Amazfit Cheetah Pro review: A Garmin Forerunner Lite with more bells and whistles

Amazfit has come a good distance from its early days of finances Apple Watch lookalikes and Xiaomi Mi Band clones. It strikes a novel steadiness with its health tech, providing related health knowledge and battery longevity to what you get in a Garmin watch, solely with extra mainstream watch options packed in at a lower cost.Its new high-end health smartwatch focus is actually obvious within the Amazfit Cheetah Pro, the model’s first watch “engineered for runners.” I had an opportunity to check each the Cheetah Pro and the Amazfit T-Rex Ultra, and instantly most well-liked the Cheetah Pro for its comfortably gentle design and concentrate on inexpensive GPS accuracy.Sunday Runday(Image credit score: Android Central)In his new weekly column, Android Central Fitness Editor Michael Hicks talks in regards to the world of wearables, apps, and general health tech associated to operating and well being.Available for $299.99 — with the Cheetah Round $80 cheaper with some trade-offs — it undercuts widespread operating watches just like the $349 COROS APEX 2 and Garmin Forerunner 255 whereas surpassing them in key areas, such because the built-in mic and speaker. It’s actually shocking how a lot tech Amazfit manages to pack into its watches. That being stated, the Cheetah Pro is not for everybody. Amazfit is concentrating on runners who might not wish to spend an enormous amount of cash; however are there higher compromises accessible on this worth vary? Or for those who like what it affords, do you have to simply chew the bullet and spend a bit additional on different operating watches? Let’s run via the important thing factors that you must know. Amazfit Cheetah Pro specs and design(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Purely primarily based on the numbers, the worth that you just get out of this $300 operating watch is improbable. Swipe to scroll horizontallySpecificationsAmazfit Cheetah ProDimensions47 x 47 x 11.8mmWeight (with strap)43gMaterialTitanium alloy bezel, fiber bolstered polymer center frameStrap22mm, nylon, matches 150mm-215mm wristsDisplay1.45-inch (480 x 480, 331ppi, 1,000 nits) AMOLED touchscreenProtection5ATM; Corning Gorilla Glass 3Battery life (Smartwatch mode)Up to 14 Days (7 Days Heavy Usage, 24 Days Battery Saver)Battery life (GPS mode)Up to 26 Hours (Accuracy), 44 Hours (Automatic), 54 Hours (Power Saving)ChargingProprietary cableLocation trackingDual-band, all-systems MaxTrackWell being monitoringHeart price, blood oxygen, stress, respiration, sleepSensorsAccelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic, altimeter, ambient lightPhone connectivityMic, speaker, music playback, notifications; Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi 2.4GHzVoice assistantAlexa, offline voice assistantSports modes150+CompatibilityAndroid 7.0+, iOS 12.0+ColorRun Track BlackThe AMOLED show is almost as massive as you get from the 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, whereas the burden is nearer to what you’d count on from a 1.2-inch watch. That’s partially as a result of Amazfit used a nylon strap as a substitute of silicone, however it’s nonetheless appreciated. Plus, the show matches the industry-standard 330 pixels per inch and is surrounded by a modern titanium bezel, which masks the fiber-reinforced plastic beneath. My solely skepticism is with the show’s claimed 1,000 nits of max brightness. I’m undecided when that most kicks in, however the watch is finest considered indoors or within the shade. In sunny spots, it is completely readable however by no means vibrant — particularly for the information display graphs you will see within the Cheetah Pro evaluate images. Still, it is significantly better than a Garmin MIP show, so I could not complain a lot.The watch itself has two buttons — one a digital crown — and comes with a nylon band that is a bit slim when sliding my fist via it. Most runners have robust opinions about crowns and nylon straps, so that might affect your opinion. I discovered the strap a bit scratchy for my liking; the crown is completely high quality, although it looks like Amazfit tuned it so it’s a must to flip it fairly far earlier than it strikes you to the following knowledge display throughout a run. Thankfully, you should utilize the touchscreen exterior of exercises. Bold white textual content reveals up clearly, however coloured graphs or maps are very onerous to learn by comparability throughout a run (Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)The Amazfit Cheetah Pro battery life is (on paper) so long as a Garmin watch, besides with the visible perk of AMOLED. In follow, take into account me very doubtful that this watch can hit 26 hours of monitoring with Accuracy Mode lively. The a lot bigger Garmin Forerunner 965 solely hits 19 dual-frequency hours, and I discovered that the Cheetah Pro dips almost 10% after about 90 minutes (on tempo for 16 hours or so). Still, this watch battery is greater than ok to belief for an all-day race, and that is what counts.What makes the Cheetah Pro particularly intriguing is its built-in mic and speaker, one thing that is pretty uncommon for fitness-focused smartwatches. This makes it a rival to units just like the Fitbit Versa 4 or Garmin Venu 2 Plus. With these, the Cheetah Pro can take Bluetooth cellphone calls or communicate to a voice assistant, which you’ll be able to set off by twisting your wrist or holding down the fitting