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After quite some time of using Amazfit 2 as sportstracker mostly for running, I would like to share my experiences and comment on issues I have found. I have bought Amazfit 2 as a cheap replacement for garmin forerunner 220 I have used in the past. My feelings are quite mixed in the end. One of the highlights of amazfit is its build. It is build to last, looks nicely and fells durable in comparison with low to mid class garmin devices. However, there is lot of issues that in my opinion render it unusable for serious sport tracking:
GPS recording - There is discrepancy between mileage showed on watches (and in Amazfit app) vs mileage actually written in GPX file. So when your activity gets uploaded into Strava (or you then export it to Endomondo etc.), there is major difference (up to 2 %) in total mileage and thus also in pace etc. This is critical flaw.
Pace - One of the most important features of running sport tester is its ability to indicate current tempo. However, Amazfit readings fluctuate wildly, so it is really of not much use. For example, when jogging at constant pace, it quickly jumps between 4:00-5:30 min per km. In garmin devices, this get averaged and probably even anticipates hand movement, so you get quite good impression of how fast are you running at the moment. This is another major drawback of amazfit.
Altitude - I have noticed that for running, amazfit uses altitude from GPS only. Therefore, it is very inaccurate and completely useless - serves more like a random number generator. If you use "trail run" acitivity, altitude is measured through barometric sensor only, which is also less accurate. On garmin devices with barometer, altitude is measeured through combination of both sensors and measurements are very accurate (I got this impression after using Strava's correct elevation functionality).
Heart rate - For me, heart rate measurement during activity provides very poor readings. Even though i am having watches tightened fairly strong. For my regular runs at 150-160 bpm (measured through chest strap), typical stratos reading is around 120. Only sporadically, it gets closer to real values for certain period of workout. But in general, it is useless. It works same for my friend who also bought Amazfit for running. It seems to perform better when cycling (maybe because there is not that much hand movement - I dunno). However at this price tag, it is not realistic to expect any kind of accuracy from optical sensor. It is probably something very basic, it can be compared with garmin devices, which provide kind of realistic measurements. Downside of stratos is also the fact that it does not support ANT+ protocol, so most quality chest straps are not supported.
First beat features - These are in theory very nice. However as they are mostly based on HR readings, which are totaly offshot in Amazfit, they are not of much use.
However, this is something you might expect, as amazfit costs fraction of most other comparable devices, that can actually be used as sports tracker. In general, I would say, for a price it is still good buy for a nice looking smartwatch. For usage as sport tester, it has very nice hardware, however lacks proper software, which is probably not going to get changed.
Abandonned my Stratos because steps count are totaly wrong. Works if you start a fitness exercice with continuous walk or run but unusable as daily tracker. Steps are at minimum 2 time below real steps. I have real steps with a Fitbit One wich count only steps and not arm movement. Stratos daily steps also totally wrong compared to : Apple Watch, Gear Watch, Fitbit Watch, Garmin Watch.
Other thing is the current temp. Works sometime but often no data and display only min/max of the forecast for the day so unusable to have a forecast and not current temps. When we have a feature it must works or deleted
Notifications truncated but works on Android phone but ramdomly on IOS phone.
Not ready for prime time, just as prototype for tester.
thanks great review
Poborak said:
After quite some time of using Amazfit 2 as sportstracker mostly for running, I would like to share my experiences and comment on issues I have found. I have bought Amazfit 2 as a cheap replacement for garmin forerunner 220 I have used in the past. My feelings are quite mixed in the end. One of the highlights of amazfit is its build. It is build to last, looks nicely and fells durable in comparison with low to mid class garmin devices. However, there is lot of issues that in my opinion render it unusable for serious sport tracking:
GPS recording - There is discrepancy between mileage showed on watches (and in Amazfit app) vs mileage actually written in GPX file. So when your activity gets uploaded into Strava (or you then export it to Endomondo etc.), there is major difference (up to 2 %) in total mileage and thus also in pace etc. This is critical flaw.
Pace - One of the most important features of running sport tester is its ability to indicate current tempo. However, Amazfit readings fluctuate wildly, so it is really of not much use. For example, when jogging at constant pace, it quickly jumps between 4:00-5:30 min per km. In garmin devices, this get averaged and probably even anticipates hand movement, so you get quite good impression of how fast are you running at the moment. This is another major drawback of amazfit.
