Background: I have had the original Pebble, a LG, ASUS and Samsung smartwatch as well as a Fitbit HR Charge. Unfortunately the Pebble was put out of business. The Android Wear watches I liked...except for the daily worry about is the battery going to last. I wanted something to monitor my sleep but...the batteries always needed charging. I loved the Samsung S2 but the rotating dial froze up...so then I was on the fitbit which is a good little watch...but didn't like how it looked on me and it was hard from me to read the watchface. So along comes the Amazfit Bip. On sale for $65.00. What the heck...I'll give it a try but I'm not expecting much for $65.00. I have had this now for one week. I step out into the sun...I can read the watchface perfectly...I don't have to do the hand shade thing or look for cover in order to see what is on my screen. This literally lights up out in the sun. I will admit that the watchfaces are not anywhere close to being refined as the Android Wear for Tizen smartwatches...but honestly...they are fine. I've picked a few different ones I rotate through and I find that I honestly don't miss the more refined watchfaces. Here is what has me sold on this watch...I have had this for over 7 days now. I charged it up completely 8 days ago....my battery is currently at 74%. That is phenomenal. It has GPS on the watch. I will go for a walk and I start the activity and it maps the route that I went. It synchs up with Google Fit. I honestly don't know the accuracy on my steps, sleep and so on...but for me....it's close enough. The darn thing is so light and it is comfortable. It is "plasticy" in how it feels but I really am fine with it. I get my notifications...My phone rings...it vibrates, I get a text it vibrates and it displays the message. It's very tiny but still...I wasn't even expecting it to do that. I don't need to do everything on my watch...that's why I got the phone. Honestly...other than the watchfaces...This phone is more than perfect. I'll take a couple of weeks between charges over a cool looking watchface that ends up burning up my battery anyways. Will this be the watch for everyone? No! But for me...I have the perfect watch now. My search is over for now. Most bang for the buck. I can only suggest giving it a try and seeing if it meets up with your needs. Hope this helps someone reviewing this watch and trying to make the decision to try it out or not. I was there too...and I almost passed...so glad I didn't.
This watch is fantastic. I am moving from a Pebble and did not want to spend $200+ on the FitBit equivalent so I did my research and picked up this watch. It has some good and bad, but the good outweighs the bad by a lot.
CONS:
- No additional or 3rd party apps for the watch
- Out of the hundreds of watch faces very few are setup for US date structure
- Band is kinda small for a big fat guy like me (I have 3 holes left)
PROS:
- Battery life is amazing. After 4 days it is still at 85%
- Display quality is insane
- With hundreds of watch faces (additional free app needed) you will find something you like
- GPS, HR, Stopwatch, Timer, Weather, Activity and Sleep tracker and more make this a great multi use watch
- Extremely customizable notifications
- Integration with Google Fit
- Very thin and light
- Charging cradle, not just a cable
I got my device yesterday. I was pumped--a GPS watch that monitors heart rate for under $100? Score. I've been biking more recently, and I wanted something that allowed me to leave my phone home, but Garmin and TomTom watches are way too much for my beginner self. Plus, I don't care about phone notifications, or onboard apps, or whatever, I just wanted a tracker that tells time. I trust "off-brand" products typically, and this watch had what I wanted at a price point I can swallow.
For the record, inside the box was the watch, a (useless) manual, and a usb charging cradle. It did not come with a wall outlet adapter, but it's the same 5 volt charger that any cell phone uses, so if you have this watch, you probably also have a cell phone, which means you will have a sufficient charging option.
I attempted to set it up before I had to leave yesterday afternoon, but it didn't work immediately so I put it aside until I got back home last night. Then frustration ensued. I wasn't annoyed the first ten minutes. Sometimes devices take a bit longer to connect, whatever. The Bluetooth connection went off without a hitch. Then I started noticing a theme: I tried syncing so that I could "un-brick" the watch, the sync failed, the app attempted to auto-update the firmware, the update failed, the app crashed, I re-opened the app, the Bluetooth connected instantly, it tried syncing, the sync failed...you get it.
I tried that for a solid twenty minutes (not because I'm insane; the firmware update said "hold the device closer to the phone" as if the failure were on my end, so I trusted that it was right and assumed I could just angle it slightly better--I was wrong). I power-cycled the phone. I would've done the same for the watch, but there's actually no power option while it's in "screw you" mode.
