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Review - Suunto Race Stainless Steel

Looking for a sleek GPS sports watch with great battery life, detailed maps, and an AMOLED screen that really pops? Meet the Suunto Race Stainless Steel – a powerful, mid-priced GPS watch that delivers premium features without the premium price tag, amazing value for money. Available now from Outdoor GPS Shop, it’s one of the best-value watches in its class.

Let’s dive into what makes the Suunto Race such a strong contender.

Bright AMOLED Display, Built to Perform

The 49mm Suunto Race Stainless Steel boasts a vibrant 1000-nit AMOLED screen that’s crisp, bright, and easy to read in any condition – whether you’re on a shaded woodland trail or out in blazing sun. It automatically adjusts brightness when you raise your wrist, and while there’s a slight delay, it’s more than responsive enough for running or cycling.

The screen doesn’t support double-tap wake or touchscreen input during activities, but that’s a conscious decision to avoid accidental taps. Navigation and scrolling are handled through Suunto’s digital crown, and it works smoothly—even with gloves on.

A True Multi-Sport Watch with Top-Tier Mapping

With 95+ sport profiles, the Suunto Race Stainless Steel covers everything from trail running and hiking to circuit training and cycling. GPS accuracy is top-tier, thanks to dual-frequency GNSS, making it great for runs in dense woods or tight valley trails. Unlike older GPS watches that wobble near water or trees, this one holds strong.

Where the Suunto Race Stainless Steel truly shines is mapping. Once you’ve downloaded offline maps via the app (a slightly slow process, we’ll admit), the maps look stunning on the AMOLED display. Routes can be added via Suunto's app or imported from Strava/Komoot, complete with turn-by-turn navigation. Zooming and panning is a breeze using the digital crown.

Excellent Battery Life

The Suunto Race Stainless Steel delivers standout performance in the power department:

- Up to 40 hours in performance GPS mode

- Even more in lower-power modes

- Easily a full week of use with average daily training

- Fast charging via USB – 20 minutes gets you roughly 22% battery

That’s much better than similarly priced AMOLED watches like the Garmin Forerunner 265, which only gives you around 16 hours GPS time.

And while it doesn’t have solar charging, that’s no great loss – the battery life here is already excellent.

Comfortable All-Day Wear

Despite its size, the Suunto Race Stainless Steel is still lightweight, with not alot of wait difference between this and the Titanium version and sits comfortably on the wrist all day. The quick-release strap is breathable, skin-friendly, and easy to swap out for a more colourful or premium option. It’s stylish enough to wear from trail to town.

HR Accuracy – Use a Strap for the Best Results

The optical heart rate sensor on the Suunto Race Stainless Steel is fine for light training, but results vary during intense efforts. In side-by-side tests with a chest strap, readings were often under-reported—especially during intervals or hill climbs.

Suunto allows Bluetooth HR strap pairing, and for best accuracy (and reliable data for recovery, sleep, and HRV metrics), we recommend using an external HR monitor.

Daily Wellness and Recovery Tracking

Sleep tracking, heart rate variability, training load, and recovery stats are all built in. Once the watch has gathered 2 weeks of data, Suunto’s metrics start to shine. The Suunto Coach feature offers daily feedback and helps you balance training stress with recovery.

The app tracks sleep phases, HRV, and even your post-ride naps (yes, really). If you're someone who trains hard, this insight can be game-changing—especially when trying to avoid overtraining or burnout.

Clean, User-Friendly App

The Suunto App is beautifully designed, intuitive, and packed with insights. It feels less cluttered than Garmin Connect and integrates nicely with TrainingPeaks-style metrics like TSS and HR zones.

One catch: if you use another brand’s head unit (like Garmin Edge), syncing across ecosystems can be a bit awkward.

Limitations to Consider

There are a few features that Suunto Race Stainless Steel does not include:

- No music storage or streaming

- No contactless payments

- No HR broadcast to apps like Zwift

- No climb-specific feature like Garmin’s ClimbPro

While these may not matter to everyone, it's worth noting if those are must-haves for you.

