Suunto Race 3S lasts twice as long as Forerunner 970

The Race 3S costs less than both top Garmin Forerunner models, and the Forerunner 970 is the most expensive and best by most measures. This article compares the 3 key models to see whether the compromises you might make are sensible.

Garmin Forerunner 970 does more than Suunto Race 3S in most areas of software: daily training guidance, safety, sensor support, music and payments. The Race 3S offers free worldwide maps and climb tools for less than a Forerunner 570, which has no maps at all, and it records dual-band GPS for 45 hours, more than twice as long as either Garmin.

This comparison covers what each watch does and what it’s like to own a watch from each company. Hardware figures are on the Race 3S, Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 specification pages, and the Race 3S launch report has price and availability.

What each watch does

Feature	Suunto Race 3S	Forerunner 570	Forerunner 970
Offline maps	Free worldwide, with contour lines and place names	None	Yes, with turn-by-turn directions and round-trip routing
Climb tool	Climb Guidance	None	ClimbPro
Race pacing plan	Race Planner, arriving after launch	PacePro	PacePro
Daily training guidance	Training load and recovery, with ZoneSense through a chest strap	Training Readiness, Training Status, Daily Suggested Workouts	The same, plus Running Tolerance, Hill Score and Endurance Score
Coaching	Suunto AI Coach, paid after three free months	Garmin Coach plans, included	Garmin Coach plans, included
Live tracking and incident alerts	None listed	LiveTrack and incident detection	LiveTrack and incident detection
Music	Offline music, arriving after launch	Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, YouTube Music	Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, YouTube Music
Contactless payment	NFC, arriving after launch	Garmin Pay	Garmin Pay
Sensor support	Bluetooth	ANT+ and Bluetooth	ANT+ and Bluetooth
Sport app store	SuuntoPlus	Connect IQ	Connect IQ
Multi-band GPS battery	Up to 45 hours	Up to 14 hours	Up to 21 hours
Price	£435 / $599	£459.99 / $549.99	£649.99 / $749.99

Navigation

Suunto is clearly the best value.

Race 3S and Forerunner 970 both carry full offline maps. Forerunner 570 has none and follows a course as a breadcrumb line on a blank screen.

Race 3S maps are free worldwide and show contour lines and place names. Climb Guidance shows each climb and descent on a loaded route. Suunto has also announced Race Planner, a pacing plan built from the route, the weather and a goal time, for a later update.

Pay top dollar and the Forerunner 970 matches that with ClimbPro and goes even further. It gives turn-by-turn directions, creates round-trip routes on the watch, and shows upcoming course points with Up Ahead. PacePro already does the pacing job that Race Planner promises, on both Garmins.

Garmin’s navigation experience is deeper and richer, but it costs £649.99. The Race 3S gives trail runners maps and climb tools for £25 less than a Forerunner 570, which has neither.

Training and coaching

Garmin is clearly the most comprehensive offering, but how correct are its recommendations and determinations for high-level athletes? A: Debatable.

Garmin tells an athlete more about their training than any other brand, and it includes the tools with the watch. Both Forerunners include Training Readiness, Training Status, Daily Suggested Workouts, Race Predictor, Garmin Coach plans and wrist-based running power. Forerunner 970 adds Running Tolerance, Hill Score, Endurance Score and Real-Time Stamina.

The weakness is interpretation. Garmin reports a readiness figure, recovery time, and load status, but rarely gives a satisfying answer to the question an athlete is asking: how hard to train today. But its menus are deep, sometimes cumbersome, and often hard for newcomers to the ecosystem to use.

Suunto’s approach is leaner. Race 3S covers training load, recovery and zones by heart rate, pace and power. ZoneSense reads intensity from heart rate variability through a chest strap (real-time ‘true’ zones), and EnergySense tracks effort live. The Suunto app is very good by most measures and up there with the best of the other sports watch brands.

Suunto AI Coach is Suunto’s attempt to match the usefulness and ease of use Garmin lacks. It answers questions in plain language and builds workouts, plans and routes by conversation. It costs extra after three free months. Garmin’s paid tier is Connect+, and I still find it hard to justify for most athletes.

Sensors, safety and apps

Both Forerunners connect to sensors over ANT+ and Bluetooth. They work natively with Varia radar and Rally power meters, and Forerunner 570 controls smart trainers. An athlete can run a watch, a chest strap, a bike computer, power pedals and an indoor trainer inside one Garmin system, and no rival can match that.

Race 3S connects over Bluetooth only. That covers most current heart rate straps, footpods and power meters, and a SuuntoPlus app adds Varia radar support. Bluetooth is all a runner needs, and the same for most cyclists. ANT+ days of dominance have passed.

Garmin includes LiveTrack and incident detection, which share a live location and alert a contact after an incident. Suunto has no equivalent.

SuuntoPlus is the only third-party store that materially competes with Connect IQ for sport apps. It has tens of apps and gains new ones weekly from the community. Connect IQ remains far larger.

