Amazfit’s New Budget Smartwatches Feel More Premium Than Their Price

Amazfit is n’t a home name , but the company has quiet been making inroads as one of the good ( and most fertile ) budget smartwatch makers around . Now Amazfit is back with the third refresh of its GTR / GTS blood line of smartwatches , as well as a fancier , “ premium ” variation shout out the GTR 3 Pro .

Last yr ’s GTR 2 and GTS 2were already impressivefor their $ 180 price tatter , because both offered advanced health features that you ’d typically find on flagship smartwatches that cost one C more . The GTR 3 and GTS 3 keep those features along with some hardware upgrades , and also meliorate on one of the heavy weakness of Amazfit ’s whole political platform : its Zepp app . The only bummer is that it appears some features — like the speaker , Bluetooth calls , and onboard medicine storage — have been shift over to the $ 230 GTR 3 professional .

This clip around , all three watches have a six - photodiode PPG sensing element that measure heart and soul charge per unit , blood oxygen saturation , emphasis horizontal surface ( via pith rate edition ) , and ventilation rate . There ’s an option on the watch to take all four measurements at once . Amazfit has also reduced the time it takes to get an SpO2 reading down to 15 minute . Another new health feature article is menstruum - tracking , which admit cycle and fertile windowpane prevision . Runners now also have the choice to apply a “ virtual pacer ” to track workout , as well as analyse progression and recovery . Lastly , Amazfit has inflate its third - company integrating to Apple Health , Google Fit , Strava , Relieve , Runkeeper , and TrainingPeaks .

The GTR 3 Pro has a very pretty display.

The GTR 3 Pro has a very pretty display.Photo: Victoria Song/Gizmodo

The sentry now admit “ shortcut cards , ” which are effectively thingmajig that you could swipe left-hand or right from to get quicker access to often used apps . Like last year ’s watches , they also have an offline supporter and Alexa . Also include are 150 + watch faces , let in some with snazzy animations , and the ability to upload photos as a usage scout aspect . Amazfit has also expanded typical feature like reminders to drink weewee or get up , calendar event , to - do lists , weather forecasts , and Bluetooth remote camera control .

None of these lineament are all that new to the wearables space , but it is uncommon to see them on ticker under $ 250 . The main things still missing from Amazfit ’s lookout man are cellular connectivity and contactless payments . That said , the skip of NFC is n’t all that strange for a budget smartwatch , and you ’re just not going to find cellular connectivity for under $ 280 ( which is how much the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 LTE version monetary value ) .

The main difference between Amazfit ’s three Modern watches is figure . The GTR Pro 3 feature a 1.45 - column inch AMOLED Ultra HD display with 331 ppi and a 70.6 % screen - to - body ratio . It also has a 450 mAh battery with an estimated 12 years of battery life with typical usage , and 2.3 GB of storage . The GTR 3 is somewhat small with a 1.39 - inch display with 326 ppi and a 66 % concealment - to - body ratio . It has the same battery as well , but is rated for 21 days of distinctive utilisation . Meanwhile , the GTS 3 has a 1.75 - inch substantial show , and a 250 mAh battery , though it also is rated for 12 day . Both circular watches consider 32 g , while the GTS 3 is slightly lighter at 24.4 grams . Any mode you slice up it , they ’re fairly lightweight watch with dependable displays and slayer battery life .

The GTS 3.

The GTS 3.Image: Amazfit

I ’ve had some time to play around with the GTR 3 Pro , and so far it ’s a bright smartwatch . It still has some of Amazfit ’s quirk , like a cluttered bill of fare , but many other gripes seem to have been address since last year . The material do n’t feel as chintzy as they did on the GTR 2 , and the filmdom itself looks like it belong to on a more expensive smartwatch . I ’ve been wearing this matter for roughly a calendar week , done about 90 minutes of GPS physical exertion , and still have 29 % bombardment . ( I did not have the always - on display on the entire metre , however . ) Connecting and using Alexa was well-fixed , the animated watch confront I ’ve tried attend pretty , and the whatchamacallit have improve the UI . The biggest betterment , though , has been the Zepp app . I ’ve been using a beta version this preceding week , and the port has been overhauled to be more intuitive at a glimpse . Metrics are displayed in a more natural manner , and there are n’t quite so many hemipteran with mistranslation — though I ’d fence there are still too many options menus . But while it ’s not perfect , it ’s a huge step up from what the app front like just a few months ago .

The GTR 3 and GTR 3 Pro are available from the U.S. Amazfit store start today for $ 180 and $ 230 , severally . Amazfit did n’t give a specific U.S. launching date for the GTS 3 , but say it ’ll be “ available soon . ”

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The GTR 3, which is slightly different from the GTR 3 Pro.