Amazfit GTR 2 Review - When ELEGANCE becomes SMART
This year Huami does not seem to stop with the presentation of new smartwatches, all beautiful but which, although apparently offering the same functions, are aimed at different user targets. For example, the new Amazfit GTR 2, the subject of this review, which with its classic and elegant design is aimed at users who prefer the smart side of a wearable without giving up the total monitoring of their health and sporting activity.
The Amazfit GTR 2 packaging turns out to be practically identical to the rest of the line up of products offered by the Asian brand. In fact, inside a cardboard casing with the image and key specifications of the product, we find the white packaging inside which we find:
- Amazfit GTR2;
- Instruction manual;
- Magnetic USB base for charging the watch.
Amazfit GTR 2, revolutionizes a lot in terms of design and specifications compared to the previous generation, configuring itself much more in the style of a classic wristwatch, expressing a truly unique elegance in the smartwatch panorama. In fact, we have a circular-shaped dial, which is printed with a ring of the hours and minutes with cleats, but the result is the 3D curved borderless glass that joins in a natural way to the body, made of metal with matt paint.
We are talking about a 46,4 mm case that goes well with every wrist, both male and female (case thickness of only 10,7 mm), in addition to the fact that the low weight of only 46,9 grams including the strap, make be this smart watch, comfortable to wear in all circumstances, without ever annoying. Comfort also guaranteed by the presence of the silicone strap with quick release and 22 mm pitch, which is soft and above all does not bother even after intense activities in which sweating becomes important. And precisely the possibility of changing the strap with extreme ease by combining the over 50 watchfaces available via the app, allow you to create a personalized outfit based on your tastes, mood and circumstance. The only drawback to report is the fact that the buckle is made of plastic and not metal, a discrepancy compared to the general premium aspect of the product.
But if so far we have talked about the classic elegance of this smartwatch, we cannot but appreciate the beauty of the display offered by the Amazfit GTR 2, a 1,39-inch AMOLED panel with HD definition and retina quality level (454 x 454 pixels, 326 PPI), which offers excellent color rendering as well as in contrast, as well as excellent visibility even in direct sunlight and. We then integrated the brightness sensor that adapts the backlight of the display according to the ambient lighting, whose operation has always proved perfect.
Then there is the presence of the Always On Display, which maintains the style of the applied watchface. However, this can be enabled and disabled, also choosing the operating period in an hourly interval, perhaps opting for the awakening of the display via wrist gesture (also optional) or enable the intelligent mode which will automatically turn off the display completely when the watch detects that you fall asleep or that it has been removed from your wrist. It must be said, however, that if on the one hand the absence of visual elements on the dial can be an advantage for the design, on the other hand we find a display completely exposed to shocks. It seems obvious to say, but it is better to underline it, that the function of the AOD affects the general autonomy of the smartwatch. Unfortunately, it should be noted that under direct sunlight, with AOD active, this is subdued at least with watchfaces with clock hands.
Autonomy that in principle does not however represent a problem, because despite the slim body of this Amazfit GTR 2, Huamoi has managed to integrate a 471 mAh battery which on average offers up to 14 days of continuous use, allowing 48 hours of GPS always active. It goes without saying that everything varies according to your personal use, or how many push notifications you receive, if the pairing with the smartphone is always active, physical activity and various monitoring etc .. But overall you always bring the average 10 days there. at home, still being able to count on a recharge that takes place in about 2,5 hours.
But let's get to the "meat" of this new generation smartwatch that on the back of the case offers in addition to the magnetic pogo pins for charging, also the sensors that is also enriched with the new sensor for detecting the SpO2 value, or oxygen saturation in the blood an important health indicator that could reveal any pathologies and dysfunctions, not only related to Covid-19, but also for sportsmen who carry out activities indoors and with poco oxygen or for high altitude sports.
Overall, we find a rather complete sensor system which consists of: acceleration sensor, gyroscope sensor, 3-axis geomagnetic sensor, air pressure sensor as well as the aforementioned SpO2 and the renewed PPG Biotracker 2 optical sensor for heart rate, able to automatically detect fibrillations and arrhythmias, as well as to warn if a certain frequency is exceeded.
