There is a wide selection of Amazfit wearables offered in Malaysia. Most recently they have introduced the Amazfit Cheetah series which focuses on athletic sports. Here it also incorporates an aggressive design that looks like a durable watch, further aided by improved battery life. Is this introduction capable of captivating the hearts of consumers and making it one of the good watches on the market now? Please read this review to learn more.
Specifications And Design
Amazfit Cheetah
Basic Smart Watch Types
Display 1.39″ AMOLED (545 X 454 pixels), 60Hz, 326PPI
Processor –
RAM –
Internal Load –
440mAh battery + dedicated Dock
14 days with normal use
7 days with heavy use
SIM / Telephony None
Sensor Heart rate sensor, blood oxygen, acceleration, gyroscope,
geomagnetic, atmosphere, ambient light
NFC None
Infrared None
5ATM Resistance Level
Diameter 47 x 47 x 11.8mm
Color Speedster Gray
Selling Price RM999
At first I thought that this watch was not suitable for a woman to wear, nor to be used while relaxing. There was one time when I received a remark saying that the watch wanted to be too big to wear.
This is due to the combination of a rather aggressive finish that is seen as more athlete-friendly for full sports use. Next, it makes it difficult for me to match this watch with clothes, especially when associated with feminine style. On the other hand, it is more suitable to be styled with clothes with a relaxed concept such as matching t-shirts or shirts with trousers.
However, I do not put or consider that issue to be prioritized because the original focus of this watch itself is indeed on sports activities, especially running. In fact, the use of the Cheetah name itself also clearly details the main purpose.
If there is a negative comment, it may be on the white silicone strap used because it is very susceptible to dirt for long-term use. This review unit uses a fluoroelastomer type strap with a standard hook, which can be easily changed if necessary.
Well, it may 'lose' for the finishing aspect but it is actually still able to provide a comfortable use experience. I say this because I have not faced any comfort issues for more than a month of use, except when taken to sleep.
The practical design also makes it comfortable with the use of a 1.39″ screen with a resolution of 545 X 454 pixels. This size can be classified as not too small or large, and even fits the wrist width of most users. It is also light and not too heavy to cause it to get stuck on any part during use.
The simple bezel covered by the surrounding bezel makes every detail easy to see and read, unless you accidentally activate theater mode. Apart from that, the Always On Display feature is also provided since the screen is from the AMOLED family. But as usual, you have to compromise with battery life which can be shorter than usual.
It is even more important when it also passes the 5ATM water resistance rating which means that this watch can withstand water pressure at a depth of 50 meters. It can generally be used for bathing and swimming in the pool, but is not recommended for extreme water sports such as diving. This watch also has two built-in buttons including a rotating knob that can create a positive or negative impact depending on the angle of use.
It is positive because it is easier to use, especially when the fingers are sweaty after running. On the negative side, it takes some time to learn for those who are not used to this kind of usage. At the same time touch screen capability is also included which personally makes it easier to use including selecting menus and scrolling built-in functions. Finally, this handset only comes in a bluetooth version for tethering to smart devices without cellular network support.
Interface And Extension Application
Amazfit Cheetah is able to offer various built-in health and fitness features that are useful for most users. It starts with the ability to continuously track daily steps, sleeping patterns, blood oxygen levels and heart rate. There are also over 150 built-in sports modes and functions that are also added with the Zepp Couch AI feature to suggest exercises based on fitness level.
Then the navigation process is also easy by just scrolling and touching completely on the watch screen. Scrolling up gives access to notifications received from the tethered smartphone. Then scrolling to the left will give access to the pulse reading, site count and installed apps. Scrolling down opens the quick settings screen including Always-On-Display, weather, audio controls and so on. A long press on the physical button allows a number of built-in sports modes to be used.
Amazfit Cheetah uses Zepp OS 2.0 and no drastic interface changes are seen. The concept used is still neat and user-friendly which means easy to use without taking a long time to adapt. Through it I can also choose a variety of interesting watch faces, each of which has its own focus. Amazfit also provides more other interfaces that can be downloaded according to taste and desire.