button. (Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Testing the calling for myself, I discovered that the Cheetah Pro mic works fairly properly, actually selecting up my voice even when I’m in a roundabout way holding the watch close to my mouth. The speaker, sadly, is actually quiet. It’s audible in silent areas, however you are in all probability going to ask the particular person to talk up. This was an issue I seen with the pricier Venu 2 Plus, however not a conventional smartwatch just like the Galaxy Watch 6.As for the Alexa entry, this appears to be the norm now that Google is limiting Assistant to the most recent Wear OS fashions. I’m not one to care a lot about voice assistants, however if you wish to twist your wrist, say “Start outdoor workout,” and arrive on the Start display with out having to make use of any buttons or swipes, you are in luck. The Amazfit Cheetah Pro additionally has music storage, however no NFC tap-to-pay choice. Just how correct is the Cheetah Pro and Zepp Coach?(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)I’m ready (im)patiently for extra smartwatch manufacturers so as to add knowledge on coaching load and restoration, together with advised exercises primarily based in your health. Amazfit is among the few that does, and it now has one thing referred to as Zepp Coach AI to counsel exercises primarily based in your present health degree. Personally, I appear to be Futurama’s Fry narrowing his eyes in suspicion any time an organization tries to include “AI” into their workflow. But the idea actually is not that totally different from the Garmin algorithm that goes into calculating your VO2 Max and different knowledge, primarily based in your GPS and coronary heart price knowledge. The query is, are you able to belief Zepp Coach as a lot as extra well-known manufacturers?Amazfit’s bragging about its “industry-leading” MaxTrack GPS is simply advertising. In your post-run outcomes, you will see your justifiable share of drifting and suspiciously angled strains. But it is also not almost as dangerous as a GPS-only watch just like the Galaxy Watch 6, and it adopted alongside pretty intently with my Forerunner 965 map with some occasional deviations. Considering it prices half as a lot, I’m fairly proud of the compromise.What I’m extra involved about — the identical concern I had throughout my Galaxy Watch 6 testing — is how the Cheetah Pro registered a lot much less climbing and descending than my Forerunner 965, by a scale of tons of of toes. I seen after my final run that it had “altitude calibration” turned on, which is meant to be disabled by default in Amazfit fashions with altimeters. This makes me marvel if it is simply guessing my elevation achieve primarily based on “publicly available data” quite than monitoring it itself.(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)In phrases of my coronary heart price knowledge, my averages and max coronary heart charges throughout a number of runs had been 1bpm decrease. That makes it fairly constant; I ponder if it has to do with the nylon strap, which helps you to put on it a bit looser than you normally get with a silicone strap. Overall, I discovered that Amazfit overestimated my coaching load in comparison with Garmin, however that is partly due to a shorter pattern load of knowledge and since I began operating with it after I was “overtraining” based on Garmin, making me look much less match to Zepp’s algorithms. Interestingly, each watches nonetheless gave me the identical 72- and 31-hour restoration time estimates on the finish of my two runs (respectively), which makes me optimistic that Zepp Coach will not ever advise runners to push themselves earlier than they’re prepared. And it recommends particular varieties of exercises — like hitting excessive coronary heart price zones for a sure variety of minutes — to enhance in several areas of health. I simply miss how Garmin makes your health knowledge rather more available. You’re not simply blindly following its AI-suggested exercises; you possibly can go into your Training Status widget and see in case your Load Focus is correctly balanced or is poor in sure areas, which determines the place you need to focus subsequent. Zepp’s knowledge primarily occurs behind the scenes, supplying you with an arbitrary PAI rating primarily based in your effort vs. your health degree. It works to information you towards higher well being; it is simply not particularly clear. Should you purchase the Amazfit Cheetah Pro?(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)The Amazfit Cheetah Pro targets a really particular sort of runner. They’re somebody who desires operating steering to get match with out having to spend a bunch of time knowledge. They do not wish to hand over on Bluetooth calling, however they do not thoughts lacking out on different conventional sensible apps that you just’d get on a Wear OS watch. They need a lengthy battery life and AMOLED show with out the price of one thing just like the Garmin Forerunner 265, whereas one thing cheaper just like the Garmin Forerunner 55 or COROS PACE 2 with helpful coaching instruments simply does not have the bells and whistles they need.If you fall into this camp, and also you’re unwilling to spend a bit additional on a Garmin or COROS that can compromise in different methods however provide you with extra helpful health knowledge, the Amazfit Cheetah Pro is a minimum of price contemplating. Today’s finest Amazfit Cheetah Pro offers