The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro is a high-end GPS running watch designed for users who care about performance, training, and tracking long term fitness and health data at a lower price point than competitors.
This watch is fairly easy to use, highly customizable, and packed to the brim with workout reports and analysis. Runners can take advantage of a large library of preprogrammed training plans, or build custom workouts of their own.
Attractive highlights include long battery life, dual band GPS tracking, advanced running metrics, offline maps with turn by turn navigation, recovery guidance, large storage space, and a bright AMOLED screen.
This watch, and companion Zepp app, is packed with data analysis and personal fitness trends. Filled with features runners might find on a comparable high-end Garmin device, the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro comes in at a lower price point.
It’s built with premium materials like titanium and sapphire crystal, is comfortable to wear, and is visually appealing.
If you’re a data driven runner who appreciates making plans, gathering stats, and assessing recovery needs, this just might be a great option for you
Who Is It Good For?
- Novice Runners: Yes. The user interface and basic data displays are approachable and straightforward enough for beginners to interact with comfortably. Runners can choose to dig deeply into the collected metrics or simply pay attention to the data that matters most to them.
- Current Apple Watch or Garmin Users: Yes. Apple Watch users might miss some of the smart watch integration they enjoy on their devices.
- Daily Usage: Yes. Basic daily health and sleep quality data is collected. And other types of notifications are synced up via bluetooth to your phone.
- Value For Price: Absolutely. If you’re on the hunt for a high-end GPS fitness watch with comparable features to other premium running watches, you’ll find some good value here.
Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro Specifications
- Size: 48 mm
- Weight: 45.6 g
- Satellite Connection: 6 satellite positioning systems
- Waterproof Rating: 5 ATM
- Navigation: Turn by Turn, Point to Point Navigation
- Touchscreen: Yes, with AMOLED screen
- Battery: Up to 20 days typical battery use, Up to 31 hours with accurate GPS use
- 170+ built in sports, now including quick workouts
- 1 color available
- Available from us.amazfit.com for $449.99
Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro Overview
The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro is built from high quality materials. The case and frame are crafted from grade 5 titanium, and the watch face is made with sapphire crystal.
This makes the watch face incredibly tough, it’s the most scratch-resistant type out there on a watch. (Unfortunately for me, I put this to the test when I fell during a trail run while wearing it. The Cheetah 2 Pro pulled through without a single mark… which I can’t say about my hip or the massive bruise left there. Ouch!)
The watch comes with a 20mm removable strap, which I found to be very comfortable and breathable.
The band wasn’t rubbery or too slick, it was sturdy but not inflexible, easy to adjust, stayed in place, and wasn’t annoying at all to sleep in. I don’t find myself craving a more comfortable band replacement.
I found that the Cheetah 2 Pro felt pretty lightweight on my wrist, weighing in at about 60g including the strap. The watch is 48mm in diameter, 13.2mm thick, and has a 1.32 inch touch screen display.
Viewing the screen in bright sunlight wasn’t a problem because the screen reaches up to 3,000 nits. I did discover that I didn’t always ‘agree’ with the auto brightness settings though, and I preferred to set the brightness level of the screen manually.
Using the Cheetah 2 Pro
This watch has a four button setup, two buttons on the left and two on the right. The buttons have a cluster of slightly raised bumps along them, which I appreciated because the texture made it easy to locate them by touch when I wanted to press one.
It would be hard to press a button by accident. As a Garmin user, I found myself initially missing the center button on the left side, but I was able to quickly adjust to this new button layout.
The touchscreen was very responsive, and the user interface was usually easy to use and navigate. I found the UI slightly more intuitive than the one on my Garmin was when I first started using it.
However, having said that, there is a LOT to navigate through! There is a large learning curve in figuring out how to access everything this watch has to offer! I spent a good deal of time simply exploring the menus and trying to discover what was available. We’ve found this to be true in our previous AmazFit testing as well on the AmazFit Balance 2 and AmazFit Active 3 Premium.
I wouldn’t say that the menus or buttons were “difficult” to use, but the sheer quantity of menus and buttons and options was a lot to initially digest. Investing in this watch also includes investing time into becoming familiar with getting the most out of it.
However, if you only want basic tracking and data, those are easy to use and find. But I’m guessing that anyone willing to pay for a higher end watch will be eager to find out more about what it can do.
The watch face seems nice and large, but not all of that real estate space is actually used in the active watch display. The curved/beveled edges on the front serve as a border to the viewable area, making the actual display space somewhat smaller than what I first assumed it would be.
Not a big deal overall, but I did find myself wishing the usable display area extended all the way to the watch face edges when I was using the mapping features.
Quick Take
Pros
- Excellent price point for a higher end running watch
- Pre-programmed and customizable workout plans.
- Long battery life.
