Huami Amazfit Smartwatch 2 sports watch - pros and cons

The Huami Amazfit Smartwatch 2 smartwatch will be an excellent purchase for a school student, athlete and businessman, as it stands out with a trendy case and excellent functionality. All of this makes them the top choice in the daily wear category.

Positioning

Today, the Xiaomi corporation is in some way a set of large and small firms that develop and sell devices under one brand. The corporation owns the Huami brand, which specializes in the manufacture of bracelets and smartwatches for sports. It was she who released Mi Band 2, which are in demand all over the world to this day.

In today's article, another high-quality device from this brand will be considered. Amazfit Smartwatch 2 is the second generation of smart watches designed for fans of sports activities and active lifestyle. The company's marketers claim that the gadget is able to compete on the same level with products from well-known companies Garmin, Polar and Samsung, but at the same time stand out for its affordable cost.

Specifications

Sports watch overview

The previous model of Amazfit Smartwatch is widely known among sports fans around the planet due to its incredible match of cost and functionality. The new version has undergone some modifications affecting both design and functionality. First of all, in the device it is worth highlighting the presence of full-fledged moisture protection and, as a result, auxiliary modes for swimming and triathlon.

In addition, program-type functions have been added that help to correctly draw up class schedules.

This refers to the coefficients of air flow (VO2 Max), training result (TE), load (TD) and rest period, but we will also touch on the functionality for sports activities in this review.

What is in the box?

The gadget comes in a practical box made of white cardboard materials. On its lid you can see the name of the device, and on the bottom side there is an inscription with a huge number of characters in Chinese and a barcode. The box contains the device itself, a docking station for charging and transferring information, as well as a small instruction manual in Chinese. There is an ordinary modification of the model on sale, but there is also a premium class solution, in the name of which the symbol "S" flaunts.

The latter is distinguished by the presence of a protective glass made of sapphire materials and two straps:

1. Leather - for everyday wear.
2. Silicone for swimming.

Design

The body of the model is made of polycarbonate, which the developers have added with fiberglass materials. There is a contact platform at the back in order to connect the gadget to the docking station and a sensor in order to calculate the heart rate. There are 3 buttons on the side, which are made of high quality stainless steel.By the way, this is a very significant innovation when compared with its predecessor, since it was uncomfortable to get into the small control components on the touch-type display during a run.

The silicone strap fits snugly around the hand and adjusts to the size you want. By the way, it is worth mentioning that the staples in order to fix the strap have a removable special design. Due to this mechanism, the owner, by his own efforts, has the opportunity, if necessary, to replace the strap with any one he likes.

Can we say that the watch is too oversized, but one way or another, they look as harmonious as possible on a man's hand. By the way, if any sporty lady wants to break the established stereotypes regarding style, then why not buy it? In addition, the weight of the device is not felt at all on the hand.

Display

The display of the model is one of the key advantages of the device. A transflective screen is installed here, which has the ability to both cast off lighting and highlight it.

In other words, if richer lighting falls on it, then the device automatically activates the backlight. In reality, this means that using the device is equally as comfortable as conventional mechanisms with an analog display. The screen is constantly activated, but this is not the reason for the quick discharge of the battery. In the daytime, data is perfectly readable on it without any backlighting, and in the dark, it is activated for a couple of seconds in automatic mode if you raise your hand.

The saturation and duration of the glow are adjusted in the parameters.

Localization

The watch was released relatively recently, in connection with which today users still face the problem of purchasing a model on the territory of the Russian Federation. For the same reason, there are models on the market even without an English interface, not to mention the Russian-language localization. But this does not mean that the user needs to sign up for Chinese courses, despite the fact that at first after the release of the gadget, some owners learned to understand it.

On the Internet there are international firmware posted by amateurs and tools for their installation. At the moment, the so-called. Italian localization to activate the English interface. In this regard, all users who want to purchase this model need to be prepared for the fact that they will need to unlock the bootloader and reflash the device. Fortunately, the process is easy, and you can easily find step-by-step guides and all the required files on the World Wide Web. If the newly minted watch owner does not want to waste time on this, then he will have to look for a global version.

Functionality

Amazfit Smartwatch 2 will be an excellent choice not only for people who are fond of sports. Below is information about all the functionality that is not related to sports and exercises. By the way, the key and most common function is still showing the time. The device performs this function with incredible ease. In the parameters it is possible to set the display format: 12-hour or 24-hour.

The connection with the smartphone is carried out through a special program, so the correctness of the data is ensured.

To make the information on the display as comfortable as possible, it is possible to select different themes. The watches "from the factory" already have about 10 topics, but this list can be easily extended. You just need to download the required themes and copy them to the desired folder on your device. Following this, skins can be selected both on the watch and in the application for the Amazfit smartphone.

Most users buy smartwatches in order to see alerts. In this aspect, the device will not let you down.After syncing with a smartphone via Bluetooth and after selecting the programs from which the owner wants to receive notifications, everything works in the best possible way.

A new notification is shown for a couple of seconds on the display, after which, if the user could not read it immediately, it is displayed on a special display, which can be turned on by moving up.

Here you can view all collected messages and delete them, if there is such a need. During a call, the number and name of the contact are displayed, Russian letters are displayed normally. You cannot answer calls and SMS directly from the device.

