Amazfit excels in creating smartwatches, with the GTS and GTR series being popular for their outstanding balance of affordability, quality craftsmanship, and advanced software. Today, we’re showcasing a notable addition to the lineup: the Active Edge review.
Amazfit watches are renowned for their durability and focus on monitoring sports performance. Their operating system supports the installation of some third-party applications, despite a limited selection, offering impressive battery life and a reliable smartphone connection. With instant notification delivery and a reliable phone-finding feature directly from the watch, they meet the essential needs of users.
Amazfit’s durable T-Rex series watches, known for their robustness, also feature a high price and bulky design. The Active Edge maintains a similar style and protection level, targeting the same audience, but at a much more affordable price.
Amazfit Active Edge Review
Design
The smartwatch features a dual-layered body and is available in three colors: Mint Green, Midnight Pulse, and Lava Black. Our Amazfit Active Edge review unit came in Mint Green. Despite the initial disappointment that it doesn’t glow in the dark, its unique design will surely attract enthusiasts. It resembles a traditional sports watch with water resistance, yet its smart capabilities aren’t immediately apparent. The watch has garnered design awards from both “iF” and “Red Dot”.
The watch comes with a polymer strap outfitted with numerous holes for the plastic buckle adjustment, ensuring a snug fit. The strap includes a tooth in the end loop to secure it in place, preventing accidental slippage, although the middle loop lacks this feature.
Despite its size, the design is remarkably lightweight. It is much slimmer than the Amazfit GTR 4, yet they weigh about the same. With a metal bracelet, the GTR 4 is heavier than the Active Edge. The watch is so comfortable that it becomes unnoticeable during daily wear and sleep. Removing it for charging feels surprisingly unburdening.
Display
For those who prefer non-AMOLED displays, this watch features a classic IPS screen illuminated by standard LEDs. It lacks an Always-On Display (AOD) to avoid excessive power consumption associated with LCD technology. The screen boasts a respectable resolution (360 pixels in diameter, approx. 280 PPI), with pixelation only slightly noticeable on very small interface elements, contributing to a distinctive style rather than being a shortcoming.
An automatic brightness adjustment feature is absent, yet in most cases (90%), the default brightness level ensures the display remains legible. Adjusting brightness under direct sunlight is straightforward: unlock the screen with any button, slide down the settings shade, and tap the brightness icon.
The display’s refresh rate peaks at 30 Hz. While animations aren’t the smoothest, users typically adapt to the operating system’s performance quickly. The touchscreen is highly sensitive, allowing for immediate response in the interface, and opens menus, settings, and apps in under a second.
10 ATM Water-resistant
The primary challenge with touchscreens is their struggle to accurately detect touches through gloves or with wet fingers, often confusing genuine touches with false inputs due to changes in capacitance. The Amazfit Active Edge stands out from the competition by offering a clever solution with its four physical buttons, eliminating the need to interact with the touchscreen directly.
The watch features a confirm and a cancel button on the right—useful for navigating through menus and options. On the left, the “up” and “down” buttons allow for scrolling and adjusting settings like timers or alarms. While this control scheme may require some adjustment, it becomes highly efficient once mastered, reminiscent of mastering a Tetris game in one’s youth.
These buttons are also fully operational underwater, making them ideal for those who are not fond of touchscreens but wish to monitor their health. The watch boasts a retro design appeal, combining traditional input methods with the accuracy and functionality of modern touch-sensitive devices.
Zepp oversees all operations
The Zepp app features an intuitive design that users familiar with smartwatches and fitness trackers can easily navigate. The home screen displays essential data such as activity levels, sleep quality, and heart rate. The second tab provides a detailed examination of sleep metrics. The third tab features workout settings and a built-in AI coach for performance analysis and improvement tips. The final tab houses user profile settings and other personal preferences.
The smartwatch boasts extensive customization options. Users can adjust the biometric monitoring frequency to extend battery life and reorganize the menu for quick access to frequent features. Additionally, they can download extra widgets and watch faces for comprehensive personalization.
Unlike other Amazfit devices with OLED displays, this model has an IPS screen, necessitating a design adjustment period. Furthermore, some features, like built-in Always-On Display (AOD) themes and dial “complications,” must be adapted for the specific hardware. Despite these challenges, new watch face designs are continually released.
An area for user consideration is the device management within the Zepp app. Unlike brands allowing multiple concurrent watch links, Zepp limits to one active device per profile. If you plan to switch between models like the GTR for office wear and the Active Edge for workouts or swimming, be aware that the process involves more than just changing watches. Switching models requires additional steps beyond merely swapping the devices. You must manually activate the desired model through the app, a process that takes about a minute. It’s a minor inconvenience that becomes routine with regular use.
Master of Workout
The Zepp app features a wide variety of algorithms designed to track over 130 different workout types, equipped with an AI assistant that monitors your performance. This assistant offers intelligent guidance to ensure your training remains effective and safe.
The watch can automatically detect multiple activities such as outdoor running, treadmill running, walking, cycling, rowing, and elliptical workouts. This feature is available among 30 other activities without the need for additional setup following the initial configuration for automatic sport recognition.
Zepp’s software is compatible with major fitness platforms, ensuring smooth synchronization with Google and Apple’s fitness apps. It also integrates with Strava and Adidas Running. This demonstrates the company’s open approach, encouraging users to utilize their preferred applications for an enhanced training experience.
Battery life
Amazfit watches are well-known for their long battery life. The GTR model can last up to three weeks on a single charge without the AOD feature activated and one week with it. After a year of use, these figures remain consistent. However, this model has a shorter battery span; our Amazfit Active Edge review unit uses 60% of its battery life in 10 days, and a recent firmware update reduced this by an additional 5%, even under moderate usage settings.
When all biometric features are enabled for continuous monitoring—heart rate, stress, blood oxygen levels, and sleep quality—the daily battery consumption can increase by 2 to 2.5 times, necessitating weekly charges. Using the GPS actively, which connects to various satellite systems including GPS/Galileo, Glonass, Beidou, and the Japanese QZSS, drains about 5% of the battery per hour. When connected to additional external sensors via Bluetooth along with full biometric tracking, the battery drain can double to 10% per hour.
It’s worth noting that the GTR’s charging cable is not compatible with the Active Edge since the new magnetic pin connector has differently positioned contacts, highlighting a lack of standardization which may be inconvenient for users.
Final line
The Amazfit Active Edge watch is designed for those who prioritize sleek design and the convenience of button control over touchscreen interaction, a metal casing, or the now-trendy AOD. Despite its plastic shell and distinctive look, its performance and durability match that of Amazfit’s higher-tier models. It meets the military-grade MIL-STD-810G standard, ensuring resilience against environmental stresses like shocks, vibrations, and extreme temperatures.
While the Active Edge may not excel in battery life or have features like automatic brightness adjustment, it stands out with its hardware button control. This feature allows users to navigate menus effortlessly, making the watch versatile for athletes and individuals living in areas with challenging weather conditions.
Amazfit Active Edge price and availability
Available for purchase, the Amazfit Active Edge is priced at $118 on Amazon.com and £129 on Amazon.co.uk. Did you find this Active Edge review helpful? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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