If you've been scouring the market for a new smartwatch, then the Amazfit brand would've definitely popped up during your research. An established player in the wearable segment, Amazfit is well-known for feature-rich smartwatches at a relatively affordable price. The Amazfit T-Rex 2 I reviewed was no exception.
The successor to the popular Amazfit T-Rex, the T-Rex 2 offers a slew of upgrades for a slightly higher price of RM799. So, how does the T-Rex 2 fare against its competitors and more importantly, would this be your next smartwatch? Well, read on to find out!
Officially launched in Malaysia on 6 July 2022, the T-Rex 2 sports a vibrant 1.39-inch AMOLED circular display with a resolution of 454 x 454 pixels. The display is bright with its peak brightness of 1000 nits, so it can be clearly seen even in direct sunlight, and the touch screen is excellent and responsive too.
While not an LTPO display, the AMOLED panel has an Always On Display and an adaptive brightness setting without compromising on battery life too much. The smartwatch comes in four colour variants - Astro Black & Gold, Ember Black, Wild Green and Desert Khaki. Moreover, it comes with a silicone strap equipped with a classic pin buckle, and its body is made of polymer alloy.
The colour variants of the T-Rex 2
The T-Rex 2 fits nicely on my wrist despite being slightly bulkier than its predecessor
A closer look at the smartwatch's design
The smartwatch is bulkier than the original T-Rex, weighing 66.5 grams and measuring 22mm in thickness. But it's still relatively lightweight for daily use and outdoor activities as how it is intended to be used. In fact, the T-Rex 2 is just slightly thicker than its predecessor, which is quite impressive given how it packs a beefy (for a smartwatch) 500mAh battery.
As for its design, the T-Rex 2 retains the classic round watch motif from the original, albeit with some notable refinements. Put it side-by-side with the original T-Rex, you can see that the T-Rex 2 has a more elegant look, especially in this Ember Black colour. The round design also makes it look like a regular watch, a plus for those who aren't fans of the 'techy' look that other smartwatches exude.
If you're keen on standing out and having a more 'tactical' look, we'd recommend the Desert Khaki or Wild Green colour options. With that said, I'm not a big fan of the T-Rex branding on the bottom of the smartwatch and the various writings beside its four buttons. In my opinion, the watch looks much more elegant and minimalistic without them.
The T-Rex 2's box
The T-Rex 2 (black) is slightly bulkier than bigger than the original T-Rex (green)
Continuing from previous T-Rex smartwatches, the key highlight of the wearable is its ruggedness. And with the T-Rex 2, Amazfit is doubling down on durability. Its water resistance has been upgraded to 10ATM, and it even passed 15 military-grade tests, including the MIL-STD-810G drop and shock rating certification.
Its feats of durability don't stop there either. Amazfit claims that the smartwatch is super-tough from the inside out. Among other things, it's capable of dealing with up to 70 degrees celsius of heat, -40 degrees cold resistance, 240h humidity resistance, 96h salt spray resistance, ice and freezing rain resistance and shock resistance.
While I'm not going to test these claims anytime soon, I'd say that I've been impressed by its ruggedness so far. The T-Rex 2 survived without scratches, even after a couple of hiking trips and a jungle trekking trip to a waterfall.
The UI of the T-Rex 2 is intuitive
As for the tech specs, Amazfit didn't disclose the chip or RAM capacity powering the smartwatch under the hood. But the wearable itself offers only basic 'smart' features, which don't require much computing power. Despite that, the ZeppOS that the T-Rex 2 runs on has some unique features, including its very own mini-apps downloadable from the Zepp app's App Store.
One feature that wasn't available on the T-Rex 2 release was real-time navigation and the ability to import GPS routes onto the wearable. Thankfully, Amazfit did keep its promise, and an update was introduced in early August 2022. These two new features work well enough and are handy, though setting them up can be quite complicated. For example, importing routes requires you to create a custom file and a separate app to sync it onto the T-Rex 2, which could leave users frustrated. Furthermore, both features only work while paired with an Android smartphone, which is a bummer for iPhone users who want to use the T-Rex 2 as an alternative to the Apple Watch.
The offline routes feature works well, but setting it up could be a headache-inducing experience
The real-time navigation feature on the T-Rex 2
In fact, the experience when pairing with an iOS device is far worse compared to an Android smartphone. For instance, notifications on the smartwatch are only limited to certain apps when paired with an iPhone. On Android, you can customise to have practically any notification pop up on the T-Rex 2. Moreover, the Zepp app will always push notifications on the smartwatch even if your iPhone's display is on, which is not only redundant but could get annoying really quick. The same problem is not present when you connect it to an Android device.