Altitude - I have noticed that for running, amazfit uses altitude from GPS only. Therefore, it is very inaccurate and completely useless - serves more like a random number generator. If you use "trail run" acitivity, altitude is measured through barometric sensor only, which is also less accurate. On garmin devices with barometer, altitude is measeured through combination of both sensors and measurements are very accurate (I got this impression after using Strava's correct elevation functionality).
Heart rate - For me, heart rate measurement during activity provides very poor readings. Even though i am having watches tightened fairly strong. For my regular runs at 150-160 bpm (measured through chest strap), typical stratos reading is around 120. Only sporadically, it gets closer to real values for certain period of workout. But in general, it is useless. It works same for my friend who also bought Amazfit for running. It seems to perform better when cycling (maybe because there is not that much hand movement - I dunno). However at this price tag, it is not realistic to expect any kind of accuracy from optical sensor. It is probably something very basic, it can be compared with garmin devices, which provide kind of realistic measurements. Downside of stratos is also the fact that it does not support ANT+ protocol, so most quality chest straps are not supported.
First beat features - These are in theory very nice. However as they are mostly based on HR readings, which are totaly offshot in Amazfit, they are not of much use.
However, this is something you might expect, as amazfit costs fraction of most other comparable devices, that can actually be used as sports tracker. In general, I would say, for a price it is still good buy for a nice looking smartwatch. For usage as sport tester, it has very nice hardware, however lacks proper software, which is probably not going to get changed.
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Click to collapse
Its great to have a review from sport tracker point of view . After watching many youtube reviews I was in impression that this watch is a steal but now I think they have compromised on GPS , Optical heart sensor and software . I think now I will stick to my TomTom Spark as its fairly accurate in both department and wait for AmazeFit 3. Thanks for the great review :good:
I love my Stratos 2S...
I am not a professional athlete and for my use it is more than ideal! A great price for what it offers, without mentioning the battery life.
Guto ViP said:
I love my Stratos 2S...
I am not a professional athlete and for my use it is more than ideal! A great price for what it offers, without mentioning the battery life.
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Click to collapse
These are my thoughts exactly. I recently ordered the Stratos and saw this thread thinking "Oh no, should I cancel my order?" but reading the details, the concerns raised by OP are likely not of concern for anyone that is not particularly "serious" about their athletics. In other-words, it's exactly what it looks like - an lower cost alternative to professional sports tracking devices. 2% inaccuracies in the distance traveled is actually ideal for my purposes - I may run about 5 miles at a time, so if it indicates I ran 4.9 or 5.1 miles (~2% is 0.1 miles), I would have no problems there since I likely set my stop point based on Google maps to begin with!
All the other metrics such as altitude, pace, and HR, I would treat as relative to my initial readings. Eg, if I started a run at 100 ft elevation and 70BPM, I would simply look at how much of a difference from that I varied and only care if I saw absurdly huge variances.
I appreciate the insights, and the details provided by OP, but I think it actually sends a different message to some users - instead of saying "it's quite useless", it's really just quite useless for OP and serious (or professional) athletic tracking. For every day, average joe/casual users, we're mostly glad to hear there's only a 2% variance.
Thanks for the details analysis! Looking forward to receiving my watch.
Individuals have different expectation. For its price, I will never think it can be as good as Garmin or much more expensive trackers. Serious athletes should never consider this Stratos watch unless you can accept certain flaws for its much lower price tag. It's quite unfair to compare it with those trackers and come with the conclusion that it's useless while many others are happy with it.
I will never think it can be as good as Garmin or much more expensive trackers
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Click to collapse
Bingo. There's a reason a Garmin costs 2, 3 times as much. It's not that the Amazfits are bad they just may lack some of the refinement/accuracy of more expensive devices.
On a value-for-money count, they score high.
Poborak said:
After quite some time of using Amazfit 2 [...].
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Click to collapse
I agree to all points. I have each experience the same after few weeks and several activities with this watch already performed.
I can only wish that firmware updates will improve most of weaknesses.
I have compared vivoactive 3/gamin fenix 5/polar m430/amazfit stratos and I will keep only the stratos, I explain shortly my decision:
Calories burned in all the day and training in gym (I'm bodybuilder) with a chest strap are the same (+/- 50) than the garmin.
