Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2 global launch: big new features at a great price

Amazfit has announced the GTS 2 and GTR 2, with a bunch of new features and improved hardware – and Amazon’s Alexa baked right in.

Boasting advanced health and fitness metrics, high-precision heart rate and SpO2 monitoring, sleep tracking, an amazing long battery life, and with voice smarts built right in, the new Amazfit smartwatches certainly look the part and might just have the tech on board to rival devices with much bigger price-tags.

Read on for the full rundown on Amazfit’s next flagship smartwatches…

Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2: Design and build

Whether you’re looking for a more traditional circular watch aesthetic, or a more contemporary rectangular smartwatch design, the new Amazfit duo has you covered.

Let’s start with the GTS 2. For Amazfit’s square smartwatch the smartwatch is thinner and even lighter than the predecessor – which we found to be nice and wearable, if a little plasticky.

The design has also been improved, with a little more detail on the case – although it will still get plenty of Apple Watch comparisons.

The screen is a generous 1.65-inch AMOLED punched up to 450nit, so it should be plenty bright enough.

The round-faced GTR 2 also gets a serious overhaul, with a much-shrunk bezel and thinner, sleeker build. It has a 1.39-inch AMOLED screen and again a punchy 450nit.

Whatever form factor you decide upon, you’ll be getting an AMOLED watch display protected by 3D Corning Gorilla Glass with optical Diamond-like Carbon and anti-fingerprint coatings.

The case and straps can be customised to your needs with a range of materials and finishes on offer, depending on your specific use case for the watch.

Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2: Fitness features

Built around the PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) Health Assessment System, your Amazfit smartwatch will collect the data from its array of sensors.

You will receive your personalized PAI score, based on your unique health and activity data from the last seven days.

Both devices include GPS and GLONASS, 12 sport tracking modes and 5ATM water resistance.

Amazfit also lets you punt out sport tracking to Strava and other third parties, so your data isn’t stuck in the Amazfit app.

While the Amazfit app – now branded Zepp in the West – is a perfectly reasonable experience, we like to see workout data in established ecosystems.

High-precision heart rate monitoring

Both serious and casual athletes will be able to take advantage of the BioTracker 2 PPG optical heart rate sensor, which tracks your heart rate.

Not only will you get data 24/7, it will also monitor your resting heart rate, provides heart rate zone feedback during workouts using vibration alerts, and can even warn you about an abnormal heart rate reading.

OxygenBeats for SpO2 tracking

It’s not all about heart rates when it comes to monitoring health and exercising more efficiently. Any high-end smartwatch worth its salt now offers SpO2 tracking, and Amazfit’s new flagships are no different.

The OxygenBeats feature harnesses the SpO2 sensor inside the BioTracker 2 to detect your oxygen levels, sensing changes in those levels by looking at the color of your blood.

A low blood oxygen level may lead to dizziness, headaches, or even cardiac arrest, so monitoring is essential – and it’s even more useful when leveraged during sleep…

Advanced sleep metrics and stress monitoring

Amazfit’s sleep tracking is a key aspect of the new watches. Sleep monitoring with the flagship devices include analysis on sleep stages – light, deep and REM – as well as data on the quality of sleep breathing using the SpO2 sensor.

This offers insights into sleep patterns, provides suggestions for improvements, and could reveal sleep disorders that may lie undetected.

In addition, if you’re the sort of person who likes to grab some precious zzzs during the day, the new Amazfit smartwatches also support nap recognition, so you get a much more comprehensive sleep analysis picture.

You will also be able to use the smartwatches to analyze your stress levels. The app will offer a relaxed, normal, medium or high reading, with suggestions for how you can manage stress and feel better.

Alexa built-in

Amazon’s Alexa is baked right into the new smartwatches, offering you voice controls on the fly.

You can ask the digital assistant questions, get translations, set alarms and timers, create shopping lists, check the weather, control your smart home devices and a whole lot more.

However, for those times when Alexa isn’t available – as a data connection might not be possible – there’s also an offline voice assistant available too for voice operations such as beginning a workout, or taking a heart rate or SpO2 reading.

Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2: Hardware

The new Amazfit smartwatch duo also boast an array of impressive smartwatch skills and functions including:

• A built in microphone and speaker, meaning you can take calls directly on your wrist using Bluetooth.
• Customizable watch faces with over 50 digital faces to choose from.
• 3GB of music storage – enough for around 600 songs.
• Haptic vibration feedback so you won’t miss a key notification.

Big battery life

Both of the new Amazfit smartwatches feature an impressive battery life.

The GTR 2 will operate for 14 days with typical use, and 38 days in basic use before it needs charging; it’s 7 days typical and 20 days with the GTS 2.

For any serious endurance athlete, you’ll be pleased to know that the battery life includes 25 hours of continuous GPS tracking, with heart rate monitoring switched on.

Both of the new watches are also waterproof to 50 meters, making them an ideal companion for both indoor and outdoor swimming.

Amazfit GTS 2 and GTR 2: Price and launch date

The Amazfit GTR 2 – which can be rotated 180 degrees so as you can have the buttons on whichever side suits you best – comes in a Sport Edition (aluminum case, silicone strap) or Classic Edition (steel case, leather strap).

The GTR 2 launches on 30 October priced from $179.

The Amazfit GTS 2 launches on 1 November in the US, 15 November in the UK and costs the same as the GTR 2 – $179.

You’ll be able to buy direct with Amazfit or shop with Amazon.

We’re fans of what Amazfit is building with its wearables empire, and while certainly not perfect, elements like PAI, the new sleep and blood oxygen tracking show that it puts thought into features – not just sticking them on to bolster the spec sheet.

The GTS 2 and GTR 2 look like compelling upgrades to two of our favorite budget smartwatches.