One of the most rugged smartwatches I’ve tested is also one of the most durable
ZDNET Key Points
- The Amazfit T-Rex 3 Now priced at just $280 for one size and one color.
- The watch features long battery life, durable construction, vivid display, AI integration, and comprehensive health tracking functions.
- There’s no speaker for hands-free calling or headphone-free audio, and the Zepp smartphone app is still too functional.
I started testing Amazfit smartwatches in 2018 and have been quite happy with them. Balance I bought in late 2023. In 2020 I rocked a Amazfit T-Rex and found that the rugged lines suited my lifestyle and larger wrists better than the smaller Amazfit watches, so it’s been great having the new T-Rex 3 on my wrist for the past three weeks.
When I first heard about the opportunity to test this watch, I wasn’t too excited, thinking it would just be a bulkier Balance that didn’t appeal to me. It turns out that this watch is designed for people with larger wrists. Given my preference for larger watches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2, it seemed like a good fit. There was even mention of expanded AI functionality and the ability to connect to external sensors, which intrigued me.
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The large 1.5-inch 480×480 pixel AMOLED Gorilla Glass display is vibrant and gets up to 2,000 nits bright, making the multi-function watch face easy to see and interact with. I like that Amazfit added the ability to enable night mode, which turns everything on the screen into a solid color.
While most other watches that support this feature use red text, Amazfit lets you choose red, orange, or green. I really liked the green light on this review unit.
The large 700 mAh battery is advertised to provide up to 180 hours of continuous GPS tracking in max battery mode and 42 hours in precise GPS mode. Of course, I couldn’t run continuously for 180 hours.
However, I ran with the most accurate GPS option and saw about 3% to 4% battery loss per hour, so the 42-hour estimate seems pretty accurate. With typical daily use of two to three short runs per week, sleeping with the watch on, some notifications turned on, and checking health data regularly, I only charged the watch once after the initial charge, and it lasted three weeks.
GPS tracking is also very accurate, with the Amazfit T-Rex 3 supporting dual-band GPS and six satellite systems. I used the T-Rex 3 for running, cycling, walking and hiking with other GPS sports watches to test the accuracy. Many of my activities took place in heavily wooded areas, with the T-Rex 3 connecting quickly and tracking almost exactly in the same straight line as my flagship Garmin watch.
One shortcoming of the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the inability to connect to external sensors. That wasn’t an issue with the Amazfit T-Rex 3, which paired perfectly with my Coros HR heart rate monitor, Garmin chest strap, and Garmin speed/cadence sensor. The T-Rex 3 can also connect to GoPro action cameras, Core body temperature sensorAnd than.
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It seems like a standout feature of flagship watches is the ability to support underwater sports, as seen on the Apple Watch Ultra and Garmin Fenix 8. The Amazfit T-Rex 3 goes even further, with multiple certifications to support free diving to 45 meters. Sorry guys, I won’t be able to test this capability.
Advanced sports data, including running power, VO2 max, recovery time, training effect, and training load, are all on the T-Rex 3, which seems a bit surprising given its $280 price tag. Sleep tracking is nearly identical to other watches, and it’s powered by the Zepp Flow AI system and the Zepp Coach system, which adjusts and updates your training plan.
The Zepp smartphone app is used to present the data collected by the watch, and there is a lot of data presented across multiple pages. The Zepp app has evolved over the years, but it still provides a huge amount of data that can seem intimidating at first. I recommend taking the time to set up the app to your liking, then letting Zepp Flow and Coach streamline your experience with practical, actionable insights.
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The free Zepp Flow widget is an accurate and reliable AI assistant that’s especially useful on watches like the T-Rex 3. I used it to ask health and fitness-related questions about my performance and the data the watch was collecting, as using Zepp Flow was quicker than going through different menus. I also liked the widget for being able to jump right into a workout.
Zepp Flow is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o and gives you full control over your watch, so you don’t need to know exactly where things are buried in the watch’s UI. The Amazfit T-Rex 3 also supports offline voice assistants for some basic functions, but I didn’t find it very useful.
The Zepp Coach AI live chat can guide you through a series of questions to optimize your workout plan to meet your goals and preferred training methods, starting with options to create a running plan or a basic AI plan to improve your cardiovascular fitness. The watch then tracks your data to provide guidance to help you reduce your risk of fatigue and injury. This appears on the watch and in the Zepp app as detailed information and even a reminder to visit the Zepp Aura live chat. Zepp Aura offers some great, detailed answers and guidance on a variety of health and fitness questions.
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You can also pair the T-Rex 3 with the Amazfit Helio Ring if you don’t want to wear the watch while sleeping. Unfortunately, the Helio Ring still reported my sleeping heart rate as being 10 bpm lower, so I wore the T-Rex 3 for sleep tracking.
I also used the voice memo option because I often get ideas while running. The T-Rex 3 has a microphone for voice assistants and voice memos, but no speaker for hands-free calling or voice replies. You can reply to messages from a connected Android phone using your voice, but you can’t initiate any messages.
The Amazfit T-Rex 3 has a lot of improvements, great battery life, AI coaching, insights, and the Zepp Flow assistant are very useful, and there’s a lot to like about a big watch that costs just $300.
ZDNET Buying Advice
With Tyrannosaurus rex 3Amazfit continues to impress with its big, vibrant display, durable materials, powerful sensors, and useful AI-powered insights. Having a smartwatch that lasts for weeks instead of days is a breath of fresh air.
If you like big watches, could use some outdoor watch map guidance, and take the time to customize your experience, then the T-Rex 3 could be the perfect choice for your next adventure.