To keep company with the different sensors we also find the presence of a speaker and microphone that will allow us to answer incoming calls directly from the wrist as well as offering the possibility of interacting with the Alexa assistant. Be careful though, because this function (Alexa) is not available at the moment, but it will be in the future with a dedicated update, although there are no indications on the release date. Moreover, the quality returned in conversation is really optimal, especially if we plan to use this function of the GTR 2 in the car. In reality, a sort of offline voice assistant is available, but only by setting the clock language to English, therefore the commands to be given must be in English, therefore a nice but useless feature.
We can only answer calls and not make them, while the smart side of the notifications has taken a half step forward, as it will not yet be possible to answer, just as it is not possible to view photos, videos or listen to the voices, but it is possible to view the emoji. Unfortunately, however, something still needs to be refined because these are visible for a certain number of emojis and therefore not all those offered by the smartphone software and also sometimes the same emoji is visible on the notification of an app while not on another app. MYSTERY!!!
A notable improvement in terms of reliability, Huami for this Amazfit GTR 2 did it, as the measurements made regarding heart rate and SpO2, compared with a finger pulse oximeter, were uniform. But on the other hand, the company with its products has always shown a certain reliability, which this time however has failed as regards sleep monitoring, despite the new SomnusCare algorithm, which allows the monitoring of sleep in every phase. (light, deep, REM), also monitoring the quality of night breathing (function in beta) and daytime naps for at least 20 minutes. But if from the point of view of the beginning and end of the sleep cycle I cannot say that well, what has failed is the reliability as regards the phases of sleep. In fact, I happened to get up at night to go and drink some water and this was not detected, while the opposite happened, that is, remaining in bed all the time, the clock detected my being awake and therefore up.
Finally, there is the PAI function that converts information on heartbeat, daily activities and all other data recorded by GTR 2 into a single and simple numerical score, which allows you to understand the status of your daily physical exercise and your health in precise and synthetic way.
At the hardware level, moreover, on Amazfit GTR 2 we have also incorporated a GPS that therefore allows the tracking of the path of certain outdoor sports activities, but we can also count on Bluetooth 5.0 which will not only be used for pairing with our smartphone, but will also allow pair TWS headphones for listening to music. In fact, we have a memory, which allows the storage of hours of music, which is transferred from the smartphone to the Amazfit GTR 2 by means of a 2.4 GHz WiFI connection. Beware, however, that the only recognized format is the classic MP3.
All this is a real convenience, that is to be able to monitor the path of your run, walk or bike ride, for example by listening to music directly from the watch, thus allowing us to become independent from the smartphone, at least for these moments of sporting pampering. The coupling of the satellites does not happen very quickly, it takes about 40-50 seconds for the GPS detection, but once coupled this proved to be stable, so much to take even in closed environments such as your home, even if the accuracy of the path traced in all honesty it's not the best I've tried.
The music, however, if necessary, can also be managed from the smartphone. Before going into sports performance and software, I would like to point out that there is no NFC sensor, at least for the Global version as in the Chinese one it is. A real shame which I cannot understand why, when that would be enough poco to make Amazfit devices perfect compared to the competition. What is appreciated and sought after by many is the possibility of putting the smartwatch in airplane mode, a feature that can be activated from the Network Settings and Connections of the smartwatch.
The sports that can be monitored are 12 and specifically they are: Running, Walking, Cycling, Treadmill, Spinning, Free swimming or swimming in the pool, Elliptical, Mountaineering, Cross Country Running, Skiing, Bodyweight. Unfortunately, no AOD during the chosen training mode, while in swimming activity the display is automatically locked to avoid involuntary touches, and if you want to unlock it you can do it by holding down one of the two physical buttons.
New monitorable sports are therefore introduced that use GPS, while swimming is made possible thanks to the Amazfit GTR 2's resistance to diving up to 5 ATM (50 meters). For each activity we can enable objectives or alerts as well as having integrated the possibility of controlling the music.
Inside the Amazfit GTR 2 interface you move by means of a swipe, as the only two physical buttons, positioned on the right side of the case will be used to turn on the display and enter the system applications menu (top button) or to recall a specific activity, such as monitoring a sporting exercise (lower button).
