4 ms·

The price and capability is really surprising. But the most surprising and welcome thing for me is the long battery life.

throwanem 2y ago
I don't love having to link it with an app to start using it, especially when that app keeps trying to grab my pasteboard without any sensible excuse. This comment was much more favorable before that started happening. Oh well, what self-respecting mobile dev doesn't have a pile of crappy phones with nothing on them of import?
- msephton 2y ago
  I hear you. Once the device set up you can unlink the app but I'm not sure what happens to your data at that point. But the app is quite useful as it allows you to view data in different ways than Health. Also, like you, I disable pasteboard requests apps that have no need for it.
  - throwanem 2y ago
    I overreacted slightly because it happened to be my TOTP app that had most recently written there, and I don't suppose I feel too bad about being a little gun-shy in the direction of excessive security. The app is really quite nice, and the hardware itself seems so far quite beyond reproach. I think I'm really going to enjoy these as a way of easing back into programming during this sabbatical, and the T-rex 3 is a handsome little accessory; thank you, I'm really glad you posted about these!
    - throwanem 2y ago
      Not that you need to hear more from me on this, but this really is the exact kind of accessory I needed. Programmable, powerful enough to be fun, not obtrusive enough to get in the way, lots of stylish colorful and businessy metallic bands I can swap out and accessorize for my day - and paying ~5% state of charge per day for an always-on display in "night" or single-color mode, it also manages to match in simple utility a simple quartz watch of the type my last-but-one partner favored. It's clever, unusual, understated, but for those who bother noticing such things it does make a nuanced statement. It's me. I've spent ca $500 now on a range from Band 7 through Balance to T-rex 3, just so I'll have something to suit all styles and occasions. That may sound like a lot of money, but it really isn't; due to some events last year far too tedious to discuss, I lately find I'm read as homeless a little (...a lot...) too easily for comfort, and accessorizing this way allows me to show the ignorant wealthy something they think they recognize enough not to feel threatened by, without my having to compromise on any characteristics I actually care about in a personal device. When the bad read is from a 20-year-old college kid bartender who has the job precisely because the place is too empty that time of day for even a Labrador to screw anything up too badly, I don't especially care. But this is Baltimore, and while the BPD has made enormous strides in the last decade and especially under Mayor Scott, times are scary. If the bad read is a keyed-up 22-year-old cop with a hand already near his weapon, that really could turn out to be the last bad day we ever have. Oh sure, that poor cop would regret it and never forgive himself starting one second after the shot, but what good would that do him or me? Everybody goes out some kind of way, but I would rather for the sake of all involved this not be mine, and the upgrade to my style materially reduces the chance of that happening and makes me happy all kinds of other ways too. So thanks again, most earnestly! Whether or not you meant to do me such a favor, you did; if you're ever in town and want to hit me up, feel free to collect on that very nice meal that I owe you.
      - msephton 2y ago
        I'm so happy for you! Keep on truckin'. Thanks for writing about your experience.
garciasn 2y ago
I actually preferred my Amazfit over my Apple Watch for several largely surface reasons: 1. The battery life is absurdly good compared to an Apple Watch. I don't understand why Apple Watches continue to have less than a day of battery life this many years into development; it's just not ok. 2. I absolutely LOVED that my notifications would go to my watch AND my phone simultaneously. With an Apple Watch you get one or the other and the Apple Watch doesn't mirror special notification sounds made on the phone for certain contacts/applications so I lose that functionality which is infuriating for me. 3. The only reason I kept the Apple Watch is because it is FAR SUPERIOR for three primary use cases: - Swimming: the Apple Watch seems to know what strokes I'm doing 90% of the time whereas the Amazfit watch I had did not even track swimming at all, let alone be correct in its assessment of stroke and distance covered. - Sleep tracking: the Amazfit watch was hours high on sleep and did not at all track sleep quality in line with my experience; the Apple Watch is far closer to my reality. - Heart rate monitoring: the Amazfit was WAY low on heart rate when compared to an actual monitor whereas the Apple Watch is within miniscule difference. Amazfit was telling me my resting heart rate was in the low 30s when, in reality, it's closer to the low 70s; this just isn't just wrong, it's dangerously wrong.
- throwanem 2y ago
  All good to know, I appreciate it! The HR and O2 sat on this Band 7 line up pretty well with my old finger clip thing, but I haven't really benchmarked it more than that. I do now also have a T-Rex 3 en route, and for an order of magnitude higher cost, I expect to see it perform at least as well. I wasn't really in the market for a smartwatch, if I'm honest; I haven't bothered with one in at least a decade. But a wearable I can program to this extent, with this interface and sensor suite, as cheaply as these things sell for? Unless they develop a habit of exploding on my wrist or I decide I really do hate bracelets after all, I genuinely can't imagine finding an enormous amount not to like.
  - throwanem 2y ago
    Self-replying to note with the T-Rex 3 at least, the HR sensor is extremely sensitive to pressure, in that it easily reads 10bpm high if the watch is tight enough not to slip easily on the wrist. I like a watch this size and weight a little loose so that's OK, but the Band 7 seems to read most accurately when it's tighter. Either way, I doubt I'd rely on these for more than general trend and variation, a finger clip pulse ox is probably a lot more reliable.

