I'm sorry rant ahead. But I've had enough.
I bought the Stratos, because I didn't really like my Mi Band 3 (constant connection problems and almost invisible screen in daylight). I wanted to buy the Bip, but I said, what the hell. Let's go big. Stratos also looks good (Bip does not). The transreflective always on display is also great. But here the good things end.
1. The watch is slooow. Sometimes it doesn't register a touch, and sometimes it registers a ghost touch. The menus are bad, the layout is bad, the navigation is bad (and slow). The watch is also way too thick.
2. The Amazfit app is abysmal. Once the acitivity is recorded, it cannot be edited in any way. Did you press "walking" when you started running by mistake (It can easily happen - see above)? Too bad. You cannot correct it. Amazfit can draw pretty GPS pictures and graphs, but that's about it. And it's so buggy, it's more or less unusable (see below). There is no internet page, like literally every other app has (Strava, Endomondo, Runkeeper), where you could edit the data. There is no homepage. There are no official help forums.
So, even if the watch and app were completely bug free, the whole package would still be, in best case, average. But they are not bug free. And that is an understatement of the century. I've seen buggy apps and gadgets before, but this one takes the cake.
3. When I got the watch, the battery life was a real rollercoaster. The watch could go form 100% to 0 in a few hours or in 5 days. Sometimes reboot or factory reset helped. And that is true for the watch as a whole. Three to four factory resets in a months is (was - it doesn't work anymore -see below) almost necessary for Stratos to work "normally".
4. Caller name on the watch started working with Amazfit app 3. It never worked before. So, this basic (and advertised) functionality started working almost a year after the watch was released.
5. So, you start to run/bicycle/whatever. You choose the appropriate workout, you wait for the GPS, you start, and.... nothing. You are riding a bicycle and the watch says your speed iz zero.
6. You are running, and suddenly you pace starts to drop like a stone. So, I run little below 5.00 min/km. Yesterday I was running, and suddenly I was at 11.00 min/km. Not in reality, just on the Stratos. I always run 6 km, but Stratos measured 4 km. A day before 5 km. I actually ran 6 km, as I know the way. Thank god for Strava, because when I got home and the Strava synced, the running length(and pace) was correct. But only in Strava. Amazfit app and the watch itself got the data wrong. No, I don't know, how that is possible.
7. So, I was bicycling downhill. Suddenly, my hearbeat goes to 160. 170. 180. Am I dying? I feel the chest. Everything is normal. The watch is just acting up again. A few days after that, I was bicycling uphill, usually my heartrate is somewhere around 130-140. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, my heartrate drops. 60. 50. 40. And I am paddling uphill in 35 degrees C! Am I Lance Armstrong? No, It's just the watch.
8. A few days ago heartrate and steps stopped syncing with the app. The watch is at 6000 steps and Continuous HR is on (and seems to work on the watch), but the app is at 0 steps and "no heart rate data. Syncing doesn't help. Rebooting the watch doesn't help. Factory reset doesn't help. Restarting the phone, reinstalling the watch, creating a new account doesn't help.
Let's end this. I paid 160 EUR for this POS. After many months on the market, even the basic functionality of the watch does not work. What does work now, might not work tomorrow, and what works, works badly.
Why are things like this? It's the age old truth: when you buy the product, you don't just buy plastic, steel and glass, you buy a service. You buy programmers, that will get your product running long after you bought it. And that's why Amazfit products just seem cheap. Because you just bought the plastic. Nothing else.
You got a broken watch, claim warranty.
I would also add there might be a problem with your smartphone bluetooth as well. I used Mi Band 1, 2, 3 and now 4. I also had 2 smartwatches and now Stratos. I also changed 2 smartphones and I never ever had connection problems with Mi Band on any version of it. Mi Band for me is by far the most stable bluetooth connection I've ever used on any bluetooth device and I have over dozen various bluetooth devices. Stable connection, along with battery life is why I'm still loyal to Mi Band. I had various situations where I couldn't connect to plain bluetooth speaker, or sometimes even Stratos disconnects and in each case Mi Band connection is the only one that would still be stable. But that is just my personal experience as it's impossible to account for all the different hardware out there.
Agree with you. I have an Verge, which is, till the moment, a money waste.
Software is the problem, let's see if Xiaomi do something.
hpto said:
Agree with you. I have an Verge, which is, till the moment, a money waste.
