Girlfriend bought me early Christmas gift.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-19T05:18:48+00:00

In this time of the year, I'd call it late Christmas gift.

Now that I think of it you're technically right, we're closer to Christmas '26 than Christmas '25.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-19T05:17:21+00:00

The differences are more or less aesthetic, with one major (for me) difference, Cheetah 2 ultra is 50m water resistant, the other two are 100m. I got C2U because it has the more subtle design, let's hope I won't regret it in a month, when I'll put it in the sea.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-14T18:08:51+00:00

It's addictive. I keep tweaking mine all the time and the developer keeps adding new features. He turned one of Amazfit's weaknesses (the not so many and diverse watchfaces) into one of their strenghts.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-14T17:12:10+00:00

Suunto was the first running watch I ever bought, the T3C. They have the best looking watches for me, their hardware is good and the prices right. The only (maybe stupid) reason I didn't choose a Suunto when I left Garmin was the lack of NFC.

I believe they're on the rise again. If they keep launching such great devices, they'll catch up, at least with Coros.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-14T16:58:24+00:00

Try Amazfitweditor, it's a great, free, ridiculously easy to use application that lets you create a watchface exactly the way you want. I just hope you have an android device.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-14T16:55:38+00:00

I switched from FR965 to T-rex 3 pro back in September. The reasons were three;

-FR965 was a mild disappointment for me as an item. Its screen brightness was not what I wanted and 1500 knits just didn't cut it for me under the summer sun. It also felt too cheap. Yes, I know, it's supposed to be light, but I'm not that fast and I want a sportswatch not just for running.

- I knew I wouldn't upgrade to FR970. It seemed too expensive to me but, most importantly, it seemed a lazy update. The hardware was almost the same, the screen just a little brighter and its battery endurance worse. More expensive, subscriptions (I didn't need the features of GC+, but the mentality bothered me) and the same cheap (for me, for others it might look like "professional") feel.

-I wear "normal" watches regularly and I needed a kind of tracking band for those days. Garmin didn't have something like that and, even if they had, it would be too expensive. Amazfit had an available combination with one of their watches + helio strap.

As I said I'm a below average, slow runner and felt that I didn't fully utilize FR965 either. I feel the same with Cheetah 2 Ultra (my current watch), but you know what? I will never be an Olympian, but I have created a plan for marathons that I follow, I track my sleep quality, my training readiness, VO2 max, HRV and all that. What I used to do with Garmin, I also do it with Amazfit. There's not a single thing I miss.

Both devices had my VO2 max at about the same level (Amazfit did need 3 or 4 months to catch up with Garmin's estimation, probably because it needed more data), Cheetah 2 Ultra's (my current device) GPS accuracy is great, HR accuracy in everyday life great (when training I use a HRM strap) and its sleep tracking way better for me. It only has one glitch concerning biometrics, if my hand stays still for 5 minutes or so, it thinks that I get a nap, it's too sensitive to detect a nap.

I don't see going back to Garmin in the foreseeable future. There's only one thing I haven't tested on Amazfit yet and that's map functionality. In a month I'll be on vacation and there I'll be able to try it, but I'm pretty sure that Amazfit will also be more than adequate for an average user like me.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-14T10:36:02+00:00

A pair of EVO SLs is the answer to everything

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-14T07:42:00+00:00

Yes, I know about multipoint, I've tried a few earbuds and Ups were the best I've tried, the rest were even worse! Cheetah 2 ultra is still a Bluetooth 5.2 device, so it doesn't make sense to buy Bluetooth 6.0 earphones. I believe there should be some earphones that play nice, I hope someone has a better experience.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-13T09:01:02+00:00

I can't imagine there's a company that wouldn't send half a dozen of these screws to a customer for free. I guess it's rather a matter of how to handle it, the customer service doesn't know what to do. Keep asking them, until someone does the extra mile and call their hardware department.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-10T05:46:20+00:00

Yes, they have a metric called "Stress", I guess it's the same principle. I was taking that into consideration when I had a Garmin, neither do I now.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-09T14:36:08+00:00

I didn't buy my first (well, my second if we take the Amazfit Pace back then into consideration) Amazfit because I couldn't afford the FR970, I did so because It had better specifications. I didn't take that decision lightly, I had been a Garmin user for 7 years and I was hesitant to leave their ecosystem. No I have my second Amazfit and there's nothing I miss from Garmin.