- Lots of storage space.
- Premium materials.
- Strong running metrics.
- Excellent dual band GPS tracking.
- Comfortable and lightweight.
Cons:
- Potentially a big learning curve due to customization options and extensive features.
- Zepp app can feel overwhelming at first.
- Offline maps could be a bit easier to read and use.
- Less viewable screen space than the watch size suggests.
- Zepp Flow AI assistant is not always smooth, needed, or super helpful.
- Smartwatch style feature integration (especially for iPhones) could be improved.
Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro Features
Let’s dive in to more of the details around different features and what I found in testing.
Battery Life
The Cheetah 2 Pro has an impressively long battery life. With typical use, the watch can last up to 20 days before needing to be recharged.
Heavy users may expect to get about 10 days before needing a recharge. Amazfit claims the battery lasts up to 31 hours in accurate GPS mode and 69 hours in power saving GPS mode.
The watch comes with a magnetic charging puck which connects with any USB-C charge cord. It includes 32 GB of internal storage (lots of space for downloaded maps, saved routes, custom workouts, music, and apps) and it’s water resistant up to 50 meters.
Activity Tracking & Navigation
When I was ready to run, I found that the satellite signal locked in just as fast, if not faster, than on my Garmin device. No complaints there, the signal popped up quickly and was ready to go.
Name an activity, this watch can probably track it. You’ll find over 170 trackable activities on the Cheetah 2 Pro! Common fitness activities like running, walking, hiking, swimming, and biking are included.
But some other less common activities also jumped out at me. Such as Frisbee, hula hooping, handball, bowling, pole dancing, chess, snow shoveling, kayaking, driving, shuffleboard, indoor rock climbing, or even board games. If you want to track what you spend your time doing, this watch has you covered.
When tracking a running activity, the Cheetah 2 Pro covers all of the core statistics you would expect on a high-end running watch.
- Distance
- time
- speed, lap pace, splits
- your GPS route
- heart rate
- calories burned
- cadence
- elevation loss/gain
- running power
- ground contact time, stride length, vertical oscillation,
- lactate threshold estimates, VO2 max estimates
- training load, recovery time, training effect
- your race time predictions
Fatigue Monitoring
One unique thing the Cheetah 2 Pro monitors is your fatigue level. A notification popped up as a surprise to me once during a run and gave me a good laugh. During a particularly tough run, I was struggling along and thinking, “Wow, I am really tired right now.”
Right after thinking that, the watch popped up a message telling me I “was fatigued.” (It was almost like the watch was reading my mind!) It determined my fatigue level by looking at things like my heart rate and how hard I was working compared to my normal runs etc. Whatever metrics it was analyzing, it was right that day.
Maps and Routes
The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro has the capability of using offline maps and providing turn by turn navigation. Downloading offline maps was simple enough to do using the Zepp app, and sending running routes to my watch downloaded from Strava or other apps like Footpath was also easy. The 32 GB of internal storage space ensures that you can store plenty of routes on your device!
Another feature I liked trying out was the ability to allow the watch to generate a suggested route based on the distance I wanted to run.
You simply enter your desired distance right on your watch, and it generates a route that gets as close to that mileage as possible. You can also choose a direction, (north, south, east, or west), or let the watch decide the direction for you.
The thing I found bothersome about the auto generated routes was that they seemed to require a minimum distance of 3 miles.
I enjoyed testing the navigation features of the Cheetah 2 Pro. Although having the offline maps is a great feature, I didn’t find the vibration alerts on their own very helpful for turn by turn navigation. When the watch buzzed, I had to look down to see why, and the map was a little too small to read quickly while running.
The audio cues worked wonderfully though since they gave me advance notice of turns and let me stay on pace without looking at my watch. The maps worked well on neighborhood streets as well as trail routes. If I deviated from my route, the watch would alert me and help me get back on track.
Zooming in and out and panning around the map didn’t always work smoothly. I found it a bit clunky and frustrating at times. If I left the map alone, it worked just fine, but I couldn’t always see street names or other details that I occasionally wanted. The map detail was too small. I found myself wishing the default zoom level on the navigation map was a little larger in size when an activity first started.
GPS tracking was almost identical to the results I got on my Garmin. Nothing significantly different to report there. The information seemed accurate and reliable.
Heart Rate Tracking
I’ve been continuously wearing two watches at the same time over the past few weeks, and I found the heart rate tracking from the Cheetah 2 Pro and my Garmin lined up very closely.
The Cheetah 2 Pro uses the BioTracker 6.0 PPG biometric sensor. It uses heart rate data to track fitness metrics such as training zones, recovery, heart rate variability (HRV), stress, sleep, and overall workout performance.
