“Which strategy to the following campsite? I feel we have to paddle again!” I may simply hear my companion over a roaring headwind slicing throughout the picturesque whitecaps on Rose Lake within the Boundary Waters.
I absolutely understood his frustration and doubt. The primary 5 campsites we handed have been all occupied and we have been scraping the underside of the proverbial barrel. What’s extra, an overcast sky and some twisty portages made cardinal instructions much less intuitive.
However I smiled, appeared down at my watch, and tapped the compass. We have been certainly heading west. I tapped once more, 2 extra hours till sundown. One closing faucet — thunderstorms weren’t going to roll in till nicely after darkish. If solely it had a button to activate a tailwind, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 would have been good for the state of affairs. Alas, we paddled on, within the right course, and made camp earlier than darkish.
I obtained an early pattern of the T-Rex 3, Amazfit’s most strong, adventure- and fitness-capable watch so far. It proved an incredible match for each the testing circumstances (my annual BWCAW tour) and the tester — I’m a relative novice within the smartwatch area. Two weeks of testing proved the Amazfit T-Rex 3 has greater than sufficient to justify its comparably low worth.
Briefly: Greater than 170 completely different sports activities and actions, 100m water resistance, AI health teaching, and customizable privateness options spotlight some of what the T-Rex 3 can do. Whereas its capabilities will take many months and even years to completely discover, its $279 worth makes it an incredible first smartwatch for these simply getting into the market. It’s not a substitute for a cutting-edge smartwatch or the ability customers that want every little thing on their wrists. However for out of doors adventurers and health buffs on the lookout for a complete set of instruments, it’s a sound, approachable funding.
On the lookout for extra? Take a look at GearJunkie’s roundup of Greatest Health Watches.
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Measurement
48.5 x 48.5 x 13.75 mm -
Weight
2.4 oz. (68 g) -
Battery
700 mAh -
Single-band GPS battery life
42 hours in accuracy mode (180 hours max GPS batt. life) -
Most battery life
27 days (typical use) / 81 days (clock solely) -
International satellite tv for pc networks
6 -
Display/Bezel
1.5″ Gorilla Glass with stainless-steel bezel -
Navigation succesful
Sure -
Barometric altimeter and compass
Sure -
Water resistance
10 ATM (100 m)
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Stunning show with customizable choices -
177 completely different sports activities modes -
Out of doors-specific instruments (compass, maps, navigation, and so forth.) -
Companion AI app for further teaching
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Some cumbersome navigation between menus -
No speech-to-text with iOS
Amazfit T-Rex 3 Evaluate
Candidly, this was my first foray into the fashionable world of smartwatches. I’ve used some fitness-tracking wearables that provided a couple of extras, like music and message notifications, however none that come anyplace close to the capability of the T-Rex 3.
So once I first unboxed it, I discovered the duty of correctly testing it a bit daunting. Fortunately, Amazfit priced the T-Rex 3 to interact newbies like me and constructed it out in order that we are able to go from newbie to superior over the lifetime of the watch.
As for the development, the T-Rex 3 has a giant 1.5-inch AMOLED show behind robust Gorilla Glass, and encased in a chrome steel bezel. It has a silicon strap and weighs 69 g (just below 2.5 ounces).
Setup
There’s not a ton of labor to do once you first unbox the T-Rex 3, however it’s a bit extra concerned than a regular timepiece. Along with some further hyperlinks and {hardware}, your watch comes with a magnetic charging platform — don’t lose this. I point out this as a result of it’s concerning the measurement of 1 / 4 and black. I’ll say it once more: Be conscious with the charger!
You’ll additionally must obtain the companion Zepp app. This might be your management middle and assist maintain your watch up to date with the newest firmware. Getting began is easy and pays dividends when you take the time to run by means of it as soon as.
Along with updating the watch, you possibly can add some biometric knowledge (weight, physique measurements) and set some preferences proper off the bat (watch face desire, management middle functions, and so forth.).