Software is the problem, let's see if Xiaomi do something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will wait forever, Xiaomi has nothing to do with Pace, Verge or Stratos...
lfom said:
You will wait forever, Xiaomi has nothing to do with Pace, Verge or Stratos...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazfit don't are an trademark from Xiaomi?
Btw, a money waste. Mi band do the job and far better.
hpto said:
Amazfit don't are an trademark from Xiaomi?
Btw, a money waste. Mi band do the job and far better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, it's Huami's.
Thank you all for replies!
I don't think the watch is broken (in a sense, that warranty should be claimed) and I'll tell you why.
I may have been a little misunderstood in my first post (English is not my first language). The watch doesn't act up all the time. But frequently enough, that it cannot be relied upon. I don't need a watch that works 70 % of the time (which this one does). So, let me add a few things to my points in my previous post:
5. That happened twice (see number 5 in my first post). Rebooting the watch helped. And let me stress again, that it would happen a lot more often, if I didn't reboot or factory reset the watch every time it starts to act up (3-4 times per month).
6. If that was a hardware error (se number 6 in my first post), GPS data would be wrong (this happened only during my last two runs!). But the GPS data that the watch recorded during the run was correct. If it wasn't, Strava would be wrong, too. Activity (run) was measured (interpreted?) incorrectly by the watch and Amazfit app. Strava got the same (raw?) data and it gave correct results (kilometers, pace). If the watch was faulty, the GPS data would be faulty, too. But the hardware, it seems, is fine. Just the software is bad.
7. HR monitoring is just bad on this watch. I don't think I'm the only one that noticed that.
8. Steps and HR data syncing with the app currently works. It started to work the next day. But I noticed something strange. When syncing wasn't working, the Amazfit app said for steps and HR "08/17 19:52" (something like that, I don't remember the exact time). But it was only 11 o'clock! So, the app was claiming, that the last sync with the watch was in the future. Probably that's why it wasn't syncing. And that is not a harware error, it's the software.
So, I don't think the watch is faulty, it's just the software that's bad. That was my point all along. Right now, the watch is working fine. It was working fine yesterday and the day before that, when I was bicycling. But that is not enough. I want a watch that works all the time.
Amazfit stratos 3.0: poor watch
The watch is unreliable, sunset and sunrize notifications come and go without reason. Very disappointing.
You could use my app for sunrise and sunset times.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/smartwatch/amazfit/app-amazfit-sun-widget-t4023903
Related
Guys,
Quick question.
Is there a setting somewhere that allows the gear fit to NOT end the workout if stationary (or bad GPS) after a preset time?
Scenario:
Whenever I am cycling, I inevitably come across traffic lights and have to stop, after some time (normally once I get going again) the gear fit will display a message "No movement detected, workout stopped" or something along those lines.
If I acknowledge the message, then its ok, workout continues until the next stop, but if I don't notice it, and sometimes I don't feel the vibration when cycling, then eventually the workout will stop all together, and I only find out next time I check the device.
This is very frustrating, surely I don't have to keep checking the device to see if it thinks the workout is stopped, very dangerous when cycling.
So currently yes I have to periodically check to make sure it is still recording, if I just leave it, guaranteed it will stop recording without me telling it to.
Anyone else experience this when cycling?
Otherwise great device!
further to this..
yesterday on my ride home I got the "workout stopped" message when I had been moving for at least 3-4 minutes.
so not sure how it is calculating movement or what the threshold is.
luckily i noticed and acknowledged the message and the workout continued.
still very annoying.
surely someone else has experienced this, or am I the only one using the gear fit for cycling?
If i initiate the cycling workout from the app on the S5, it does not record heart rate, even though the device is paired.
Yes, I have found this as well, and annoyed me too. You could go for a 4 hr ride, and it's stopped after 20 minutes haha.
THAT would be annoying!
This is problem for the newest firmware i think, bcoz early i don't have this problem...
scoobydoo_nz said:
Yes, I have found this as well, and annoyed me too. You could go for a 4 hr ride, and it's stopped after 20 minutes haha.
THAT would be annoying!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeap absolutely rubbish!
I am yet to accurately record a workout and I have had the thing for nearly a week.
Tempted to take it back just doesn't do anything it is supposed to do, except send notifications that seems to be the only thing working properly.
I have same problem too. Samsung need to fix this soon with firmware update. Otherwise it will be a great product.
I suffer from the same problem. Anoying..... And if you track from the S Health app have you notice that the distance is way off from what the bike computer measures??? 4 riders, 4 bike computers from Sigma, all measured the same, S Health reported 2,5km LESS.......
