Xiaomi fitness devices have arrived on the shelf. Amazfit Bip is almost an exact copy Apple Watch with a bunch of his own chips. Excellent autonomy up to a month, good screen, work with the official Mi Fit application and built-in GPS (!).
And all this — for 35-50 dollars, Carl!
What kind of Huami, give me Xiaomi
Why Amazfitbut not Xiaomi? Now only the ultra-popular Mi Band of several versions are marked with the Chinese giant’s own logo. However, what they are, what other sports gadgets — everything is produced by Huami.
Huami’s full range of gadgets can easily compete with Garmin:
- Mi Band 1/2 is the most popular fitness tracker in history;
- Amazfit Pace is a smartwatch with GPS and real-time heart rate measurement;
- Amazfit Pace 2 is a premium version of the tracker without a heart rate monitor for swimmers, with a metal case in the performance of an incredibly cool wristwatch;
- Amazfit Core — fitness bracelet with pressure measurement;
- Amazfit Arc — bracelet to replace Mi Band 2;
- Amazfit Bip is the smartwatch we’re talking about.
Huami not only develops hardware, but also creates its own software. All her devices work through the Amazfit app by default.
But that doesn’t mean they don’t work. Xiaomi Mi Fit — any device from the list can be included in the home ecosystem, using it as a key to a smart home or a personal sports consultant.
Why do you need Bip if you have Mi Band? Enhanced functionality and ease of use.
First impression of Amazfit Bip
Amazfit Bip continue their Huami line: functional, cheap, but stylish devices. Appearance — almost Apple Watch. If you don’t look closely, it’s almost impossible to tell. Screen glows constantlybright, there is a button, the bracelet does not cause nausea.
The watch case is plastic, but the display protects Gorilla glass. After some time, scratches will appear on them.
The standard bracelet included with the Bip is made of hypoallergenic silicone. Like the watch itself, the bracelet is available in several color combinations: black, orange, white or olive.
Any replacement can be purchased. Although, if desired, you can order a custom one — for example, from metal or paracord. If the Chinese options are not interesting, any 20mm strap from the nearest watch store will do.
Charging is carried out through a special base. It will not work to connect the clock to the computer — only the power lines are divorced. The setting is carried out only from the screen of the watch itself or a smartphone.
The main difference between Bip and the notorious fitness trackers is a large display. It is slightly smaller than Amazfit Pace (review), but almost the same as in the Apple Watch. Apparently, this time Huami developers took the appearance from Apple.
Taken together, it turned out very badly. I can’t say that the kit from the box will suit any style of clothing. But high-quality materials and a good image make a good impression.
Xiaomi does its job, and is head and shoulders above the basement brands.
Although, not everything is as smooth as it might seem. When you turn on Amazfit Bip for the first time, it throws out a pack of hieroglyphs. In order for the language to change, you need to connect them to your smartphone via the Mi Fit app (Android, iOS). After that you can use.
What is the difference between Amazfit Bip and Mi Band?
Instead of an OLED screen, Bip received a transflective display similar to that used in Pace. The resolution is low, the pixel grid is visible to the naked eye. This is the fee for the ability to normally read messages from a smartphone and autonomy. Today, only a transflective screen can provide sufficient battery life for smartwatches.
Bip displays messages in the native language of the smartphone. There are no problems with Russian or any other encoding. There is a problem with fonts — the Cyrillic alphabet is clearly unfinished. It is good that it is absent as a system language of the watch itself. By the way, there is no message scrolling either.
The screen backlight is much brighter than in any Chinese «smart watch». The chip from the Mi Band with raising your hand to activate the backlight works: I looked at the clock, they turned on the set brightness level themselves.
Another reason to use a transflective screen is the built-in GPS/GLONASS module. Serious WIN — thanks to this, there is not a single Bip competitor on the market in the current price range.
Like other Huami fitness accessories, Amazfit Bip has a heart rate monitor. It only works in sleep and workout modes. Not very convenient — at the right time it will not be possible to measure.
The display is touch-sensitive, but is locked in inactive mode. To wake up the screen, you need to press a hardware key — only then the sensor will begin to respond. Although this difference seems unimportant, many Mi Band users will appreciate it. Hardware keys are better than a wheelbarrow.
A long press of the hardware key starts the training mode. Works even with gloves — and this is a big plus.
Amazfit Bip native features
Other Bip settings are made using either the display or the companion app. The watch does not require a constant connection with a smartphone, it is not even necessary to take it with you to training — quite rare synchronizations.
Autonomous work is extremely relevant, taking into account the communication range: in open space do not extend more than 15 metersbecause it is used Bluetooth LE.
Few settings per hour:
- Turn on/off the alarm,
- Choice of watch face
- Launching «Activity»
- View weather,
- Start timer,
- Launch compass.
Supported activity types include outdoor running, treadmill running, cycling, and walking. You can set an alert based on heart rate or range (number of steps), but only for all types of activity at the same time.
Weather and alarms come to Bip from the application, so they need to be set up and synchronized with a smartphone first.
In the same Mi Fit, you can set which applications the watch will display push messages from, set the time without notifications, and view statistics. In hours, the latter is extremely uninformative.
I wore Amazfit Bip for a month. Worth it?
The display and capacious battery allowed the developers to equalize the operating time of Bip and Mi Band. If Pace lasts a week without recharging, then Huami’s analog of Apple Watch is up to 45 days.
I started the autonomy test exactly a month ago. After playing with GPS for a couple of days, I charged the clock. I just put it on the charging base yesterday. Excellent result.
With a working GPS watch live 16-18 hours. About the same level as Garmin. Unfortunately, Bip will not replace a professional tracker due to the low polling rate of the sensor. The track is smooth, beautiful, but with low accuracy — suitable only for amateur training.
Informative training at altitude. Every kilometer, the watch vibrates, reporting success, the heart rate monitor constantly takes heart rate readings and displays it on the display. At the end, you can view the completed route in a schematic view right on the watch.
The clock tracks sleep phases quite accurately, so my smart alarm clock works for me personally. Apparently, Huami has once again changed the algorithms of work, so it’s impossible to say with a high probability whether it will work for someone else.
By the way, sleep with Amazfit Bip Quite comfortable on the hand. Like taking a shower. Not much more difficult than with the Mi Band — and much more pleasant than carrying the overall Pace on your arm all the time.
There are enough holes in the strap to comfortably fit the gadget to a hand of any size. The watch itself is light (32 grams) and almost not felt on the hand.
Bip also has a bunch of additional watchfaces. The default is only 10, but some stock ones display all the necessary information and look great. Therefore, although you can fill in your own, I settled on one of my relatives, with weather, date and activity.
Mi Band or Amazfit? What to choose?
Oddly enough, Amazfit Bip did not compete with the more advanced Pace model. The latter look much cooler, and more functional — especially offline. Let them be 2 times more expensive — they are just more pleasant to wear.
During sales and discounts, the cost of Bip drops from $50 to $30-35. Only $10 more expensive than the Mi Band. At the same time, Amazfit offers the same autonomy, distinct design (Bip is more suitable for a suit, for example) and greater functionality.
In my opinion, Amazfit Bip could be recommended as most balanced smart watch 2017-2018. If a new competitor does not appear, everything from the same Huami.