Y use elpitical profile to track the gym activity and problem solved.
Amazing product for this price, the app is very good. 130 Euros VS..... no VS.
cons
nice watches, though i will get rid of tomtom spark 3 cardio, but Stratos showing wrong hr even with hr belt, instead of 48 showing high 70... even with belt the optical diode is still flashing. looks like bugged evo model to me...
Poborak said:
GPS recording - There is discrepancy between mileage showed on watches (and in Amazfit app) vs mileage actually written in GPX file. So when your activity gets uploaded into Strava (or you then export it to Endomondo etc.), there is major difference (up to 2 %) in total mileage and thus also in pace etc. This is critical flaw.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For GPS is pretty accurate. I have a track that I use for years now. Ran it with different watches (Vivoactive, Fitbit Ionic, TomTom etc). All of them had different mileage. And the Stratos is in the range of the others. Same for Strava: As far as I know Strava is automaticly correcting the length of the run based on their own algorithms.
I had an Garmin Vivoactive 3 before which costs twice as Stratos and was returned and refunded because of 2 hardware defects. I can only compare my Stratos to the VA3.
Distance: Same on both devices but little difference to Strava (both).
Pace: Same on both devices but Vivoactive 3 is updating move frequently and giving more pace alerts.
Altitude: Good to OK for Stratos, totally off for VA3. Strava corrects it anyway so I do not mind. For accurate altitude one needs to have a Suunto or Polar watch.
Step count: Only fine in walking activities on Stratos. For whole day it is counting much less than VA3. Amazfit should use a different algorithm for all day steps as others do. But I do not care about steps that much and VA3 is also not counting baby stroller steps.
Intensity minutes: The only reliable measurement on the VA3 but not available at Stratos.
Floor count: Garmin VA3 was OK but omitting some. Stratos stopped to count my floors since now the threshold seems to be much higher than 3 m.
Activities: Stratos missing important activity types as cardio or yoga. I am using elliptical for that which has almost same calorie count.
Heart rate sensor: Garmin has one of the best (it not the best) and because Vivoactive 3 is small and light it is the best watch at Garmin for recording. But still one needs to use a chest strap for high intensity activities or intervals. Stratos sensor is really bad but OK for resting heart rate and if one puts it higher on the arm and makes it tight than good enough for running or cycling.
Usage: Garmins VA3 has a crappy touch interface with a lot of annoyances and no mood to fix it. Stratos is more easy to operate but to slow and sometimes buggy.
App: Garmins Connect app is not really an app but just a web view. It holds a lot of data which is sometimes confusing but only works while having an active internet connection. Without internet is is not possible so sync activities to the smartphone nor checking data on the smartphone app. Stratos app is functional without internet but can only sync to Strava.
Verdict: I would be totally happy with the Stratos if the bugs are fixed and it had cardio and yoga activity types. I also like the Firstbeat features like recovery time and training effect. Garmins Vivoactive 3 is doing OK as an expensive activity tracker but has no training features and an annoying user interface and also some bugs like wrong altitude.
battery life with HR belt
guys whats your battery life with HR belt? I get -38% of battery after 2hr run with HR belt + GPS /optical switched off/, no backlight.
any hints?
my tomtom spark 3 runs for 8h15m with gps and HR belt, 7hr when skitouring /sub 0`C temp/
Hr measurements are completely off i take jabbra sport earbud for this and they connect to the stratos so ok
What annoys me the more is the altitude completely off hope they will introduce a manual input for this ... and sometimes it freeze ?
Great review of real runner, thank you!
Jabbra sport earbud
pbxl said:
Hr measurements are completely off i take jabbra sport earbud for this and they connect to the stratos so ok
What annoys me the more is the altitude completely off hope they will introduce a manual input for this ... and sometimes it freeze
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi could you share the exact model, would like to get the same earbuds for heart rate measurements.
Thanks
Thank you guys fir your support
Go for it your are sports nerd
Go for it your are sports nerd
The active running screen can't be consider good. there's no current lap pace. you'll be blind
Reported to its price it is good, three main characteristics make it a good product:
- 5 days on single charge
- always on screen
- good price
- as an alternative you can buy garmin vivomove hr, it's a little bit more expensive and don't have so much activities as stratos, but the application on smartphone is better.
