Buying advice: Apple Watch clones from 30 euros

April 11, 2020

Apple Watch clones are cheap, look chic and can do a lot, as the Amazfit GTS smartwatch presented by Xiaomi subsidiary Huami proves at IFA 2019. We take a look at the devices.

The Apple Watch is considered the best smartwatch. It owes this to its pleasing appearance, the high-quality workmanship and, above all, the high functionality. Your problem: The current version costs at least 400 euros and only works with iOS devices.

But there are alternatives. Above all, Huami is competing with the Apple group in the wearable area. The Xiaomi subsidiary is only about five years old and already sold most of the wearables worldwide in 2018. It also owes this to its Xiaomi Mi Band series. In our Review, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 (Review report) and the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 (Review report) were particularly convincing with their strong hardware and unbeatable price-performance ratio. With the 3 series we still complained about the poor localization, the 4 series, on the other hand, does everything correctly and consequently receives the grade Very good our clear buy recommendation.

Amazfit GTS

Huami is now showing an Apple Watch clone at IFA 2019 that has it all. The Amazfit GTS visually closely resembles the Apple model, offers very good workmanship with a metal frame, water resistance up to 50m and a very nice, bright and colorful 1.65-inch OLED touch display with a resolution of strong 442 × 348 pixels, which is easy to read even in direct sunlight. The Amazfit GTS even manages to undercut the weight and dimensions of the Apple Watch and exceed the battery life. Huami specifies ten days here. In the first hands-on, the Amazfit GTS lost only 15 percent battery capacity after 45 hours of continuous use, pulse measurement every ten minutes and without GPS. This just exceeds the specified battery life.

In terms of their range of functions, you have to accept compromises compared to an Apple Watch. Nevertheless, the Amazfit GTS does a very good job both as a fitness and sleep tracker and as a smartwatch. It supports twelve activities, including walking, running, cycling, swimming, climbing and skiing. It also records GPS data and shows the distance covered in the clear app. The athlete sees his current pulse on the display of the Amazfit GTS at all times. The display reliably shows incoming messages, the vibration alarm is strong. However, pictures are on the outside and the smartphone must also serve to answer.

The Amazfit GTS is scheduled for the German market at the end of September for 130 euros. After a short Review we can say that this is a very fair price. A detailed Review will show in the next few weeks what the smartwatch can and cannot do.

Amazfit Bip

The Amazfit Bip is the predecessor of the GTS. It also looks similar to the Apple Watch, but is currently only 55 euros and is only half as expensive as the Amazfit GTS. But its color display with 127 × 127 pixels has a much lower resolution, the device is also much smaller with 1.28 inches and therefore the display edges are thicker. The housing is made of plastic. The Bip is still waterproof and GPS is also on board. When it comes to battery life, the Amazfit Bip outperforms most of the competition. The small 190 mAh battery should keep the watch running for 45 days. A value that many testers confirm. It also offers many fitness and some smartwatch functions. Many users complain about their sometimes poor localization. However, the price-performance ratio is unbeatable, here many buyers can surely overlook one or the other shortcoming.

Alternatives

The HolyHigh is a little more expensive at around 70 euros. It offers a color touch display, GPS, heart rate measurement and presets for 17 different activities. It also displays incoming messages in full text. The manufacturer specifies its battery life as 7 days. If GPS is switched on permanently, it will decrease to about eight hours.

Conclusion

The Amazfit GTS is one of the very attractive smartwatch. Few buyers should be bothered by the fact that she shamelessly uses the Apple Watch in terms of her design and watch faces. Because such a high quality workmanship in conjunction with a beautiful display, many functions and long battery life are likely to be offered by very few smartwatches for 130 euros.

If you want to spend even less, you should check out the Amazfit Bip for less than 60 euros. At first glance, it looks like an Apple Watch too, but with 45 days it offers an almost unmatched long battery life.

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