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Many of the big-name smartwatch brands release one or two watches per year. If a company does bring more than one device to the market, then it will usually be a standard and a pro/ultra model. Fitness tracker brands are a bit different, often providing multiple devices to offer a range of performance and hardware designs in various price points. Amazfit straddles the line between smartwatch and fitness tracker but leans into the latter when it comes to its portfolio of wearables, including one of its latest, the GTR Mini.
I've reviewed multiple smartwatches from Amazfit, which all come in a "full-sized" footprint and provide excellent battery life, among many other features. The GTR Mini, for the most part, is a trimmed-down version of the Amazfit GTR 4, which had me concerned that it would offer a less-than-complete experience compared to its larger siblings. Thankfully, I was wrong.
The Amazfit GTR Mini is a stainless steel, plastic-cased smartwatch that opts for the classic round style to offer impressive week-long battery life. It does this while continuously monitoring your heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and keeping you up-to-date with notifications. I've been quite happy with the watch, especially how lightweight it is. I do wish it offered more response options for messages and that there wasn't quite as much bezel around the display. But for a watch with solid hardware and an excellent fitness suite at $120 — it's fantastic.
About this review: This review was written after a month of testing a Midnight Black GTR Mini provided by Amazfit. The company did not have input in this review.
Amazfit GTR Mini
Amazfit's GTR Mini brings a classically styled watch that looks great and is comfortable to wear and a fully packed fitness companion. This watch is ready to go for up to 14 days of battery life to help you with everything from monitoring your heart rate to tracking over 120 workouts.
- Brand
- Amazfit
- Battery Life
- 7 - 30 days
- Operating System
- Zepp OS 2.0
- Onboard GPS
- 5 satellite positioning systems
- Case Material
- Stainless Steel + plastic
- Battery
- 280mAh
- Connectivity
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Health sensors
- BioTracker PPG biometric sensor for heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, sleep tracking, and stress level.
- Strap
- Standard 20mm
- Dimensions
- 42.83 x 42.83 x 9.25mm
- Weight
- 36.2g with strap
- Workout detection
- Yes
- Exercise modes
- 120+
- Color options
- Midnight Black, Ocean Blue, Pink Mist
- Very lightweight and comfortable to wear
- Excellent battery life
- Bright and colorful display
- Wide range of health and fitness monitoring
- Affordable
- Very limited app support
- Can only use preset responses for notifications
- No speaker or microphone
- Hefty bezel around the display
Amazfit GTR Mini: Pricing and availability
- The Amazfit GTR Mini was announced on March 14, 2023, for $120
- It comes in three color choices
Amazfit announced the GTR Mini on March 14, 2023. The watch is available in three colors: Midnight Black, Ocean Blue, and Pink Mist. While there are three color choices, there is only a single 42mm size option. The watch is available for purchase at Amazon and the Amazfit website for $120.
Design and hardware: Exceeding expectations
- Watch weighs a demure 36.2g, including the watch band, while packing a 280mAh battery
- It has a bright display but has a large bezel
- BioTracker 3.0 sensor included to monitor various health metrics
I generally keep expectations low when it comes to what I'd consider a budget wearable. At the Amazfit GTR Mini's $120 price, I anticipate a plastic build with limited health monitoring and an LCD panel that's not going to get nearly bright enough to read outdoors. That's not what I got with the Amazfit GTR Mini. But this should be much of a surprise as Amazfit has been making some of the best smartwatches and fitness trackers for years now.
The GTR Mini has a combination of premium and affordable features. This is a fitness tracker with smartwatch tendencies after all. It's wrapped in stainless steel and plastic, both working to keep the watch sturdy and lightweight at just 36.2g. The 42mm case has a single button on the upper right side of the watch with a 280mAh battery. You won't find a speaker or microphone, so no phone calls or voice assistants here. But Amazfit took the more premium route with the display, opting for a 1.28-inch AMOLED panel that is still visible even outdoors. A downside to the display is it has a pretty thick bezel that, like the Google Pixel Watch, is more visible depending on the watch face you choose.
It would be understandable to expect the Amazfit GTR Mini to have low-quality hardware, given its price, but that couldn't be further from the truth.
Charging the GTR Mini is done via the proprietary POGO pin dock with magnets to help line it up and keep it in place. It charges from zero to 100 in about two hours but can get you a full day's worth of use in only 15 minutes. While it's a bit annoying to need to use a special charging cable for the watch, we'll have to make do until the industry opts for a universal charging method for wearables. I consistently got a full week of use between charges. But depending on usage and how frequently health monitoring sensors are firing off, the watch can go as long as 30 days before needing a charge.
