Amazfit T-Rex 3 – First Opinion & comparison

At well under $300, Zepp Amazfit’s T-Rex 3 offers an intriguing alternative for those seeking a large adventure watch with a beautiful screen and impressive battery life. It’s somewhat like the Garmin Fenix 8, but over $700 cheaper and with smoother scrolling compared to Garmin’s occasionally laggy interface.

The T-Rex 3 features a distinctive octagonal case and comes with a reasonably rugged band. While it doesn’t look as premium as a Garmin, nor are the band or app quite as polished, the T-Rex 3 has some attractive watch faces and an intuitive user interface, more akin to Wear OS than to Apple Watch or Garmin Fenix 8. The interface is data-rich, smoothly scrolling, and generally very functional. It’s easy to navigate, and the scrolling menus work well on a round screen—unlike Garmin’s.

The in-workout experience feels similar to Garmin’s but doesn’t quite match the depth of Garmin’s data. One area where Garmin excels is map access. While Garmin’s recent updates to map functionality have made it more user-friendly, the T-Rex 3’s map is more cumbersome to use. The T-Rex 3 is generally very smooth when navigating between screens, but as seen in the video, there are still some delays in rendering the complete map when zooming in and out—though these delays are shorter than those found in Garmin.

I’ll return with a more detailed review of the T-Rex 3, but based on what I’ve seen so far, it offers excellent value for its price. The smart features and physiological tracking look promising, though I’ll need to explore them further. The bottom line is that while the Fenix 8 and other Garmin models are certainly superior—albeit much more expensive—options, the T-Rex 3 competes well with alternatives like the Suunto Race, Coros Vertix (MIP), or Polar Grit X2 Pro. In certain aspects, it might even outperform them.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 vs Amazfit T-Rex 2

Here’s a comparison table highlighting the differences between the Amazfit T-Rex 3, T-Rex Ultra, and T-Rex 2:

Thoughts

Six years ago, I reviewed Amazfit’s first Stratos watch. I was blown away by its features, which were excellent for the time. I decided to write an extensive, bible-like review that generated interest and traffic. However, few people seemed to buy it, making it hard to justify the time I spent on it. Since then, I’ve steered away from the brand, partly because the initial sensor quality wasn’t great and partly because I didn’t want to waste my time. That said, Amazfit has always been a brand I’ve kept an eye on, and my interest grew further when it became part of Zepp.

The T-Rex 3 seems to be an improvement on its predecessor and a potentially formidable competitor to any brand bold enough to compete in the mid-to-low price range for map-based adventure sports watches.

I’m excited to be spending some time with this watch. Fingers crossed it turns out to be a good one.