Amazfit - Band 7

I’ve had two fitbits. The first died in less than two years. On the second one, I can’t get the charger to work even after I cleaned everything and ordered a replacement. So I too am done with Fitbit. I ordered an Amazfit Band 7 for $50. It hasn’t arrived yet but hoping for the best.

I am reporting back after two weeks with the Amazfit. Pros: the depth of intelligence is much deeper and the number of things it tracks is higher. It seems a lot more sophisticated than the Fitbit. I like the band. Cons: I don’t think the heart rate monitor is as accurate. I wear two when I Peloton so I can see my heart rate on the screen. That one routinely has me at 140-170, which was consistent with the Fitbit. The Amazfit has me at 125 max. Overall I like the Amazfit better and it was only $50.

After much investigation and hesitation, I bought this Amazfit Active 2 Square ten days ago. My previous fitness tracker was an Amazfit Band 7, which I loved. Unfortunately, the screen broke and popped out for no reason. I tried gluing it back on, but after years of service it was time to let it rest (and this gave me the perfect excuse to buy a new one). I reduced my choices to the Bip 6 and the Active 2, and I decided on the Active 2 for several reasons. It has better build quality and a more compact design, as well as a couple more features. It also seemed to be free from the problems with the buttons and water that I read about in reviews of the Bip 6. I chose the square model over the round one because of the quality and features, but I must admit that I also preferred the square design. After testing it out, here are my thoughts on the pros and cons, in case anyone else is on the fence. # Pros: **- It has it all (almost).** Although losing Alexa from the Band 7 was disappointing, I gained Zepp Flow and many other third-party apps, which more or less compensates for the lack of Alexa. As for the other features, there are plenty of useful ones for any situation. Sleep, heart, oxigen, temperature, altimeter, barometer, NFC, compass, weather, maps, tides, agenda, voice control, voice notes, phone calls... and you can even tell the time! :) It's amazing that they can put so much in such a little device. **- Screen and materials.** Oh boy it looks good! Information is very readable and it looks bright and colorful in any scenario, even under the sun. It also feels premium, well built and with quality materials, much better in person than in the pictures. **- Very customizable.** You can make many different devices with both the integrated apps and features and the 3rd party ones. It packs so much that you'll find your perfect config for sure. And if you are brave enough to build your own watchface with your own shortcuts, then it will become a perfect tool. **- More comfortable than I thought**. The Band 7 was really light and small, so I was worried that the Active would be uncomfortable to wear during sleep. However, so far it has been great. I was worried about the size, but it fits me perfectly. It's a strap monster too!. Almost any 20mm strap will look good. # Cons: **- Fingerprint magnet.** This might not seem that important, but it's the thing that annoys me the most. I'm almost developing OCD from constantly having to wipe the screen. Do you guys know of any treatments or hacks to reduce this? **- Battery life.** It isn't that bad, but I was used to getting 10–14 days with the Band 7 and now I only get 4. It's not a big deal though; it's just a matter of getting used to giving it a quick charge while you're having a shower, for instance. **- Sensor accuracy.** Although I'm aware it's relatively cheap compared to high-end watches, the GPS is sometimes unreliable and the sleep and PAI features don't seem to accurately reflect my activity. **- Lack of Alexa and home integration.** I'm still exploring its capabilities, but not having Alexa or any alternative is a major drawback. Some useful features are also missing, such as a toggle for activating or deactivating the rise-to-wake function. **- Limited storage.** There is very little free storage space — enough for some apps and watch faces, but not for music or many heavy apps. Not a problem for me though, as I don't plan to use it as a music player. **- Maps**. This is the first time I have used integrated maps on a watch. Although I was initially impressed, I soon felt a sense of disappointment. Having seen Google Maps on other devices, I was expecting something similar, but this is nothing like that. The maps are very basic and the navigation is not as useful as I thought it would be. # Conclusion: Overall, I would recommend it if you can live with the disadvantages. It's a huge step up from a standard fitness band and, with the help of some third-party apps, it's a very powerful everyday companion. However, if you are very serious about fitness or outdoor activities such as hiking, I'd look for other options. It's a good device, but it's not for everybody. It depends a lot on who you are and what you will use if for. This is a device that does a lille bit of everything, but nothing exceptionally well. Remember that it's part of the Lifestyle series, so I'd say it's designed for urban use with the occasional informal outdoor trips. For office work , everyday life and basic fitness: almost perfect. For any specialisation or heavy users: definitely not the best. Any questions, let me know. Happy to help! \^\_\^

Thanks for your feedback, as the round premium is basically the same watch. You are right about the fingerprints, it's nothing that affects the watch use, but I can't stand seeing it dirty (just personal). Fortunately at night it's much less noticeable :) Regarding the battery life, no, I don't have AOD nor raise-to-wake on. I have all measurements activated and at the most frequent sampling, though. Heart rate every minute, Oxigen, temperature, stress, etc, everything. Workouts I make from 4 to 6 per week, arund 1 hour each (indoor calisthenics and weights). GPS maybe two or three times per week, short distances, mostly walks just to play around (I don't run). And several 3rd party apps like for playing a sound every hour (I'm used to the hourly beep from casio watches and I wanted something like that), battery tracking, water drinking reminder and other stuff that shouldn't eat much battery life anyway. I play a lot with it, that's true, because in these first weeks I can't help waking it up and checking apps for no reason :) I think it's very much in line with what Amazfit states in their product sheet, so 5 days is ok (would love 10, though). https://preview.redd.it/6mphj6bhezkf1.jpeg?width=642&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c976b0153397b1486381d98d2fb34a888c546695

If you want to try something inexpensive but solid, get one of the Amazfit band products. Lots of bang for your buck and tracks different strokes well. Not sure how it would deal with changing strokes mid-lap but it does well with IMs.

What I found with mine is I had to reboot it every couple swims after a while then it worked great again. I have a 5 and a 7.

I’ve got the Amazfit Band 7, no complaints, doesn’t do blood pressure but do any of them?

I have the Amazfit Band 7 and don't have any complaints. It was annoying with notifications, so I just disabled those and now it's fine.

Thank you for the review, I'm in the same exact boat as you - had a Band 7 but it gave up after a while and have had to glue down the screen too, and currently looking for a replacement. I wish there was a new Band version but it looks like they gave up on the line possibly since there was no news for ages. Regarding the battery, from quite a few sources I have seen that the battery life on the square is quite considerably worse than the round version - which is quite a big con to me. You would think they would have gotten it to be more equal. Also the lack of Biocharge is quite disappointing considering how bad the normal recovery algorithm is. I'm hoping they do something magical and somehow make the sleep tracking amazing out of nowhere, but until then I'll just keep considering the Active 2 square and waiting for alternatives to come out. I think the rumoured upcoming Fitbit Charge 7 might really give the Active 2 square a run for its money (if it's not too much money).

I bought a Amazafit 7 a few weeks ago. I’m happy. My Fitbit sense went into death spiral, virtually unsupported at this point. Love the new AF 7. More features than I care to learn, both fitness and smart watch features are abundant, the Zepp app is easy to use and syncs easily, unlike the Fitbit since google sucked it up. For the whopping price of 42$ it’s a deal.

I use an Amazfit band 7 watch with the (included) free ZEPP app. It was cheap to buy, the app is really good, and the battery lasts for weeks on a single charge. This model is probably out of date now but I can recommend the Amazfit/ZEPP brand in general. You might want to take a look at the Amazfit "bip" range for more budget friendly options.

Could be fake reviews. Amazfit (by Xiaomi) are legit and very cheap as well.