Amazfit has launched its new T-Rex Ultra outdoors watch, as the wearables world offers its answer to the Apple Watch Ultra.
Hot on the heels of Garmin’s AMOLED Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 965, and rumors of a forthcoming premium Huawei smartwatch, Amazfit has gone big with a new version of its T-Rex for premium adventurers.
It packs in a 316L stainless steel case with military-grade toughness, and a 1,000-nit AMOLED display.
> Best outdoor watches reviewed
It looks like a Fenix from a few generations ago. Huge, oversized, and slightly dated. It’s unashamedly massive.
However, many larger watches go for a titanium build, so the use of stainless steel makes for a heavy and bulky device, which is only suited to larger wrists.
While its Ultra moniker is an obvious retort to the newest Apple Watch, it’s a closer competitor to the Garmin Epix.
But really, under the hood, there are modest improvements over the (excellent) T-Rex 2.
Mapping has been improved and uploaded GPX-guided routes are now available with downloadable offline maps.
And like Garmin SatIQ, the dual-band GPS will intelligently switch modes to save battery. That means it won’t struggle to find the more accurate (but power-intensive) L5 satellite signal when it’s not available.
On battery life, it will last 20 days in smartwatch mode, and a new mode will offer 80 hours of endurance tracking – which will reduce the GPS sampling for long-distance hikes and expeditions.
But then there’s the price. $399/£429 is around half the price of a Garmin Epix or Apple Watch Ultra, and battery life is orders of magnitude greater.
Wareable says:
The T-Rex Ultra does what Zepp Health does best. Offer a massive spec sheet of benefits at a fraction of the price of its rivals.
The T-Rex range has always offered massive features at a wallet-friendly price, and with so much attention now on the outdoors smartwatch space thanks to the Apple Watch Ultra, it arrives at a good time.
However, with an enormous, heavy case and dated-looking design – there are massive compromises here.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.