The Amazfit T-Rex 2 was officially unveiled, and it features an AMOLED display, a powerful battery, and multi-band GNSS. Check out Amazfit T-Rex 2 Outdoor GPS Sports Fitness Watch Review.
Pros and Cons
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Rugged build quality | Heart rate accuracy is so-so |
| Excellent battery life | Zepp OS needs a little more work |
| Bright, sharp OLED display | |
| GPS accuracy is excellent | |
| SpO2 (Blood Oxygen) Monitor |
With these specifications and a reasonable price, we have one of the most intriguing outdoor sports watches on the market the Amazfit T-Rex 2 Outdoor GPS Sports Fitness Watch.
Specification
| | Amazfit T Rex | Amazfit T Rex 2 | Amazfit T Rex Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 47.7×47.7 13.5 mm | 47.7×47.7 13.5 mm | 47.7×47.7 13.5 mm |
| Weight | 58 | 66 | 59 |
| Colors | Rock black army Green Khaki Cameo | Astroblack -gold Black wild green Desert khaki | Meteorite black Steel blue Desert gray |
| Waterproof | 5ATM | 10ATM | 10ATM |
| Screen | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
| Touchscreen | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Resolution | 360 x 360px | 454 x 454px | 360 x 360px |
| Battery | 390mAh | 500mAh | 390mAh |
| Normal use | 20 days | 24 days | 18 days |
| GPS mode | 20 hours | 26 hours | 40 hours |
| Dual Band -GNSS | No | Yes | No |
| Sensors | HF Sensor Acceleration Geomagnet Ambient Light | HF Sensor Acceleration Geomagnet Ambient Light Gyroscope Barometer Altimeter | HF Sensor Acceleration Geomagnet Ambient Light Gyroscope Barometer |
Amazfit was already familiar with multisport and outdoor watches, having released two intriguing models in this category: the original T-Rex and the T-Rex Pro. However, the manufacturer felt that this was insufficient and decided to bring a more attractive watch to the market with the T-Rex 2.
The effort seems to have paid off as the T-Rex 2 appears to be a success. Before delving into the details of the new Amazfit T-Rex 2 Outdoor GPS Sports Fitness Watch, it’s important to compare it to its predecessors.
In the spring of 2020, the first T-Rex was introduced to the market. A little over a year later, the Pro model was released, adding to the series. After that, the series went into a long period of silence. Now, with the T-Rex 2, there are several significant upgrades to look forward to.
As the comparison clearly shows, the Amazfit T-Rex 2 can offer some interesting innovations.
- a slightly larger AMOLED touchscreen with a higher resolution.
- has a significantly stronger battery with very good runtimes.
- It was supplemented by an altimeter.
- and the improved distance measurement and location determination with multi-band GNSS.
This makes the Amazfit T-Rex 2 Outdoor GPS Sports Fitness Watch a true outdoor sports watch that can keep up with other comparable models, but we’ll get into that in a moment.
Design
The T-Rex 2 is no different from other models in this series, relying on its durability and resilience. Due to its water-resistance and other military-standard tests, the case is made of reinforced polymer.
The watch, which has a diameter of 47 mm and a weight of 66 grams, is clearly aimed at men who enjoy a more active lifestyle.
Astro black and gold, black, wild green, and desert khaki are all options for the watch – although the latter isn’t yet available.
Display
When it comes to the watch’s external appearance, the display is undeniably a highlight and a true eye-catcher. Amazfit has made the best use of the available space by installing a 454-by-454-pixel AMOLED touchscreen in the available space. The four side buttons on the clock can also be used to control the time, which comes in handy when it’s raining or snowing.
Battery
As already mentioned, the manufacturer has given the new model a much more powerful battery with an impressive 500 mAh capacity. Amazfit provides precise information about the runtimes.
Heart rate monitor is always on and measures at 10-minute intervals; sleep monitoring is enabled; static dial selected; 150 push notifications per day; 3 call notifications per day; 100 times, raising the wrist to display time; 5 blood oxygen tests per day; screen operations for 5 minutes per day; 90 minutes with GPS on per week.