No big cons
I had Amazfit Pace for 1.5 years, then I replaced it with Amazfit Stratos, and although it was pricier, I wouldn't go back to the Pace.
There was 2-3 minor hiccups during the 3+ months, but nothing dealbreaker.
Stratos has 3 buttons, so it's more convenient to start/stop your activity this way, but the one button of the Pace was just sufficient for me.
If you have more money, buy the Stratos (around $150 on GearBest), if you have less, buy the Pace (if you're lucky, you can get it for around $90 on GB).
So what are the cons? If you don't like 'flat tyre' displays, you won't like Amazfit's display - both has this 'effect'.
If you want crystal clear, bright and colorful display, buy an Apple Watch or a Samsung Gear 2/3... with AMOLED display - the Amazfit has transflective display, so it's quite dim and pale indoors, but more than perfect outdoors without consuming more energy than indoors (it's the opposite).
The Stratos is bigger and bulkier than the Pace, but only by a little. Most Garmin and Suunto watches are bigger, bulkier, heavier and a lot pricier than even the Stratos without providing better battery life. I know, the high-end Garmins provide more precise GPS data, but only for 10 to 15 hours, while you can constantly use your GPS on the Pace or on the Stratos for 30+ hours on a full charge.
The Pace has IP67, the Stratos has IP68 rating. Believe me, you will like any of them.
...
I read in other post that the build quality is questionable, the connectors gets rusty because of sweat!!?? So what are your thoughts? Thanks
The problem appears on Pace, but only if you swim or shower with it. No such a problem for Stratos.
I have a pace and don't find any reason besides the Waterproof to upgrate to the pricier stratos. I run and trail bike, why won't you go back to pace?
I have a pace, everything is ok in it.
I had a problem with water a month ago, that I think it was my mistake. I used it under water.
by removing mic the problem is solved and I have 6 day battery now.
and if you want to by pace because it is cheaper, or take it away from water, or seal up its mic hole with glue, and yu be safe and ok with a very nice watch.
Guys, does it make sense to upgrade from PACE to Stratos or wait for Verge?
I'm so close to buying Suunto 9 or Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, but I have a feeling that Stratos or Verge will be just as good for simple sports and mainly smartphone notifications.
What's your view on this?
kufor said:
Guys, does it make sense to upgrade from PACE to Stratos or wait for Verge?
I'm so close to buying Suunto 9 or Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, but I have a feeling that Stratos or Verge will be just as good for simple sports and mainly smartphone notifications.
What's your view on this?
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Click to collapse
Pace, Stratos are very good smartwatches, altmost as good as garmin, the only problem is that you cannot respond to messages for official rom (it is possible if you install a custom rom or watch droid). Why to buy a garmin, much more expensive if you have Pace or Stratos?
tiberiu20 said:
Pace, Stratos are very good smartwatches, altmost as good as garmin, the only problem is that you cannot respond to messages for official rom (it is possible if you install a custom rom or watch droid). Why to buy a garmin, much more expensive if you have Pace or Stratos?
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Click to collapse
For running it's not as good as Garmin because you can have information about a lap (lap time / lap distance / lap pace) for example. It's a basic feature for runner.
The only thing you can have is related to previous lap...
kufor said:
Guys, does it make sense to upgrade from PACE to Stratos or wait for Verge?
I'm so close to buying Suunto 9 or Garmin Fenix 5 Plus, but I have a feeling that Stratos or Verge will be just as good for simple sports and mainly smartphone notifications.
What's your view on this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't consider upgrading from Pace to Verge because of the amoled screen. When I'm running or biking I need to take a fast look at the screen and would be dificult to press a button to show info. Also amoled screens ins't the best for reading on sunlight.
To me the Verge is more an urban user smartwatch with sports features.
I think I will wait for more one year for a pace/stratos real update with LCD and the new heart rate sensor.
I recently switched to Stratos and it's huge in comparison to Pace. Thicker and bigger in diameter but with the same screen size and the same hw specs. Buttons are also big, probably intentionally, to easily press during workout, in gloves, etc. For some workouts, like weight lifting, with smaller wrist, buttons may be a problem.
Overall watch looks more premium but charger is opposite, looks way cheaper than one for Pace. Pace charger is not compatible with Stratos. Also, cable cannot be removed. Plus is that watch is waterproof.