Finally I gave up and looked online. There were some suggestions to download third-party apps that would aid in watch-phone communication. I watched videos in Chinese (I live in Wisconsin, about the farthest place from China in the country--I can count to ten and say thank you, but that's about it). Amazfit FAQ instructed me to go through 4 or 5 troubleshooting steps. I tried it all, to no avail.
At that point, I was an hour into messing with this thing, and all I had to show for it was an error message (shown in the attached image). I was pissed, tired, and completely bewildered. I emailed tech support. To this point, about 10 hours later, they haven't responded. Until I hear back, this watch is unusable. I don't care what the cost was, or what the product feels like--if I can't use it, it gets a whopping 1-star rating.
If they get back to me and fix it, I will update with the steps to fix and a new rating. If I don't update, it's because my issue was never resolved and I returned it.
**UPDATE** They emailed back after a week and many apologies for the delay. After that, there was daily communication, I never felt neglected or forgotten. After I tried a couple more suggestions they gave, I asked about replacing the unit if this one is faulty. They had one final Hail Mary--could I try updating it on someone else's phone? I have an LG G4 from early 2016. My fiance has a Samsung Galaxy S8, so I tried updating it on hers and was successful. If you find a similar problem, give that a shot.
I've been using it for a few days now that it works, so now I'll get into performance review:
BATTERY
When I got the watch two weeks ago, the battery level was 86%. I've been using it for 4 days, and it sat idle previously. The battery is at 57% presently. That's constant heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, two GPS-tracked sessions of soccer kick-around (as "Outdoor Running"), and a rather intense bar-league volleyball game (tracked as "Treadmill" because it was indoors). I haven't yet tried it for cycling, which I initially purchased it for, but I'm certain it won't burn any more battery than outdoor running.
Full disclosure, I have every notification turned off and I only sync to my phone daily, so I'm not killing the device with constant Bluetooth. That also means that I can't speak to the ability to send receive phone calls, texts, Facebooks, etc. I don't care, sorry.
GPS
It works. It does take about 90 seconds for the watch to find GPS signal, but it never seemed to lose it. I pulled up the map of one of my soccer runs and it was a jumble of lefts and rights. I'm going to take it on a bike ride later along with my phone (tracking with Strava) to see if it tracks well enough to keep long-term.
THINGS I DIDN'T THINK I'D CARE ABOUT, BUT ARE NOTICEABLE
-Multitasking -- I don't mean Pandora and Google at the same time. I mean a timer and literally anything else. Or tracking and anything else. If you're in one mode, you aren't able to leave the first mode without canceling it. E.g., I set the timer for 20 minutes, ran a bit, and wanted to see what my heart rate was. I had to cancel the timer to get out of it. Even a $10 Timex Ironman can switch screens like that. It isn't a deal breaker, but it is a bit annoying.
-Alarms -- You have to set up an alarm on your phone and sync it to the watch, you can't just go into the alarm section on the watch and make a new alarm. Paired with the inability to multitask a timer, that could get frustrating down the road.
- Compatibility -- Other Amazfit products are able to sync to Strava, but that's not yet in the cards for the Bip. I expect it will happen eventually, but currently there are two workaround options. They both involve 3rd party apps and a decent time commitment. One is a $2 "Pro" feature in a free app that syncs directly to Strava or Google Fit, etc (didn't try it); the other is absolutely free and8times more convoluted, requiring a second 3rd party app, exporting, and a manual upload on the Strava website (not a function on the app).
-Mi Fit app -- In short, the app is below average. It's about as basic and stripped down as you can imagine. It's serviceable for sleep info and setting alarms and even looking at your run/ride, but some settings are in different areas than other settings, and it doesn't even offer as many settings as one of the 3rd party apps. It's not awful, just not intuitive.
-Watch settings -- There really aren't many options for settings on the watch. It has some onboard watch faces and a brightness setting, and the long button press can strictly be used to as a shortcut to begin an activity. No double press, no other long press option.
I'll post after a couple bike rides if I notice anything knocking about it.
**UPDATE 11/27/18**
I still enjoy the watch, though I would still give it 4/5 stars. With the HR and monitor turned on, the battery lasts about 3 weeks with a bike ride or two per week. When I biked to work for a full week (5 miles each way), the battery was around 50% drained by Saturday. Not bad. Turning off the sleep monitor and HR sensor, I get approximately 6 weeks of battery life with a ride. That's amazing, and still such a win for me.
