Amazfit GTS2 and GTR2 offer big new features at a great price

Amazfit has announced the GTS2 and GTR2, with a bunch of new features and improved hardware.

The Amazfit GTS was a big hit with the Wareable review team last year, with a great mix of features and slick fitness experience at a great price.

It represented the improvement in quality of wearables coming out of China, and we’ve been curious to see how Amazfit would improve the sequel.

Let’s start with the GTS2. For Amazfit’s square smartwatch the smartwatch is thinner and even lighter than the predecessor – which we found to be nice and wearables, 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.

The round-faced GTR2 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.

Both devices can now receive calls from the wrist – and also get a boost in health tracking too.

It uses Huami’s BioTracker PPG sensor, and as expected, Amazfit has added SpO2 tracking to both the GTS2 and the round GTR2.

But we’re really pleased to see that the company has put a little more thought into SpO2 than rivals.

While the likes of Huawei Watch GT2e have limited SpO2 to spot checks, Huami has developed two new features: OxygenBeats and the Somnuscare sleep engine. These two work hand-in-hand to monitor blood oxygen during sleep, as well as giving you a breathing quality score.

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.

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 GTS2 and GTR2 look like compelling upgrades to two of our favorite budget smartwatches.

There’s no word on global availability yet, but in China the Amazfit GTR 2 sports version is priced at 999 yuan ($147), and the Amazfit GTR 2 1,099 yuan ($161).

Source: Android Authority