Amazfit GTR 2 & 2e review part 6 : health and sport
Part 1 : HARDWARE
Part 2 : BATTERY LIFE
Part 3 : UI
Part 4 : WATCHFACES, CALLS, MUSIC
Part 5 : SMARTNESS, APPS, NOTIFICATIONS
Part 6 : HEALTH & SPORT
Part 7 : CONCLUSION
I have been pleasantly surprised by the quantity and the quality of informations available after a walk, using the appropriate activity mode. A lot of data are already visible on the watch, with nice statistics an curves and a very good user interface. On the phone, after syncing, Zepp will give you even more data, that’s quite amazing and clearly better than the data provided by a Fitbit Sense or even an Apple Watch serie 6.
I compared my statistics and the GPS accuracy with the Apple Watch 6 and found no significant discrepancy and no gap between the 2 watches. However, it seem some people does have accuracy problems with the GPS tracking and HR. I don’t and get very good data from the watch.
Be aware that, like on any other smartwatch, HR sensors being optical, anything getting in the way of optical reading may prevent normal use : tatoos, dark skin, thick hairs won’t help. Always keep your watchband tight ennough to get a close contact to your skin. Don’t wear it too close from you wrist either, it should be a bit higher on your forearm, at around 2cm before the carpal bones.
However be aware that these measures were precise in a specific context and may not be as reliable in other conditions. It’s probably better to keep an educated and cautious eye on the watch measures especially as the way you wear it could really change the reliability of the data. People tend often to wear their watch too close to the hand and too loose on the wrist, and this will not work well with the heath sensors.
The way temperature is implemented here is much more interesting than on the Fitbit Sense which will never give you any figure and will only tell you if it’s above or under your average. And this is only during nights because the Sense records your temperature only when you are sleeping ... a bit useless I think.
You can use the GTR 2e to measure the ambient temperature of a room by removing it from your wrist and waiting at least 15mn to get the watch at the room temperature. I tested it with no luck as, after more than 20mn the watch was still 1°c above the actual room temp.
Unfortunately Zepp doesn’t register the temperatures from the watch. There is a temperature section in the app but it will stay blank, it seems dedicated to a connected thermometer. That’s a disappointing because you cannot have statistics or simply any record from the temperature.
In my experience, it works very well to register when you are awake at night, thing that no other watch did so precisely for me, not the Apple Watch serie 6, not even the Fitbit Sense as both of these watches frequently miss awake moments.
The watch is even able to register day naps, most other watches don’t. It’s always difficult to assess the reliability of sleep analysis with smartwatches but I have to confess that this one seems to be the best I tried, even over a Fitbit device.
In the Zepp app it will give you, for ech night a number like an SPO2 average for all your sleep time with quite a lot of explanation to understand the meaning of this value.
Of course, using it will consume some more battery.
The app insist on the fact that this function is still in beta status and may not be reliable. All I can say is that if I have a bit of a cold and don’t blow my nose before sleeping, the number will actually decrease to something around 85 or 88% when it’s usually above 90%.
Part 2 : BATTERY LIFE
Part 3 : UI
Part 4 : WATCHFACES, CALLS, MUSIC
Part 5 : SMARTNESS, APPS, NOTIFICATIONS
Part 6 : HEALTH & SPORT
Part 7 : CONCLUSION
Sport : quite excellent (for my use) !
OK, I confess I’m not a sport guy. Sport has always been the worse thing at school for me and I absolutely hate running after a ball or anything like that but I love walking and hiking. Therefore, my review of the sport modes is very limited.I have been pleasantly surprised by the quantity and the quality of informations available after a walk, using the appropriate activity mode. A lot of data are already visible on the watch, with nice statistics an curves and a very good user interface. On the phone, after syncing, Zepp will give you even more data, that’s quite amazing and clearly better than the data provided by a Fitbit Sense or even an Apple Watch serie 6.
I compared my statistics and the GPS accuracy with the Apple Watch 6 and found no significant discrepancy and no gap between the 2 watches. However, it seem some people does have accuracy problems with the GPS tracking and HR. I don’t and get very good data from the watch.
Be aware that, like on any other smartwatch, HR sensors being optical, anything getting in the way of optical reading may prevent normal use : tatoos, dark skin, thick hairs won’t help. Always keep your watchband tight ennough to get a close contact to your skin. Don’t wear it too close from you wrist either, it should be a bit higher on your forearm, at around 2cm before the carpal bones.
Health : excellent !
GTR 2 & 2e let you monitor these data :- Heart rate
- SPO2
- Skin temperature (GTR 2e only)
- Stress
- Sleep
- Sleep breathing quality
Heart rate and SPO2
I had the chance to compare the watch measures with data provided by hospital devices and the figures were practically the same, only SPO2 was sometimes 1% above or under the readings of the big expensive device. I wasn’t expecting this level of accuracy at all !However be aware that these measures were precise in a specific context and may not be as reliable in other conditions. It’s probably better to keep an educated and cautious eye on the watch measures especially as the way you wear it could really change the reliability of the data. People tend often to wear their watch too close to the hand and too loose on the wrist, and this will not work well with the heath sensors.
Skin temperature (GTR 2e only)
The GTR 2e can measure your skin temperature in the small zone in contact with the back of the watch. Please don’t hope to read your actual body temp, this is not this kind of device, there is no wireless probe you put somewhere in your body cavities or on your forehead, it’s just on your wrist so you will not get the regular 37,2°c but something around 30 or 32°. However, variations of this temperature indicator may help you to notice a mild fever, for example.The way temperature is implemented here is much more interesting than on the Fitbit Sense which will never give you any figure and will only tell you if it’s above or under your average. And this is only during nights because the Sense records your temperature only when you are sleeping ... a bit useless I think.
You can use the GTR 2e to measure the ambient temperature of a room by removing it from your wrist and waiting at least 15mn to get the watch at the room temperature. I tested it with no luck as, after more than 20mn the watch was still 1°c above the actual room temp.
Unfortunately Zepp doesn’t register the temperatures from the watch. There is a temperature section in the app but it will stay blank, it seems dedicated to a connected thermometer. That’s a disappointing because you cannot have statistics or simply any record from the temperature.
Stress
There is no dedicated sensor for stress ... I suppose it doesn’t even exists as stress seems to be a rather complex notion. Here, the watch tries to check stress trough microvariations of the hear rate. I honnestly don’t know if this is really meaningfull and not just a simple marketing idea. On GTR 2 and 2e, as well as on any other watch, it’s probably safer to take these data with a good pinch of salt and of critical mind.Sleep
Sleep monitoring is very thorough and seems quite convincing. Sleep data is computed in the Zepp app which shows a sleep quality index for each night and different sleep phases as well as awake moments.In my experience, it works very well to register when you are awake at night, thing that no other watch did so precisely for me, not the Apple Watch serie 6, not even the Fitbit Sense as both of these watches frequently miss awake moments.
The watch is even able to register day naps, most other watches don’t. It’s always difficult to assess the reliability of sleep analysis with smartwatches but I have to confess that this one seems to be the best I tried, even over a Fitbit device.
Sleep breathing quality
In these times of pandemia, it’s really nice to have a device able to monitor your breathing efficiency during sleep. It may help to diagnose sleep apnea and other problems too.In the Zepp app it will give you, for ech night a number like an SPO2 average for all your sleep time with quite a lot of explanation to understand the meaning of this value.
Of course, using it will consume some more battery.
The app insist on the fact that this function is still in beta status and may not be reliable. All I can say is that if I have a bit of a cold and don’t blow my nose before sleeping, the number will actually decrease to something around 85 or 88% when it’s usually above 90%.