throwanem 2y ago

I don't love having to link it with an app to start using it, especially when that app keeps trying to grab my pasteboard without any sensible excuse. This comment was much more favorable before that started happening. Oh well, what self-respecting mobile dev doesn't have a pile of crappy phones with nothing on them of import?

msephton 2y ago
I hear you. Once the device set up you can unlink the app but I'm not sure what happens to your data at that point. But the app is quite useful as it allows you to view data in different ways than Health. Also, like you, I disable pasteboard requests apps that have no need for it.
- throwanem 2y ago
  I overreacted slightly because it happened to be my TOTP app that had most recently written there, and I don't suppose I feel too bad about being a little gun-shy in the direction of excessive security. The app is really quite nice, and the hardware itself seems so far quite beyond reproach. I think I'm really going to enjoy these as a way of easing back into programming during this sabbatical, and the T-rex 3 is a handsome little accessory; thank you, I'm really glad you posted about these!
  - throwanem 2y ago
    Not that you need to hear more from me on this, but this really is the exact kind of accessory I needed. Programmable, powerful enough to be fun, not obtrusive enough to get in the way, lots of stylish colorful and businessy metallic bands I can swap out and accessorize for my day - and paying ~5% state of charge per day for an always-on display in "night" or single-color mode, it also manages to match in simple utility a simple quartz watch of the type my last-but-one partner favored. It's clever, unusual, understated, but for those who bother noticing such things it does make a nuanced statement. It's me. I've spent ca $500 now on a range from Band 7 through Balance to T-rex 3, just so I'll have something to suit all styles and occasions. That may sound like a lot of money, but it really isn't; due to some events last year far too tedious to discuss, I lately find I'm read as homeless a little (...a lot...) too easily for comfort, and accessorizing this way allows me to show the ignorant wealthy something they think they recognize enough not to feel threatened by, without my having to compromise on any characteristics I actually care about in a personal device. When the bad read is from a 20-year-old college kid bartender who has the job precisely because the place is too empty that time of day for even a Labrador to screw anything up too badly, I don't especially care. But this is Baltimore, and while the BPD has made enormous strides in the last decade and especially under Mayor Scott, times are scary. If the bad read is a keyed-up 22-year-old cop with a hand already near his weapon, that really could turn out to be the last bad day we ever have. Oh sure, that poor cop would regret it and never forgive himself starting one second after the shot, but what good would that do him or me? Everybody goes out some kind of way, but I would rather for the sake of all involved this not be mine, and the upgrade to my style materially reduces the chance of that happening and makes me happy all kinds of other ways too. So thanks again, most earnestly! Whether or not you meant to do me such a favor, you did; if you're ever in town and want to hit me up, feel free to collect on that very nice meal that I owe you.
    - msephton 2y ago
      I'm so happy for you! Keep on truckin'. Thanks for writing about your experience.

garciasn 2y ago

I actually preferred my Amazfit over my Apple Watch for several largely surface reasons: 1. The battery life is absurdly good compared to an Apple Watch. I don't understand why Apple Watches continue to have less than a day of battery life this many years into development; it's just not ok. 2. I absolutely LOVED that my notifications would go to my watch AND my phone simultaneously. With an Apple Watch you get one or the other and the Apple Watch doesn't mirror special notification sounds made on the phone for certain contacts/applications so I lose that functionality which is infuriating for me. 3. The only reason I kept the Apple Watch is because it is FAR SUPERIOR for three primary use cases: - Swimming: the Apple Watch seems to know what strokes I'm doing 90% of the time whereas the Amazfit watch I had did not even track swimming at all, let alone be correct in its assessment of stroke and distance covered. - Sleep tracking: the Amazfit watch was hours high on sleep and did not at all track sleep quality in line with my experience; the Apple Watch is far closer to my reality. - Heart rate monitoring: the Amazfit was WAY low on heart rate when compared to an actual monitor whereas the Apple Watch is within miniscule difference. Amazfit was telling me my resting heart rate was in the low 30s when, in reality, it's closer to the low 70s; this just isn't just wrong, it's dangerously wrong.

throwanem 2y ago
All good to know, I appreciate it! The HR and O2 sat on this Band 7 line up pretty well with my old finger clip thing, but I haven't really benchmarked it more than that. I do now also have a T-Rex 3 en route, and for an order of magnitude higher cost, I expect to see it perform at least as well. I wasn't really in the market for a smartwatch, if I'm honest; I haven't bothered with one in at least a decade. But a wearable I can program to this extent, with this interface and sensor suite, as cheaply as these things sell for? Unless they develop a habit of exploding on my wrist or I decide I really do hate bracelets after all, I genuinely can't imagine finding an enormous amount not to like.
- throwanem 2y ago
  Self-replying to note with the T-Rex 3 at least, the HR sensor is extremely sensitive to pressure, in that it easily reads 10bpm high if the watch is tight enough not to slip easily on the wrist. I like a watch this size and weight a little loose so that's OK, but the Band 7 seems to read most accurately when it's tighter. Either way, I doubt I'd rely on these for more than general trend and variation, a finger clip pulse ox is probably a lot more reliable.