Product test

Amazfit GTR tested: Half smartwatch with long battery life

Jan Johannsen
7.4.2020
Translation: machine translated

The Amazfit GTR's battery lasts a very long time, but you can neither pay nor install new apps with the smartwatch.

GPS, heart rate measurement and constant notifications from your smartphone: the Amazfit GTR has plenty of opportunities to drain its battery. However, you cannot pay on the go with the smartwatch and there are no plans to install additional apps.

Four case materials and a beautiful display

Amazfit currently offers the GTR in eight versions. The larger version with a diameter of 47 millimetres and a stainless steel case was available to me. Other versions are made of aluminium, plastic and ceramic. The leather strap included in the scope of delivery does not invite you to use it as a sports watch. However, it can be changed without tools and exchanged for other straps with the widely used 22-millimetre connection.

Easy exchange of the wristbands.
Easy exchange of the wristbands.

The Amazfit GTR fits me comfortably and is pleasant to wear. Before you put it on, it looks big and bulky, but this impression disappears on the wrist. You can customise the look of the watch to suit your taste. There are countless watch faces to choose from in the Amazfit app.

The AMOLED display is large enough for me with its 1.39-inch diameter. The resolution of 454×454 pixels on the AMOLED display ensures a razor-sharp image. The colours are vibrant and the high brightness ensures that the screen content could theoretically be clearly visible in the sun. However, the surface is so reflective that it is more comfortable to hold the smartwatch in the shade.

Large display with beautiful colours, but not suitable for the sun.
Large display with beautiful colours, but not suitable for the sun.

Operation is largely via the touchscreen. You swipe and tap on it. No instructions are necessary. After a short trial and error, all gestures are explored. The individual apps are listed one below the other. The two buttons on the right-hand side have less frequently used actions. The top one is used to wake up the watch, whereby the movement of the wrist is usually sufficient when you look at the watch. Otherwise, the button always takes you back to the start page and you can switch off the GTR by holding it down. The lower button calls up the list of available sports.

Two buttons on the side complement the operation via the touchscreen.
Two buttons on the side complement the operation via the touchscreen.

Amazfit claims that the GTR uses a low-power chipset which, together with the other hardware, enables a battery life of up to three weeks. However, the smartwatch was unable to keep my daily companion off my wrist for that long, consuming around five per cent of the battery charge per day over the five days. Extrapolated, this brings me very close to the promised three weeks. With many other smartwatches, however, even three days is utopian.

The weather report is one of the pre-installed functions.
The weather report is one of the pre-installed functions.

An app that collects and displays a lot of data

The Amazfit GTR has GPS and heart rate measurement on board and uses this data for sports tracking, among other things. Twelve sports such as jogging, cycling, hiking, climbing, skiing or swimming - the housing is said to be waterproof to a depth of 50 metres - are available to choose from

Start screen of the app and an exemplary heart rate history.
Start screen of the app and an exemplary heart rate history.

While the heart rate measurement runs continuously, the GPS only switches on for some of the sports. This means that you may have to wait several minutes for the location to be determined. There may be dropouts when you are on the move. In my test period, the watch did not record any cycling routes without gaps.

The software can recognise activities automatically. However, it only recognises slow and fast walks by default. You have to teach the watch other types of movement, but then you have a free choice and ideally it automatically recognises badminton, basketball or even brushing your teeth.

GPS tracking with dropouts and behaviour recognition, which you have to train.
GPS tracking with dropouts and behaviour recognition, which you have to train.

If the Amazfit GTR is connected to your smartphone via Bluetooth, you can control the music playback via the smartwatch. If you want the notifications of an app to appear on the display on your wrist, you need to open them in the Amazfit app (Android / iOS) for each app manually.

You have to approve notifications on the GTR for each app individually and can enter any amount of data in the app.
You have to approve notifications on the GTR for each app individually and can enter any amount of data in the app.

Amazfit displays your PAI value on the watch and in the app. The abbreviation stands for "Personal Activity Intelligence". This is an indicator for your activity that is designed to make heart rate data even more meaningful. In 2017, the then wearable manufacturer "Mio" introduced it and now also offers it to other companies for use. Keeping the value above 100 is said to reduce the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. If you don't wear the watch or are not active enough, the PAI value drops. For me, it has not yet become a motivating factor. As a creature of habit, I still count my steps and look at the calories I've burned. I haven't taken up the offer to feed the app with countless pieces of data about my body - from chest to calf circumference.

In a few days, I still haven't reached a PAI of 100.
In a few days, I still haven't reached a PAI of 100.

I miss a few things about the Amazfit GTR, without which I can't see it as a fully-fledged smartwatch. You can't install any other apps. There is no app store, no voice control and no option to pay wirelessly with the smartwatch. You also can't read emails, let alone delete them directly if they are unimportant. On the AMOLED display, you only see the text that appears in the notification on your smartphone. No other actions are possible. I don't want to write novels on the smartwatch, but a short response option in Messenger would often be helpful. You can reject calls on your wrist, but not accept them

Conclusion: Half the smartwatch with a long battery life

The Amazfit GTR is an affordable smartwatch that impresses above all with its long battery life. It sits comfortably on the wrist, has a good display and is easy to use, even without instructions. However, it is not smart enough for me - especially in comparison to the Apple Watch and the models with WearOS. As a sports watch, the GTR is still passable, but offers me too few options for interacting with my smartphone from my wrist.

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