Stratos GUI is a bit different, features are the same plus two about workout efficiency and VO2.
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk
Zeljko1234 said:
I recently switched to Stratos and it's huge in comparison to Pace. Thicker and bigger in diameter but with the same screen size and the same hw specs. Buttons are also big, probably intentionally, to easily press during workout, in gloves, etc. For some workouts, like weight lifting, with smaller wrist, buttons may be a problem.
Overall watch looks more premium but charger is opposite, looks way cheaper than one for Pace. Pace charger is not compatible with Stratos. Also, cable cannot be removed. Plus is that watch is waterproof.
Stratos GUI is a bit different, features are the same plus two about workout efficiency and VO2.
Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought a few cheap Stratos charging docks from GearBest a few months ago, these have a micro USB port instead of the damned built-in cable, so I can use it with and micro USB cable I just want.
I liked the Pace, I love the Stratos, and I only had two minor hiccups needing a restart, other than that everything's smooth and fine.
BTW, before the Pace I had a Polar M400, which was fine, but after a while I hated to connect my watch to my PC each time to upload the data to the cloud, and I hated the 5-6 hours GPS time - the Amazfit Pace was a miracle compared to that, and although the Stratos is mostly a Pace on steroids, I like it even more.
So a Garmin or Suunto watch has more functionality, but since I walk a lot instead of doing multiple sports, the 3 to 4 times higher price wouldn't worth the added extra I wouldn't even use.
Yeah, I've ordered charger with micro USB. It's mainly to have spare one. Let's how will work.
---------- Post added at 06:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 PM ----------
Forgot to add, Stratos has half of the faces available for Pace. And none of them are really good. Also, because watch is bigger and heavier, mid vibration is hardly noticeable. Especially as waking up alarm. So I had to set to high which drains battery more. With my usage, Stratos batter lasts about 4 days. At least one day less than Pace.
Having liked the BIP so much it was soon joined by a Stratos and, most recently, by a 47mm Amazfit GTR. Reading the forum, of which I am a very new member, I saw that the GTR has been criticised for the performance of its GPS, something which is important to me.
The first thing I did was to check the 'static' accuracy of the GTR against a known standard. The readout from the GTR is only available to the nearest second of arc and when compared with a device with a known accuracy of 1/10th second of arc, it was accurate to the nearest second of arc. Here in the tropics a second of arc is pretty close to 30m in any direction. In short, the GPS is certainly accurate to that extent, but whether it has greater accuracy is a question I cannot answer.
Stationary, with my arm held out in front of me, time to fix is between 12 and 17 seconds in a less than perfect location. Time to fix with my arm held out in front of me while walking is longer. Time to fix with my arm swinging (ex-military) is a good deal longer. I use the walking exercise exclusively (at my age that's about the limit) so, having got a gps fix, my arm is swinging all the time and the resulting track is rather like that of a drunken man. As an experiment, while walking along the edge of a straight main highway, I held my arm out in front of me for a period of time and when later I looked at the track it was very accurate indeed, showing me exactly on the edge of the highway. An excellent result. This was repeated later during the walk, in a location that was less than ideal, with similar results.
As someone who has been involved in the reception of weak radio signals for almost 60 years, I am well aware of the extraordinary demands made on a tiny device but other, rather more expensive, watches seem to do better by all accounts. The inference that I draw from all of this is that the device has adequate accuracy but needs some tweaking to handle irregular motion of the watch on the wrist.... if that is possible.
In respect of the HR monitor, I see a considerable improvement over the Stratos and, over the normal range for resting heart rates 60-100 bpm, I have found it to be very accurate. This all assumes that it is worn correctly. To check its accuracy I simply performed simultaneous ECGs.
Sai Lang Kham
sailangkham said:
Having liked the BIP so much it was soon joined by a Stratos and, most recently, by a 47mm Amazfit GTR. Reading the forum, of which I am a very new member, I saw that the GTR has been criticised for the performance of its GPS, something which is important to me.
The first thing I did was to check the 'static' accuracy of the GTR against a known standard. The readout from the GTR is only available to the nearest second of arc and when compared with a device with a known accuracy of 1/10th second of arc, it was accurate to the nearest second of arc. Here in the tropics a second of arc is pretty close to 30m in any direction. In short, the GPS is certainly accurate to that extent, but whether it has greater accuracy is a question I cannot answer.
