It looks pretty cool doesn’t it? Similar in looks to the Garmin Forerunner 935. Perhaps that was intentional?
Who knows?
Actually a more important question might be “Who knows what this product(s) is actually called?”. I’ve put all the name variants in the headline and could be wrong but here’s my take
- I thought that Huami = Xiaomi. And that none of us Westerners can pronounce the Cantonese (?) name Xiaomi properly. But apparently they are different companies and Huami make the hardware.
- Amazfit = The brand name. “Amazing Fitness”. Not exactly the coolest of names but maybe “It does what it says on the tin“. Actually, if that’s true, I kinda like that sort of honesty/straightforwardness in marketing.
- Smartwatch = it is what it is. But actually the ‘smartwatch’ is another product version of the Pace 1
- Pace 2, Pace 2S, Pace 1, Stratos, Pace 2 Multisport, Smartwatch, Pace 1 Smartwatch = Confusion
- The box says: Amazfit Stratos. Luckily we now know for sure what it’s called. Except…..
- The name on the invoice of the one I just bought says “Huami Amazfit Stratos Smart Sports Watch 2” #YepConfusion
Disclaimer: This post was written before I received my device and I found it hard to get any information from the company. This post may well be edited frequently if either my review preparation conflicts with any assumptions I make below or if you correct what I already know. This post is half a personal research project and half educational for all of us. Huami/Xiaomi are one of the dark clouds on the horizon I referred to in my 2018 ‘peaktastic’ predictions.
Only read further if you are interested in a general read. This is absolutely not any kind of buying guide or review and may contain inaccuracies.
Background
Around 2016, Amazfit started with the Bip Bip sports watch and a few sports activity bands (Arc, Equator). They scored highly on the ‘meh’ scale.
However The Amazfit Pace 1 was released in late 2016 and looked pretty cool on print. It was readily available in the Far East in 2017 and retailed on Amazon for around $150/GBP120 as it eventually made its way Westwards to our shops. Here’s the Amazon ad, below, just for reference. You can click and see the Amazon reviews, formal features and so on. I’m not expecting anyone to buy it! But please feel free to so some research. The point being: it’s got a lot of good reviews 😉
The Amazfit Pace 1 was initially a running watch with bike profiles added later in 2017. It looked super-pretty on the photoshopped display images. It had 35 hours of GPS-on sports usage. Yep, 35, maybe if wasn’t per-second but that’s not too shabby. It had on-board music. Yep..back then. 2Gb worth for playback through BLE headphones (normally music watches now have 3-4Gb that might be available for musc storage). It had optical HR that, apparently, had many bad days but showed potential at times too. The activity tracker was poorly supported and once the oHR was turned on then battery life slipped to more sensible levels of under 10 hours and that is with the GPS/GLONASS on. It did wi-fi but no ANT+. It took until mid-2017 to get a half decent partner app working.
So a bit of a performance mish-mash all round? Perhaps the hardware is notably better than the software? But POTENTIAL sprang to mind as an appropriately capitalised word.
Amazfit in 2018
In December 2017 this was announced, the AMAZFIT Stratos (Huami Pace 2 Sports Smart Watch)
Initially this is a Chinese version and a Western version(s) will likely hit the US shops at less than $200 (yep). I think the STRATOS is the same basic version but in a carbon-fibre-like shell. Maybe.
Provisional Specs
- GPS+GLONASS (latter might just mean the chip is GLONASS-capable)
- 50m waterproof
- PPG oHRM + external chest strap support
- Touchscreen @320x300px resolution
- Sport modes: running, walking, outdoor riding, swimming pool, open water swimming, indoor running, indoor riding, elliptical machines, mountaineering, trail running, Triathlon
- Other inbuilt sensors: Triaxial acceleration sensor, Gyro, Geomagnetic sensor, Barometric pressure sensor (barometric pressure sensor has now been REMOVED from the specs I have seen), Ambient light sensor
- Battery Life: 5 days (running 30 minutes a day, pushing 200 messages) 35 hours (full open GPS, full heart rate monitoring)
- Onboard music: Bluetooth Music , Phone-free music: connect wirelessly to Bluetooth earbuds and enjoy music and media with the Internal storage for unencumbered phone-free running.
