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> Plus, call me picky if you like, but having a reputable brand name behind my purchase gives me extra peace of mind when it comes to reliability. I hope the a

> Plus, call me picky if you like, but having a reputable brand name behind my purchase gives me extra peace of mind when it comes to reliability. I hope the author realizes that Amazfit is owned by Huami which is a sister/sibling company of Xiaomi. And as of 2021 at least, they were the 3rd largest smartwatch maker after Apple and Samsung.[1] I'd expect their build quality to be at least quite decent on average, and my n=1 $60 Amazfit Bip is probably 4 years old now with absolutely no issues. > I’m aware that there are cheaper alternatives out there like the Amazfit range but these watches were either too complex, or too basic, there was no middle ground. AFAIK nearly all the fancier options can be turned off from the app. And apart from a very few models with (I think) 8 segment displays all of them satisfy the author's criteria of notifications + other features. I sometimes wish Amazfit would advertise more because every "I want a simple smartwatch!" discussion ends up with "Aah I wish Pebble existed" comments, folks paying $$$ for Garmins/Fitbits and people bemoaning the battery life on Apple/Samsung watches. Just get an Amazfit Bip (original or S). 1 - https://www.gizmochina.com/2021/11/30/amazfit-becomes-third-largest-smartwatch-brand/ https://www.gizmochina.com/2021/11/30/amazfit-becomes-third-...

dirtyid 3y ago
Amazfit and xiaomi bands are like the Casio f91w of smart watches.
dspillett 3y ago
> I hope the author realizes that Amazfit is owned by Huami which is a sister/sibling company of Xiaomi. And as of 2021 at least, they were the 3rd largest smartwatch maker after Apple and Samsung. For some this association might be offputting. My current phone is by Xiaomi, as was the previous one, but my next won't be. There is a pile of stuff you can't (easily) uninstall that keeps trying to run and wants all sorts of odd perms for their task, heck the default clock on this device wanted location access before letting me set an alarm! (I just installed a different app), and they get good battery life scores by being _very_ aggressive about killing apps which is a pain for some things you might want to keep running in the background. Can these watches be used without the company's own cloud stuff, and/or an advert laden app, or is that forced on you like like the inexpensive (and sometimes not so inexpensive!) home cameras from Yi and similar manufacturers? > I'd expect their build quality to be at least quite decent on average, That is certainly true with the phones I've used. The hardware seems as solid as similar (usually more expensive) devices, including the cameras being pretty decent.

dirtyid 3y ago

Amazfit and xiaomi bands are like the Casio f91w of smart watches.

dspillett 3y ago

> I hope the author realizes that Amazfit is owned by Huami which is a sister/sibling company of Xiaomi. And as of 2021 at least, they were the 3rd largest smartwatch maker after Apple and Samsung. For some this association might be offputting. My current phone is by Xiaomi, as was the previous one, but my next won't be. There is a pile of stuff you can't (easily) uninstall that keeps trying to run and wants all sorts of odd perms for their task, heck the default clock on this device wanted location access before letting me set an alarm! (I just installed a different app), and they get good battery life scores by being _very_ aggressive about killing apps which is a pain for some things you might want to keep running in the background. Can these watches be used without the company's own cloud stuff, and/or an advert laden app, or is that forced on you like like the inexpensive (and sometimes not so inexpensive!) home cameras from Yi and similar manufacturers? > I'd expect their build quality to be at least quite decent on average, That is certainly true with the phones I've used. The hardware seems as solid as similar (usually more expensive) devices, including the cameras being pretty decent.