Suunto Race 2 and Vertical 2 owners report crashes after update

Suunto Race 2 and Vertical 2 owners are reporting unexpected restarts after installing firmware version 2.56.18. Some crashes have interrupted recorded workouts and removed heart-rate, elevation or SuuntoPlus data, while Suunto is now asking affected users to submit diagnostic logs.

The reports do not establish that every watch running the software is affected. However, the number and variety of cases have grown since the update began rolling out on July 14.

Restarts are happening during and outside workouts

A Suunto Community Forum thread covering the Race 2 reboots now contains reports from several owners. One watch restarted four times following the update, while another locked up with a blank screen and required a forced restart.

The crashes are not limited to one type of activity. Owners have experienced them during walking, yoga and structured workouts, as well as when the watch was sitting on its regular watch face.

In some cases, the activity remained in the log after the watch restarted, but parts of the recording were missing. One owner retained the duration of a yoga session but lost its heart-rate data, while another said the watch frequently restarted at the end of a guide or interval.

The Vertical 2 is also involved. In Suunto’s crash-report collection thread, one owner said their Race 2 and Vertical 2 had been crashing every three or four runs with the current firmware.

Another Vertical 2 reportedly restarted 75 minutes into a trail run using navigation, Climb Guidance and a TrainingPeaks guide. A separate recording ended early and reached the app without its distance, GPS track, ascent, descent and pace-zone information.

Suunto is collecting logs but has not confirmed the cause

A Suunto community manager has acknowledged the reports involving the latest firmware and asked owners to send logs through the Suunto app. The company appears to be gathering information from different scenarios because some crashes involve guides, while others happen without them.

Some users have returned to the April firmware and say the restarts had not occurred on that version. This remains an owner-devised workaround, however, and Suunto has not publicly recommended rolling back.

Firmware 2.56.18 was meant to be a fairly substantial upgrade for both watches. It introduced map labels, configurable map layers, a Tide widget, updated GNSS firmware and storage for up to 200 routes. The software also included fixes for earlier restarts involving planned workouts and some SuuntoPlus apps.

That is particularly frustrating on watches built for long runs, hikes and races, where a restart can wipe out hours of useful data. Both performed reliably in our testing, with the Vertical 2 delivering solid GPS and heart-rate results and the Race 2 impressing with its navigation and battery life.

Owners who experience a crash should synchronise the watch and send logs through the app as soon as possible. Until Suunto provides more information, anyone preparing for an important race or long outing may want to test version 2.56.18 thoroughly before relying on it for the full recording.