Amazfit T-Rex Pro

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro (model name A2013) is a rugged smartwatch released in March 2021. This is an upgraded model of the popular T-Rex smartwatch. Amazfit is a brand from the Chines company Zepp Health (note that this company recently changed their name from Huami Technology to Zepp Health). Zepp is one of the largest smart wearable manufacturers in the world, best known for making the Mi Bands for Xiaomi.

Unfortunately Zepp does not disclose the chipset used for the T-Rex Pro. That being said, the watch does not lag and performs on par with the previous generation T-Rex.

This watch is using a proprietary RTOS operating system found in many Amazfit watches. While there are some available apps, the number is minimal and you do not have access to a large 3rd party app store such as the Google Play Store. This is a significant disadvantage and is common drawback for any smartwatch using a proprietary operating system.

Design

The T-Rex Pro has a circular watch face design with a plastic case. The design is identical to the original Amazfit T-Rex.  The watch is available in black, green, gray and has a rugged but attractive design. This smartwatch is on the larger size at 47.7 X 47.7 X 13.5 mm and weighs 59.4g. The 13.5 mm thickness is on the larger size and could be uncomfortable for some to wear while sleeping. Build quality is excellent.

The T-Rex Pro comes with a 22 mm silicone interchangeable strap. The strap is comfortable and quality is acceptable for this low price point. While the strap is interchangeable, it has a proprietary strap system which limits the number of straps available for this watch.

You can interact with the watch using the touchscreen and 4 physical buttons. The names of the buttons are clearly marked on the bezel (Up, Down, Select and Back) and work well. The touchscreen also works well with no lag. Fonts, menus and icons can easily be read and navigation is not too complex.

Water Resistance

The T-Rex Pro claims to have a 10 ATM water resistance rating which is an improvement over the 5 ATM rating of the original T-Rex. That being said the user manual indicates while swimming is allowed, showers and diving are not. Really very surprising if the watch has true 10 ATM water resistance.

For comparison, Garmin indicates 10 ATM is suitable for “splashes, rain or snow, showering, swimming, diving into water, snorkeling, high-speed water sports”.

When going into swimming mode, the T-Rex Pro will automatically lock the touch screen to prevent accidental touches on the screen. While locked the duration, distance, laps and average pace are displayed.

Screen

The screen of the T-Rex Pro is one of the highlights of this smartwatch. The 1.3″ AMOLED Touchscreen, with 360 x 360 pixels and 227 ppi pixel density delivers a high-quality visual experience. Indoors the display is excellent while outdoors it is acceptable but not great.

The T-Rex Pro uses Corning Gorilla Glass to protect the screen. This is a rugged watch and has passed the MIL-STD-810G military specification for durability. A strong positive, hence we expect the T-Rex Pro to be quite durable.

The watch has an always on screen option but this has a significant impact on battery life. The watch allows for custom watchfaces which is a nice feature.

Battery

The T-Rex Pro comes with a 390 mAh battery. Zepp Health claims that typical usage battery life is 18 days, watch mode battery life is 66 days and GPS mode battery life is 2 days. Real world battery life is much less and you can expect 1 week with normal usage.

Connectivity Features

From a connectivity perspective, the T-Rex Pro has limited functionality and can only receive notifications and there is no ability to respond to notifications from the watch. While some basic emoticons work, more complex ones are not supported. Another drawback is that most notifications are labelled as “App” and come with very little information even when expanded.

Even setting up these one-way notifications requires manually whitelisting the Zepp app on your phone. Duplicate notifications are another common complaint from owners. Not the most polished notification experience for a smartwatch.

Some users have had success with the 3rd party app ‘Notify and Fitness for Zepp’ to respond to notifications. With this app, when a notification comes in, you can open the music control menu, select a pre-written response and press the play button to send. Note that by doing this you will lose the music control capabilities on your smartwatch.

The T-Rex Pro does not have a speaker or microphone and does not have the ability to answer or place calls via Bluetooth.

The inability to have outbound notifications or place outbound calls is a significant negative which separates the T-Rex Pro from full featured smartwatches. The T-Rex Pro does not have a camera and does not have cellular connectivity.

On the positive side, it does come with built-in GPS. GPS connectivity is fast but accuracy is not the best. Finally, Near Field Communication (NFC) is not supported, hence you cannot use this smartwatch to make payments.

Health and Fitness Features

The T-Rex Pro comes with 7 sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient light, Barometer, Compass, Gyroscope, Heart Rate Monitor (HRM), Pulse Oximeter (SpO2). These only numerous fitness and health areas. These sensors allow you to track the following 9 metrics: Blood Oxygen Level, Calories, Distance, Fitness Level, Heart Rate, Sleep, Steps, Stress, Swimming. Also included are 100 different sports modes. Note that sleep tracking information is not available on the watch but is available in the app.

Heart rate accuracy at rest, casual activities or steady state runs is relatively accurate. For casual tracking, this may be adequate but could be a concern if you are looking for high tracking accuracy for your sports or fitness goals. However with interval training, short bursts of activity or high intensity training, accuracy is poor.

Tattoos, hair, sweat and even skin color are factors that impact accuracy as well. This is a common problem with nearly all wrist based optical heart rate monitoring. While there are a few exceptions that do a pretty good job on heart rate monitoring, such as the Apple Watch 6, serious trainers should look into a chest strap for best heart rate accuracy.

Zepp App

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro uses the Zepp app, which is decent but not best in class. While the app has a lot of functions and features, it is not the most refined or easy to navigate. You can see how the Zepp app ranks on our Smartwatch Apps Page.

Known Issues

As this watch has just recently been released, there are no common known issues.

Verdict

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is an all around decent rugged watch with good battery life, nice screen and 10 ATM water resistance. Not being able to use in showers is a significant drawback especially considering the 10 ATM water resistance. Price is a bit high considering the inability to respond to notifications, limited notification details, no speaker or mic, no app store and no payment capability. A reasonable choice for an affordable rugged watch.

Specifications

Published: March 25, 2021