Stationary, with my arm held out in front of me, time to fix is between 12 and 17 seconds in a less than perfect location. Time to fix with my arm held out in front of me while walking is longer. Time to fix with my arm swinging (ex-military) is a good deal longer. I use the walking exercise exclusively (at my age that's about the limit) so, having got a gps fix, my arm is swinging all the time and the resulting track is rather like that of a drunken man. As an experiment, while walking along the edge of a straight main highway, I held my arm out in front of me for a period of time and when later I looked at the track it was very accurate indeed, showing me exactly on the edge of the highway. An excellent result. This was repeated later during the walk, in a location that was less than ideal, with similar results.
As someone who has been involved in the reception of weak radio signals for almost 60 years, I am well aware of the extraordinary demands made on a tiny device but other, rather more expensive, watches seem to do better by all accounts. The inference that I draw from all of this is that the device has adequate accuracy but needs some tweaking to handle irregular motion of the watch on the wrist.... if that is possible.
In respect of the HR monitor, I see a considerable improvement over the Stratos and, over the normal range for resting heart rates 60-100 bpm, I have found it to be very accurate. This all assumes that it is worn correctly. To check its accuracy I simply performed simultaneous ECGs.
Sai Lang Kham
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Click to collapse
Got me thinking. If there was a way to disable the motion step monitor, would it stop interfiering?
Hi,
Just to share my own experience from the Amazfit watches:
Two years ago, I bought my first Amazfit: The BIP. I had previously bought others LG Android wear and Samsung Gear smartwatches.
Yes, I'm a smartwatch geek
Whaouh! This Amazfit BIP is a cheap efficient smartwatch with all the basic services, with (a quite small) transflective Always on Display, and with a crazy battery duration (30 days and more). Android wear and Samsung watches have only 1 to 2 days battery duration. This is a joke compared to this incredible BIP. How is it possible to propose a so long battery duration in a so small light connected watch with all these smart services? The Amazfit engineers are really very very good. Thank you! :good::good:
But the only one default for me is the style of the BIP. It feels a bit too plastic cheap style.
So, I decided to buy the Amazfit STRATOS(2). This watch is very beautifull. Premium style. Really.
The large display has a good quality with the transflective techno, so 24h/7d 100% always on display during nights and days even under the sun.
The OS is based on Android, so cool, we can (try to) install some basic apps. I have developped my first Android App thank to the Stratos.
Watchfaces can be easily customized but it's a bit limited compared to the BIP or GTS/GTR.
Sports applications are quite sophisticated and better compared to the BIP. But we are not at the level of a Garmin or Tomtom watch. (I have also the excellent Tomtom sports watch).
The Applications bring a bit more services and informations on the STRATOS compared to the BIP. But, it's not an "open system" compared to Android wear or Samsung Tizen.
And about the battery duration? 7 days maxi. No more. This is already good but frustrating compared to the BIP!
Great, Amazfit developpers heard me and propose now the BIP with an "Apple watch" style and quality: This is the Amazfit GTS.
Ok, I bought it! This GTS watch has a premium look with a nice brillant AMOLED screen. The OS is almost the same than the BIP. We can set the always on display mode during the day and automatically switch it off during the night. But, you lose the benefit of the transflective screen. The watchface in dim mode is very basic, not customizable and not visible under the sun. To save battery, the display is black when you run. You need to press the button to see your progress.
Actually, AMOLED technos will never beat the advantages of the transflective ones: visibility under the sun and power consumption.
In basic connected mode (no running with GPS), with the screen in AOD mode only during the day, the battery duration is 7 to 8 days. Correct, but not crazy...
So, finally, you know what? The Amazfit BIP is still my prefered watch even if I have kept the others STRATOS and GTS mainly due to their premium styles.
The battery duration of 30 days and always on display mode are real killer services.
See you. :good:
Amazfit GTR 47mm
Try Amazfit GTR 47mm, battery life is 24 days on paper without AOD and thousands of custom dials too
pidobeuliou said:
Hi,
Just to share my own experience from the Amazfit watches:
Two years ago, I bought my first Amazfit: The BIP. I had previously bought others LG Android wear and Samsung Gear smartwatches.
