Amazfit T-Rex Pro review: Rugged and respectable

Huami is one of the fastest-growing brands in the wearables space right now. The manufacturer may have found its success with Xiaomi’s Mi Band, but its own Amazfit range has done quite well in creating mass-market fitness bands and smartwatches that are feature-full and don’t break the bank. The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is one such smartwatch.

The device with me picks up all the qualities of its predecessor, the Amazfit T-Rex, from last year. However, the refreshed version boasts a number of hardware upgrades and improvements. Is it an improvement over its predecessor? Read our Amazfit T-Rex Pro review below and find out.

What you need to know about the Amazfit T-Rex Pro

• Huami Amazfit T-Rex Pro: $179.99 in the US, Rs. 12,999 in India

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is a rugged fitness watch that targets sports enthusiasts who like to play it rough. The smartwatch boasts 15 military-grade certificates for being able to handle extreme environments. It also upgrades the water resistance from 5ATM on the previous model to 10ATM. This means the watch should be able to survive underwater for up to 100 meters instead of 50 meters.

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro features a 1.3-inch AMOLED always-on display, 18 days of promised battery life with a 390mAh battery, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, and Huami’s self-developed BioTracker PPG 2 sensor for heart rate and SpO2 measurements. It also has an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a barometric altimeter.

The body of the T-Rex Pro is made of plastic. Its round dial has four navigation buttons, two on each side, just like its predecessor. There’s a silicone strap attached to the main unit with a sweat-resistant design.

With all these attributes, the T-Rex Pro comes in at Rs. 12,999 in India and $179.99 in the US. It stacks up against the HONOR Magic Watch 2, HUAWEI Watch GT 2, Mi Watch Revolve, Fitbit Versa 2, and multiple other sub-$200 smartwatches. In its own ecosystem, the T-Rex Pro is slightly cheaper than the Amazfit Stratos 3 priced at Rs. 13,999 (~$193). It costs the same as the new Amazfit GTR 2 and GTS 2, but those aren’t rugged smartwatches and target a different kind of buyer.

What’s good

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro does many things right. Its basics are solid, in that things like step tracking, continuous heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen readings, GPS, notification alerts, and sleep tracking just work. The watch offers more than 100 activity and sports modes, so you won’t be left wanting more.

The first thing that’ll strike you is the bright and vivid display of the Amazfit T-Rex Pro. The color screen is pleasantly responsive, and its always-on functionality works as expected.

What I really admired was that even with the always-on feature turned on, the smartwatch managed to give me five whole days of heavy usage.

That said, you can greatly extend the battery life of the watch if you leave the always-on setting turned off. Amazfit claims the T-Rex Pro can deliver nine days of juice in heavy usage and 18 days in basic usage. From my experience with the T-Rex Pro and Amazfit smartwatches in general, that sounds about right.

Overall, the package that you get is quite sturdy and durable. With improved 10ATM water resistance, it was a cakewalk taking the T-Rex Pro in the shower or giving it a good ol’ dip in the sink. Of course, I couldn’t take it out for a swim given COVID restrictions for public pools in my area, but you shouldn’t have a problem with that.

Read: The best running watches you can buy: Garmin, Polar, Coros, and more

What’s not so good?

For all its good qualities, the Amazfit T-Rex Pro also has its problems. For starters, it doesn’t support third-party apps, just like most of its siblings in the Amazfit range. Don’t expect to sync your fitness stats with other apps like Google Fit or Strava, and forget about things like Spotify to play music without needing to carry your phone around.

The T-Rex includes workout detection for activities like walking, cycling, etc. However, in my experience, the watch could not automatically detect my evening walks or cycling bouts. I had to physically start the tracking to make it work.

The design of the watch is another thing that limits its appeal. It doesn’t look bad by any means, but it’s quite bulky and might not appeal to everyone. My wrists are slender and the watch really sticks out, looking a bit odd. Additionally, switching straps is not going to be easy as there’s no quick-release mechanism.

Lastly, the watch’s GPS needs some work as it tends to go a bit off route, just like what I witnessed with the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini. It’s not a huge issue if you’re not a stickler for accurate GPS tracking, but it could do with some improvements.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro review: Should I buy it?

If you want a value-for-money GPS smartwatch that’s tough and can withstand harsh environments, then you can absolutely go for the Amazfit T-Rex Pro. It’s built to last on land and underwater and packs enough bang for your buck, with a few compromises that are not too hard to digest.

Alternatively, you can consider the GTS 2 or GTR 2 if you want a simpler design and aren’t into big dial smartwatches. You can also consider the Fitbit Versa 2 or a sub-$200 Garmin watch.