I was really fed up with Gear Fit and I've just return it to the seller.
I think i'm going to wait for better devices (or an important upgrade)
I bought it because notifications and tracking options, but it was disconnecting all the time from the cellphone.
Bye bye gearfit!
The movement detector really sucks in this watch. The other day the pedometer prompt came on congratulating me on reaching my daily steps goal. The problem is that it was early morning and I did not go anywhere to reach the 10,000 step goal. Then it occured to me, it must of picked up the movement of me rubbing one out...
Hello. I just got my Zenwatch 2 a week or so ago and I love it. I came from a Garmin Vivosmart, so the fitness tracking means a lot to me.
I've noticed that my step counter is way, way off. It should be about double what it is. I'll walk on purpose and it won't update whatsoever on my watch.
Anyone else having this issue or know a fix?
Thanks so much!
Did you install the watch update thatgot pushed out a few weeks ago? I've been noticing something similar since then
gumbyx84 said:
Did you install the watch update thatgot pushed out a few weeks ago? I've been noticing something similar since then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only got the watch 6 days ago. I'm guessing I have the latest update. Have you found a solution?
worshipfulone said:
I only got the watch 6 days ago. I'm guessing I have the latest update. Have you found a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly no. It hasn't happened a lot. Last tinge it did it was this weekend.
After two factory resets, it seems to be working. Hoping it stays that way
Thanks for your input. Appreciate it.
Sent from my SM-G928T using XDA Free mobile app
I am having the same issue, sometimes the watch counts my steps other times it does not and I have done a few factory resets with it still not working consistently. Does anyone have any suggestions?
If I restart the phone and watch, it usually resets and starts counting. I have also had to force stop the Android Wear and the ZenManager apps. That usually gets it going.
This is the one thing I don't like about this watch and I rely on it a lot. Very frustrating.
Sent from my SM-G928T using XDA Free mobile app
Just bought a second hand Zenwatch 2 and it seem have problem with steps count.
It seem count only half value from others device : my pebble time and my Fitbit one. Very strange.....
I also just bought this watch and would love to know if there is a fix to this issue. I really rely on this being accurate.
And it is very strange because if I start an exercice (running) the steps count is right, same count than my Fitbit or Garmin.
Seem just have no right count for daily tracking. I think it count only if there are a certain continuous steps number ? Ex if you walk 5 steps, stop, 15, steps, stop...... these steps are not counted.
Just wonderingif this is a common problem with all that own the watch or if WE are doing something wrong.
Sent from my SM-G920P using XDA Free mobile app
Wore yesterday with a Pebble Time that I've tested previously as being very accurate. Zenwatch 2 showed almost half the steps as the Time. I've worn the MS band 2, Vivosmart HR, Fitbit Blaze, and a few other watches in the last few months. All the step counts were at least close enough to be considered "working." The Zenwatch 2 isn't even close. The pedometer function shouldn't be too hard to get working in a $140 watch.
$5 pedometers work. Very frustrating.
cruecu said:
Wore yesterday with a Pebble Time that I've tested previously as being very accurate. Zenwatch 2 showed almost half the steps as the Time. I've worn the MS band 2, Vivosmart HR, Fitbit Blaze, and a few other watches in the last few months. All the step counts were at least close enough to be considered "working." The Zenwatch 2 isn't even close. The pedometer function shouldn't be too hard to get working in a $140 watch.
$5 pedometers work. Very frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand how there aren't more complaints and not one fix registered on the Net. I'm taking mine back for a Samsung Gear 2 neo. Sad b/c I love the watch otherwise.
Sent from my SM-G920P using XDA Free mobile app
Yes, very strange, some posts about this issue but but just 3 or 4 users.....
I have an LG-G, LG-R, SW3, Gear2_Wear and the Zenwatch 2 is the only one with wrong steps count....
Even on the watch itself, the wellness app reads 3913 steps and Google fit (on the watch) reads 2797 steps. How are they not reading the same sensor? Awful. I don't think the potential of Android Wear 2.0 and voice call ability is worth the trade off of absolutely no fitness tracking. I think I'm going back to my reliable Pebble Time that always "just works." Pebble health is always getting better too.
This watch definetly lose from 25% to 50% steps. It counted 1400 steps on the distance 1.8 km and I'm sure that my steps are generally less then 1 m.
