The market for wrist-wear activity tracking devices shows no signs of abating. With more than 206 million consumers worldwide in 2021, this number is expected to smash the 300 million mark by 2025. In a bid to keep up with market leaders like Apple and Samsung, Zepp launched its Amazfit GTR 4 smart watch toward the end of last year and promised a wealth of features at a price-point lower than some of its biggest rivals. But how does it fair in comparison to the big boys? M&F took a closer look to find out.
Zepp says that the Amazfit GTR 4 is designed to complement a professional and active lifestyle for those with busy schedules. Indeed, the GTR 4 blends modern health management technology with a high-end design, meaning that you won’t have to compromise on style in order to stay in the loop with your health. It has more than 150 sports modes, and boasts upgraded GPS technology. In testing, we found that the GTR 4 quickly embeds itself as part of your daily lifestyle, with morning updates on such things as the current temperature outside, or how long you were asleep.
Of course, you don’t have to opt for a smart watch in order to track your health, but combining the fitness tracker with a time piece makes perfect sense. Firstly; you won’t have to wear two straps and secondly; you don’t feel like a complete buffoon when you try to check your generic wrist strap for the time several times per day! The GTR 4 doesn’t stop at tracking your fitness while offering a way to check the time. It also has audio storage capability, meaning that you don’t have to carry your cell phone around the gym to listen to some banging beats, but if you do need to have your phone close at hand for business or other pressing matters, then the Bluetooth capability means that you can take calls on your GTR 4 without the need to reach for your phone. It also connects to Amazon Alexa.
The Amazfit GTR 4 is Strong and Sleek
The Amazfit GTR 4 has an aluminium frame, making it durable and up for any challenge, and yet it is incredibly light at 34 grams, so it won’t distract you form work, or working out. From a water resistance standpoint, the GTR or is capable of handling swimming or snorkelling with no fear. It has a simple, sleek design, and the clock faces can be changed too, since they are completely digital. The screen has a 326 ppi resolution, making it super crisp. The GTR 4’s accompanying app (Zepp OS) is very quick to set up and offers insight into your current state of recovery, fitness goals reached, calories consumed, and even advanced data such as your blood oxygen level, and a stress indicator for mental health care.
The tracker is also adjustable in terms of its sensitivity, so if you find that it’s not picking up your steps as you walk, you can increase the threshold and get it just right for you. There are plenty of modes for gym newbies, and elite athletes too, with strength straining modes and a wealth of different exercises that you can monitor out of the box. The interface is simple enough that you can switch between multiple different styles of workout in a single gym session too, allowing you to see the devil in the detail.
How does the Amazfit GTR 4 compare?
Perhaps one of the most notable features that is lacking on the GTR 4 is that you can view emails, but you can’t easily type an original reply to them. Instead, there is the potential to send a pre-configured generic reply. This is a shame, and something that is offered by both the Apple Watch and the Samsung smart watch. Perhaps it will come in a future OS update but for most people, the ability to check an email while on the go is good enough, and if the need arises to reply, then you can jump on to your phone or other device as the need requires. But, when it comes to bang for your buck, the battery life of the GTR 4 is where it’s at. You can expect more than an entire week of life from just one charge, and up to 14-days if you aren’t using it intensively. That puts it ahead of Apple and Samsung. There’s even the possibility of getting around a month of charge when set to low power mode.
The Amazfit GTR 4 is priced at $199 on Amazon ( ) / £199 via Amazon UK (The UK link is important as this was sent from UK office), but no matter where in the world you may be, whether you have a preference for metric or imperial units, Celsius or Fahrenheit, those options are configurable in the app settings too. The Amazfit GTR 4 is available in three colours: Superspeed Black, Vintage Brown Leather, and Racetrack Grey, and the swappable strap means that you can match your watch to any outfit.
The Verdict: Super-long battery life and robust build, along with the convenience of storing music, ease of selecting workouts while on the go, all combined with a great look and feel makes the Amazfit GTR 4 a pretty amazing piece of wearable fitness tech at a price point that won’t break the bank.
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