Besides that, there are mini apps that can be helpful, like a calculator, GoPro camera control, smartphone camera control, Home Connect smart home controller, memo, and more. However, most of these apps only work if you connect the smartwatch to an Android device. Furthermore, there is no onboard storage for you to upload songs or any built-in mic and speaker to answer calls directly on the smartwatch.
The available mini-apps for the T-Rex 2, its latest update version and the UI of the Zepp app
As this is a fitness and outdoor-oriented smartwatch, Amazfit has added more than 158 sports modes for all your exercise needs. It's also decent at 'gamifying' your workout via the Zepp app. You can compete for the best workouts with your friends, though they do have to own an Amazfit smartwatch too for this to actually be useful.
There's also a setting to automatically detect up to 8 workouts that work decently well, though I did encounter a few instances where the watch thought I was cycling when I was actually inside of a moving car. Speaking of which, the GPS Dual-band & 5 Satellite positioning was also accurate. Coupled with the imported route feature, you can leave your smartphone at home when doing outdoor exercises.
The sleep monitoring data from the T-Rex 2 on the Zepp app
Other health metrics from the T-Rex 2, as shown on the Zepp app
The T-Rex 2 has a variety of sensors for health-tracking, including Amazfit's self-developed BioTracker 3.0 PG biometric sensor. It provides 24-hour monitoring of heart rate, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and stress levels. It can also detect your breathing rate and easily be prompted to measure these 4 important health metrics in one simple tap. Moreover, there's the PeakBeats workout status algorithm, which assesses specialised data like maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 Max), recovery time, training load and training effect.
Sleep tracking works well too. You can monitor your sleep quality on the Zepp app with a host of data collected by the T-Rex 2. These include sleep stages and daytime naps, sleep breathing quality at night and even suggestions for sleep habits improvements. In relation to that, I'm also a big fan of using the smartwatch as a stealth alarm whereby you can be awakened by the T-Rex 2 vibrating on your wrist instead of a loud alarm disturbing your spouse or roommate. Speaking of which, the vibration motors on the device are noticeably better, which in my opinion, gives the smartwatch a more premium feel.
As for the battery life, the T-Rex 2 was stellar. Throughout my one month of use, I've only needed to charge it 3 times with relatively heavy use. It can easily last up to 3 weeks on a single charge with intermittent use. The 500mAh battery is charged via a custom charger inside the box and fully recharges the smartwatch from 7 per cent in 1 hour 30 minutes. There's also a Battery Saver mode that disables a lot of features but extends the T-Rex 2's battery life even further. In fact, after turning on the battery saver mode at 7 per cent, the battery stayed at the same percentage even after 24 hours.
You can extend the battery life further with the Battery Saver mode
It takes 1 hour 30 minutes to fully charge from 7 per cent
All in all, the T-Rex 2 is a solid smartwatch that's competitively priced at RM799. If you're looking for a wearable for your workouts and outdoor adventures, its long battery life and rugged durability make it a compelling choice.
One thing you should consider, if your budget allows for it, is whether you should spend more on the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 (RM899). Compared to the T-Rex 2, the Galaxy Watch4 offers more advanced features as a wearable device. But you do have to be in the Samsung ecosystem to fully utilise it.
Besides that, another option to consider is Amazfit's other smartwatch offerings, such as the GTR2, which has other notable features such as onboard storage, a mic and a speaker. However, its battery life and durability are not as good as the T-Rex 2, and it lacks real-time navigation and route import.
So, what do you guys think of the T-Rex 2? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and as always, be sure to stay tuned to TechNave for more trending tech news and in-depth reviews such as this.
Tech Specs and features
This is the Amazfit T-Rex 2 official tech specs list:
- 47.1x47.1x13.65mm, 66.5 grams
- 10ATM water resistance, MIL-STD-810G
- 1.39-inch AMOLED display, 454 x 454 pixels resolution (326 PPI)
- 500mAh battery
- ZeppOS
- Bluetooth 5.0 BLE, GPS Dual-band & 5 Satellite positioning
- BioTracker 3.0 PG biometric sensor (supports blood-oxygen, 6PD), Acceleration sensor, Gyroscope sensor. Geomagnetic sensor, Barometric altimeter, Ambient light sensor
- 158+ sports modes,
- Android 7 and above, iOS 12 and above
Pros: Long-lasting battery life, extremely rugged, and a vibrant display
Cons: No onboard storage, the Zepp app can be quite buggy, and it doesn't work well with iPhones
Conclusion: Great for those looking for an affordable GPS smartwatch to complement their active outdoor lifestyle
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