Apple Watch Series 12 vs Suunto Race 2
Dead heat — 84 vs 84. Your use case is the tiebreaker.
Both are strong — the call comes down to what you prioritise:
- Apple Watch Series 12 — You're on a Series 9 or older and want the most accurate wrist heart rate Apple has made, plus a readiness score you can use to steer clients' training, with no subscription.
- Suunto Race 2 — You want a big, bright multisport watch with maps, dual-band GPS and multi-day battery for well under a Forerunner 970, with wrist heart rate you can mostly trust.
Apple Watch Series 12
The new Health Sensing System is the real upgrade: heart rate every five seconds, far more frequent HRV and a daily Readiness score, with testers finding it close to a chest strap. Battery is still rated at 24 hours and the design is unchanged, so Series 11 owners can skip it.
Suunto Race 2
The Race 2 keeps what made the Race our value pick (dual-band GPS, free offline maps, huge battery) and fixes its biggest flaw: wrist heart rate is much improved. The screen is larger and brighter and the case lighter, but it costs about 130 EUR more than the Race does now, and smart features stay basic.
Compare side-by-side
| Apple Watch Series 1284Scorefrom€434Review → | Suunto Race 284Scorefrom€449.10Review → | |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | — | — |
| Battery life | — | — |
| Screen | — | — |
| Sleep tracking | — | — |
| Recovery / HRV | — | — |
| Subscription | — | — |
| Water resistance | — | — |
Prices are our researched reference points.
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