Suunto Race 2 Gets Auto Transitions, With a Catch
Suunto has spent years chasing Garmin on multisport features. A software update from January 2026 (version 2.50.26) closes a good chunk of that gap: the Race 2 now gets automatic transitions in triathlon mode, heart rate broadcast to a bike computer, and swim drills. The catch is that the auto-transitions have a bug that corrupts your data at the finish.
What the update adds
The Race 2 software update, a staged rollout from 7 January 2026, adds a package of features triathletes have been waiting for since launch:
- Automatic transitions in the preset Triathlon and Swimrun modes: the watch detects the change of discipline on its own, no need to tap anything in the transition zone.
- Default modes for duathlon, aquathlon and swimrun: ready made profiles that were missing before.
- Heart rate broadcast: the Race 2 sends wrist heart rate to a bike computer or trainer.
- Swim drills: support for technique sets in the pool.
- Looped multisport: you can cycle back through the same set of disciplines without ending the session, useful for swim-bike-swim sessions.
The features are catching up, not a revolution. Garmin and COROS have had auto-transitions and heart rate broadcast for a while. For a Race 2 owner it is still a real step up, and one less reason to look enviously at the Forerunner.
The catch: auto-transitions corrupt the data file
That is where the problem starts. According to tests by the5krunner, in the current software version an automatic transition saves the whole activity as one continuous file, with no split into swim, T1, bike, T2 and run segments.
In other words, the watch totals your overall time but does not break it down by discipline or transition zone. For anyone who wants to work out after a race how much time they actually lost in T1, or what their run split looked like, that is useless.
The fix for now is simple: manual transitions save every segment correctly. Until Suunto fixes the recording, tap the button in the transition zone yourself. It costs one second and gets you clean data per discipline.
Who this is worth it for
If you already own a Race 2, update and use it. Heart rate broadcast and swim drills work without issue, and the default duathlon and aquathlon modes genuinely make life easier.
If you are choosing a triathlon watch from scratch, the Race 2 with this update is back in the running as a sensible alternative to the Garmin Forerunner 970, especially on price: the Race 2 starts at $499 in the US, while the Forerunner 970 launched at $749.99. Treat auto-transitions as a feature still in progress, not a reason to buy. Until race day, rely on the manual button.