Battery life under heavy usage scenario: 10 days Sleep monitoring is enabled with 8-hour sleep breathing quality monitoring; stress monitoring is enabled; animated watch face selected; 150 screen-waking push notifications per day; 3 call notifications per day; 100 times raising the wrist to display time; 5 blood oxygen tests per day; screen operations for 15 minutes per day; 120 minutes with GPS on per week.
Battery Saver: 45 days Enabling battery saver mode on the watch will turn off Bluetooth connectivity, heart rate tracking, and other features and will only record steps and basic sleep data.
Accuracy 26-hour heart rate monitoring and GPS tracking on (dual frequency, all satellites).
Balanced GPS mode: 50 hours of heart rate measurement and GPS tracking switched on (single frequency, GPS)
Power-saving GPS mode: 50 hours of heart rate measurement and GPS switched on during training (single frequency, GPS with power-saving consumption).
Even if these are manufacturer specifications, which are usually a bit too optimistic, these are still very decent runtimes, only achieved by a few models in this price category.
And even if the battery should be almost empty, the watch is fully charged again within two hours.
OS and Application Capabilities
The Amazfit T-Rex 2 runs Zepp OS of the first version and may experience occasional slowdowns in animations, but this doesn’t significantly affect the user’s interaction with the interface. Navigation is done through four touch buttons, with one button being customizable to launch any application. The firmware offers various interesting features, such as a built-in player, a sunrise and sunset time display utility, remote smartphone camera shutter release, and the option to respond to messages using template phrases or emojis.
To activate the watch, users can use the Zepp mobile app, which also serves as a hub for all health-related data from the device. Within the app, users can configure notification sources, rearrange quick access cards, uninstall software, and update the watch’s firmware. There are eight pre-installed watch faces, and users can access over 100 more designs through Zepp, all available for free. The app store offers 17 additional utilities, including a calculator, brushing assistant, and smart home tools.
Activity tracking
While many other smartwatches come with similar features, Amazfit’s T-Rex 2 has all of them.
In addition to basic calorie consumption and distance tracking, SpO2 and stress tracking are offered as additional options. Breathing rate monitoring is also available as part of comprehensive sleep monitoring.
Additionally, the Amazfit GTR 3 and GTS 3’s 4 in 1 measurement is on board. Heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and stress (heart rate variability) are just a few of the crucial vital signs monitored for 45 seconds, and the results are displayed immediately.
Perhaps the inspiration for the Health SnapShot feature on the Forerunner 255 and 955 was found here.
The T-Rex 2 uses Amazfit’s well-known PAI system, which records all activities and assigns a point value based on their intensity. The user will be able to see at the end of the day how active he was as a result of this.
Sport and fitness
The watch has pre-installed sports profiles for up to 160 different types of workouts and training sessions. Some of the most important modes are listed below.
Running and Walking: Outdoor Running, Treadmill, Walking, Trail Running, Indoor Walking, Walking (Sport), Track Running,
Cycling: Outdoor cycling, spinning, mountain biking, and BMX are all types of cycling.
Swimming: Open water swimming, fin swimming, and synchronized swimming are all examples of different types of swimming:
Outdoor Training: Exercises that can be done outdoors include climbing and hiking as well as other activities like orienteering, rock climbing, fishing, and hunting, as well as skateboarding, rollerblading, parkour, ATV, and dirt biking.
Indoor sports: Sports activities performed indoors include cross-training on machines such as a rowing machine or treadmill and stair-stepping on an exercise stepper; indoor fitness activities such as spinning or yoga; mixed aerobics; cross-training; and group callisthenics. Indoor sports also include body combat and strength training on machines such as a stepper.
Dancing: Square dancing, ballroom dancing, belly dancing, ballet, street dancing, zumba, Latin American dancing, jazz dancing, hip hop dancing, pole dancing, break dancing, folk dancing, dancing, modern dancing, disco, and tap dancing are all examples of dance.
Martial Arts: Taekwondo, Jiu-Jitsu, Kendo, and other forms of martial arts are included in the category of “martial arts.”
