling for a few minutes to reach a sport, and Abegg found it less polished than Garmin and Coros.[1] [4] [3] [7]

On price, Suunto's US store listed the stainless steel Race 2 at $499 on 2 November 2026. Abegg called that noticeably lower than comparable Garmin watches, and Skylis found it significantly more affordable than a Garmin Fenix 8 with many of the same navigation tools. Wrist heart rate is the number to cross-check: Coombes thought it fixed the first Race's problem, though Gora saw readings turn erratic above 140 bpm against a chest strap. This is a watch for long days outdoors and for people who value battery over extras. If intervals dominate your week, try the menus in a shop and budget for an external heart-rate sensor.[2] [7] [5] [4] [3]