Value and Verdict

At just over £300 (stainless steel version) the Suunto Race offers remarkable value for money. With mapping, AMOLED display, strong GPS, and long battery life, it's competing with watches that cost £500 or more.

For runners, cyclists, hikers, and multi-sport athletes looking for premium features without the premium price, the Suunto Race Stainless Steel is a top pick—and you can order it today from Outdoor GPS Shop, where we keep everything in stock for next working day delivery.

Buy your Suunto Race Stainless Steel now from Outdoor GPS Shop – the UK's trusted online GPS specialist for best prices and fast dispatch.

Suunto Race (Stainless steel) - more here

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Customer Reviews

Overall rating: 4.7 / 5 from 485 reviews.

Customer photo review of Suunto Vertical Steel Solar

Great GPS functionality - locks on quickly. Suunto coach comes free with the app and has AI training plans, so, you don’t have to subscribe to such things separately. Battery life is great.

Jaco D. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMAP H1

I bought the GPSMAP H1 online but picked it up from the Office in Northumberland as I was on holiday in the area a few days after I ordered it. I spoke with Jon, a really helpful and friendly guy. The staff at the office were good too. This device is really great. It came with some helpful documentation printed off by the shop. To get the best out of it use Garmin express and Garmin base map on either a Mac or a Windows computer. However, setting up your own courses on screen is fairly simple too. The preloaded maps are perfectly good, but if you want Ordnance survey maps there's a slot for an SD card. You can switch the touch screen off which is dead handy if you want to keep it in your pack or pocket whilst walking. The pictures I have attached show a course I did on screen. Also a bearing on the Humber Bridge. Apols for the quality but I needed three hands really. Overall I'm delighted. It's a complex thing so if you haven't had one before, take a couple of hours to mess about with it before going out and field test it on a walk you're familiar with.

Ingvar R. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMAP H1i Plus

Great device. A big improvement over the 67i No issues so far, feels nice & tough. Touchscreen is a bonus.

Darren P. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMAP H1

Bought the H1 GPS with the additional 1.5 maps . Arrived all checked over with card installed and set up for me. Thanks guys. Delivery was fast , works great straight out the box and can’t fault the service. The H1 works great after familiarise myself around the menu options. Took it out with me, for a test on a local walk. After I’d loaded up a route into it from Garmin explore app. Works great, very impressed with the touch screen feature . Added a screen protector and silicon soft case, for some extra protection . 😊

Neil C. 5/5

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMAP H1

I had a Montana before this which was good but this is much better in that it has buttons and it’s more compact. The service from Outdoor GPS is also worth a mention as they were outstanding.

Nicholas B. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Suunto Wing 2 bone conduction headphones

My daily cycling routine involves 32km, and these Suunto Wing 2 have significantly improved my rides. I enjoy listening to music while staying aware of traffic. The lights are a fantastic feature for evening rides. They also perform well in strong winds. Overall, I love them.

Luca L. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMap 67i

Very happy with my purchase! It comes setting up straight from the box and with lots of useful information and paperwork. The person who answered on the phone was friendly and helpful. 100% recommend!

Dimitar K. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Suunto Vertical 2 Steel - Amoled

Upgraded to the Amoled version and can't believe how good the screen is, thanks for great watch at a super price.

Brian D. 5/5

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMap 67i

Excellent service from start to finish. Very responsive to my questions and clearly knowledgeable about the product. They took the time to explain things properly rather than giving rushed answers, which gave me confidence in the purchase. Delivery was smooth and everything arrived exactly as described. Would definitely use them again.

Tim B. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMap 67i

This satcoms navigation works perfectly, exactly what I needed.