Yes, I'm a smartwatch geek
Whaouh! This Amazfit BIP is a cheap efficient smartwatch with all the basic services, with (a quite small) transflective Always on Display, and with a crazy battery duration (30 days and more). Android wear and Samsung watches have only 1 to 2 days battery duration. This is a joke compared to this incredible BIP. How is it possible to propose a so long battery duration in a so small light connected watch with all these smart services? The Amazfit engineers are really very very good. Thank you! :good::good:
But the only one default for me is the style of the BIP. It feels a bit too plastic cheap style.
So, I decided to buy the Amazfit STRATOS(2). This watch is very beautifull. Premium style. Really.
The large display has a good quality with the transflective techno, so 24h/7d 100% always on display during nights and days even under the sun.
The OS is based on Android, so cool, we can (try to) install some basic apps. I have developped my first Android App thank to the Stratos.
Watchfaces can be easily customized but it's a bit limited compared to the BIP or GTS/GTR.
Sports applications are quite sophisticated and better compared to the BIP. But we are not at the level of a Garmin or Tomtom watch. (I have also the excellent Tomtom sports watch).
The Applications bring a bit more services and informations on the STRATOS compared to the BIP. But, it's not an "open system" compared to Android wear or Samsung Tizen.
And about the battery duration? 7 days maxi. No more. This is already good but frustrating compared to the BIP!
Great, Amazfit developpers heard me and propose now the BIP with an "Apple watch" style and quality: This is the Amazfit GTS.
Ok, I bought it! This GTS watch has a premium look with a nice brillant AMOLED screen. The OS is almost the same than the BIP. We can set the always on display mode during the day and automatically switch it off during the night. But, you lose the benefit of the transflective screen. The watchface in dim mode is very basic, not customizable and not visible under the sun. To save battery, the display is black when you run. You need to press the button to see your progress.
Actually, AMOLED technos will never beat the advantages of the transflective ones: visibility under the sun and power consumption.
In basic connected mode (no running with GPS), with the screen in AOD mode only during the day, the battery duration is 7 to 8 days. Correct, but not crazy...
So, finally, you know what? The Amazfit BIP is still my prefered watch even if I have kept the others STRATOS and GTS mainly due to their premium styles.
The battery duration of 30 days and always on display mode are real killer services.
See you. :good:
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The best Amazfit is not there yet. It is a Amazfit which is completely hacked and open source, paired to a Polar OH1 heart rate sensor which I love for it s accuracy. I love also foot pods for it s accuracy. But can foot pods be paired to Amazfit watches?
The Amazfit integrated wrist HR sensor is too inacurate for my purpose.
Hi All,
Have been using my GTR 42mm for a couple of weeks now and I've been trying to enable the heart rate sharing but my apps (mostly Adidas Runtastic) won't find the Smart HR bluetooth device. Funny thing is that I could make it work on my girlfriend's iphone (with her GTR unit), but didn't work with any of my Android phones. I've activated the heart rate sharing option in the Amazifit app and also the discoverable function, but none of them seem to work. The logic behind all that is that I have my runs logged in the Adidas Runtastic for many years, all with my heart rate, and would like to keep it like that without the need of the chest band that I have been using for many years. Any clues?
Some facts about my experience with the GTR firmware V0.1.1.13 as of July 2020:
- GPS will take maybe a couple of minutes to fix before you can start working out;
- GPS precision compared with my phone is VERY accurate, but I am not surrounded by tall buildings (never used with tall buildings around),
- Heart Rate compared with my Polar Bluetooth chest heart rate monitor was not more than 2bpm of difference, ever! I have been (VERY) skeptical about those light sensors, but I was wrong! Two weeks checking it side-by-side on my runs and it is as precise as the chest from Polar.
- Notifications are working well after I have permitted the Amazfit app to be running on the background of my phone
- Never emptied my battery, but I believe it would keep going for 3 or 4 days with my usage (notifications -- not many -- but on, smart heart rate and 10 sec of screen timeout)
Final thoughts: From what I've read on the few posts about the GTR, they have come a long way from where they have started. GPS and heart rate seem to have improved a lot OR there were changes to the hardware (not probable!). Nice watch for $129 on Amazon!
What do you think?