The Amazfit GTR 3 is a stylish entry-level sports wristwatch that provides remarkable performance for its low price. However, it falls short of Amazfit’s high expectations.
It boasts solid fitness tracking credentials, with a wide range of workout modes, precise GPS tracking for outdoor workouts, and trustworthy heart rate monitoring. The heart rate monitor wasn’t as quick to adapt to adjustments as you would like to rapid interval practice sessions. However, that’s unlikely to be a problem if you’re new to working out.
The watch itself is stunning, with a small body and aircraft-grade aluminum bezel in two sensible neutral hues, as well as a brilliant AMOLED display. However, the watch’s screen puts a burden on the battery, which runs out after a week of pretty normal use. That came as a surprise given Amazfit’s boast of 10-day battery life under intensive usage. Although it’s far from terrible, and on a level with Fitbit’s AMOLED devices.
The Amazfit GTR 3 will be available in October 2021 for $179.99 / £149, which is a reasonable price for a GPS running watch, especially one with an OLED display. The Amazfit GTR 3 Pro, which was released on the same day, costs $189.99 / £179.
The Amazfit GTR 3 sports a sleek design with a resin casing and aircraft-grade aluminum bezel and lugs for a more professional appearance. It is available in two colorways: Thunder Black and Moonlight Gray, both with matching straps and casings.
It has a casing that dimensions 45.8mm x 10.8mm and weighs 43g with the silicone strap. That’s a bit more than the lightweight Coros Pace 2. However, it’s still incredibly light, and the watch is small enough to be overlooked in regular use.
The watch includes two physical controls: a spinning dial for accessing and scrolling through the main menu, and starting and pausing activities. Also, and a button for rapid access to the list of activity monitoring modes. It’s a different layout than other sports watches, but it’s also able to start monitoring a workout without having to navigate through many menus.
The crowning beauty of the watch is its vivid OLED touchscreen display, which is bright and snappy as anyone would’ve come to expect from Amazfit’s watches. It’s excellent for a watch at this price point, and its hi-res ensures it can display a lot of information.
The display is made of toughened glass with an anti-fingerprint layer, but it’s the high-quality screen on the Amazfit GTR 3 that really impressive.
The 1.39″ AMOLED display is extremely bright, with a maximum brightness of 1000 nits. This means it has excellent outside visibility, even in direct sunshine, as well as excellent touch sensitivity and vibrant colors. There is an ‘always-on’ option too, but it drains the battery life.
Amazfit claims a battery life of 21 days in usual use and 10 days in heavy use for the GTR 3, it fell well short of even the latter statistic.
Using GPS monitoring and heart rate monitoring, like with any sports watch, may affect battery life. Using dynamic watch faces and choosing always-on mode will both deplete power faster. However, the always-on setting was unneeded because the watch woke up dependably when lifted wrist.
With an animated face and SpO2 monitoring enabled, as well as one monitored workout every day, the watch’s battery lasted over a week before needing to be charged. That’s reasonable and comparable to many similarly priced smartwatches, but it’s well short of Amazfit’s own figures.
The GTR 3 uses Amazfit’s own operating system, which gave a smooth, mainly bug-free performance. The only drawback was that dynamic faces caused a little latency, which might be a restriction of the watch’s technology.
As you’d expect from a fledgling operating system, there aren’t many other tools available for download through Amazfit’s shop — only additional faces and a tiny collection of health-related applications for things like alerting you to drink water, measuring your BMI, and checking for color blindness. Hopefully, the range will grow in the next months and years, but it’s still far from the diversity provided by Garmin Connect IQ.
There’s also a microphone for using Amazon Alexa voice control. It’s unfortunate that you can’t make and receive calls over Bluetooth, but that would be too much to expect from a watch in this price range. If that’s a must-have feature for you, choose the similarly-looking Garmin Venu 2 Plus instead.
Unfortunately, there is no onboard memory for music, but you can manage your phone’s music player. There’s also a remote for controlling the camera app on your phone.
Ironically for a sports watch, the weather app is among the most helpful tools, offering a summary for the entire week ahead, as well as recommendations on whether today’s weather will be good for outdoor workouts and fishing.
Despite its extensive array of activity monitoring options, the Amazfit GTS 3 is primarily an entry-level, user-friendly sports watch. Six of its workout modes can track and detect automatically, which is fantastic if you’re forgetful. However, keep in mind that you’ll need to set it up in the app first.
The watch’s GPS performed admirably, charting a pre-measured 5km course to within 200 meters. The automated workout monitoring, on the other hand, takes a bit to kick in. Amazfit doesn’t say how long you’ll be working out before it gets active.
The heart rate tracking generally corresponded to the statistics obtained by Garmin Fenix 7 and was enough for everyday use and distance jogging. During indoor cycling classes, the watch’s heart rate monitor didn’t adapt to changes as quickly as other higher-end sports watches. This is unlikely to be a problem for runners just starting out on their fitness journey. However, it’s something to keep in mind if you’re serious about heart rate zone training.
The GTR 3, like other Amazfit watches, compiles and simplifies your heart rate data from the previous seven days into a single statistic called PAI. The greater your heart rate, the more PAI you get, and your aim is to maintain a rolling score of at least 100 on a constant basis.
It’s similar to Fitbit’s Active Zone Minutes on an Apple Watch in that it provides a clear objective to strive towards. However, PAI has the benefit of having a single figure that’s exceedingly easy to grasp. Is the PAI too low today? Move around more. It’s as easy as that, and it’s really useful if you’re seeking a tool to gently guide you towards healthy behaviors rather than support you in serious sports training.
Before you begin using the Amazfit GTS 3 on a regular basis, take the time to configure sophisticated sleep tracking with SpO2 monitoring. This puts a bit more pressure on the battery, but it’s well worth it for the large boost in accuracy and additional data on sleep phases, including REM sleep.
One key benefit of all Amazfit watches introduced in the last several years is their ability to monitor naps as well as nocturnal sleep. Taking a quick power nap of roughly 20 minutes is suggested, as far as you don’t miss the deadline in the day, and will be contributed to your sleep score.
If you’re ready to move beyond a simple fitness tracker and into a more real sports watch, the Amazfit GTR 3 is a good option. It provides a lot of fitness monitoring options for a low price. Its hardware and software are both nicely designed, and it’s compact and light enough to wear every day. Its battery life falls short of Amazfit’s claims, so be ready to charge it weekly. Don’t anticipate installing third-party programs. However; Amazfit’s Zepp OS is still in its early stages, and its app store is devoid of content.
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