One closing essential notice on setup is privateness. Amazfit touts the customizable privateness choices for storing — or not storing — your knowledge. Customers can select from everlasting cloud storage of GPS knowledge, short-term cloud storage, no cloud add, and even disabling GPS permissions completely. And the T-Rex 3 gives a number of knowledge backup choices.
Standout Options: What Can It Do?
As famous, I’ve had about 2 weeks to make use of this watch. And I’m nonetheless discovering what it will possibly do. However Amazfit highlights quite a few the T-Rex 3 options that set it aside from different fitness-focused smartwatches.
Initially is the battery life. In “typical use,” the T-Rex 3 gives greater than 3 weeks of battery life (27 days). Beneath heavy use, it’s practically 2 weeks (13 days). For outdoorsy people — and for a lot of movement-tracked health functions — the T-Rex 3 has a most GPS battery lifetime of as much as 180 hours (greater than every week).
Complimenting the watch’s longevity is its versatility. The T-Rex 3 can observe a complete of 177 completely different actions and workouts. I received’t listing all of them out, however suffice it to say it consists of all of the biggies — working, biking, climbing, power coaching, pool and open water swimming — and likewise a number of extra area of interest pursuits, like leaping rope, archery, spearfishing, hula hooping, and even tug-of-war. Admittedly, a few of these head-scratchers (driving and chess, for instance), however odds are, when you like doing it, the T-Rex 3 can measure it.
Rounding out the marquee options is the companion Zepp app. Particularly, that is the place customers can obtain AI-based teaching, coaching plans, and a wide range of personalised well being and wellness assessments. Many of those options are free, and a few include subscription choices.
I examined out the AI coaching part and devised a 4-day-per-week coaching routine that includes free weights, body weight workouts, and a few drugs ball and battle rope coaching. The AI coach gave me units, reps, and relaxation information, together with notes on when to extend depth and by how a lot. At first look, the teaching seems to be sound.
Amazfit T-Rex 3: Out of doors Examined
The Boundary Waters journey provided splendid testing circumstances for the T-Rex 3’s sturdiness and adventure-focused utilities. Its compass got here in helpful quite a few instances, although it required recalibration if the watch was left idle for a couple of minutes. It is a easy and fast course of: simply roll an animated ball alongside the surface of the watch face.
I additionally set my location the final time I had cell service, so I had every week’s price of climate forecasts on the prepared, even with out cell reception. The watch additionally has maps functionality, which makes use of six satellite tv for pc techniques. I used to be capable of geolocate whereas within the Boundary Waters, nevertheless, I didn’t obtain maps for the realm forward of time, and thus didn’t use it for journey navigation.
I’ll replace the assessment as soon as I’ve been capable of check out this characteristic. Amazfit claims the T-Rex 3 will present contour maps, ski resort maps, route information, and turn-by-turn navigation.
I additionally swam for about an hour, however got here nowhere near the watch’s 10 ATM depth ranking. The T-Rex 3 dealt with it like a champ. I additionally made use of some helpful extras, just like the white and crimson flashlight characteristic and the climbing tracker, which helped me calculate my progress alongside a 600-rod portage.
Drawbacks
Total, I actually like this watch. However every little thing comes with compromise. This watch doesn’t take or make calls like an Apple watch. It has speech-to-text performance, however just for Android telephones (I’m an iPhone person). And actually, I’ve but to find out methods to load music onto this watch. It’s a peripheral characteristic that I wouldn’t use usually, however it will possibly load playlists; it’s simply not intuitive to determine how.
Last Ideas: Ought to You Purchase?
There may be much more to unpack with the Amazfit T-Rex 3. A part of that owes to my restricted testing window forward of the launch. Nevertheless it’s additionally a mirrored image of all this smartwatch has to supply. I plan to attempt it out for the AI-constructed exercise plan, cardio exercise over the winter, and to route some fall bikepacking adventures.
Even then, there might be a lot packed into the T-Rex 3 I received’t have touched. Given its $279 worth — nicely into the low finish of multifunction smartwatches — it seems to be and appears like an incredible worth, with loads of utility and longevity to accommodate years of journey and private wellness.