There are a palmful of smartwatch brands that focus on fitness and nothing else. The last few years have been great for Amazfit, which is delivering one smartwatch after another, each of them high on style and fitness quotient. We had a chance to experience the Amazfit GTS 2 for a few weeks and here’s what we think about it.

Guiding you in the right direction

The ‘s’ in ‘GTS’ stands for square or the design you are familiar from the Apple Watch. On the inside are some cool tech which can give the likes of Realme and Xiaomi stiff competition. Instead of making you deep dive into a bottomless pit of menu options, the GTS 2 has all the stuff you want from a smartwatch without having to charge the watch every other day. From a single charge, one can expect six to seven days but it depends on the functions that are toggled on. For example, scheduling the raise-to-awake feature and turning off the always-on-display really helps. Nonetheless, getting almost a week out of a smartwatch at this price point is decent stuff.

One of the features that impresses on the GTS 2 is its GPS, which has improved over time. If you are running on the sidewalks or on a track, the watch can track your location well. However, if you go off-road and into trekking mode, we are not sure of the accuracy of the GPS. In way of sport modes, there are plenty of exercise routines to take care of, from simple running and jogging to swimming and outdoor cycling. You will be spoilt for choice.

Among the many reasons leading to a surge in demand for smartwatches are some of the health functions and sensors. It has become sort of a general indicator for one’s health. We wouldn’t call any smartwatch perfect but some are better than the others. The precision of heart monitoring on the GTS 2 is comparable to the ones from Samsung or even Apple.

Then there are those gimmicky functions which are there on most watches these days — blood oxygen reading and stress management. The SpO2 reading has made me happy by remaining between 92 and 97 per cent while the Apple Watch gives 94-97 and the oximeter shows around 96-98. If I really want to know the reading, I will go with the oximeter.

The same goes for stress level monitoring. The technology behind it remains unclear and I really don’t understand what makes me stressed when the watch is suggesting that I am stressed.

All this doesn’t mean the smartwatch isn’t smart. I think these devices are really helpful when it comes to notifying when something is amiss badly, which one may miss out otherwise. All I am saying is: Don’t become slave to the watch.

A hardy friend for the wrist

Amazfit has been an impressive brand for some years now for some good reasons, one of them being the design. Though I am not a big fan of silicone straps but the one in the box is pretty comfortable while the watch is quite light. The crown of the watch is protected by the sloping design around it, which is actually quite cool.

Even without any screen protector, the watch is doing very well even after almost a month. To damage it you really have to take a knife to it or keeping running into walls. The GTS 2 is well-built.

There is a mic on the watch, which means you can take calls but this freedom can be misused. I really don’t want to snoop in on the shopping-list conversations people often tend to have! The speaker is clear and loud. The mic is also receptive and you can give some offline commands to make the watch load certain applications or perhaps set an alarm. It’s best that you connect the smartwatch to a pair of TWS earbuds to get the most out of it, especially if you are planning to make use of the onboard 3GB you have on the watch.

Is it for you?

Apple and Samsung smartwatches have a certain aspirational value attached to them. Garmin is for fitness enthusiasts. And then there are lower-end brands that give a taste of smartwatches but are not serious about them. Amazfit has created a market for itself by offering value for money, plenty of accurate data to keep you fit, and sensible designs. The Amazfit GTS 2 (Rs 12,999) is a design-friendly watch that makes your wrist feel smart.

High notes

• Sturdy built and good design
• Plenty of sport workout modes
• Excellent speaker and mic
• Good heart rate monitoring

Muffled notes

• The SpO2 sensor takes time to offer a reading
• The mechanism behind stress monitoring is unclear