The app has grown on me. It's still not totally intuitive, but when you get the hang of which settings are in which menu, it's not awful. The ride screen is actually nice, offering more details than Strava. It also seems to have a more consistent speed read (fewer peaks and valleys)--unsure if that makes it more or less accurate overall, but it's certainly smoother.
Because I'm comfortable with the app, and there still is no link to Strava at last check, I have all but nixed Strava and strictly use the watch app. It's fine for me because I don't have any "friends" on Strava socially anyway, I only used it as a ride-tracking platform. For those of you who need to stay connected, the workaround mentioned previously still works, it just isn't worth it to me.
Other than wishing for Strava compatibility and the aforementioned multitasking, this watch is an absolute steal. It does everything in its power well. Would definitely buy again.
Unrelated: I don't remember if I mentioned it previously or not, but the watch band width is 20mm, the standard size of Samsung Gear and other smart watches, so customizing watch bands is super easy. I hate the rubber type that came with it, so I got a $5 nylon band for biking and a couple nicer metal bands to wear to work. It's not a bulky "sports" watch by nature, so you can totally pull it off for semi-formal occasions.
day 1)
this watch is everything i wished the pebble watch was. ridiculous battery life, always-on screen, nice-looking (looks like the Apple watch, i been told so by Apple-watch owner), heart rate, GPS, pedometer, sleep tracking, thousands of watch faces, nice fitness tracking info in the app, and syncs with Google fit too
the only negative is that the contrast of the display isn't as sharp as it is on my Garmin vivosmart, but this may just be what happens with color e-ink displays. mind you, it's still very easily visible, plus has the backlight in case you need to see it in the dark, but it's just not quiet as clear as a black+white e-ink.
gps and heart rate are both very accurate for running. they're not perfect, but way better than the phone gps or products wo GLONASS. i think this thing uses a Sony GPS-Glonass chip. I'm guessing the heart rate is better for steady activities than high intensity ones. I'll check and update the review later
day 9)
haven't recharged this watch since the day i got it. that was 9 days ago. i have been playing around with it a LOT, changing watch faces a bunch, set it to constant HR tracking for a few days, used the GPS on 4 runs, and i still have 67% battery left. so that's very impressive.
the watch looks elegant
i don't like to wear a watch when i sleep, so i can't tell you anything about sleep-tracking, but i imagine this would be one of the better devces for sleep tracking, both because of the lack of a need to recharge it, and because it's really light and thin.
the screen is really clear and nice looking in direct light (unlike most modern smartwatches that fade in direct sunlight), and it has a nice backlight for low-light situations, as well.
i have not taken the watch swimming, but i wash it under water after every workout, and it seems to do just fine under water.
maybe the best thing i've found out about this watch is that there are 3rd party watchfaces and customization/stat apps (e.g. Notify & Fitness for Amazfit by OneZeroBit). plus it syncs with 3rd party exercise apps (google fit, apple health, run keeper, etc.).
day 14)
i lost like 20% battery life over the course of 2 days using a custom watchface that had a seconds hand. it seems like having seconds displayed on your watch will drain the battery even more than continuous HR monitoring. imean you'll still get an impressive 10+ day battery life or more, but, if my hypothesis is right, if you want a full month of battery life, don't display seconds on the bip.
anyways, with all that recent battery drain and other heavy use and testing, I'm still at 39% battery after 2 weeks.
i am a very happy customer.
day 107)
it's been 3 and a half months, and i've logged many runs and workouts at this point.
this will probably be my last review update, as i've had plenty of time with the watch at this point
the good:
- i've only charged the watch a total of maybe 4 times, and never because i had to -- i always had 10-30% still left. i dont know why i had the incessant need to recharge it below 30%, the bip could've easily given me an extra week of use at that point.
- traveling with this watch is the best -- you simply do not need to take a charger for it. it will easily last multiple weeks, regardless of how heavy your use is.
- there are many additional watchfaces you can grab for the bip via 3rd party apps (and make your own!), and i found one that i just love, that has both digital and analog time displayed, along with steps/date/day/bt/battery/hr/weather. i don't think many other watches have this level of customization. definitely not android-wear or apple watches.
