While the fall is the time for major releases of smartwatches from Apple, Samsung, and other big players in wearable tech, I really enjoy testing out the not as well known brands.
They’re usually budget friendly smartwatches and fitness trackers that many times fall flat in my testing but once in a while I find one that is actually pretty good. Amazfit had a full line of smartwatches and fitness trackers all priced very competitively.
I just reviewed the Amazfit GTR and I’m currently reviewing the Amazfit GTS available on Amazon which has been testing out just as good as the GTR. The company recently unveiled even more smartwatches including the Amazfit T-Rex which reminds me of the Garmin Instinct. The Garmin Instinct is a rugged watch aimed at outdoor enthusiasts, mainly hikers. It tested out very nicely for me.
The T-Rex has “12 military grade certifications” which means it can handle both very high and low temperatures as well as humidity, sand, dirt and saltwater. It has a rugged look ideal for the trail and not so much for the office.
The Amazfit T-Rex also has an AMOLED display while the Garmin Instinct has a monochrome display kinda like a throwback to those old Casio watches but the advantage to this type of display is that it uses very little battery which is ideal for those long outdoor adventures. I’m going to be comparing the T-Rex and the Instinct head-to-head because they’re both going after the same audience which means I have a great excuse (as if I need one) to hit the hiking trails.
The successor to the popular Amazfit Bip is the Bip S has also been unveiled and I will be reviewing this watch for sure. This is a watch priced below $100 featuring built-in GPS, a long battery life, and now supports swimming. So we should be seeing better build quality and hopefully an improved heart rate sensor.
When I tested out the original Bip the HR sensor was one area that was very hit or miss. Sometimes it tested out very well and sometimes it didn’t. It is supposed to be more accurate. We will soon see!
Coming today is the ZeNeo from MyKronoz available on Amazon. This is a very affordably priced tracker with a mic and speaker. I haven’t seen a mic and speaker offered on any tracker in the ZeNeo’s price range. This will be the first MyKronoz watch that I’ve reviewed and earlier products from MyKronoz don’t have the greatest reviews from what I’ve read but I’m hoping the ZeNeo tests out well.
The ZeNeo doesn’t support tracking gym activities but it does track your daily steps and heart rate with high and low heart rate warnings. Of course it supports notifications as well.
Actually, as I’m typing this it just showed up at my door! I’ll go grab it and get some photos and let you know my first impressions.
Well right off the bat the ZeNeo is downloading a rather large firmware update but the setup process went fairly smooth. It has a QR code to pair with your phone using the Amazfit app but I could get the camera to focus well enough on the code so I had to pair it using the alternative method.
The app walks you through the pairing process and it went fine. I have it paired with the Google Pixel 3a so I can use the mic and speaker. Apple doesn’t allow third party watches to make and answer phone calls. Android is much more open.
As far as the build quality goes, the ZeNeo is an all plastic body but for less than $70 I wouldn’t expect the best materials. It does have a full color touchscreen display with no buttons. The hole for the speaker is to the top of the screen and a small hole is on the bottom left hand side.
I won’t get into too much details but the review shouldn’t take too long to complete. I always like to wear watches for at least a full week before reviewing them, longer for watch with more features than the ZeNeo. That way I can see what battery life is going to be, how well the watch syncs and received notifications and whether any bugs pop up.
So check back soon. I’ll have the review for the ZeNeo as well as the Amazfit GTS within the next couple of weeks – by the end of January.
Edit: The review of the MyKronoz ZeNeo is up. I’m also reviewing the MyKronoz ZeRound Lite and a couple of other budget friendly smartwatches including the ANMINO GPS smartwatch (available on Amazon) that is equipped with built-in GPS of course, as well as a barometer, altimeter and compass. We’ll see how it performs against Garmin.
Also, I’ll have my hands on the UMIDIGI smart watch that has quite a few positive and legit reviews on Amazon. It is compatible with Google Fit and has a 5 ATM rating which means it should be able to handle swimming. You can check it out on Amazon as well.
As soon as the T-Rex is released I will be reviewing it as well.
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