Review of Amazfit Bip S - smart watch with an unusual screen

Smartwatches are becoming more sophisticated and at the same time becoming more expensive. Take, for example, Apple Watch: this is already a wrist computer with a screen and a bunch of sensors, for which you will have to pay 30 thousand rubles. In this case, the gadget still needs to be charged every day.

What to choose for those who do not want to buy a watch for the price of a smartphone and constantly think about how to charge it? Let's look at the example of Amazfit Bip S - an inexpensive model for athletes and just active people.

Specifications
Design
Screen
Functions
Autonomy
Outcomes

Specifications

Screen	1, 28 ″, TFT, 176 × 176 pixels
Protection	IP68, 5 ATM
Connection	Bluetooth 5.0
Battery	190 mAh
Working hours	Up to 90 days
The size	42 × 35, 3 × 11, 4 mm
The weight	31 g

Design

Externally, Amazfit Bip S is very similar to digital wristwatches, of which there are a huge number on the market. You can even install a dial in the style of classic Casio, then no one will guess about the smart functions of the model.

The body is made of polycarbonate, the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with an oleophobic coating. The build is excellent, although the materials are like a child's toy. Fortunately, the price of the device allows you to close your eyes to this. The model is available in four colors: carbon black, red orange, warm pink and white rock.

On the side there is a steel physical button, stylized as a crown. When pressed, the screen is unlocked, the backlight is activated and the menu is launched. All other interaction is carried out through the touchscreen display.

The strap is made of silicone. The mount is standard for a wristwatch, so the bracelet can be quickly replaced without any tools.

On the back there is an optical heart rate monitor and magnetic charging contacts. The watch comes with a USB docking station.

The watch weighs only 31 grams and is practically not felt on the wrist. Also provided with protection against dust according to the IP68 standard and water resistance up to 5 ATM - the watch will easily survive a swim in the pool.

Screen

The main feature of Amazfit Bip S is a transflective TFT ‑ screen with a diagonal of 1.28 inches and a resolution of 176 × 176 pixels. It is capable of displaying 64 colors, which seems ridiculous against the background of modern AMOLED matrices. And the contrast level is low. However, such a screen is almost ideal for wearable electronics, and here's why.

In good lighting conditions, the display reflects the incident light while maintaining legibility. When conditions get worse, backlighting comes to the rescue. At the same time, power consumption is much lower than that of IPS and AMOLED screens.

In this sense, the technology resembles the electronic ink matrices used in e-books. At the same time, the screen in Amazfit Bip S has a frame rate and response time like traditional IPS.

The display does an excellent job of displaying time, weather and notifications in any conditions, quickly and accurately responds to touches and does not waste battery. All this more than compensates for the lack of color and low contrast levels. The only problem is the lack of a light sensor and, as a result, automatic brightness control.

Functions

Unlike Apple Watch or Wear OS devices, Amazfit Bip S does not have its own app store. The watch runs on the Amazfit OS platform, which is tailored for monitoring physical activity.

Most of the sections of the interface are represented by widgets with the current activity, weather and the player window. From the latter, you can control the playback of music and video on your smartphone.

Swiping down from the watch face opens the quick settings panel. Swipe up to see notifications. When you delete the notification on the watch, it also disappears on the smartphone. Pressing the side button opens the main menu with all functions.

For convenient work with the device, there is a proprietary application that displays all the collected data on the smartphone screen. Also, through it, clock settings and a choice of 21 dials are available. The latter can be customized by adding shortcuts to frequently used functions.

Amazfit Bip S received Huami BioTracker heart rate sensor, which is characterized by high accuracy and low power consumption. Thanks to this, the watch can monitor the heart rate in real time without significantly affecting its autonomy. The model monitors the indicators during training and in case of overstrain, it recommends to slow down the pace.

The novelty is equipped with a GPS-receiver, so it can determine the location and save the route. In addition, the Amazfit Bip S is equipped with a compass, which is useful when hiking. But there is no barometer here, which will be a disadvantage for some extreme lovers. There is also no built-in speaker and microphone, so you won't be able to answer calls from the watch.

Autonomy

The main trump card of the Amazfit Bip S is the operating time. A 190 mAh battery is installed inside. Together with an energy efficient screen, a modern platform and optimized software, this is enough for 40-50 days of operation in standard mode (factory settings, one run per week, 100 notifications per day, screen brightness 10%).

Also, the model is able to hold out 90 days in standby mode and 22 hours with an active GPS. A full charge from the complete docking station takes 2.5 hours.

Outcomes

Amazfit Bip S will surely become a bestseller. With a price tag of 5,990 rubles, they are not much more expensive than a regular fitness tracker, but they offer all the features you would expect from a smartwatch. There is a large screen for easy work with notifications, and advanced monitoring of physical activity, and customizable watch faces.

Of course, there are also disadvantages: the lack of a light sensor and a barometer, as well as a small number of dials themselves. However, this does not spoil the overall experience of the product. If you want an inexpensive smartwatch with outstanding battery life, the Amazfit Bip S is perfect for this role.