Amazfit
For those who’ve followed Amazfit these past few years, some news: The company’s apps will now be called Zepp (in deference to a wearable-tech firm that Amazfit parent Huami acquired a while back). So there will be both Amazfit and Zepp hardware, but the software that powers it is all Zepp. Yep. Blech.
That new layer of confusion aside, I continue to dig the Amazfit hardware — and here’s one of the best deals on record. For a limited time, and while supplies last, B&H has the Amazfit GTS smartwatch for $99.99, the lowest price I’ve seen. That’s after a $50 coupon that automatically applies at checkout.
Available in your choice of five colors, the GTS looks looks a lot like an Apple Watch. It’s incredibly lightweight, though, with an absolutely stunning 1.65-inch AMOLED display. (That’s roughly equivalent to 42mm.)
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Like the Apple Watch, the GTS offers heart-rate monitoring, activity tracking and all manner of notifications. It’s water-resistant to 5 ATM, meaning it’s suitable for the shower and pool.
I did some brief testing last year and liked it a lot, particularly the speed and consistency of the raise-to-wake feature and the smooth responsiveness of the onscreen menus. The Amazfit — sorry, Zepp — app lets you choose from a few dozen watch faces (some cool, some classy, some geeky), but you can also load a custom background (like, say, a photo of the family dog).
You may need to do some tinkering to get things like notifications set up to your liking, and I’ll be the first to admit it’s not the most intuitive app I’ve used. (Why is there still a tab called “Enjoy”?)
Battery life is about on par with Amazfit’s promise of 14 days, though lots of variables can impact power consumption. But even if it manages only half that, it’s a huge improvement over the Apple Watch and many others.
At this price, the GTS is easy to recommend. Gorgeous screen, great battery life, lots of features.
Your thoughts?
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