Amazfit GTR Mini Review – Pros and Cons, Verdict | MySmartPrice

A few years ago, smartwatches were seen as a luxury item, not a necessity. With Galaxy and Apple watches priced at the upper end, people in the lower price bracket didn’t have many options. Now the advent of cheaper smartwatches and fitness trackers across price segments has changed that. While there are plenty of companies selling these devices at an affordable price, one particular company has been able to enter deep into the market and establish a base.

Amazfit has a wide library, but its GTR series has a different continuation. So this time, instead of its usual big case watch, the company has come up with a mini version of the same, the GTR Mini. While the name may have mini in it, it’s pretty far from it.

The watch has a 1.28-inch HD AMOLED display, 42mm case, up to 14 days of battery life and more at Rs 10,999. So how do they perform in everyday use and are they really smart watches? Find out in our review.

Amazfit GTR Mini review: Design and display

The line of mini smartwatches was first introduced with the listing of the Amazfit GTS, which comes with a square face. This time they introduced it on the Amazfit GTR series and showed off a round dial. There is nothing revolutionary about its design approach here, but it looks quite elegant and minimalistic. It features a thin and light design with a stainless steel finish around the dial. On the back, all the sensors are made of plastic and have good contact with the skin.

The watch is available in Midnight Black, Misty Pink and Ocean Blue. We have a black color option that goes with almost any outfit. The watch weighs 24.6 grams (including the strap) with a thickness of 9.25 mm. It uses a 42mm case and comes in a single variant. The mini nomenclature paired with these dimensions is perfect for people with smaller wrists. Longer wearing of the watch in one piece did not cause any problems and the quality of the strap is also quite good. The band uses the same locking mechanism as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 ( review ) and will stay secure even when you enter a fully packed Delhi Metro.

Even after using the watch for multiple workouts, there was no residue of sweat on the strap, which is good, but dust quickly collects around the sensor. The right side of the watch bezel has a physical button with decent feedback. The smartwatch also boasts 5 ATM water resistance, so you can even take it swimming.

The front is decorated with a 1.28-inch AMOLED display with a pixel density of 326 ppi. The bezels are quite thick, but not uncomfortable at all. Produces vivid colors with good viewing angles. The watch is also bright enough in direct sunlight so the content is easy to read. We found the panel quite responsive when scrolling through UI pages. The Zepp app has a plethora of watch faces, with the watch able to store a total of four natively. It also has an Always-On display and a wake-up feature that work flawlessly.

Amazfit GTR Mini Review: Software and Performance

Almost all Amazfit smartwatches are feature rich and the GTR Mini is no different. Like their flagships, this watch packs a lot of stuff and will probably take you a week to get used to. To put things into context, swiping down from the home screen reveals the Control Center, which gives you access to settings like brightness, flash, sleep mode, and more. Swipe up to see the notifications you may have received on your phone. Swipe left to access your fitness data, heart rate monitor and more.

Swipe right to access all the essential shortcuts like alarm clock, weather and more. Press the button to go to the activities tab. Speaking of which, fitness enthusiasts will be happy to know that the GTR Mini comes with 120 pre-installed sport modes. Like some of the flagship smartwatches on the market, this little guy sends out a challenge when you’ve been walking or running for a certain amount of time.

Although classified as a smartwatch, the GTR Mini feels more like a smart notifier. For starters, you can’t reply to messages using just your smartwatch, except for a few pre-set preferences. This is not surprising as some of their flagships also lack this feature. However, we hope that newer models from Amazfit will allow you to reply to messages.

While we’re on the subject of messaging, Whatsapp notifications are annoyingly buggy on the watch. We faced several occasions when the Check for new messages daily challenge tested our patience. Notifications from other apps work fine and you also get call notifications, but you can’t receive them using the watch. This is disappointing, as smartwatches at a much lower price point offer this.

The watch can be connected to your smartphone using the Zepp app. The accompanying application is very detailed and concise. It has many features that can help you set up your watch the way you want. Zepp also records your health and activity data with proper breakdowns to make it easier for you to understand. Speaking of which, we’ve never doubted the effectiveness of the Amazfit watch when it comes to tracking activity data.

As already mentioned, it has a lot of sports modes. We mostly played around with the soccer mode (which should be called soccer) and it worked surprisingly well. Data shows you playing time, calories burned and more. It also lets you pause on the first and second halves, which is neat. The GTR Mini has GPS with five satellite positioning systems to help with near-accurate marking.

Built-in GPS also means you don’t have to carry your smartphone with you every time. It watched our soccer session on the lawn, almost looking like a toddler drawing. Overall, the features that this watch offers should meet all the needs of fitness enthusiasts.

The BioTracker sensor on the back ensures good skin contact. This in turn will give you the correct heart rate and SpO2 readings. You can also set it to track everything all day, but at the cost of battery. As for sleep tracking, it recorded sleep and wake times consistently. The app breaks down your sleep to help you understand your cycles.

Amazfit GTR Mini review: Battery life and charging

Amazfit smartwatches have been known to excel in battery life for the longest time. The GTR Mini continues the same legacy. It contains a 280mAh battery with a claim for 14 days of normal use.

For context, the Amazfit GTS 4 (review) came with a 300mAh battery and a slightly higher price tag. It’s interesting how they managed to fit this battery into a smaller format.

We thoroughly tested the GTR Mini with all the features it was supposed to offer turned on. The watch lasted four days in our use. If you leave features like active heart rate monitoring and others disabled, it should easily last you about 10 days on a full charge. Battery life for such a thin and light watch is quite impressive.

The GTR Mini uses a proprietary charger that all watches use. Unfortunately, the included charger has an uncomfortably short cable. As a result, it took an hour and a half to charge the watch from dead to full.

Amazfit GTR Mini Review: Verdict

Amazfit GTR Mini, despite its size and name, impresses. The sharp and bright AMOLED display does its job well, while the sleek and lightweight design doesn’t weigh down your wrist. The GTR Mini will help fitness enthusiasts with GPS and tracking features that are very accurate and useful. Battery life on the watch isn’t surprising given Amazfit’s consistent track record.

The Rs 10,999 price tag is slightly on the higher end considering the exclusion of features like calling and answering. With that in mind, there are better alternatives on the market at this price from Xiaomi, Huawei and Amazfit themselves. One of the best smartwatches of 2021, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 currently retails for Rs 12,999, but its Android-only nature might make iOS buyers look away. This is what WearOS offers, allowing users to download third-party apps, among other things.