From the Home with a swipe downwards we access the quick toggles, in which to enable the flashlight (the display lights up completely with white light at maximum intensity), adjust the backlighting manually or automatically, enable the Do Not Disturb function and can also choose the operating time or enable intelligent mode. We can also enable energy saving, in which smart activities will be reset but steps and sleep hours will continue to be recorded. We can search for our smartphone, adjust the volume and lock the screen for unintentional touches, which will be unlocked by holding down one of the two physical keys. From the quick toggle screen we can also see at a glance the percentage of remaining charge, date and day, weather, smartphone connection icon. Also from the quick toggle screen, also by swiping to the left you access two further functions, such as the Teattro mode which sets the brightness of the display to a minimum and deactivates the wrist gesture for the benefit of the AOD and finally we have the Screen function always Active, which will then keep the display always on for 20 minutes.
Swipe up to access notifications, which are always synchronized with the smartphone, or by reading the notification on the smartwatch or smartphone, it will be deleted from the other device and vice versa. By swiping to the left we access the quick widgets, such as PAI value, training status, heart rate monitoring, weather, music player and finally a multiple widget that integrates in addition to what has been said also alarm and SpO2.
Unfortunately, the functions dedicated to women are missing, such as the menstrual cycle monitor and the possibility of automatically detecting sports activities, a symptom that this Amazfit GTR 2 leans more towards a smart side than sports.
All the collected data is conveyed to the companion app Zepp (formerly Amazfit) that we have known for some time now, so I don't dwell on it too much. We must know that from here, however, we can set all the operating parameters of the smart watch, such as choosing which apps to receive notifications, transfer music, set appointments, decide the display position of certain functions in the list proposed on the smartwatch as well as add watchface, many of which are modular, set the accuracy level of health monitoring and of course have all the data of our health visually and in the form of graphs and statistics. Zepp is a complete and functional app, which hardly finds rivals.
Conclusions
Amazfit GTR 2 offers a different perspective than the other smartwatches of the company and the innovations introduced on this generation raise the attention towards this world. Overall we are talking about a rather complete smart watch, allowing you to monitor many health parameters without losing sight of smart connectivity with our phone, going beyond notifications but rather answering calls directly from the wrist.
Net of technical specifications of a good level, we are in the presence of an elegant wearable, which adapts to every user, young or old, male or female but above all future firmware updates will improve the already excellent features offered. Finally, the price, on the whole, is definitely in focus: we are talking about 169,90 euros directly from the official Italian shop. So is it worth the transition from the previous generation or directly buy Amazfit GTR 2? The answer is certainly yes.
bonjour, ou puis-je trouver le manuel d'utilisation version electronique (pdf)?
Hi. Do you know if flight mode still exists in GTR 2 settings or it is disabled (or removed)?
Thank you very much!
Czy zegarek posiada możliwość pomiaru wysokości npm na podstawie czujnika ciśnienia?
Hi! A question .. with the watch connected to the mobile, I receive a call, can I decide whether to answer from the mobile and talk to it, or can I just answer with the watch?
Does the same apply to gts2?
I am not clear on the concept that you can only answer incoming calls.
That is, if I initiate a call from my phone, previously paired via bluetooth, I cannot converse via a watch, do I hold the smartphone in my pocket?
Exactly.
A couple of questions:
- is there a reminder to disconnect from the phone?
- how can I choose whether to answer a call from the watch rather than from the phone? Eg. If I receive an incoming call and I answer the phone, then the voice comes out of the phone or the watch?
Is it possible to turn off bluetooth and wifi when you do not need to synchronize it with your smartphone, or are they always active? (for example during sleep or during the day)
Airplane mode is available
Thanks so much for the feedback! last thing, in aero mode the activity monitoring (apart from the gps) and health functions work the same then? Thanks again, great review!
yes in airplane mode all the fitness part works except for bluetooth, wifi and gps
but the nfc from specifications on the amazfit site is indicated or am I wrong?
Regarding atrial fibrillation, is there any specific setting or how in the GTR is it "only" named by the manufacturer without actually being able to verify if it is active or not?
Thank you!
No setting, so it's just named with no possibility of verification (hopefully at least).
It is indicated on the Chinese site not the global or Italian one and in any case it would be inactive such as the Verge