Music, payments and voice

Garmin’s store supports music from Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, and YouTube Music; pays via Garmin Pay; and takes calls through a phone. Forerunner 970 adds an ECG app and voice commands.

Race 3S has none of these at launch. Suunto says offline music arrives in a software update, with no streaming service confirmed, and NFC is also due after launch.

The companies behind the watches

A watch comes with a company, and the differences between Garmin and Suunto apply to every model each one sells. The brand comparison lays it all out.

Ownership	Suunto	Garmin
Warranty	2 years worldwide	1 year in the US, 2 years in the UK and EU by consumer law
Battery replacement	Suunto runs a battery service	No battery service on the whole
Subscriptions	None for the watch, maps or apps. AI Coach is a paid extra	None for core metrics. Some new features need Connect+
Third-party services	Syncs with Strava, TrainingPeaks and others	Works with more services than any other brand, and owns TrainingPeaks, Firstbeat and MYLAPS
Updates for older watches	July 2026 features went only to the newest models	No written promise, but Fenix 9 features are confirmed for both Forerunners
Support	No phone support, and live chat on weekdays only	Support has got worse in my recent experience

Garmin’s advantage is reach. One account carries an athlete’s history from watch to watch, and almost every coach, club and training platform already works with it. Garmin bought TrainingPeaks in July 2026, so a Suunto athlete who syncs to TrainingPeaks now feeds a competitor-owned platform.

Suunto’s advantage is the ownership deal. The warranty is twice as long in the United States, worn batteries can be replaced, and the maps and apps are free. Suunto is also a far smaller company than Garmin, with a smaller research budget and fewer watches receiving each update.

Battery

Suunto is the clear winner here.

Battery life is the one hardware difference that changes what an athlete can do. Race 3S records 45 hours in its most accurate mode. Forerunner 970 manages 21 hours, and Forerunner 570 manages 14.

A 24-hour event is beyond Forerunner 570 at full accuracy and marginal for Forerunner 970. Race 3S covers both with room to spare, and it still has 40 hours with the always-on display enabled. In daily use, the three are closer: 12, 11, and 15 days.

Hardware in brief

The Race 3S and Forerunner 970 both have a sapphire lens and a titanium bezel, while the Forerunner 570 uses Gorilla Glass 3 and aluminium. The Garmins have larger 1.4-inch screens, a speaker, and a microphone, and the Forerunner 970 adds an LED torch brighter than the Race 3S’s screen flashlight. Forerunner 570 also comes in a 42mm size.

The Forerunner 970 scored 92% on my standard 10-mile GPS accuracy test, and it shares the Elevate Gen 5 heart rate sensor with the Forerunner 570. Suunto’s 2026 hardware scored 90% for GPS in Run 2. Race 3S accuracy is pending testing.

Which to buy

Choose Race 3S if

• You run trails or ultras and want maps, climb tools and long battery life.
• You want a watch with a 2-year warranty, battery service, and no map fees.
• You prefer a simpler watch and a conversational coach to Garmin’s dashboards.

Choose Forerunner 570 if

• You race on roads and want Garmin’s daily training guidance.
• You want music services, contactless payment and live tracking today.
• You use ANT+ sensors, or you want the 42mm size.

Choose Forerunner 970 if

• You want maps and the deepest training and triathlon features together.
• You already own Garmin sensors, a bike computer or a trainer.
• Your longest events finish inside 21 hours.

The Forerunner 970 review and the Garmin Forerunner guide cover the Garmin side in depth. Race 3S vs COROS Apex 4 and Race 3S vs Race 2 vs Run 2 cover the other alternatives.

Quick answers

Is Suunto Race 3S better than Garmin Forerunner 970?
Forerunner 970 has more training guidance, ANT+ sensor support, live tracking, music services and Garmin Pay. Race 3S has more than twice the multi-band GPS battery life (45 hours vs 21), free worldwide maps, a 2-year warranty, and a price £215 lower.

Does Garmin Forerunner 570 have maps like Suunto Race 3S?
No. Forerunner 570 has no onboard maps and no ClimbPro. Race 3S has free worldwide offline maps with Climb Guidance and costs £25 less in the UK.

Which has the longest battery life?
Race 3S records up to 45 hours in multi-band GPS mode. The Forerunner 970 lasts 21 hours, and the Forerunner 570 lasts 14 hours. Forerunner 970 lasts the longest in daily use at 15 days.

Does Suunto Race 3S support ANT+ sensors?
No. Race 3S connects to sensors over Bluetooth. Both Forerunners support ANT+ and Bluetooth.

Does Suunto Race 3S have music and contactless payment?
Both arrive after launch. Suunto says offline music will come in a software update, and NFC is also coming later. Both Garmins have music services and Garmin Pay today.

Is Suunto or Garmin the better company to buy from?
Suunto gives a 2-year warranty worldwide, runs a battery replacement service and charges nothing for maps. Garmin works with more third-party services than any other brand and has the larger ecosystem of sensors and apps, with a 1-year warranty in the US and no battery service.

Last Updated on 15 October 2026 by tfk the5krunner