- i wash this watch after every workout and can attest that waterproofing is solid
- it's a beautiful watch. thin, light, elegant, and you can easily change out straps (im fine w the default strap, but 2 of my friends have both changed theirs to one that looks like an apple-watch sports band)
- GPS and HR monitors work great, and the pace/stride info seems very accurate
- the display is always clear and always on
the bad:
- one bad thing is that if you want to leave your phone at home when you go for a run with the bip, you will be without music. i guess you can get headphones that can store music on them, but the watch itself has no music player.
- the default app does not show you a calendar view of your workouts the way that Garmin did. i miss that view. you can have it automatically synced with google fit, but...
- google fit sync is not the best. it logs all the walks, which is a lot of activity in the google fit journal that i just do not want. i wish there was an option to log only runs, not walks. HR is not synced w google fit for some reason tho, wish it was
overall:
- [if u dont need it to be a standalone mp3 player] buy it. this watch is on par to compete with some of the best smartwatches and activity trackers, except it beats all of them when it comes to battery life and price.
I was searching for a wearable that met 3 criteria. 1 - Monitor heart rate continuously or at set intervals 24/7. 2 - Has a built-in GPS module. 3 - Would monitor my sleep patterns. This device meets and exceeds all three of these needs; and does so very comfortably.
The form factor is small, lightweight, and VERY unobtrusive. We all know that if something is cumbersome to wear, we simply will not wear it. I dislike wearing most watches (of all varieties) for this very reason. I was surprised to find that I often forget that I am even wearing this watch; even at the gym! This is the first time in my life I've ever been able to wear a watch at the gym and not be annoyed to some degree. Very surprised about that.
IMPORTANT!!! - The packaging does not include any substantial instructions, which is why there are so many 1-star reviews for the Bip. All of your issues can be overcome by visiting the manufacturer's website and doing a little searching. Despite being tech savvy, I still had to visit and search in order to get everything working right. Once you install the app (Mi Fit) on your phone and connect the watch, it's smooth sailing.
Battery life has been extremely impressive thus far! Even with continuous HR monitoring. I have only had it for a few days now, but battery is showing 94%. Wow. For power users, there is an app called "Notify & Fitness for Amazfit." It is well worth it to buy the pro version. Highly configurable, and while the Mi Fit app interface is not bad at all, you can really get in much deeper with this other application and control a lot more stuff on the watch. I personally don't care to have notifications pop up on the watch, but some of you might.
Overall (and thus far) I am incredibly impressed with this watch!!! The 1-star reviews had me worried, but I could tell that user error (or lack of an easy button) was probably at least partially responsible. Will update if things go sideways!
Feature Product
- Look as Good as You Feel: With a range of colors and options, the Bip is designed to be worn as an extension of your personal style. Weighing only 1.1oz (32g), and with a bright, transflective always-on 1.28" display, the Bip can be worn all day
- Go the Distance: Use the Amazfit Bip for up to 30 days on a single 2.5-hour charge.
- Don't Miss a Beat: Optical heart rate monitoring and built-in GPS allow you to accurately track in real-time your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, and quality of sleep. Special sport modes (running, treadmill, cycling and walking) give you even more detailed insights into your most frequent activities.
- Be in the Know: The perfect companion to keep you organized and productive all day long. Receive one-way notifications for emails, SMS messages, and incoming phone calls (prompting you to take action on your smartphone), as well as alerts for Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Snap, Slack, weather forecasts, and other mobile apps
- Satisfaction Guaranteed: Buy with confidence. Amazfit offers a 30-day refund policy, and 12-month new replacement warranty.
Description
Launched in 2014, Huami is now the largest wearable device company worldwide with over 50 million units sold today and 17. 1% global marketshare. Our industry leading Amazfit product line smartwatches and activity trackers including newly launched BIP, Stratos and Cor effortlessly track activity without sacrificing style or performance. Huami is also the exclusive provider of wearable technology for Xiaomi and maker of the Mi Band.
I took a leap of faith on this watch. It's a little uncomfortable buying from such an unheard of brand here in the states that promises features almost too good to be true for the price.
The watch delivers. With reasonable use, 25+ days of battery is very doable. That feature alone makes this watch worth getting. The only time I take this watch off is for showers. I have an alarm clock on my wrist for every morning no matter where I am, and I never worry about it dying in the night and missing my wake up. It's weird to look at 20% battery and know that you have about 5 or 6 more days til a charge. You could go on a 3 week vacation and leave the charger behind. It's liberating.