The Cheetah 2 Pro doesn’t have the capability of taking ECG readings, but you still get a great deal of useful information based on the heart rate data. This watch can connect to external heart rate monitors, such as chest straps or arm bands, which are considered even more accurate than the watch’s wrist-based heart rate sensor.
App Features & Integration
The companion Zepp app was useful in analyzing activity data. I generally found it interesting and fun to explore.
You can use the Zepp coach to provide you with structured training plans, or you can craft custom workouts of your own. I found it easy to create personalized workouts in the Zepp app, and then send them to my watch.
Certain things are easier to view in the app than on the watch. Examples include graphs (like for pace, heart rate, or running power), trends (in training load or recovery), history (for things like VO2 max, activities tracked, and your running routes), workout editing, and route creation.
Sleep quality and sleep duration are also recorded by the Cheetah 2 Pro (if you wear the watch when you sleep) and results are analyzed in depth inside the app.
I was also able to view data about things like my HRV, my breathing patterns, and sleep stages. It was interesting to see how many times I woke up during the night, how deep my sleep was, and whether or not the app thought I got enough rest.
There is so much to explore in the Zepp app. It was a bit overwhelming at first. Expect to spend a great deal of time sifting through it all. However, if you have the patience and interest to dig into all of the features, it’s fun to discover what’s there.
You’ll also get a breakdown of your daily and weekly biocharge, showing how things like your runs, workouts, sleep, and recovery affected your energy levels over time. The app also gives you a lot of feedback about your training, including your fitness level, fatigue, heart rate zones, and whether you’re training too hard, too easy, or right on track.
The app is where I downloaded maps and running routes. (You can also download golf courses if you’re a golfer. Which I decidedly am not.) You can also view your training calendar and build training plans.
The training plan library includes preprogrammed guides for training to run various distances at different experience levels. Premade training templates are in there as well, or you can make your own. And the app offers a Zepp coach that you can use to customize a training plan to your goals and personal circumstances.
Activity badges are awarded and collected inside the app. They were a fun way to view my fitness milestones based on activities I recorded while wearing the Cheetah 2 Pro.
The Zepp app is also where you can browse and customize watch faces, as well as download additional apps and features for the watch. One free feature I stumbled upon and ended up using a lot was the camera remote. It lets you press a button on the watch to take a picture with your phone. I really liked it for those times when I wanted to set my phone down and get a photo from farther away instead of trying to hold it out and take a selfie.
Miscellaneous Features
The Cheetah 2 Pro has a flashlight with 3 different brightness settings as well as a red light mode. The flashlight can also be set to blink (it’s called the ‘safety light’), which is a really cool feature to increase runner visibility.
Music can be downloaded and stored directly on the watch, but only in mp3 format. Other than that, you can only use the Cheetah 2 Pro as a controller for the music streaming apps you have on your phone.
The watch has an AI assistant (like Siri on an iPhone) called Zepp Flow. I have to admit, I wasn’t a big fan and didn’t use it often.
If I needed to control something on my watch, it was faster for me to look through the watch menus than activate the assistant. And the main things I needed during a run were already easy to access with a button or swipe.
For things not pertaining to watch controls, I found Siri to be smoother and more accurate than the Zepp AI. That’s not exactly a glowing endorsement, since Siri can be clunky and get things wrong too, but it still worked better for me than Zepp Flow. I suppose I found the Zepp Flow Assistant to be a fun novelty, but I personally didn’t find it very useful during a run in general.
The Cheetah 2 Pro allowed me to read and receive texts, but I couldn’t reply to them directly on my watch. The SMS feature is currently only available on Android devices, and I own an iPhone.
I was able, however, to answer calls and talk directly on my watch. (As long as my phone was within Bluetooth range). The watch has a built-in speaker and also a microphone.
I was notified a handful of times when the watch thought I was showing signs of increased stress. When that happened, it would offer suggestions on how to lower my stress levels.
The Cheetah 2 Pro packs dual-band GPS, offline maps, detailed running metrics, and long battery life into a titanium and sapphire crystal build that feels genuinely premium. The companion app goes deep on training, recovery, and sleep data so progress-focused runners always know where they stand. There is a learning curve to unlock everything, but once you do, this watch delivers a powerful mix of performance tools and everyday wearability at a price that makes the competition hard to justify.Our Verdict
Would I recommend the Cheetah 2 Pro to other runners? Absolutely! Without a doubt, it’s a great watch.The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro delivers a surprising amount of performance for the price.
What to read next?
- Best Running Watches Across Brands For Beginners to Ultras
- The Neuroscience of Pain
- Amazfit vs Garmin: Can You Get a Good GPS Watch for Less?
The post Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro Review | Why Pay $1000 When This Watch Does It All for Under $500 appeared first on RunToTheFinish.
from RunToTheFinish https://ift.tt/PCOkg34
Post a Comment
Post a Comment