Another, but no less fascinating function is the weather forecast. At the same time, not just the weather "now", but also the scenario for a couple of days ahead. Geolocation is established through the navigation system, after which information is loaded from the Internet. It is possible to activate the weather forecast summary, which will start showing every morning, as well as set up alerts for sudden changes in temperature or precipitation.

In addition, the gadget has alarm clocks, the number of which is not limited. The signal is given by vibration, and its saturation is adjusted in the parameters. There is also a stopwatch, a timer and a program to control various devices made by the Chinese corporation Xiaomi.

It will not be superfluous to mention the multimedia functionality. The owners of these watches have the opportunity to control the playback of tracks on the phone directly from the Amazfit Smartwatch 2 display. This is convenient when the phone is in a purse or in an internal pocket, from where it is uncomfortable to constantly pull it out.

In addition, it is possible to download your favorite tracks into the memory of the gadget and play them directly into a wireless headset. In such a situation, the need for an auxiliary smartphone is completely eliminated.

Sports functions

The watch is likely to attract the attention of not only sports enthusiasts, but also ordinary fans of healthy lifestyle. The device provides a lot of interesting functions that will be useful during classes and in everyday life. The device is able to control the quality of sleep, quite competently setting its different periods. In addition, the watch calculates the distance covered and the calories burned. Users with a sedentary work activity will love the adjustable reminders to get up and exercise.

All collected data goes to a smartphone program and is converted there into understandable tables and graphs. As for sports activities, the watch has specific modes for 11 different types of exercise. This includes jogging, walking, treadmill workouts, swimming, cycling, triathlon, and more. Different values ​​are shown on the display based on the mode selected.

For example, for a run, the metrics are time, speed, distance, and heart rate. To swim in the pool, you need to set the length of the track in the parameters, after which the gadget will begin to calculate the distance. In case the lesson is carried out in a room, for example, on a treadmill or a bicycle simulator, the device takes into account the possibility of synchronization with external sensors via Bluetooth.

In the process of walking or jogging, overcoming each km is accompanied by a signal (vibration) and an alert displaying the time of the last lap. Whenever you want to exercise, you can pause by touching the button located above. After overcoming the distance, the gadget shows various statistics for the activity, including a demonstration of the saved track, the result of the activity, the time it will take to recover, etc. By the way, the positioning system functions very well and accurately. In the course of test runs through the small stadium of the school, the device resolutely drew clear circles, while the navigation on the phone showed incomprehensible figures from breaking lines.

All statistical data on the workout is stored in the device, after which, when access to the wireless network appears, all information can be directly uploaded to the cloud service. Along with the above function to independently play tracks, it turns out that this watch model is an autonomous device for sports, which makes it possible not to take a phone with you to training at all.

Smartphone app

The Amazfit Watch software is required to configure the device, pair and view information. There are varieties for devices running Android and iOS OS.

The main display shows the current indicators: the number of steps for the current day, heart rate and sleep duration at night. In the next category, it is possible to study the statistics of the exercises and, in the end, the third section is for the profile parameters, the program and the Amazfit Watch 2 itself.

In particular, it is possible to adjust the composition and sequence of alternation of widgets on the display, and also change the skin. It is worth mentioning that there are a number of variants of the Amazfit Watch program. The international version is posted on Google Play, which formally does not support this watch model, but in reality it works with them, despite the fact that not all functions are available.

The "native" program (China) has the most extensive functionality, however, which is not at all surprising, there is no Russian-language interface. In addition, on the Internet, it is possible to find a program that is Russified by amateurs, which most gadget owners advise to install.

Battery

The manufacturer claims that the autonomy of the model is 5 days. It may be possible to achieve this indicator under certain exemplary conditions of use, but in reality this value is slightly reduced. With daily activities for 30 minutes by the end of the third day, the device already needs to be recharged, since the battery charge is about 10-15%. There is reason to believe that with notifications turned off, a decrease in the backlight intensity and other energy-saving measures, this period can be increased to 4 days, but not more.

That said, it cannot be said that the watch has poor battery life. According to this coefficient, they overtake the devices of most well-known companies that have similar functionality. In general, you need to adapt yourself to set the device to charge every couple of days - have you adapted to phones? Moreover, the duration of charge recovery takes no more than 2 hours.

The cost of the device at the moment is on average 10,000 rubles.

Advantages and disadvantages

• Chic design;
• Thoughtful AMOLED screen with GG3 glass;
• Advanced functionality;
• High-quality protection of the case against moisture, meeting the IP68 standard;
• There is a contactless payment unit and a navigation module.

• The battery consumes energy quickly enough if you use eSIM;
• Comparatively overpriced price tag for the version with an electrocardiogram sensor;
• Not the most recent version of Bluetooth.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the Amazfit Smartwatch 2 is a smart watch for sports, which, alas, is not suitable for everyone. Most owners share positive comments regarding their performance, display and design. There are no complaints about the functionality, despite the fact that the software still needs to be improved. Even the autonomy satisfied the needs of most of the users.

One way or another, the absence of a normal Russian-language interface does not make it possible to finally and irrevocably recommend this gadget for purchase.If the user has the desire and ability to install "someone else's" firmware, then you can take the risk and buy. In addition, the varieties of devices from China, as a rule, are more affordable when compared with the global versions.