Pros
- Sapphire coverage
- Long battery life
- Waterproof
- GPS/GLONASS support
- Attractive price
Cons
- Processor could be faster
Amazfit Pace 2; Amazfit Stratos; Amazfit Pace 2; Huami Amazfit 2; Too many names that refer to the same model. Indeed – the early days of sales for this device seem to have provoked websites to seek for the most attractive title of one and the same thing: the Amazfit 2. It is the followup smartwatch of the first Amazfit model, which got quite a great success in the past year. Xiaomi uses its subsidary company Huami to produce the watch and there already are public announcements about the plans to sell this watch worldwide. Looks like the US market will be the first outside China and if you are reading this article after March 2018 – likely you can already purchase the international version of this watch.
Unboxing and accessories
Amazfit will apparently have two versions – the “2” and the “2S”, with the latter one offering a delightful leather strap and sapphire coverage (and the “2” has “only” tempered glass). Just as it is with many other Xiaomi products, there will be significant software differences between the Chinese and the international editions. And while we still have no clue about the Multi-language ROM, we already have the first English customizations based on the Chinese edition. No matter which version you have – everything you will see here is relevant.
Unboxing experience is as expected above average. For a 200-USD product we want nothing different. The 2S model may cost another 100 bugs on top though… And for the international version – I cannot say yet. When you see it – it it IS beautiful. I am not a fan of most of the smartwatches and so far only Moto 360 models managed to grab my attention. Until I saw this! In the box you have a user guide and the charging station, which is also used for USB communication. I hoped to see a discrete port, but because of the waterproof rating the Amazfit has different connectivity design. I personally am going to order a spare one just in case.
Hardware and features
The watch now. Look at it. And of course it is not on – this is a nylon gimmick for protection. It has three control buttons. The screen is touch. It looks classy, and it feels premium. The glass on top is in fact sapphire, and I can’t wait to see whether it will undergo the usual jerry rig everything surgery. Carbon fiber is covering the sides and that is quite a brilliant idea, as the trexture will mask most of the scratches it will get in time with adding minor daily usage markings. The only more vulnerable to scratching area are the buttons, which are made of 316L stainless steel.
Likely the most unique feature is the transflective display. The more light comes at the screen, the better visibility you have. And there is of course back light that helps you see it when it’s dark. Smartphone manufacturers – you may think of adopting this idea! You will have good visibility of the display, no matter the conditions. If it is dark, the illumination will help you see. If you are outside and there’s a lot of sunshine or bright light – the transflective display reflects the light and keeps the display visible. At no additional power cost! And from all that it’s the battery life that benefits most. It has capacity of just 280-Mah, and getting a full charge will take less than two hours. Standby time is amazing. If you use no sync, and connection is not on all the time, the consumption per day is between 5% and 10%. If sync is on, continuous heart rate, GPS and all the other goodies are on too, you may count on up to five days of operation. I have noticed that among the most battery intensive operations are the syncs. No matter what – this is likely the best battery life ratio for a device of such kind. And likely Xiaomi are making another technology breakthrough.
Hardware wise it impresses once again: 512 ram, 4GB ROM and in-house developed Xiaomi chip (Ingenic M200S, 1.2Ghz, dual core), featuring ultra low power consumption with unprecedented performance.
You may count on GPS, sleeping monitor, heart rate monitor even in continuous mode, alarms, sport trainer programs and much more than that. And everything mentioned comes on top of the well known Smartwatch capabilities as step count, push notifications, call reminders, phone finder and … wow – the list got long, so I may stop.
It is waterproof. And yes – good enough for swimming.
Menus and navigation
Let me walk you through the menus. Swiping left and right is going to navigate you through the main features. Should you want to change anything – use the middle button. To go back – use the bottom one. I can imagine that some of the next app updates will give ways to adjust the button’s behavior.
The swipe left and right functions are quite many. You may choose some of them to be disabled via the app. Swipe up and you see the notifications. Swipe down, and you will get quick access to screen brightness and many other settings. There are some options that you can control via the watch, and some which are adjustable via the app. Speaking of which – everything is nicely running in English. Please note that I am no using the Amazfit app from Google play, but the Chinese edition. Which is still international enough.
So this is my Amazfit. It is amazing! It is unbelievably good smartwatch. If you are in for getting a new stylish addition to your collection – this is the right choice. If you are looking for a perfect smart companion to your tech gear – this is the right choice. If you are a beginner in the world of smartwatches – this is the right choice. And you are just lucky to get the amazing Amazfit as a starter 😉 .
I’d like to specially thank Gearbest.com for giving me the chance to review this watch, and more importantly Nicola Sagliano aka cracklydisk for the Stratos English and Italian rom – which makes this smartwatch usable. You can expect my short flashing video tutorial in English in the next few days.
At the end, I’d also like to hear your opinion – which are the three features that you liked the most? I will start with my personal top 3 in the comments section below.
Our detailed video review of the Amazfit 2:
