fantastic smart Amazfit GTS4 Mini
Using the Amazfit GTS4 Mini for about a year has offered some insightful perspectives into its strengths and limitations. Amazfit used to reign as a top choice for affordable smartwatches. However, by the time I purchased this model last year, the market was already teeming with more cost-effective options. It feels like Amazfit has transitioned into just another mid-range, mass-produced smartwatch. This isn’t my first brush with an Amazfit product. I’ve previously owned both the GTS2 Mini and the GTR3, along with various Mi Bands over the years. My drive to use these smartwatches and bands isn’t groundbreaking. It’s mostly been about receiving notifications without fishing out my phone and having quick access to the time, date, and day of the week. As I’ve aged, reading small fonts on traditional watches has become challenging, motivating my switch to devices where I can customize these elements. Plus, heavy watches irritate my wrist during prolonged use, making lightweight, inexpensive watches more appealing. My journey began with the Mi Band 3, but unfortunately, it only partially met my needs. As I navigated through community discussions, I discovered a custom watch face tool compatible with Mi Band 4, which led me to that upgrade. However, my pivot to Amazfit was chiefly due to its impressive battery life.
For example, the GTR3 required a charge roughly once a month as its battery warnings typically came up around 23 days of use. My current GTS4 Mini doesn’t last quite as long, but 20 days is a comfortable average before warnings start. With age creeping in and fonts shrinking before my eyes, finding a watch face that not only clearly displays time but also the date and day is crucial—yet surprisingly scarce. Despite systemic aversions among watch face designers to enlarging display fonts for dates and days across brands like Amazfit and Apple Watch, I found customization a necessity. This quest for customization comes with its own set of challenges—many watches don’t support custom watch faces unless you’re willing to dabble in complicated development tools. Consequently, finding devices open to user-developed tools becomes an exercise in patience. These considerations nudged me towards purchasing the GTS4 Mini. Its appeal lies in its balance: not too big or heavy, reasonably priced, commendable battery life up to 28 days if Always-On Display is off, and the perk of customizing watch faces. Despite potentially rationalizing my decision with a battery performance setting as low as 1-2 weeks, the unavailability of devices meeting my specific needs narrows choices considerably. Many promise large font displays online, yet upon inspection, no device adequately fulfills my requirements for easily readable time, date, and day information. In creating my custom watch face, I aimed for practicality rather than aesthetics—all with ease thanks to Amazfit’s user-friendly GUI tool. Although the designing phase is almost forgotten (having created it in the early days of owning the product), I’m content continuing this path unless significant issues arise with my current setup.
( [Earphones] Topping/Arpegear’s first in-ear monitors Hane )
The GTS4 Mini isn’t impressing me with its value for money, but it seemed like there were no other options available. Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been a fan of the Apple Watch or the Galaxy Watch. I did consider buying them once, but the price and, most importantly, the short battery life made me lose interest. It’s puzzling why an inexpensive watch made in China can last over 20 days on a single charge, while a high-end Apple Watch struggles with this. Anyway, here’s a closer look at the specifications.
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 41.8×36.66×9.1mm / Weight: 19g (31.2g with strap) / Made with aluminum alloy and plastic
- Water Resistance: 5ATM
- Display: 1.65-inch AMOLED, 336×384 resolution, 309ppi, with hardened glass and an anti-fingerprint coating, supports Always-On Display (AOD)
- Battery: 270mAh, charges in 2 hours, lasts up to 15 days
- Sensors: BioTracker™ 3.0 PPG biometric sensor (blood oxygen monitoring with 2PD + 1LED support), accelerometer, geomagnetic sensor, ambient light sensor
- Navigation: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BDS, QZSS
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2 BLE
- Sports Modes: Over 120 modes, with automatic detection for 7 types
- Strap Size: 20mm
- Operating System: ZEPP OS
In Summary:
- The Amazfit GTS4 Mini is a mid-range smartwatch from China that isn’t particularly valuable for its cost, especially with many budget-friendly options now available.
- It has the advantage of being lightweight and offers customizable watch faces developed by users.
- The battery life is impressive; it can last almost a month if used mainly for timekeeping and notifications.
here’s the other review by Cafe Arcane