Ball Sports: Ball games include soccer, beach soccer, basketball, volleyball, beach volleyball, Baseball softball Rugby hockey table tennis squash handball bowling polo racquetball Ice hockey ice hockey
Water Sports: Sporting activities in and around the water include everything from sailing and kayaking to dragon boat racing and stand-up paddling to indoor surfing and tubing (added via OTA update).
Winter sports: Sledding and bobsledding are two of the most popular winter activities. Snowmobiles and snowshoes are also popular, as are cross-country skiing and biathlon.
Board and card games: Chess, checkers, go, bridge, and other board and card games.
Skipping, archery, equestrian, driving, stair climbing, and triathlon are some of the more unusual activities you can take part in.
The watch automatically detects various forms of exercise, including running, walking, cycling, swimming in a pool, rowing, and using a cross trainer.
Amazfit has also added two new sports features to the T-Rex 2 thanks to their work with the company.
On the one hand, there is a special sports mode for strength training that should automatically recognize dozens of exercises, count repetitions, and record rest periods. After you finish a workout, the Zepp app tells you which muscle groups were worked the hardest and shows you a list of all the exercises you did.
For years, Garmin, for example, has offered a similar feature on various watches, but it was not particularly convincing when it came to recognising an exercise or counting repetitions.
Another novel feature is the web mode for distances greater than 200 and 400 meters, which includes, among other things, automatic curve correction and a virtual pedometer. It remains to be seen how that works in practice and what benefits it brings, but it certainly sounds intriguing.
Finally, the small and compact PeakBeats training analysis, which evaluates your training sessions in detail, should be mentioned. The training load, training effect, ideal recovery times, and Vo2max are all calculated.
Navigation
Although the two previous models Amazfit T-Rex and T-Rex Pro—made the impression of seasoned outdoor watches from the outside, they were actually very robust smartwatches.
The new T-Rex 2 is different. The watch comes with real navigation, route planning, and route import, which is a significant improvement and makes the Rex a real outdoor sports watch.
However, it must be said at this point that it is not yet clear how the entire navigation actually works in practice. The following questions arise in this connection:
- How are routes planned? in the Zepp app or via third-party apps such as Komoot
- How exactly will the route import and transfer to the watch work?
- What does the route guidance look like? Are there turn-by-turn directions, waypoints.
You have to find out all this first to be able to say how good the navigation on the Amazfit T-Rex 2 really is.
Nevertheless, I find it very pleasing and interesting that with Amazfit there is now another supplier of outdoor sports watches.
Multi-frequency GNSS
When discussing navigation, we must also briefly mention the new multi-band GNSS in this context.
This improved distance measurement and location determination technology employs multiple satellite systems operating at different frequencies, yielding much more precise measurement results. Because multiband GNSS is already available on the Coros Vertix 2, Garmin Fenix 7, Epix 2, and the two new Forerunner models 255 and 955, this new type of measurement will undoubtedly become the gold standard.
It is also included in the Xiaomi Watch S1. And, given that Huami, the owner of Amazfit, works closely with Xiaomi, it’s no surprise that the T-Rex 2 now has this feature.
Smart features
Amazfit provides a nice selection of various smart functions on the watch as well as in the associated app, with unusual but useful features like timer and password protection.
Of course, you will be notified of any incoming messages or phone calls. There is also a weather and calendar app, as well as a plethora of watch faces available for download in the app. Making phone calls is not possible because the watch lacks a built-in speaker or microphone. You’ll also be without a music player.
Conclusion!
This year’s big surprise could be the Amazfit T-Rex 2. We’re talking about a rock-solid and extremely durable watch with a large AMOLED touchscreen, an enormously powerful battery, and improved distance measurement and navigation. There is also a large selection of sports modes and many interesting sports and fitness features.
And all of this equipment is available for a very reasonable price of around $229. (The watch can already be pre-ordered; delivery is scheduled for mid-June at the earliest.)
Of course, it remains to be seen how the watch performs in everyday use (which makes a test almost imperative). However, based on the specifications, I consider the Amazfit T-Rex 2 to be a compelling alternative to comparable outdoor sports watches like the Garmin Instinct 2 and the Polar Pacer Pro.
