Amazfit - Active 2 Smartwatch

Moved from Fitbit to an Amazfit active 2 a few months ago. Couldn’t be happier for $100

I have a few devices that I like! Amazfit Active Watch and Helio Ring - theyre good all around fitness and sleep trackers. I use them mostly for sleep, steps and light heart rate tracking during the day. My downside to these is, like a lot of lower price smart devices, my watch only checks heart rate once a minute (unless it's set to an exercise mode), and the ring only every 5 minutes. Then (again, unless it's tracking a workout), it'll aggregate the heart rate data over 5 minute intervals for me to look at. It's all very accurate and gives a good quick picture of my day, but I wanted something with a bit more granularity to check our when I don't feel well. Sometimes I also find myself distracted during the day wearing the watch since it'll also send me notifications for texts and such. Visible 2.0 Armband - this is a new addition for me. I've had it a week now. This device only checks heart rate and HRV, but it is constantly monitoring the heart rate and gives you your HRV in the mornings (or during breathing exercise through the app). The data is presented minute-by-minute, it's incredibly accurate and gives a lot of helpful insights into when I'm pushing myself a little too hard. Downside here, it's subscription based. While my Amazfit watch was a one time like $90 payment, this band is an initial cost of $79 with a $20 a month subscription fee. With a referral code (which I used), it basically made it $59 for the band and the $20 initial first month payment. Slightly better but again, it is financially restrictive for some people. If youre interested though, I'd be happy to provide a referral because I do think it's a useful tool at least to gather information.

Amazfit Balance 2 should be about that price. The T-Rex 3 as well for something more sporty. The T-Rex 3 pro is out of that price range, but it's worth the extra. Or Bip 6, or Active 2 round or square, for a cheaper option with the same sensors and 90% of the features and limited local storage. The current gen of Amazfit devices are really very good.

I got the Active 2. I didn’t like the large square face on the BIP6. Loving the active 2 so far! Just got it today.

Amazfit Active 2. Around 90 bucks. Has GPS and decent HR tracking. Wearing one right now.

I don't think it does calls. But you can read texts.

i ski a bunch in zero degree like temps - amazfit 2 has worked great! days and days and days of battery life - syncs with chest straps.

you cant go wrong with amazfit active 2, bang for the buck

Swimming on the Active 2 is not good. It does not have a proper rest mode and suffers the same fate of the screen needing to be "active" for the physical buttons to function as expected. If you're doing a single non-stop casual swim, it will track stroke/swolf fine, but if you do any kind of interval workout, it will add a bunch of distance and you'll end up with very inaccurate data. Assuming the Vivoactive is similar to how my Fenix 5+, Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 955 all were, it has proper rest modes, interval support, countdowns for starting intervals etc.

I tend to wear my watches about 3 finger width behind my wrist bone. With the TRex 3’s default strap on the tightest hole that’s mostly okay but I do use an external HRM during workouts. If I swap in a different strap (similar in style to the Apple sport band with all the holes in it) I can get the device pretty securely in place and have no issues. With the Balance 2 (using the red strap, I haven’t tried the black one) I have zero issues. If either watch were *any* bigger it would be a problem though. They do look massive on my arm, but I like that style. If you’re not sure, the slightly smaller Active 2 might be a safer bet. Feature and sensor wise it’s almost the same. It doesn’t have multi-band GPS, but neither does my Apple Watch 10 and it doesn’t great with GPS accuracy. Sometimes the specs aren’t the whole story.

I don't think you can get a bigger bang for buck than with amazfit. Active 2 premium does 90%+ what the apple ultra 2 does? For around 10% the cost? Crazy. Want something bigger and 'fancier'? You got balance 2 and t rex pro 3 that look really good and are even a bit bigger with better battery, and more durable.