Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Review: The best smartwatch you can get it under $100

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to spend some time with just about every offering in Amazfit’s vast lineup of hybrid smartwatches. It’s clear from using these wearables that Amazfit is doing quite an amazing job at providing something for just about everyone, and today, we’re taking a look at the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini.

As the name suggests, this is the “Mini” version of the GTS 2, sporting a 20mm band size and weighing just 19.5g without the band. But even for someone who has larger wrists, the GTS 2 Mini has turned out to be one of my favorite wearables of the year so far.

Amazfit GTS 2 Mini Specs

A little different

When you have larger wrists, small fitness trackers or smartwatches end up looking quite comical when in use. It’s almost like you’re just wearing one of those candy watches from the grocery store vending machines. Obviously, the GTS 2 Mini is much more than that, but it’s still funny to look at my wrist and see such a small smartwatch on my wrist.

I was worried that using the GTS 2 Mini would end up as a joke, but it’s turned into something else entirely. While the T-Rex Pro is designed for those who love the idea of a G-Shock but don’t want to pay the extravagant prices for those. The Zepp Z is for the professionals with its titanium alloy build material. And the GTR 2e is for those who want something of a Galaxy Watch Active 2 clone without buying into the Samsung ecosystem. From the outside, the GTS 2 Mini looks like an Apple Watch clone, but that’s perfectly fine with me considering that I’m coming from using an Apple Watch Series 6.

What you get with the GTS 2 Mini is a small and lightweight smartwatch with some fun and unique color options, all while being able to keep track of the same metrics you can on Amazfit’s more expensive wearables. The display is a bit small to see, especially if you use the watch face that’s shown above and want to try and check the time. But this can be swapped out via the Zepp app for something that’s more friendly to your eyesight.

Battery life is a dream, as I wore the GTS 2 Mini for about a week and a half and ended up with 13% battery remaining by the time that these pictures were taken, and the battery still hasn’t hit 0% yet. Yes, you’ll have to deal with Amazfit’s proprietary charging cables, but this is less of an issue if you’re coming from one of Amazfit’s other options. Still, it would be nice to have Qi charging instead, but maybe we’ll see that arrive someday.

Truth be told, out of all of the different smartwatches that I’ve tested out over the past 6 months, nothing has left me feeling quite the same way as the GTS 2 Mini. Having an ultra-lightweight smartwatch on my wrist has been a dream and allows me to forget that I’m wearing anything at all. Most of the time, I would completely forget that it was there until a notification arrived, reminding me that smartwatches don’t need to be all big and bulky to provide a solid experience.

Some more of the norm

We’ve already mentioned that you’ll find just about all of the same sensors that can be found on any of Amazfit’s other wearables. This includes the self-developed BioTracker 2 PPG sensor that does everything from measuring your heart rate to keeping track of blood oxygen (SpO2) levels. Zepp’s app seems to have seen some slight updates, as things have been a bit more fluid, and when pairing the GTS 2 Mini for the first time, I didn’t actually have to manually adjust which apps can provide notifications.

The tracking is on par with the rest of the lineup, and being able to view the different pieces of information is a bit easier when navigating in the Zepp app. But still, my biggest problem with Amazfit smartwatches has nothing to do with the company itself, but instead, is the decision to use RTOS over something else. Maybe the partnership between Samsung and Google will end up being fruitful for all smartwatch makers, and not just those who offer flagship-level products.

It’s not so much that I need to download a million apps directly to my watch because let’s face it, I’d rather grab my smartphone to jot down a note, or just ask Google Assistant to do something for me. Instead, I would much rather have the option to install apps if I want to, along with being able to use something like Facer.io to customize my watch face over using the pre-populated watch faces in the Zepp app. There are plenty to choose from, and the one that I used on the GTS 2 Mini has turned out to be one of my favorites. But, more options is never a bad thing.

Conclusion

Until now, the TicWatch Pro 3 has been my favorite smartwatch to use with whatever Android phone I’m using that week. It’s big, has a gorgeous display, and most importantly, runs the latest version of Wear OS with the latest Snapdragon Wear chipset. With the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini, my mindset has changed a bit because I’ve found that it’s extremely convenient to have a “set it and forget it” smartwatch. It doesn’t bump into everything, the side button doesn’t accidentally get pushed, and the Green color that I received goes with pretty much everything. Plus, I love that Amazfit perfectly matched the casing with the band color, just for the sake of uniformity.

Without diving into the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 price point, the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini at under $100 is a fantastic value and lets you forget about all of the pitfalls of RTOS. Being able to track more than 70 different workouts, along with having all of the health sensors that you could want, is pretty awesome. Amazfit knocked this one out of the park and it should be on everyone’s radar.