Amazfit T-Rex Pro review: Rugged design ready to track any adventure [video]

When it comes to rigorous outdoor activity, if you’re going to be wearing a watch, you want one that can take the abuse of harsh conditions. That’s what Amazfit has aimed to provide with the T-Rex Pro. A tough watch ready for any adventure, the Amazfit T-Rex Pro has 15 military certifications for durability and features GPS with all of the necessary sensors to track your activities. Be sure to check out all of the details below. 

Amazfit has two different versions of this watch, a base model T-Rex and the T-Rex Pro. The Pro adds some more sensors for tracking metrics but keeps the same overall design. While the base model has pass 12 military certifications, the Pro model has 15 under its belt. The Pro is also available in black, grey, or a steel blue color. 

With GPS, the base Amazfit T-Rex looks like a deal right now on the Amazfit website for just $90. The T-Rex Pro comes in at $180.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro: Rugged design

A core pillar of the Amazfit T-Rex Pro is its rugged design. And it has the looks with a bulky, sport-oriented design. The bezels and buttons all have a chunky shape that makes the whole package look durable. There are four physical buttons around the perimeter of the watch and a 1.3-inch AMOLED touch display. Most of the functions can be accessed just by swiping and using gestures on the touch screen, but the physical buttons are convenient as well. One nice thing about the raised bezel is that in most situations the case will take a hit before the screen. 

While I haven’t done any rock climbing or other extreme sports while wearing the watch, I’ve been using it for daily life for at least a month with minimal wear. When you’re spending money on an active watch you want something that’s going to be able to withstand the elements, and so far, the Amazfit T-Rex Pro has passed with flying colors.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro: Video

At 47mm wide, the watch is sizable. If you don’t like large watches, this might not be the best watch for you. But for me, even with my thin wrists, I don’t think the watch looks too big. If it were any larger though, that might be a different story. 

Hightly adjustable strap

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro features a silicone strap that matches the rugged design of the rest of the watch. One of my favorite things about it is how much adjustability there is for different wrist sizes. I have pretty thin wrists and there are still six smaller adjustments when I am wearing the watch comfortably. You do need to wear it pretty tightly for measuring heart rate and blood oxygen saturation, but I found the watch to be plenty comfortable. 

If you’re not used to wearing a watch the bulky design with 60g weight might take some getting used to, but since I usually wear a watch it was a seamless transition to the T-Rex Pro. 

1.3-inch AMOLED touch display

The auto-dimming screen was bright enough in full sun and got dim at night, but the raise-to-wake was a little too bright at the dimmest setting when trying to sleep at night. If you prefer not to have your watch screen come on at night, you can enable a schedule for raise to wake. I also found the touch screen to be plenty responsive for input and navigation. 

There are five different watch faces that you can swap between. Most of them have a pretty sporty design with some customizable portions. On the standard face, for example, you can change the box on the right to display anything from steps and calories to sunrise and sunset times. The dial on the bottom can also be changed to represent a number of performance figures. 

Once connected to the Zepp app, you can also browse and sync other watch faces.

Amazfit T-Rex Pro: Fitness tracking

Another core feature is the ability to track a huge variety of activities. I’ve used the outdoor running, treadmill, and strength training modes quite a bit in my testing. Beyond those, there are modes for everything from cycling to surfing. 

With built-in GPS, the Amazfit T-Rex Pro is ready to track any workout whether you have your phone along with you or not. From my testing, the GPS distance tracked pretty similarly to my iPhone running the Nike+ app with the occasional .1 mile variance at the end of a run. 

I really enjoyed the strength training mode as it helped me to keep track of sets throughout a workout. It can count reps as well, but typically it wouldn’t track my reps very well. But, for me, that wasn’t as important as being able to keep track of my sets and rest periods in-between. 

Heart rate monitoring

Compared to the Withings Steel HR Sport that I’ve been using for a while, the T-Rex Pro seems to do a better job of tracking my heart rate. I often felt like I had to clean off the sensors on the Withings to get a reading, but I haven’t had nearly as many issues with the Amazfit. 

Water Resistance

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro also features 10 ATM water resistance, so you don’t need to worry about a rainstorm and can track activities when in the water. There are even workout modes for pool and open water swimming. 

Amazfit T-Rex Pro: Connections

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro can connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth 5.0. Notifications can be turned on or off through the Zepp app, but it’s not as robust as the notification customizations in the Withings app. 

Zepp App

All of the metrics are tracked and stored in the Zepp app. I’m not sure why the name doesn’t match the watch brand, but there is plenty of information in there. First up is the PAI score, which tracks activity based on time spent with a raised heart rate. 

Next in the app are metrics for sleep, heart rate, stress, and blood oxygen saturation if you scan it. Weight and BMI figures you need to enter yourself. Following this is the tracked activities section. For exercise, I’ve been mostly doing strength training recently, but even going back to my last outdoor run, all of the info is there with a GPS track of my route, average pace, and all of the relevant stats.

Battery life

Battery life has been pretty consistent at 10 days. Even when the Amazfit T-Rex does get low, it only takes about an hour to recharge from 0-100. The watch gives you plenty of advanced notice if the battery starts to get low, so you won’t be caught off guard.

9to5Toys’ Take

I think it says something when after reviewing a product I plan on using it for the foreseeable future. I do like the look of an analog watch face like the Withings Steel HR Sport, but for my current schedule, using the Amazfit T-Rex Pro to track running and strength training sessions has been a welcomed feature. I enjoy the rugged design and I never have to worry about taking it off before doing any work around the house for fear of damaging it. 

Buy Amazfit T-Rex Pro

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