- Metrics include: running distance, time, pace, heart rate, calories, speed, cadence, pace, altitude, and elevation gain/loss. Power NOT MENTIONED
- Notifications, apps, SMS and calls
- Alerts: vibration
- AliPay mobile payments
- App Compatibility: Android 4.4 / iOS 9.0 and above
- Amazfit Watch 2 and Watch 2S are priced at 999 Yuan (approx $150) and 1499 Yuan (approx $225)
- A ‘Plus‘ version also exists and the only incremental difference appears to be sapphire glass.
- Firstbeat Analytics – VO2max, TE, TD, Recovery Time, the next sports recommendation, real-time sports guidance
Hang on there. Firstbeat Analytics. That normally means something. Let’s look at what Firstbeat say. First up they call it the Amazfit Stratos by Huami. But look the Amazfit Stratos has 8 onboard Firstbeat metrics. Maybe more isn’t necessarily an indication of being the ‘best’ (the Garmin 645m has 11 FB features for what it’s worth here) BUT I would take that level of cooperation with Firstbeat as an indication that they are taking their product very seriously.
Resources
Here is my ‘first runs’ post with my new STRATOS…cool!
Detailed Review – Available
The highly detailed review is now avaialble.
Summary
It really does come below $200 with those specs. It looks like a great deal. I just can’t see it taking on the Garmin 935 in the real world of pro-tri – as the devil will be in the detail. The detail of the headline functions will probably hide gaps in the software/hardware combo.
But But But as a tri-lite model it might take on the Garmin 735XT or Suunto Spartan Trainer WHR – even though it might not be technically as good as either of those two, the price will still cause ripples. Let’s face it; how many people do we know who are doing their first tri and want to buy a tri watch…$200 sounds good. Caveat Emptor. $500 for a Garmin 935 sounds like jumping in the pricey deep-end.
This is just one of these watches that I’ll fall on the late majority on the innovation bell curve. TOO much of it is to good to be true. $300 less than the Forerunner 935 AND aesthetic upgrades over it AND on board music AND firstbeat?
I’ll just wait.
That Chinese company bought Ironman…lot of Chinese people, lot of SE Asian people. Lot of athletes. High volume, low margin works.
I should clarify my point because I really didn’t. I don’t doubt all those things are in the watch. I doubt that all all those things in the watch work out the gate. High Volume usually equates to problems.
Fast+Cheap≠Good
I could be totally wrong, but instincts tell me there will be lots of issues.
see my other comment.
yeah they are coming from nowhere to a fully fledged GUI tri watch in a year and a bit. i think it’s those timescales and the learning that will be the issue. but we’ve no idea who they may have bought in with expertise. proof of the pudding is in the eating
Xiaomi are a qaulity brand. So have no doubts that this will be good.I have a Laptop pro and its like a macbook pro at less than half the price ( there are a couple of differences windows rather than mac os, not a pixel diplay but a stunning HD,and no thundernolt). My son has the A1 which has the latest android and again excellent build quality. Yes this wont be a top of the range Garmin but it will be a fairly good approximation that will be good enough for most. Its certainly good enough for me.
good to hear that.
i’m getting excited about getting my hands on the amazfit watches
Nice and Xiaomi are known for their product excellence across the board, from home automation systems, to 360 cameras, to electric scooters, etc…
As you write, the fact that they have Firstbeat metrics shows that they are very serious about this watch and I assume that FB have done some kind of “validation” as they probably wouldn’t want to be associated with any old crappy product…then again they seem happy to let Garmin use the terrible data from their wrist oHR to calculate meaningless metrics and even stuff (PC) that normally requires HRV data.
Talking of FB metrics they have some “new” ones like “RT Coaching” and “Personalized Training Plans : Cardio”
FB: yes they do 😉 that was a wink.
Xiaomi/Huami quality – click through to look at the amazon reviews of the earlier Amazfit Pace 1 iteration. it’s interesting as the reiews look genuine and good at 4/5. but delve deeper to more discerning users (probably like you) – I don’t think the key components are accurate. I also know some Asian bloggers who have their hands on these devices earlier. again they seem to be NOT so upbeat. but let’s wait for the english version of this new Pace 2 device.
