Tags: Review | Amazfit | Smart | Retro
17.5.2021 | 7 MIN
When looking at Amazfit Neo, all retrosexuals roar with bliss, hipster's beard starts to tingle and older generations remember the old times. And yet it is still a watch baby. Probably the simplest smartwatch I've ever seen. And you know what? That's the most beautiful thing about it.
Amazfit did a really fine thing. They made a watch with a heavy retro scent and packed it with a really incredible price. At first glance, I would probably placed this device to the Casio series, because with some elements it resembles the legendary F-91 or perhaps even more legendary G-Shock DW-5600.
But if you look a little closer, you will realize that this is not a Japanese, but a Chinese, who got a few smart features as a bonus and you wouldn't even guessed it. Plus the control is so simple that I would recommend this watch to a senior or a technological anti-talent. Well... Or to those who just likes the watch. Because several editors have shown interest in these watches and one of them is even became their proud owner.
Now let's take a look at this mash-up under a microscope.
To tell the truth, Amazfit Neo is no midget. With dimensions of 40.3 x 41 x 11.7 mm, this watch will probably sit well on a man's wrist, but for men with a slimmer wrist and ladies it might be a a big bite. Personally, it fit really well on my wrist (circumference 17 cm).
Nevertheless, Amazfit presents this watch as unisex and underlines it with three color variants - black, khaki and orange.
Personally, I prefer khaki the most, but neither color variant is bad. The most universal is definitely the black one.
As it was common in the 80's, the Amazfit Neo is such a typical plastic piece, which is also reflected on the weight of this model, which is 32 grams.
The front side of the watch is manufactured into eight edges, which are complemented by four buttons on the sides with light grooves so that your finger does not slip so easily. Amazfit explains their function verbally on slightly elevated parts. This works as a design element, but at the same time it protects the display a bit from shocks and scratches. The display is slightly recessed but safety is always valued. The last element is two triangular marks that ... Well, they're just there. They have no purpose. :)
I may be a little too finicky, but the modern Amazfit logo in the lower part kinda spoils the impression. I don't mind that it's there, because it's part of branding, but it's too modern for my taste and it ruins the retro touch.
On the contrary, the caseback with screws beautifully emphasizes the retro idea as this is not quite common in smartwatches. You don't need to worry about jumping into the water with the watch, because it has a water resistance of up to 50 M. It is not enough for diving, but swimming is on the table.
The watch has a polyurethane strap with a width of 20 mm. The strap is smooth on the inside but the ouside is enriched by some light dots. The strap is one of the stiffer ones, but I didn't mind it and it held nicely on my hand.
The watch uses a 1.2-inch monochrome LCD display to display information, which goes perfectly to the overall look of the watch and has no problem even with direct sunlight.
The display is divided into three parts. The lower and largest part shows the time. The upper right part then shows the date, day of the week and additional information such as heart rate, battery percentage, number of steps and more. The upper left part contains a circular display that reveals the individual functions - so, for exmple, when you are in the part with heart rate, it shows a heart and when burned calories, it shows a fire.
It is important to mention that the lower part that displays time has a slightly better processing and we do not see individual pixels as in the upper part.
Since the display is monochrome, it was necessary to add lighting to the watch. The watch turns the light on for four seconds whenever you lift your wrist, but if you activate the light manually (by holding down the BACK button), the display stays on for 10 seconds.
If the lighting is activated and you be going through the watch, it will not turn off. This really made me happy, because for example, in the Casio G-Shock GBD-H1000 (same display technology), the light went out every time you moved to another screen.
It is no science to list all the sensors in a watch, because there are only two - a heart rate sensor and an accelerometer. The highest possible heart rate measurement rate is one minute (it can also be measured manually if you switch to this function). The accelerometer is used to measure the number of steps during the day or during a sports activity.
It might be caused by the undeminding display technology, but the watch can last up to 28 days without charging.
Four buttons on the sides are used to control the watch and scroll through 11 screens.
The screens display - step counter, battery status, heart rate, PAI fitness score, alarm clock, world times, stopwatch, Do Not Disturb mode, weather, calories burned and distance traveled.
The upper left SELECT button for instance starts the stopwatch, switches world times, activates the Do Not Disturb mode, and by holding it you can turn the watch off or on. You can also use the BACK button to switch between world times, reset the stopwatch and by holding it you activate the lighting.
The watch then has some slightly hidden functions, such as finding a phone that is activated by pressing UP + BACK at the same time. Reseting the watch is done by pressing DOWN+BACK at the same time.
What may catch your attention when first using it, is the annoying sound that the watch makes when you press a button. Seriously ... That sound cuts into the brain. I couldn't understand why would they make such an awful sound. But then I realized. I have very good hearing. As I said in the beggining of this review, I would reccomend the watch to seniors. And they may have a slightly worse hearing, so this "into-brain-drilling" sound is absolutely ideal for them.
But don't worry ... It can be turned off in the mobile application. :)
During the day, the watch tracks number of steps taken, heart rate, distance traveled, calories burned and what really pleased me - they can also monitor sleep. In sleep analysis, they can distinguish between light, deep and REM sleep and when you were awake.
Perhaps some of you were surprised that I did not mention the choice of sports activities in the description of the user interface. The reason is, you only find sports activitioes in the mobile app.
So if you want to start doing sports, you have to open the mobile application, choose one of the three sports activities (running, walking, cycling) and turn it on. This will then be shown on the watch and you have the option to pause and resume this activity. In your headphones you then hear "workout paused" in slightly broken English. I understood the word "paused" immediately, but the word "workout" took a me a while to decipher.
During sports activities, the watch measures your pace (speed when cycling), distance, time and your heart rate is measured every second. The GPS watch from the phone is used to record the route.
In the overall evaluation, the watch "spits out" the average pace, distance, number of steps, calories burned, cadence or stride length, and evaluate your actions in the PAI fitness score.
As far as the smart functions go, you can find the already mentioned "Find my phone" function, the weather and also notifications. Just to clarify: the watch does not display a notification, but only notifies you that you have a notification on your phone or that someone is calling you.
The watch uses the Zepp mobile application to set up the watch and back up data. The app has a reputation of having some errors. As a first flaw, I would immediately mention the sports activities, which are hidden in the bar below, and I think that a lot of users will not notice it at all. Well... And then also how much irrelevant data the application shows me. In the menu there is Stress, VO2 Max and others, but the watch can't measure it.
In my opinion, the app should be programmed to only show what the watch can actually measure or use in any way.
Overall, the app is not graphically bad and you can find everything you need there.
This watch, with a name more reminiscent to the main protagonist of the Matrix trilogy, may seem like a huge mistake. But you know what? It is the opposite. It are absolutely brilliant. It cost very little, it offers a smart basis and for a retrosexual or senior - an ideal choice. Amazfit has filled a hole in the market with this model and I think it will definitely find its users.