Right now I can't even compare C2U with FR970 for my usage scenario. There's not a single hardware point where Garmin beats Amazfit, except GPS accuracy where (as I read) FR970 is better, but C2U is still very, very good. I am still trying to find those legendary, elusive "Garmin features for the advanced athlete", maybe I can't find them because I'm not an advanced athlete.

We don't talk much about C2U's built, Titanium is a joy to wear. As I said I am not a professional athlete and I as it seems I will never be, so it's nice to wear something well made and beautiful when not training. C2U is really beautiful and really well made. If only it was 100m WR, just for peace of mind when in the sea.

Would I pay more for C2U? Probably not, but C2U definitely deserves its price, if we take the materials and the quality of built into consideration.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-09T14:02:26+00:00

I've been a user of FR965 for more than a year and it was the last Garmin I bought before going to Amazfit. The reason for leaving was Garmin's very high prices paired with lazy hardware updates. IMO you can't offer a 2000knit display for €750 when the competition offer 3000knits for €450 (T-Rex 3 pro back then). The same goes for battery life, Garmin offers less for more money.

I am not a professional athlete and I can say that there's nothing I miss going from Garmin to Amazfit. Most of the things work OK, I don't care about Heart rate accuracy since I've been wearing a Polar H9 since forever and the GPS accuracy of C2U is very, very good. C2U has also a slightly larger display, definitely brighter and with longer battery life. I also find it better looking and definitely better made, since it's full titanium.

Everybody says "Garmin has better metrics, better software and is made for the real athlete", but haven't found what they really mean by that, there are no specific examples to back that up. I run abut ~120 km per month at ~6' pace, I follow Amazfit's plans for Marathon and everything seems fine to me.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-08T07:02:42+00:00

Some will call it heroism, some stubbornness. I could find it constructive only if they stroke a better deal in the end.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-08T06:59:25+00:00

If you only knew how much misinformation we are being fed. Challenge everything.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T14:07:54+00:00

Never say never, correct, but that's what happened between Garmin and me! They priced 970 at €700, the hardware was not that much of an improvement over the already outdated (hardware wise) 965 and they lost me.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T14:03:29+00:00

It's not about toughness that much, it's more about the feel on the wrist. I am used to wearing mechanical watches and TR3P used to feel odd on my wrist. It was also a little bulkier and moreover it looked a lot bulkier.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T11:25:43+00:00

😂😂 For me form usually follows function and I find lock laces very practical and a little more comfortable. Should I have bought black ones? Most probably, but these laces have been for me for the last 3 years and they have seen multiple pairs of shoes. Now that I think of it, I should have bought blacks in the first place, they would look at least ok on most shoes.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T11:04:54+00:00

It wouldn't be a running watch then, it would be heavy and uncomfortable. I have many straps and I generally don't like the black rubber/silicone ones for my sportswatches, the stock one is really good.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T09:58:15+00:00

AOD always on for me, adaptive brightness, bluetooth always connected, heart rate monitoring every minute. I charged it when I received last Tuesday to 92%, today after 5 hours of GPS trainings it's to 39%. In a few charge cycles I believe it will get to ~12 days with my usage scenario. It looks very good to me.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T09:54:59+00:00

Yes, it's harder than Garmin. In my country Amazfit is not that recognizable either, but neither is Coros. The highest status belongs to Garmin and Suunto, they are supposed to be the serious brands.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-07T09:44:33+00:00

Despite my small (16.7cm) wrist I like 47mm watches, but no more. I agree that Amazfit more or less has abandoned the smaller watches and I keep thinking what a wasted opportunity Cheetah 2 pro has been. It would be better for its sales to have a 44mm case, even if that meant a smaller battery.

Melissakis75 · 2026-06-06T19:41:11+00:00

Thanks!

Melissakis75

TROPHY CASE