An analogue of the Apple Watch for the poor? How I switched to Amazfit smartwatch

In 2021, I switched from an iPhone that I have been using since 2011, changing different models, to Xiaomi. Unfortunately, connect Apple Watch to Android was not possible, and the watch had to be sold. The parting was difficult, because if I had complaints about the smartphone, then the watch was completely satisfied with its functionality, but it was hard to live without notifications on the wrist. I had to look for an alternative and I settled on Amazfit GTR 2.

ПОДПИСЫВАЙСЯ НА НАШ КАНАЛ В ЯНДЕКС.ДЗЕН И ЧИТАЙ ЭКСКЛЮЗИВНЫЕ СТАТЬИ БЕСПЛАТНО

After a year from the moment of their acquisition, I can say for sure that calling them watches is not entirely correct. Rather, it is a fitness bracelet in a watch case with the appropriate functionality. Yes, some things have been fixed in the third generation of this device, but I still see no reason to change mine. Let’s look at the experience of such a transition and draw conclusions whether it worked out completely replace Apple Watch or not.

Apple Watch – what to replace

The plastic on the bottom does not look very good, but it is not noticeable when putting the watch on the wrist

Use Apple Watch I started back in 2015, when they just went on sale. At that time, there was no series in their name, but there were three different versions of Sport, a regular one without any prefixes in stainless steel and an Edition in gold. Since the gadget was unknown and was not officially sold in Russia at that time, there was no way to touch it, so the 42 mm Sport version was ordered from the USA.

Watch were quite slow against the background of the iPhone and I did not use anything other than viewing notifications and fixing activity. I did not answer messages and calls from them, did not install any applications other than standard ones. Faithfully, this watch served me until 2019 and was replaced by Series 4 44 mm.

Here the difference with my old 42 mm was, of course, significant. Big screen, high speed, ECG sensor, which came in handy in a couple of life situations, and by the way, was quite accurate compared to a full-sized device. Watches were forced to fully use their functionality. And after the birth of a child, in order not to wake him up with my alarm clock on my phone, I also began to sleep in them – I’ll say right away that the alarm clock on the clock is just space. Light tapping on the wrist does not wake up as sharply as a loud melody.

ПОДПИШИСЬ НА НАШ ЧАТИК В ТЕЛЕГРАМЕ. ТАМ СОБРАЛАСЬ ТОЛЬКО ИЗБРАННАЯ АУДИТОРИЯ

I will make a reservation right away if my Apple Watch could be connect to androidthen I would not look for a replacement for them, but continued to use it, but the reality turned out to be cruel.

The Android watch market is full of a wide variety of devices of all shapes, colors, materials and manufacturers. But the most important thing is the price difference. The cheapest Apple Watch S3 could be bought for about 12-13 thousand rubles, then the conditional Mi Band started at a price of 2 thousand for the Chinese version without NFC.

After looking at the market, I decided that I needed to buy something that would please the eye, and after the square Apple Watch I wanted something round and the choice fell on Amazfit GTR 2 Sport for 12 thousand rubles. It immediately caught my eye that although the watch is made of aluminum and the screen is covered with glass, the lower part, where the sensors are located, is made of cheap rough black plastic. After the ceramics of the Apple Watch, this is a little disappointing.

Silicone strap it seemed cheap to the touch and after a few days an allergy appeared to it, but replacing it with a nylon one solved the problem, since the straps have a standard watch mount with a width of 22 mm. The quality of the materials, of course, cannot be compared with Apple watches, they are really on a different level there, but the GTR 2 still uses non-consumer goods and the watch looks good enough.

Comparison of Amazfit and Apple Watch

The incoming call interface on the GTR 2 is almost identical to that of the Apple Watch

You can talk about software for a long time, but I will try to stop in time. Interaction Level Apple watch with the iPhone is simply unprecedented. If a message arrives, the phone does not ring, because there is a watch that notifies the user, and when you cover the watch with your palm during a call, the phone stops ringing, no separate connections are needed for voice calls, everything works out of the box.

AT GTR2 It is not that simple. All notifications are duplicated by two devices – a phone and a watch, to receive a call from the watch, you need to create a separate connection of the watch to the smartphone as a headset in the Bluetooth settings, otherwise this function will not work, and covering the watch does not mute the ringer on the phone. It’s these little things that make up the perception of a product.

ПОДПИСЫВАЙСЯ НА ТЕЛЕГРАМ-КАНАЛ СУНДУК АЛИБАБЫ. РЕБЯТА ЗНАЮТ ТОЛЬКО В ОТЛИЧНЫХ ТОВАРАХ С АЛИЭКСПРЕСС

Functionally, both watch models are very close to each other, only the Apple Watch S4 has an ECG sensor instead of an SpO2 sensor. In our time, SpO2, of course, is more relevant, but it appeared in the following versions of the watch and functions successfully.

The menu on both watches works quickly, without jamming, everything is intuitive and transparent. From the functionality already available on Amazfit GTR 2, but which will appear on the Apple Watch only this fall – sleep phase monitoring. However, if you sleep in an Apple watch, then the charge will only last for a full day, while the GTR 2 in my mode of use live for at least seven days, of which I sleep five in them.

Unfortunately, Amazfit GTR 2 does not support the ability to reply to messages, this fact brings them closer to fitness bracelets than smartwatches. But it should be noted that for 6 years of ownership Apple Watch reply to a message since the clock I had no more than a dozen times. Of course, there will be users who use this much more actively, but I did not feel the loss of this function.

The only thing I regret about the transition is the little things that make up the synchronization of the clock and the smartphone. Apple implemented it much better, although many on the forums report unstable connecting GTR 2 to phoneI haven’t seen any such problems myself. Otherwise, the products of the companies do not differ much in functionality, but they differ greatly in price, and the choice is yours. The main thing to remember is that the best watch for iPhone will always be the Apple Watch.