Amazfit Active 2 Review: Exterior Bang for Your Deer

A general reader request that I receive goes to something like this: what should I buy if I don't want a smartwatch, but want basic fitness tracking? When I suggest options like budget fitness band or smart rings, I get an uncertain Hmm And a nose resentment. After some more back and forth, I usually find many people to do Want a smartwatch. They do not just want one from Apple, Samsung, Garmin or Google. They want something else You old pebbles Or This retro-chic $ 56 cassioFor those people, consider a humble Amazafit 2.

Amazfit Shtick is giving an external explosion for your deer. The active 2 starts at $ 99.99. For $ 30 more, you get a hardcore version with an additional leather strap and more durable sapphire crystal lens. The 2,000-Night OLED touch display, upgraded health sensors, new sleep and heart rate algorithms, offline maps and ZEPP are Assistant. There is also ZEPP coach and a mini app for personal training plans Wild.aiWhich gives diet and exercise recommendations based on your hormonal and menstrual cycles. You will not get GPS with double -frequency on this watch, but it has a built -in GPS with access to five satellite systems (the next best thing you can find). If you live in Europe, there are now NFC payments in the clock. (Unfortunately, I No Live in Europe and cannot test it.)

It is a stacked feature set under $ 150. This is the bonfire. There is also no catch.

I rarely get praise while testing the budget gadget. Strips are chinti and cases are plastic. Sub-$ 200 smartwatches often look like it.

I was surprised when I was praised while wearing 2 active during CES. My colleague David Pierce pointed to my wrist and asked, “What is that?!” Due to stylish watchface. Two other colleagues inquired as they dug the look. Some showers asked about it. All were gobsmacked when I told them the price. The active 2 does not look or feel cheap.

Is this the most elegant watch I have ever donated? No, but its design is basic and smooth enough to fit with any organization. It is light and does not nap on the jacket sleeve. Is the leather strap on the “Premium” model the most gentle with a vintage fetina? Of course not, but it is comfortable enough to wear 24/7, and it is well held to wear several weeks – including many sweaty workouts. (Generally, I recommend to swap on a silicone strap for exercise, but it uses a standard pin mechanism, and it is difficult to use when you wear a press-on nails.)

A capable tracker with a side of AI

Active 2 No one will be looking for a gamin-tier insight or apple-like cunning. But as a fitness and health tracker, it can appeal to someone in search of fitbit options.

Like a fitbit, Amazfit takes a streamlined, overall approach to wellness. This emphasizes readiness, sleep quality and weekly activity when closing the ring or throwing each performance under the sun in your dashboard. And like old fitbits, active 2 has better battery life than more advanced smartwatch. Amazfit estimates 10 days from a charge. I found around eight or nine in the test.

ZEPP App – Amazfit's fellow app – I have been rebuilt since then GTR 4 reviewIt has a smooth interface. Each morning, you get a daily readiness and daily sleep insight score. There is a sign on the bottom of each that opens the Zepp aura premium chatbot. ,Zep Abha Amazafit's membership service is for sleeping and guided breathing materials; Its cost is $ 77 annually.) The signals include: “Are there specific activities or habits that I can adopt to optimize my physical recovery?” Or “How about the quality of my sleep last night?” Formerly gives you generic wellness tips, which you will get from a chat query, while the latter summarizes your sleep data and can suggest you to improve your sleep quality. You can write in signals, but it is a normal gist. Samsung, OURA, and other wearable technology companies have implemented similar AI-operated facilities in the previous year. There has been no game-changer in relevant data. The ZEpp version is minimally well integrated and rapid to generate reactions, but it spends extra, and if you leave it you are not missing much.

ZEpp coach is more useful. I made a 5K training plan of a custom eight-week with a target of 32 minutes. The result was about what I expected, easy runs, interval runs, and with a long run which slowly moved forward in difficulty. Nothing is crazy, but I appreciate the workouts directly sink on the wrist. There is a new strength training mode that identifies reps within a set. It mostly works – it struggles if a movement does not move your entire hand or body, such as bicep curl with a plank or turn. But show me a smartwatch Not there. Struggle with it.

The active 2 GPS runs and my apple Watch for heart rate is similar in accuracy for Ultra 2. Sleep tracking was also generally aligned with my OURA Ring 4. Differences are in Polish. Active 2 takes more time in another or two to get a GPS signal – cruel when I am trembling my tuchs before a vintry run. Watching historical data beyond last week is a pain. In addition, I was angry that I could not edit my workouts. Calling my first treadmill run, I accidentally input my distance as three miles instead of two. Generally, I edit it in a fellow app or on the wrist. I had no way to do it. I have still received credit for my workouts, but it is a basic feature for fitness apps and a stunning lapse.

As I wrote hands onActive 2 Touch Display Bugs Me. It works fine most time. But have sweaty fingers? forget it. Even if I wipe my hands, I often had to erase touchscreen. This made music annoying to prevent or control the mid-workout. Casual users will not consider it on a deal-breaker, but this is something to note.

Another grip is with ZEPP Flow Assistant with Voice Command. I found that I had to encute my querry vigorously to take my query-I felt a cookie shouting on my wrist to set a five-minute timer publicly. The arsenal of your requests is also limited, given that it is not Siri, Google Assistant or Bixby. You can ask it to show it health data, launch apps, set timer or show control settings. This is basically. Nevertheless, I sometimes found a time-out or connection errors.

When I felt upset with these quirks, I will remind myself that the price of 2 active on my wrist is only $ 130. You get what you pay for – and it will be slightly unreal that there will not be one or two in a smartwatch at this price. Rather, it is surprising that there Not there. More to complain about me. Activated 2 styles in style, materials and features punch over its weight. If you want a long-lasting, no-frills tracker, you have to work hard to find a better value.