Suunto teases new path watch forward of attainable August launch

Suunto is testing one thing new. A teaser posted on Chinese social media reveals the corporate is recruiting path runners to check out an upcoming watch throughout one of many season’s largest endurance occasions. Could or not it’s Race 2, or maybe Vertical 2?

Suunto goes low-key with its testing marketing campaign

The invite is geared toward folks registered for this yr’s UTMB. The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc is a high-profile path working occasion held yearly within the Alps, with the primary race circling Mont Blanc. It begins and finishes in Chamonix, France, and passes by means of Italy and Switzerland. The race is thought for its difficult terrain, excessive altitude and enormous worldwide discipline of elite and newbie runners. It is held yearly on the finish of August, usually on the final Friday of the month. Which is the twenty ninth of August in 2025.

Suunto is now searching for runners who put up recurrently on social media and are open to carrying a “new off-road watch” from the corporate. There’s point out of substances sponsorship, however not a lot else.

Of course, it may very well be simply one other color variant from the UTMB World Series collection. Suunto has achieved that earlier than – in order that’s all the time a risk. But this one feels extra like a product trial than a advertising and marketing marketing campaign. There’s no mannequin identify. And the timing is attention-grabbing.

It strains up with earlier app leaks

About a month in the past, customers noticed two unreleased watches, Race 2 and Vertical 2, briefly exhibiting up within the Suunto app. That was earlier than being eliminated. To remind Suunto Race was launched in October 2023, and it was adopted by Race S in June 2024 – which is a smaller iteration of the identical. Suunto Vertical was launched in May 2023.

Now this check program has popped up, proper alongside a product itemizing on a Norwegian retailer’s web site. That itemizing particularly names the Suunto Race 2, with a launch date of August 14th. If it’s appropriate – the listed worth converts to roughly $680, which is about $200 greater than the present Race mannequin.

So until we’re an especially premium color refresh, the worth bump suggests an even bigger replace.

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Between the retail leak, the app sighting and this tester promo, it’s not a stretch to assume we’re a full new mannequin. The timing matches. Suunto might simply use UTMB as a proving floor whereas additionally gathering content material from the sector. And it may be good advertising and marketing.

What we nonetheless don’t know

Everything else is guesswork for now. The teaser doesn’t present the watch, only a silhouete. The Norwegian itemizing didn’t embrace specs. And Suunto itself hasn’t stated something official.

We do have these small photographs from the app – which supply a very good indicator on the look of the upcoming gadgets.

But primarily based on the unique Race, we’d count on this one to double down on path and endurance options. Battery life is sort of sure to enhance. There may very well be satellite tv for pc connectivity upgrades or tweaks to the show. That increased worth must be justified someway.

If you’re working UTMB and also you occur to be energetic on Little Red Book, the Chinese social media and e-commerce platform, it may be value checking should you’re eligible. You would possibly simply find yourself carrying the subsequent Suunto flagship earlier than anybody else.

This article initially appeared on Gadgets & Wearables, the primary media outlet to report the story.

Note: We don’t embrace hyperlinks to independently surfaced supply materials in some circumstances, with a view to defend the integrity of our analysis. We all the time hyperlink to public filings and official sources the place out there.

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