Accompanying the charging points on the GTR Mini's backside are the health sensors. Amazfit has what it calls the BioTracker 3.0 sensor suite that offers real-time, 24-hour monitoring of your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, stress, and more. Amazfit has also taken big strikes with GPS location tracking. By utilizing five different satellite systems and using a circular antenna array, the GTR Mini is able to obtain its location quickly and consistently maintain it.
I found the Amazfit GTR Mini to be on mostly par in health monitoring with my Pixel Watch, the Whoop Strap 4.0 I'm testing, and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. It was quick to get a GPS location before embarking on outdoor exercises. Things like heart rate, SpO2, and sleep tracking results came close to what I got with the other wearables I mentioned previously. (Yes, I would wear two devices at the same time to compare results.)
Software: Easy to use for excellent data viewing
- Amazfit uses the in-house Zepp OS 2.0
- The GTR Mini can track over 120 different workouts and exercises
- Zepp's companion app is feature packed and works well
- There are very few apps available for the watch
Right out of the gate, you should know that Amazfit smartwatches don't have a large selection of third-party apps. So you won't get WhatsApp, Google Maps, Strava, or many others. You'll mostly get basic options like water intake, a calculator, cycle tracking, a calorie tracker, and more. All of these apps are managed inside the Zepp companion app on your phone. The lack of third-party app support is a bummer, but I rarely found myself missing the apps I usually install on my other smartwatches.
Zepp is the name of both the operating system and the health platform that power the GTR Mini. Zepp OS 2.0 is what brings all the brains and data together on the watch. Navigating around the different screens and information in the OS is snappy and easy to understand. While the operating system may not offer a lot of preferred apps, it provides a fast experience with the battery life Wear OS and Watch OS devices just don't have.
The lack of third-party app support is a bummer, but I rarely found myself missing the apps I usually install on my other smartwatches.
When it comes to fitness tracking, aside from the daily monitoring of your health metrics, the Amazfit GTR Mini packs over 120 different workouts and exercises. This is all built directly into the OS and provides users with standard options like walking, running, and biking, to things like strength training, esports, dance, board games, and more. Plus, thanks to the 5 ATM water resistance up to 50 meters, you can use it for water-based workouts.
Viewing information on the GTR Mini's AMOLED display was clear and with plenty of data. While it may feel a bit cramped, Zepp OS lays it out quite well. Like many other wearables, Amazfit doesn't give you every bit of info on the watch itself. Instead, it offers a snapshot of that data and then provides a button to view it on your phone in the Zepp app. From there, you'll get plenty of insight.
The Zepp app is a powerhouse that also lets you control nearly every facet of the GTR Mini. From the home screen of the app, you'll get similar info as you see on the watch itself, but tapping on the sleep card provides further analysis of your sleep. You can see the average and max heart rate and blood oxygen saturation readings, along with minute-by-minute tracking of the metrics. It also will provide a breakdown of how long you were in each sleep zone — awake, light, deep, REM. This same expandable info method is applied to workouts and other tracked data like steps.
When I mentioned that the Zepp app brings control for nearly every facet of the Amazfit GTR Mini, I meant it. You can install apps, change watch faces, tweak notification controls, and more. That isn't all that different from other smartwatches, but the Zepp app also lets you change a host of health monitoring options, multiple functions of the watch, find your watch, shortcuts, and more.
Perhaps my favorite part of using an Amazfit watch is the excellent backups for connecting to new devices or doing factory resets. While it may not be something that the average user needs often, for someone who tests multiple phones and watches, it's a lifesaver. Being able to log into the Zepp app and then tell it to connect the wearable without the need for reinstalling apps and configuring all the settings is nothing short of magical.
Should you buy it?
You should buy this if:
- You want a lightweight and classically-styled smartwatch
- You are on a budget
- You want a watch that provides well-rounded health and fitness tracking
- You want long battery life
You shouldn't buy this if:
- You need third-party app support
- You want to handle phone calls on your watch
The Amazfit GTR Mini is a great smartwatch packed with a lot of useful features for not a lot of money. The fact that you're getting high-quality materials in a slim package offering a wealth of health and fitness monitoring options is really impressive. It falls into a similar trap that many fitness trackers do with the lack of third-party app support, but it bests many of them too. Coming in at a much lower price point than the Garmins and Polars of the wearable world while still providing more workout tracking options, better location services, and battery life makes the GTR Mini an excellent option.
There are going to be more specialized devices that will beat the Amazfit GTR Mini, but you'll be spending far more money on those. For someone who wants a good-looking and affordable wearable that doesn't forgo features like great battery life, a fantastic set of health and fitness tracking options, and style, the Amazfit GTR Mini is a device well worth a look.
Amazfit GTR Mini
Amazfit's GTR Mini brings a classically styled watch that looks great and is comfortable to wear and a fully packed fitness companion. This watch is ready to go for up to 14 days of battery life to help you with everything from monitoring your heart rate to tracking over 120 workouts.