Amazfit GTR 2 is a very-well deserved successor to the original GTR. It features a sleeker design, a better UI, and a slew of features. All of this is packed in a lightweight body, which allows you to wear it for features like sleep tracking. While it is gorgeous to look at, the functionality doesn’t take a hit either. Here’s our Amazfit GTR 2 review to help you decide if you should buy this wearable.
Design: A beauty to look at
The Amazfit GTR 2 takes its design cues from the predecessor. It features a circular dial with two crown buttons residing on the right side. The upper one, which is used to open the menu, has a red accent to it. Overall, the smartwatch looks higher-end than its USD 179 price tag.
As soon as it activates, it captivates.
The Amazfit GTR 2 sports a beautiful design made out of glass and aluminum. It comes equipped with curved bezels that help the display blend with the body. There is a bezel integrated within the display. This comes in handy when you use a watch face with a dark background as it makes the screen look bigger. That said, the bezel isn’t functional like the more expensive Samsung counterpart.
We received the aluminum variant (Sports Edition) but there is also an option for stainless steel (Classic Edition), which costs about $10 more. The former sports a silicone strap, while the latter comes with a silicone-reinforced leather strap. These are the standard 22mm straps.
I wore it 24x7 for 4 days straight
The Sports Edition, which we have here weighs just 31 grams, and it is one of the lightest smartwatches I’ve used in the recent past. You can wear it 24×7 without feeling fatigue on the wrist. Generally, if I’m not testing, I wear a smartwatch only when I workout or go out. But the Amazfit GTR 2 can be worn all-day, everyday.
The device doesn’t have an IP rating. However, you get water resistance till up to 5ATM or 50 meters (~164 feet) in freshwater. To break it down, you can’t go swimming in a saltwater body wearing this but you can wear it in the shower or a freshwater pool.
Display: Bright and a delight to use
The Amazfit GTR 2 features a 1.39-inch AMOLED display with a 454 x 454-pixel resolution, which is the same as the previous generation. It is an impressive display. It is bright, the colors are saturated, and it is easily visible both in indoor and outdoor conditions. I had no problems viewing it under direct sunlight. The ambient light sensor does well to adjust the brightness accordingly.
It is housed within a fingerprint-resistant coating at the top. Plus, there is oDLC (optical Diamond-Like Carbon) coating for protection. The watch fell down while I was trying to put it on and it survived the drop comfortably. In my three weeks of usage, I haven’t managed to scratch it either.
The usability is quite simple. You can flick the wrist to turn on the display, for 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds and more. The duration can be adjusted from the Zepp app. You can also tap on the display or push the top crown to turn on the display.
The Amazfit GTR 2 also comes with AOD (Always-On Display), which is surprisingly bright in indoor conditions. It can display information such as date & time, steps, and more. Remember, if you turn on the AOD feature, your watch will take a significant hit on the battery life.
Functionality: The smarts are here but…
The Amazfit GTR 2 comes with 3GB of internal storage, which can be used for storing music locally. Amazfit doesn’t mention the details about its processor or RAM. Further, the device supports 2.4GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The latter is used for smaller file transfers including new watch faces.
The device sports the company’s self-developed “BioTracker 2” PPG (photoplethysmography) sensor, which is used to measure the heart rate and SpO2. Other sensors onboard include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a 3-axis geomagnetic sensor, and a barometric sensor. The watch also comes with inbuilt GPS and GLONASS support.
It could be smarter…
The Amazfit GTR 2 has limited smartwatch capabilities. It comes with a handful of native apps and you can’t download more. It is one of those smartwatches that comes with non-actionable notifications. However, you can answer phone calls (via Bluetooth connection).
The individual-app notifications can be enabled from the Zepp app, but the wearable doesn’t display emojis from chat apps. Each notification is displayed as a card, which is non-actionable but can be expanded. Plus, you cannot clear single notifications but can remove them all at once.
You can scroll down to access toggles such as Display Brightness, DND, Flashlight, Screen lock, Volume controls, Battery saver mode, Find phone, Awake mode and Theatre mode. The last one keeps the display brightness at the minimum and silences notifications.
There is support for voice controls, which are easy to set up and enable. These come in handy when you are wearing gloves or cannot use the touchscreen to navigate. I noticed that the device understands your commands only if you are in a quiet environment. It also supports Alexa but the functionality hasn’t been rolled out yet.
The inbuilt speaker can be used to play music. Plus, it can be played on any audio device connected to the watch directly using Bluetooth. The feature can work without relying on your smartphone. However, I won’t rely on the inbuilt speakers for calls or music playback. The sound is muffled and it is tiny, and understandably so.
Amazfit GTR 2 review: It is a good fitness tracker
The Amazfit GTR 2 comes with 12 different indoor and outdoor activities: running and trail running, treadmill, walking, pool and open water swimming, trekking, elliptical trainer, indoor or outdoor cycling, and free training or skiing. It also gets new features like Stress management that detects any unusual cardiac activity without any movement. You get rated between 0 and 100, where 0-39 for relaxed, 40-59 for normal, 60-79 for medium, and 80-100 for high stress.
When you go for a run, the watch face goes dark till you raise your wrist. Further, you can press a button to view your running data: distance, pace, elapsed time, and heart rate as well as the current time and battery life. It doesn’t register fake steps and is a perfectly reliable smart accessory to your smartphone.
There is Personal Activity Intelligence or PAI, which combines data from all the different sensors and gives you a score based on your daily activity. The score is calculated differently based on the user’s age, resting heart rate, gender, etc. It is personalized for each user.
You also get sleep tracking, which is fairly accurate. The device tracks REM sleep alongside the portions of light and deep sleep at night. It can also track your naps. The Zepp app also gives you suggestions to improve your sleep quality. It compares your sleeping and waking times and your light, deep, or REM sleep values with ideal values. By doing this, it gives you a score out of 100, with 100 being the best.
However, it misses out on some features like tracking for menstrual cycles and guided breathing. That said, these features can be added with an update.
Battery life: Solid as ever
The Amazfit GTR 2 is rated to last up to 14 days on a single charge with typical use, 38 days on minimal use and 48 hours in GPS mode. I used 24/7 heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, stress-monitoring, GPS for outdoor positioning, as well as AOD. It lasted for about five days.
The battery backup is amazing
The battery life is truly astounding. It will last you an entire week easily if you turn off AOD. It comes with a charging cradle in the box, which draws power from USB. This aligns with pogo pin connectors that help charge the device. It can take up to 2.5 hours to go from 0 to 100%
Amazfit GTR 2 review: Conclusion
The Amazfit GTR 2 is an easy recommendation for $179 or INR 12,999 if you are in the market for a fitness wearable that looks like a smartwatch. It sports a gorgeous design, and comes with a range of features, packed in a lightweight body. All of this while offering a solid battery life. Some might argue that it is not the perfect smartwatch since there is no third-party support and you can’t reply to notifications. But for the price, it is a solid device.
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Health Assessment-Sleep Quality Monitoring-Stress Level Monitoring