Suunto Race 3S: A 56-Gram Titanium Trail Watch With 38 Hours of Dual-Band GPS

Quick answer: The Suunto Race 3S ($599) is a compact 46 mm titanium trail running watch launched October 15, 2026. It weighs 56 grams, gets up to 38 hours of dual-band GPS, has a 2,000-nit AMOLED display under sapphire crystal, and adds free global offline maps, 64GB of storage and Suunto's new AI Coach. U.S. pre-orders ship October 29.

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Suunto's Race S has always been the pick for runners who wanted the Race's features without a dinner plate strapped to their wrist. The trade-off was a dimmer screen, ordinary glass and a battery that came up short on the longest days.

The new Race 3S, announced today, goes after all three. The display is more than three times brighter. The glass is now sapphire. And battery life jumps to 38 hours with dual-band GPS running the whole time. It does all that in a titanium watch that weighs 56 grams and costs $599.

It's also the first watch to launch alongside Suunto AI Coach, a chat-style coaching tool in the Suunto app. More on whether that's worth caring about below.

Battery Life Is the Big Upgrade

Suunto rates the Race 3S at up to 38 hours with dual-band GPS on, or 32 if you leave the always-on display running. The Race S topped out at 30.

Eight extra hours doesn't sound dramatic on paper. It sounds a lot better 20 miles into a mountain 50K, when you'd rather think about your next gel than your battery percentage. If you're eyeing your first long trail run or ultra, that headroom is real.

For everyday wear, smartwatch mode is good for up to 12 days. Suunto credits a new silicon-carbon anode battery, which packs more energy into the same size case.

Light, Tough and (Slightly) Bigger

Here's something the spec sheet won't shout about: the "S" didn't get smaller. The case actually grew a millimeter, from 45 mm on the Race S to 46 mm, though thickness stays the same at 11.4 mm. Suunto still pitches it as a good fit for smaller wrists, and at 56 grams with the silicone strap (38 grams for the watch head alone) it should disappear on most arms. Suunto compares that to two energy gels, which is about right.

The more important change is the glass. The Race S used Corning Gorilla Glass. The Race 3S gets sapphire crystal under a titanium bezel. If you've ever scraped a watch face on a granite scramble, you know why that's worth paying for.

Inside, a new Apollo 510 chip should make map zooming and menu scrolling feel snappier, and an upgraded optical heart rate sensor uses six LEDs and four photodetectors. Still, wrist-based heart rate is wrist-based heart rate. For hard intervals, a chest strap is the better bet.

What Is Suunto AI Coach?

Think of it as a chatbot that has read your training log. Ask why your legs felt flat on Tuesday or whether you're ready for a long run this weekend, and Suunto AI Coach answers using your own Suunto data, with charts, tables and maps when they help. It can also build workouts, training plans and routes, then send them to your watch.

People have more performance data at their fingertips than ever, but turning all that information into something useful can be a challenge.

He's not wrong. Most of us have more charts than we know what to do with. Whether an AI coach actually beats a solid training plan and some common sense is something only time on the trail will tell. The good news is you can try it free: Race 3S buyers get three months of AI Coach if they activate their watch through the Suunto app by December 31, 2026.

Maps and Navigation

The Race 3S uses dual-band positioning across five satellite systems. In plain English, it holds your track better under heavy tree cover and between canyon walls, the places where a regular GPS signal bounces around and your route turns into a zigzag.

Maps are free worldwide and now show contour lines and place names. They live on the watch itself, so you don't need cell service or a subscription. With 64GB of storage, double the Race S, you can load every region you plan to run in and then some.

There's also a new track-back feature for retracing your steps, which is handy when the trail you came in on is the only one you trust.

Climb Guidance and Race Planner

Climb Guidance shows what's coming next on your route: how long the next climb is, how much it gains and how steep it gets. Knowing a long descent is ahead lets you hold something back for the climb after it.

That's smarter than it sounds. A pacing analysis of trail ultramarathons found that runners slowed more on downhills than uphills late in races, and the faster finishers were the ones who held their effort on the descents.

Race Planner is the more ambitious feature, and it isn't here yet. Suunto says it will arrive in a future app and firmware update. Once it does, it will build a pacing plan from your course's elevation, the weather and your goal time, then tell you mid-race whether you're ahead of or behind plan.

A Screen You Can Actually Read

A 2,000-nit display sounds like spec-sheet bragging until you're squinting at your wrist above treeline at noon. The Race 3S's 1.32-inch AMOLED is more than three times brighter than the Race S, with the same sharp 466 x 466 resolution. Pace, distance and your next turn should be readable at a glance, sun or no sun.

Everything Else

You get more than 100 sport modes, sleep and recovery tracking, phone notifications and weather tools like storm alarms and sunrise and sunset alerts. Offline music is coming to the Race line for the first time, but it arrives in a later software update, not on day one. Once it lands, you'll be able to pair Bluetooth earbuds and leave your phone at home.

Suunto Race 3S vs. Race S

Who Should Buy the Suunto Race 3S?

If you run trails, want a watch that won't feel like an anchor on a long day and keep running into the Race S's battery or brightness limits, the Race 3S fixes exactly those problems. The sapphire glass alone makes it a better long-term bet for anyone who scrambles or bushwhacks.

If you mostly run roads and don't need maps, $599 is a lot to spend. Suunto's lighter, cheaper watch is worth a look instead. Our Suunto Run review breaks down what you get. And if you're just getting off the pavement, start with our tips for starting trail running before you worry about gear.

Price, Colors and Availability

The Race 3S costs $599 and comes in three titanium colorways: Orchid, Feather and Black. U.S. pre-orders are open now on Suunto's website and ship starting October 29, 2026. Order by October 29 and Suunto throws in a free textile strap while supplies last.

It's on sale in Europe and China starting today and reaches Asia-Pacific markets October 29, through Suunto's own channels and authorized outdoor and running retailers.