You don’t have to travel too far back in time to a world when smartwatches weren’t as ubiquitous as they are in 2021. You would always find more than the odd person in a boardroom rocking a G-Shock or sporty Swiss heirloom watch with a dark grey suit. The T-Rex Pro from Amazfit is for that sort of user who likes to wear his or her rugged side on their sleeve (or wrist in this case). It’s a step up from the T-Rex that we checked out last year and dubbed the G-shock of smartwatches. The new Pro suffix comes with some useful add-ons including – you guessed it, SpO2 monitoring.
The T-Rex Pro is unmistakably rugged, geared for all your outdoor pursuits. The strap complements the tough build but it’s not easy to swap straps in case you’d like to accessorise with a third party strap. This smartwatch has 15 military-grade certificates to back its rugged credentials. It’s designed to resist extreme environments and withstand extreme temperatures. Just like is predecessor it weighs a shade under 60gm and doesn’t feel too clunky on your wrist. Amazfit has also upped the water resistance; the T-Rex Pro boasts of 10ATM water resistance (up to 100 metres) – you’re covered for those snorkelling and surfing escapades.
I set up the T-Rex Pro with an iPhone 12 Pro Max (with a QR code), you’ll need the Zepp companion App (also available on Android). Set up was very smooth while the UI has improved slightly on the App. Navigation is quite simple too, especially after you get a grip on the four physical navigation buttons (two on either side). The 1.3-inch AMOLED display (360 x 360 pixels) is almost identical to the T-Rex; great visibility under harsh sunlight and punchy colours. Just like most Amazift wearables, you get heaps of watch faces to choose from. There’s a 390 mAh battery under the hood. Amazfit claims an 18-day battery life without the ‘Always-on’ display. You should manage about 5 days with the Always-on display based on our tests.
One of the cool new features that we put to the test in the gym was the ExerSense workout recognition algorithm that can automatically recognise 8 sports modes (including swimming and elliptical). There are over 100 sports modes – Muay Thai anyone?; clearly more than you are likely to ever use. The T-Rex scores on the wellness front. The sleep tracking seemed quite accurate in my tests and then there’s also SpO2 tracking (that measures your blood oxygen saturation levels) that’s almost become a given for any smartwatch above Rs 10,000 in a post-COVID world. The watch also offers in-built GPS, handy to track your runs and workouts.
In terms of smartwatch things, the T-Rex Pro is quite similar to its predecessor. You can receive text and call alerts plus a whole host of other App notifications on your wrist. There’s no speaker, so you will have to answer calls on your phone. There’s no storage option for music, but the phone allows you to control music (whether you’re plugged in to a playlist from your phone or an App like Spotify) from your wrist. The Huami app ecosystem (or the lack of it) remains one of our major cribs.
The Amazfit T-Rex Pro, is a great option at its price tag for users who dig a rugged smartwatch. Battery life is solid even with the vibrant always-on display and it ticks most of the wellness boxes that active users look for including on-demand SpO2 monitoring.
The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is available in black and blue and costs Rs 12,999/-