The mi fit app required for the watch is great, plenty intuitive and very useful. The notifications are good enough, the gps is definitely functional, the heart monitor seems to do fine by my standards.
Then you can track your sleep, and even if I don't totally buy the specific stats the mi fit app provides me, I appreciate that it keeps track of when I fall asleep and wake up each day accurately enough.
The screen is obviously low res and there are only simple touch gestures, but the touch is plenty responsive, and the transflective screen is obviously great in the sun. The lowest backlight brightness setting is plenty to view the watch in low light.
I've had an apple watch, and if you are wondering if it's worth the price leap for the Apple, I would argue no. Get the bip, and enjoy the battery life. They've raised the bar for all smartwatches
Cons: No manual comes with it and it's not as easy as picking it up and watching it go. You have to download an app called Mi Fit and synch the watch to it to get the watch to do anything at all (won't come on without it). After 30 minutes of searching online I figured this out and things moved more smoothly. You have to change settings individually to change from metric to English measurements, it's a search and find or Google challenge.
Pros: So many features and they all work so well but the best feature to me is the ability to change the watch face and there are thousands of them for every mood and occasion. I did not realize this going into the purchase but it added so much more value to my purchase. You can change between classy analog for fancy dining and large digital for those that have trouble reading small watches without glasses.
Overall I have no problem recommending this watch to anyone, I even reviewed it on my Facebook page which is something I rarely do.
Fitness tracker with GPS, heart rate monitor, and excellent battery life for under $100 - simply impressive! I love this little watch!
Battery life: I sync calls/message/apps/weather/24 hr heart rate/alarm and it averages around 2.5%/day. Two things that would kill the battery life: watch face with seconds (I learned this by reading through posts in a forums. With second-hand watch face it drains ~8% a day. The second one is exercise mode but this is obvious since it has constant GPS and heart rate monitor. Other manufacturer with 2 days battery life would only last ~4 hours in exercise mode.
With everything turned on, I run 3 times/week and workout 4 nights a week, I am still left with ~20% battery after two weeks. Really impressed! With the exercises that I do, others will need to charge everyday or every other day.
Wish list: I hope a future update will bring workout mode so I can track workout (I'm using treadmill mode). Also, challenge mode would be great and please open up community sections within the app.
Bluetooth connection to Android device is beyond flawless. It sync instantaneously. I've been using this well over a month and really love it!!! I really enjoy the GPS mapping features and statistics on walking/running to help me pace (beginning runner). Also, statistics on my heart rate is also very helpful. Heart rate while working and using tread mill mode is a bit off, it seems to behind. Using running mode can track it better but running mode activates GPS and uses more battery - please add workout mode.
The most impressive features are battery life, cost, and GPS. If you keep notifications, exercise mode minimal and choosing the right clock face you can more achieve a 1-month battery life.
Love this Smartwatch! I am basically obsessed with fitness trackers and I have tried several. I am especially interested in sleep tracking and heart rate, but I am also quite active, so steps and activity monitoring are important too. Critical to me, however, is an always on watch face; it basically needs to be a watch! So, my most recent tracker was the Garmin Vivosmart HR, which is quite nice. This Bip, though! Corning Gorilla Glass? Sweet! 30 day battery life? Are you kidding me? Thin, light, and water resistant? Wow! Color display? No way! I love it. It arrived very nicely packaged. The recharging cable is nice, and long enough to be practical. The app is quite good, too. The sleep data is nicely displayed. Deep sleep, light sleep, awake, etc. And it even pairs with my WiFi scale. I got mine on Prime Day and I could not be happier. I have tried two different FitBits, the ill-fated Jawbone Up, and the Garmin, as I said. This far exceeds all of them in terms of value, appearance, and functionality. I have a Samsung Galaxy S8. The Bip has weather, notifications, compass, timer/stopwatch, selectable watchfaces (these will impact battery life), activities, steps, and multiple alarms, something the Garmin still doesn't have! Paying attention, Garmin? Vivosmart only has one alarm, so, for example, I couldn't configure one alarm for weekdays and a separate on for weekends. The Amazfit Bip sets a new standard for fitness trackers and smartwatches as far as I am concerned.
Lightweight watch that is comfortable and stylish. This fitness/smartwatch is a bargain and it comes equipped with GPS & GLONASS. You won't find a better smartwatch in this price range!
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