Does this watch count the steps automatically or do you require hitting start each morning?
Which app are you using? I've found that the ZenFit app to be very unreliable for steps (I only use it for the sleep tracking function). The Google Fit app seems to be much more accurate, and the combination of the ZenWatch 2 and my Nexus 6 phone is very accurate for total step count.
My step count is working sort of. On my Zenwatch 2 I use the Glance watch face. As I type this the watch shows I've taken 2947 steps. On my phone, Fit says 4295 steps and the Asus Zenwatch app says 2847 steps? So, the watch and the Asus app are close but not identical. Fit is out in left field. Shouldn't the watch agree with one of the apps? Or does the watch do it's own counting?
I personally wear a fitbit charge 2 on my right wrist and my zenwatch on my left wrist. My zenwatch has counted 1,600 steps and my fitbit has counted 3000 steps. I guess wellness just doesnt count steps very well.
Just got the Chinese version of the Stratos.
Buying process:
Got a Chinese version of the Stratos over Aliexpress for $160 + $14 for 36 hour shipping to the U.S.
I can post the store link in the comments if others are curious.
Previously I have owned a fitbit HR, Xiaomi band 2, Garmin Vivoactive, all broken due to damage. Decided to get the Chinese version because it was cheaper and there seems to be more frequent firmware updates. There seems to be a very active development scene around the Amazfit, so it is possible I may flash it to english down the line.
Overall thoughts:
Thickness: It is quite a large watch, although the thickness definitely bothers me less than I thought it would. Without putting it side by side with an Apple watch, it does not seem significantly thicker, probably due to the tapered edge.
Screen: The screen is okay, and it definitely looks better under sunlight than under the backlight. However the touch screen is not as sensitive as I would like, some actions require multiple attempts.
Software: Quite good, touch actions are for the most part fluid. After getting the watch I got an update immediately to 2.0.12.0, which was only released days ago. The "health app" on the device crashed twice when syncing, but a reboot seems to have stopped that. The interface is for the most part intuitive. The default Everest watchface has poor visibility, but switching to the Super Avante watchface which is the same one they used in advertisements seems to be a huge improvement. The location for the weather app could be set in the smartphone app. However syncing the phone with the watch did not cause the step count to update immediately, it took several minutes for this to actually happen.
Heart rate & sleep tracking: Not as good as the fitbit, the watch seems unable to track sleep when not during the night, and the heart rate measurements are noisy. But otherwise the data is satisfactory.
Battery life: With all day heart rate, I am getting 2.5 days of battery life which is quite good IMO. Charging is very fast, and usually completes in less than 1.5 hours
Good:
Waterproof
Not as large as the specs make it out to be
Battery life is solid
Software is easy to learn
Pairing process is painless
Bad:
Software still stutters and crashes on the watch itself
Cannot track sleep when not night
Syncing process does not update smartphone stats instantly
Touch screen is not very sensitive
Watchface goes into low resolution mode when locked, affects analog watchfaces the most, digital still looks fine
A lot of the criticisms apply to many of the other devices I have owned in the past as well, given the price and build quality I would recommend the Stratos.
audio record
I just bought amazfit stratos/2 english and altough i read it has mic and chinese model has speech recognition, this one does not even have voice memo.
I really want voice memo that syncs to cloud for listening with pc. How can i get that ?
noname8 said:
I just bought amazfit stratos/2 english and altough i read it has mic and chinese model has speech recognition, this one does not even have voice memo.
I really want voice memo that syncs to cloud for listening with pc. How can i get that ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should have got a Pace instead: Stratos has no mic, either CN or INT version.
Hello,
i own this watch and made many workout
First of all i have no localisation pb it is really precise but at the begining the altitude is like crazy (on a workout it found me at 880m for 10 min then in 5 seconds it drops me to 285m then tracking seems good after.
https://photos.google.com/u/0/photo/AF1QipNWiUn-XDxyBPI2ZB8CtPbK0mCzAg6IDo118mqt
many off my workout are like that: start altitude is to high then comes to normal in the 10 first mins.
i tried the altimeter app and i was surprised to see it is moving up and down even not moving after GPS fixed do you see that also?. ( more than 10m )
perhaps i have a defective altimeter
Thanks to share your data
No Amazfit device has an "altimeter", because the sensor (barometer) cannot be calibrated. It's used to detect air pressure change so it should know if you are going up or down. If altitude is bad, probably you have bad GPS signal. You can try to turn off the watch for about 15s to reset sensors, maybe it helps...
lfom said:
No Amazfit device has an "altimeter", because the sensor (barometer) cannot be calibrated. It's used to detect air pressure change so it should know if you are going up or down. If altitude is bad, probably you have bad GPS signal. You can try to turn off the watch for about 15s to reset sensors, maybe it helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh it seams you're right I see only barometer sensor in description. You're saying it's not calibratable but when you go on barometer app then altitude you can set a value here. Seems not doing anything...
