Amazfit - Bip 5

Not a poor man’s smartwatch, but a reasonable person’s who doesn’t feel the need to spend a lot more money for a brand name, that maybe does one or two things better. But I understand your concern. I have several Amazfit watches, the GTS 4, the Bip 5, and the Balance. None have been anything short of excellent. There are some things that a Samsung or Apple or Pixel may do better, but those things may not be worth spending hundreds of dollars more.

>a lot of smartwatches had to be recharged every few hours, not just every day My Amazfit Bip had about 3 weeks of battery life, Amazfit GTS3 had 2 weeks, and the current Amazfit Bip 5 have 7 to 10 days.

I've had a charge 6 for about a year and a half. It might be me or it might be my device but I would sum it up as 'inconsistent' I've never gotten a HRV value although it always says it's in my personal range. I very seldom get breathing rate but that one at least says no data available. I get REM and a sleep score very infrequently. Usually its Asleep/Restless/Awake with no score. I have it set to use the phone's GPS. Sometimes I would get a map for the walk activity, sometimes not. Since the recent update I never do. Something in the device or the app? IDK. I've been comparing it to a Amazfit Bip 5 which seems to be a lot more consistent but I really like the smaller form factor. Amazfit has a Band 7 but it is rarely mentioned on r/amazfit which makes me suspicious. The internal GPS is not very good and affects battery life. When using the phone's GPS battery life is good, except for the inconsistent results.

The Active 2 has a barometer and tracks elevation gains. I find that useful since most of my walks are on mountain trails that involve significant gain. It wouldn't be very useful in Kansas. Also I'm not fond of the rectangular form factor. I have a Bip 5 and wanted a round device.

I've been buying Amazfit before they were available in the U.S. The biggest issue I've had is the battery has stopped taking a charge at about the 2 year mark on the Rex and Rex 2. I bought the original T-Rex in 2020. Then went into the T-Rex 2. Currently rocking the Bip 5 since Oct 2023. For under $100 bucks (currently at $60) it has more features than the Rex 2. Before Amazfit I had used other watches, mainly Google OS, and I hated having to charge every day or even multiple times a day. I'll buy another Amazfit when the time comes.

My Fitbit totally bit it a few months back. I opted to go cheap and see what happens. I spent $42$ on an Amazon Amazabit and it’s great. Holds charge for days/weeks, waterproof for swimming, tons of features and the app it uses- ZEPP is pretty easy to use. Really thought this would be a temporary solution, but honestly I’m thrilled and have no plans to replace it anymore.

I came to recommend an Amazfit 5 (I don't know what a Bip is). That is the watch I am currently wearing right now and have had for years. It is priced at half your budget and given that your previous watch was an Amazfit 5, you're already familiar with its interface. Are you sour on them because of a warranty process (by the way, *what* warranty? As a fellow owner, I would love to know. I thought this watch was so cheap it was unsupported after purchase.), or would you give them another chance? It's a solid watch, ocean-worthiness notwithstanding.

Bip s. I literally bought a backup unit because it's so cheap and so good

As someone who has used a good amount of the alternatives, I fall under the case of nothing really beats a Pebble. Wear OS is still an unstable mess imo and feels too much like just a phone on my wrist. The Pebble actually feels like an extension of my phones abilities but not overwhelmingly so. Plus, you can make your own apps for it if you are into it. The BangleJS2 and Bip are some alternatives but I didn't enjoy them anywhere near as much. A readable screen, you are looking at e-ink or the e paper we get on the Pebble, Bangle, Bip, JS, Fossil HR (I believe that is what they called their hybrid) and I believe some Garmin watches, though they fall into the category of I haven't used them. The battery life is the killer feature on the Pebble to me. Though the Bangle and Bip have great battery, the pebble just did more with it to me. The ability to reply is nice but a touch screen only was a deal-breaker for most watches nowadays. The buttons are really nice when I need them like when wearing gloves for work. I'm excited for my Time 2, and have my Time Steel on while I wait. I took off my Ticwatch Pro 3 and it has sat with getting put on the charger once a month to keep the battery from just stopping from working. If you have concern, grab a used time for cheap if you can and use it for a bit. Don't like it? Cancel your preorder and you can find something you do.

Pixel 10 Pro with Amazfit Bip watch. Reason - dirt cheap "smartwatch" that sends me notifications, that's about it. I don't need anything fancy with the smartwatch

Amazfit. I think the worst you'll get is 5-7 days with everything enabled, most will do 10+, and some 20+ days with a mix of features enabled. They all have really good screens, the newer ones have better features like enhanced notifications with images, ability to reply to messages with voice or typing, built in AI assistant The Active 2 is often on sale, there's also the Active 2 Premium which adds sapphire glass screen and NFC for contactless payments, then there's the Balance and Balance 2 for basically every feature with a bigger screen and battery, they do the Active 2 square if you prefer that, they also do the Bip range for cheaper square ones. It does depend on what features you want, they aren't WearOS so you can't get the same range of 3rd party apps and watch faces, but there's still quite a few out there. Personally I prefer them as they run smoothly, have good battery, and are generally smaller than WearOS Watches.