For clarity, Elite are the brand with almost pure exclusive ownership of slow responding trainers. Their Drivo and Direto series own the slow changes. Sounds like they have made some improvements in later versions (maybe to include the Suito?), but still seem to fall behind those below.
Tacx Neo’s are the fastest (they even had to slow the 2T down from the initial release because it was changing faster than people could handle), with the Flux a bit slower but still better than Elite. Wahoo Kickr’s are plenty quick, and comparable between the Hammer series from Saris.
I went from a kickr (gen2 I think - first one with the handle) to the H3 and found them pretty similar in responsiveness. I never did any deliberate comparisons so I could be overlooking some differences, but it was nothing dramatic.
Yeah, my experience between Kickr17 and H2 are that they are close enough to call equal on power changes. I think the flywheel feel from the H2 is better, but not enough to really make a difference in overall training.
I tried a NEO2 and the changes were too rapid, it just felt unnatural and hard to hold a steady cadence.
The Kickr is smooth and quick, 1-2 seconds for bigger power transitions
The Saris H2/3 are a bit slower to respond than the Kickr but not in a bad way, it makes the ramp-up in resistance feel very natural and gradual taking 2-3 seconds for the harder intervals
Feel wise of the 3 I prefer the Saris and it works great using Powermatch as well
Really happy with mine- no problems and no regrets about my choice. Its my first smart trainer so I don’t have anything to compare it against. I got one at the start of the pandemic and it and trainerroad have completely changed my attitude to training with power- I will be installing a power meter on my road bike this weekend based on the experience so it’s fair to say its been a good choice for me!