I've tested several smartwatches lately, ranging from Huawei and Samsung to Apple Watch. And in short, at the moment, from my point of view, there are only two camps: for amateurs Android – Samsung Watch, for admirers iOS / MacOS – Apple Watch. Everything that is located between them, not only from the evil one, but close to complete uselessness.
But what if you want something unusual, inexpensive, but relatively useful? That's right, knowledgeable people (read – geeks) choose Amazfit bip! In this material – briefly about five facts for the device and five facts against. And yes, I bought myself this watch in a conscious state?
Must be taken because of:
1. Low cost
Frankly, I am not a fan of AliExpress and other eBays with Amazons, so I buy almost everything in regular offline stores or online, but with an official Russian guarantee. The main thing is here and now. The watch Amazfit bip was snatched on OZON (yes, this is the very shop that tried to figure it out some time ago) for only 4,000 rubles. How do you like to write: here I screwed a discount, saved on delivery there, added a cashback service – voila, the price is quite adequate. Oh, I see that you went to AliExpress to look for 'beep'. Well, did you find it much more profitable? If you are not embarrassed by the delivery within 20 days and 40 minutes in the queue at the cashier of the Russian Post … I will keep quiet.
2. Display
This item could be positioned above the low cost. The Amazfit bip uses a transflective color display that acts like electronic ink during the day, reflecting daylight, and at night or in low light conditions, transmits light from the built-in backlight. Awesome technology! Of course, AOD on OLED – matrices now looks more modern, but not as unusual as the screen Amazfit bip: in the daytime the picture is seen very clearly and clearly.
3. Dials
You download the application 'Amazfit bip & Cor WatchFaces' to your smartphone and choose any watch faces you like from an almost infinite number of 'watchfaces'. When I bought a bip, for the first two weeks I just did what I needed to find the look of the watch I needed. In the archive, applications can be sorted by any parameter: by interface language, by color, by clock type – analog or digital, new or old, by the presence of a heart rate monitor or date. In general, for all occasions. I set myself a dial with a black background and analog arrows, indicating the battery capacity in percent, with the temperature at the current moment (day / night), with a weather display in the form of a pictogram. Yes, it is possible that the round dial looks strange on a square clock, but I don't care – the main thing is that analog clocks are perceived faster.
4. Working time
I am not at all worried about the operating time of my devices, since one full day is enough for me, anyway I will put at least one device on charge at night. However, Amazfit bip 'play' for more than two weeks without a sleep break, meaning they are turned on at night.
5. Notifications
Most often people buy Amazfit bip precisely because of the good work of notifications. They always come from any smartphones and applications. The vibration is powerful enough to be felt on the wrist. All notifications can be read in chronological order. The message text is well readable.
No need to take because of:
1. Display
Yes, yes, despite the fact that I recorded the screen of this device in positive moments, it also has negative properties. Although the display is in color, you actually end up with a very pale 'color' that is not always readable. For example, red is almost invisible, unless it dominates the dial. In poor lighting conditions, the screen is almost invisible. Yes, there is a backlight, but when it works, the colors are displayed just awful. Therefore, a tip: be sure to watch it live somewhere before buying, as in videos Amazfit bip is usually shown in very good lighting. One gets the impression that the display here is just a bomb, and this is far from the case.
2. Battery performance
The discharge on my 'beeps' is somewhat non-linear: from 100 to 90 go away almost in one day, from 90 to 20 – in a couple of weeks, for sure, and from 20 to 10 – instantly. On the web they write about 25-30 days of work. I don't think Amazfit bip can last that long. In my case, three weeks maximum (without training and counting the heart rate).
3. Notification indications
Displaying notifications is undeniably a great thing. However, if you did not immediately pay attention to the watch, then you will most likely forget about the message, since there is no notification indicator in the interface Amazfit bip. That is, looking at the clock display, I cannot tell if messages have arrived. The watch Huawei also has no identification marks. But they are on the fitness bracelet Huawei Band 3 Pro. For example, a Samsung watch displays a small dot.
4. Fitness functions
In this device, the functions related to sports are rather poorly implemented. For example, there is no elliptical trainer that is so important to me. Because of what the watch incorrectly calculates distance, calories, etc. Moreover, I very often noticed that with a long break between heart rate measurements Amazfit bip shows incorrect data, as a rule, overestimated, and with active training – underestimated. That is, you measure your heart rate manually – 130, and the display shows 90.
5. Appearance
A somewhat controversial point, but I still think that Amazfit bip can hardly be called cute: a square piece of black plastic with a primitive strap. Yes, straps and bumpers are sold on Ali, but that's a slightly different story.
Conclusion
In general, Amazfit bip is an unusual device for special connoisseurs of all kinds of electronic gizmos with its pros and cons. So far, a lot suits me: a small price, notifications, a long battery life and hundreds of watch faces that are displayed without screen backlighting.
What bracelets or watches do you use? Mainly for what purposes?