Therefore, the use of the Zepp application together is very necessary for those needs and smooth software. It can be downloaded for free on AppStore, Playstore and Huawei AppGallery. However, I only tested it on an iPhone device and the connection process took a few minutes with simple steps including scanning the provided QR code.
The application looks very easy to use with organized and cheerful icons. The data provided is also quite comprehensive which makes it easy for me to make a review and reference. However, as usual, no third-party application support capabilities are provided despite Amazfit providing a dedicated application store for the purpose of installing more applications.
Usage Experience
On paper, the features and built-in functionality provided can be considered attractive at such a price point. In general, this watch is quite easy to use where I only have to scroll to select the features and functions I want. I also think the display is bright and clear despite being used in an open area. At the same time can also be automatically adjusted according to the ambient light through special settings. I can also confirm that the screen is quite responsive with minimal lag along with vibrant color reproduction.
Next, the watch can also track exercise automatically which is considered interesting for those who often forget to set it first. Users are also given several options whether they want to wait 10 seconds or start the activity immediately, or as an option they can also cancel if they want.
However, this tracking ability is seen to be inconsistent which sometimes causes random errors. Once I was sitting in the car after coming home from the office, and surprisingly this watch detected that I was doing outdoor exercise. This isn't the first time I've experienced this, in fact a random error has also occurred when doing a review for the mini GTR before.
Then the ability to read the accumulated data is fine but not completely accurate. In particular, the watch's failure to detect sleep disturbances is best where the duration of wakefulness is stated to be significantly shorter than real time.
Even so, I'm still satisfied with its sleep tracking feature that works well with adequate sleep quality estimates. The details are given in depth which indirectly helped me a lot in understanding sleep patterns. You can even find ways to get better sleep quality in the future.
There is also a built-in PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) health assessment system that can be used as a built-in trainer for more discipline. It works quite well with the Zepp app which then monitors my current data comprehensively including activity duration and converts it into a score. It has to be said that I'm not a big fan of voice assistant support on a watch, but for those who need it, the Amazfit Cheetah supports the feature.
Praise was also given to the ability of GPS to lock the location adequately while making the user experience better. I also found no issues with easy disconnections from smart devices that allowed text notifications and incoming calls to be received consistently. However there is no ability to reply to texts or answer calls directly from it.
It is logical considering that this watch is not given a built-in microphone and speaker. But there is still an error that occurs when pressing the phone icon on the watch which results in the current incoming call being canceled accidentally. It is not clear what caused the error to occur. Therefore the best way is to directly answer from the connected smartphone only.
Battery Endurance
The Amazfit Cheetah has a battery that is advertised to last up to 14 days in normal mode, then up to 45 days in battery saver mode. A full 100% charge is seen to take almost a week to drop down to 30%.
It involves full use with connectivity on a smart device with several sensors that are activated regularly. In addition, the brightness level is also the highest with the Always On Display feature which is also activated for some conditions. This durability is still logical considering that Amazfit itself advertises it for up to 7 days for frequent use.
When running out of battery, the Amazfit Cheetah can be recharged in about an hour for a charge of up to 80%. The charger provided is of a unique type of caliper type made of plastic. The only complaint is that this charger offers a very short wire.
What's In The Box
Here's what you get with every Amazfit Cheetah purchase in Malaysia.
1 X Amazfit Cheetah.
1 X USB-A to dedicated dock charging cable.
1 X User manual.
1 X Warranty Notice
Conclusion
On paper the Amazfit Cheetah focuses on athletics. It can generally be considered logical as the combination of health tracking functions and sports capabilities provided makes it an attractive choice for individuals looking for a versatile watch. Plus it also has a brilliant display, pretty good battery life and tracking capabilities that mostly work well.
However, emphasis should also be placed on the hardware and software problems that still occur, for example such as the tracking ability and the voice assistant's response which is not consistent and needs to be improved in the future. Amazfit Cheetah is sold at RM999, but if you have more budget, you can try to get the pro version at the price of RM1,499 for the advantage of call support via built-in bluetooth.
Advantage
Comfortable design and good construction materials.
The navigation system is very user friendly.
Various basic functions run quite smoothly.
Good battery life.
Deficiencies
No third-party app support.
Inconsistent tracking ability.
No wireless charging.
No ability to answer incoming calls.