Konstantins B. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Suunto Race 2 Stainless Steel

Lovely large screen to view and so many different activities to track. Excellent analysis after each activity which can be accessed on my phone or iPad and I can compare stats for same routes. Still getting used to all the functions to make the best of everything.

Elaine O. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMap 67i

Delivered in good time ready to go.

Peter W. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Suunto Race S Stainless Steel

From start to finish I cannot fault Outdoor GPS Shop. Great price and great communication. I love my watch, it is packed with features and is well made. I will definitely be back for my next one, though hopefully this will last me a while. Cheers

Simon C. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin inReach Mini 2

Reviewed various GPS units and wanted the extra confidence whilst out solo in the fells to be able to communicate with family. This ticks all the boxes.

Jonathan S. 5/5 Verified

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Customer photo review of Garmin GPSMap 67

Loving the Garmin GPSMAP67, I could not believe anything could have suck good battery life, Wow!

Peter H. 5/5 Verified

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First use today on a 58 cycle ride. Love it, much clearer screen then the 600 it has replaced. Map updates were a challenge as they were not visible after update. Had to uninstall and reinstall to fix the problem.

Martin D. 5/5 Verified

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Replaced Garmin Montana 700 series. Like the big screen but chunky and heavy.

Mr R. 4/5 Verified

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Watch is superb with a great battery life. Watch was delivered quickly and arrived next securely wrapped and was at a very competitive price. Highly recommended !

Michael G. 5/5 Verified

Garmin Fenix 8 – 43 mm, AMOLED - Sapphire

I was not very happy with the detail of the 1:50k maps, so I upgraded to the 1:25k. Even though it is much more expensive I am very glad I did, as I am a bit "OCD" about detail. The detail of the 1:25k shows things as they actually would appear from the air, rather than just the vague blobs reproduced by the 1:50k. I suppose it depends on what you want and what you use the maps for - I like the better accuracy of the 1:25k which I feel is more trustworthy and gives me a better feel of where I am, and what I can expect to see both of my surroundings and on the ground.

Robert W. 4/5 Verified

Garmin TOPO Great Britain PRO v3 (2024) 1:50k

I initially found this difficult to get to grips with, the problem being that I've been used to using a Dakota 20 for the last 10 years. However, now that I've had it outside and used it in anger, I must say its a big step up! I've spent some time setting it up as I want it (in some regard similar to the Dak20) but it's so customise- able, it just took time to work it out. Reading the manual was a big help!! I use Memory Map to upload my traces and the GPS 67 doesn't interface with it in the same that the Dakota did, which was a bit of a curve ball for me at first. It turns out though that the solution is just different not worse. All in all, now that I'm a bit more used to it I like it a lot. I'd have to say that I highly recommend this unit.

Ian H. 5/5 Verified

Garmin GPSMap 67i

Great service - the Inreach mini 3 arrived really quickly. I’ve only managed to use it once but it was great and I was able to keep in touch with my partner while I was out hiking. Will keep on playing with it as I’m going to use it in Nepal 🇳🇵 in November.

Sand C. 5/5 Verified

Garmin inReach Mini 3 Plus

Great service. Prompt delivery with regular updates. The product is perfect after some early mistakes (Garmin your instructions are poor and it’s 3rd party YouTube that gets you sorted) it’s ideal for my needs in the Scottish Borders on my own with my Falcons miles from Signal.

Mark R. 5/5 Verified

Garmin inReach Messenger

Bit apprehensive with the cost but after getting one don't know how i on without one. Easy to use and learn just clicking buttons and screen soon learnt how to use it

Andrew E. 5/5 Verified

Garmin GPSMAP H1

The Garmin 65s is a reliable workhorse of a GPS. I’ve used earlier models and I’m glad to say this one is still very robust and simple to use, once you’ve spent a bit of time playing around. It’s currently earning its keep in the far north of the Nordic region, in pretty wet and rugged conditions. The service from Outdoor GPS Shop was second to none. Highly recommended.

Chris B. 5/5 Verified

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