Altitude is calculated via GPS, that's why it's not reliable.
I have a stratos 2, and the same problem.
For me is a problem about the algorithm... software.
If you notice, the number of elevation gain and elevation loss seems correct. The graphic is wrong. For me, every drop on gps signal, the new lock afect the absolute altitude, and them, the barometric sensor starts to draw, in the graphic, the variations in another elevation. Totaly wrong.
I complained some times. Whitout sucess. Last week they release a new firmware for stratos 2, after 6 months without update, and the problem is still there.
Orignaly works perfect.
Please, send a e-mail to amazfit, try to do they understant that the watch has a problem.
I hope that you, new stratos user, have more luck whith amazfit.
See my post in this forum: https://forum.xda-developers.com/smartwatch/amazfit/update-2-3-10-4-t3930995/page3
Bye
winni21 said:
Hello,
i own this watch and made many workout
First of all i have no localisation pb it is really precise but at the begining the altitude is like crazy (on a workout it found me at 880m for 10 min then in 5 seconds it drops me to 285m then tracking seems good after.
https://photos.google.com/u/0/photo/AF1QipNWiUn-XDxyBPI2ZB8CtPbK0mCzAg6IDo118mqt
many off my workout are like that: start altitude is to high then comes to normal in the 10 first mins.
i tried the altimeter app and i was surprised to see it is moving up and down even not moving after GPS fixed do you see that also?. ( more than 10m )
perhaps i have a defective altimeter
Thanks to share your data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FelipePrado said:
I have a stratos 2, and the same problem.
For me is a problem about the algorithm... software.
If you notice, the number of elevation gain and elevation loss seems correct. The graphic is wrong. For me, every drop on gps signal, the new lock afect the absolute altitude, and them, the barometric sensor starts to draw, in the graphic, the variations in another elevation. Totaly wrong.
I complained some times. Whitout sucess. Last week they release a new firmware for stratos 2, after 6 months without update, and the problem is still there.
Orignaly works perfect.
Please, send a e-mail to amazfit, try to do they understant that the watch has a problem.
I hope that you, new stratos user, have more luck whith amazfit.
See my post in this forum: https://forum.xda-developers.com/smartwatch/amazfit/update-2-3-10-4-t3930995/page3
Bye
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i've already send them something from amazfit app, waiting for their answer...
Hello,
I'm using Amazfit GTR 2 smartwatch for a month. It's not alerting me when my android phone Bluetooth is disconnected or when my phone is out of range. How to enable this feature or is it missing for this model? Please let me know.
Thanks
Not sure to understand. It can only alert you if the watch is connected in bluetooth to the phone.
You didn't get my point. Let's say you wear the smartwatch and you forgot your phone on the desk and go away from the phone. Then your smartwatch should alert you when it lost Bluetooth connection or it is out of range. I know Samsung smartwatches have this feature. But I didn't find this feature on my GTR 2 watch.
Ok. It used to have this feature but like you, I don't find it anymore on my Stratos2 now. I don't remember if it was a setting on the phone or the App. I remember having using it sometimes back but maybe it was with the previous sw called Amazfit (now called Zepp). I used it for a while but it was always disconnecting and reconnecting as soon as you were going away from the phone. A bit annoying at the end. I stopped using it at th end. One thing also, I have noticed that the bluetooth distance is weak with my Stratos now. i'm pretty sure it was much better some time ago. I don't know if it is SW/ROM related, phone related or smartwatch related. I can easily disconnect as soon I'm getting away (5-10m in the house) but it has difficulties to reconnect. Sometimes, the watch is next to the phone and it does not reconnect for minutes. It might be related to Bluetooth managment from my phone (energy saving stuff, Low Bluetooth energy etc..). What I'm sure about is that my son's MiBand (Miband4) has a much better range than my Stratos, more than twice the distance and faster reconnection. My feeling, but it is not really rational, all this happened when they moved from Amazfit SW to Zepp SW. Again, personnal feeling.