Good point about crap-in-crap-out: My last walk (https://analyze.dcrainmaker.com/#/public/1bb08a9d-d291-4cac-7878-653c50849bab) with oHR at a very chilling pace gave me as result a Aerobic TE of 2.4 and a Anaerobic TE of 1.0 – ??♂️
The hardware might be awesome, but if its anything like using other Xiaomi products (looking at you IP camera) the supporting app, software and operating manual will be largely incomprehensible and terrible.
Even Garmin is sucky with their software but atleast it is in english and there is a lot of customer support/forums etc.
I love a chinese cheapie and often willing to make sacrifices to save a buck but even for a tight arse like me this seems a step too far. Maybe in the coming years though….
I agree, but….just to play devil’s advocate for a moment, you can get some gems every so often. I picked up a pair of wireless Bluetooth earbuds from a chinese company called “Lechgo” off of Amazon at a really low price (I think is was sub $30). They are amazing, and not just the sound.
The battery life using both is approx four hours (nearly 12 hours if you are using just one), the fit is perfect, Like I can go sprint hard for a quarter mile and I know they ain’t falling out. The case to set them in is a charge cradle and that alone lasts for 5-7 charges. 30 bucks and I had a pair of headphones that rival my Bose (wired BT sport earbuds) in sound and fit better.
It’s a diamond-in-the-rough kind of scenario here, and i’d recommend them too if you can find them, but not every chinese company puts out cheap or weird knockoffs/actual products. I will say the instructions were in simplified mandarin, so not that helpful and pairing was kind of a pain and the ear bud itself while fits, is really thin and flimsy feeling.
I haven’t owned anything by Xiaomi, and I don’t doubt you in the slightest. If they ever (and that goes for any company from China) want to really expand into the western markets they are going to have to either co-dev with a western team (building on the same code and hardware with a western release in mind. No more translation after the fact) or really invest in localization teams changing the structure of the entire ecosystem to fit the mindset of a western audience.
yes i had a similar experience with xplova X5. but they got their translation act together on the X5 EVO. was hoping that xiaomi have gone through the same learning curve on their second iteration of this watch…we shall see in due course
One youtuber (LifeOfGamer) has confirmed that no bike sensor supported which is bad for multisport watch
yep. but for a lower end watch not so bad
2 is standard with silicone band, 2S has leather strap with sapphire glass. otherwise the same. I’ll wait till gearbest or fasttech have a flash sale when the “international” version is released.
Robert, I’m beginning to think that your gadget cupboard is bigger than mine.
Plenty of room here. Sold off the 3 Polar watches and scales. Got the sale of the century on a forerunner 630 and grabbed the index scale when it dropped to £100. Stryd, check, shft check and a few odds and ends. See loads of room now. I’m stepping up my running with far more intricate workouts. Something Garmin does trump Polar at I’m sorry to say. This 630 feels cheap in comparison to even the M400 but it offers what I need for at least the next training cycle
tell me about hte Polar scale…mine is on the way.
630 may feel cheap but after all these years i’m coming round to it having the proper look and feel of a sports-only watch – especially after the vivoactive3, whihc is the same as the 645 (pretty much)
Polars scale I’m sorry to say was the weak link in the polar ecosystem. It’s a basic weighing scale with Bluetooth. Very expensive for the lack of features, ie no body composition, no WiFi. However it’s offset somewhat by the flow software, that tells you if your on track with whatever your weight goals are!. Horses for courses
At least Polar Balance gives a definite and accurate result (even when you try multiple times). My Garmin Index gave me different values every time I stepped onto it (e.g. – two measurements made one directly after another gave me different weight numbers, and thus the rest of the values, in the same conditions). To be honest, it was pretty unreliable for me.
I am looking for a smartwatch that looks elegant, like the watch that we use to wear earlier, and have tracker also most important battery. I don’t want it to charge daily.
Is this watch can work for 4-7 days without charging ?
battery life is stated above as 5 days (running 30 minutes a day, pushing 200 messages) 35 hours (full open GPS, full heart rate monitoring)
will this look too masculine for women for everyday use?
that’s a personal call. But it is a large format watch. It has looks & size that are similar to the garmin 935