Amazfit T-Rex review

Official Amazfit companion app

In order to make the most out of the T-Rex, you'll need to get the Amazfit app. As far as we understand the history of things, older Amazfit products were supported under Mi Fit at one point. The internet is a bit foggy on the topic. Regardless, the Amazfit app is the current official companion for the T-Rex, as well as most other Amazfit wearables.

Compared to entire wearable suites, like the ones you have to install with Huawei or Samsung smartwatches, the Amazfit single-app approach looks a lot less bloated. There is no need to sideload a plethora of additional background services.

Amazfit app main UI

The Amazfit app UI is anything but simple, though. It tries its best to be an all-encompassing fitness, activity, lifestyle, and general "data hub" solution.

On the surface, the main interface looks deceptively simple - three tabs: "Homepage", "Enjoy" and "Profile". Side note - these kinds of weird translations are common all around the Amazfit app, so we won't be pointing them out on every occasion. They range from confusing to outright incoherent. That's a definite minus. Especially since the Amazfit app has been through more than a few updates and iterations already.

Every item you see on the main "Homepage" can be dug into on multiple levels. This looks like a veritable nirvana for numbers and statistics lovers. Graphs, personal and community averages, different period-based views, sharing options. It's all there.

Steps statistics

Sleep statistics

We appreciate that fact that the Amazfit app allows you to edit every individual sleep session entry and set correct start and end times since the T-Rex doesn't always get these right. In fact, if you are willing to put in the manual labor, accurate sleep times are just the tip of the iceberg of things you could potentially track, organize, monitor and share through the Amazfit app.

Activity history statistics

Options are great and all, but we honestly found ourselves drowning in a sea of menus, searching for a simple, "one stop" interface to go through all of the logged activity sessions. We found one history button, which seems to be the right place to search, but still failed to spot at least a few bike rides that the T-Rex itself clearly had logged.

The app also claims to be syncing all of the data every time we open it. The bottom line here - the Amazfit app is in desperate need on a "simple" interface option.

Insane amount of logged activity data

Once you do get to an activity log, the amount of logged and masterfully visualized data is astonishing. Bars, charts, averages and numbers all over the place. Even if we know, for a fact, that the T-Rex lacks the ability to track some of these, and they are merely the result of algorithmic assumptions and approximations, the end product is still very cool. So much so, that we appreciate that there are at least a few ways in which you can get all of this inside a neat, sharable package for social network purposes. The app even allows you to snap a picture and overlay some of the statistics on top of that.

Back to the main "Homescreen", near the very bottom, there is unassuming carousel selector with more data, you can manually enter and track. This is where Amazfit's ambitions to be an "all-encompassing" solution really shine through. You can track things like waist, hip and arm circumference, body composition, bone mass, visceral mass, your glucose levels, blood pressure, even granular things like your protein intake. A literal sea of options. Way too much for the average user.

Insane amount of automatically and manually tracked data

We don't particularly mind all of the automatic and manual data tracking options present. However, their layout creates a lot of chaos inside the app.

Thankfully, there is a hidden menu, containing a simple list of all of these data types. We still maintain that a "simple" UI variant should be made available to hide all of the unused things away.

Menus upon menus

There is even a pull-up shade with quick shortcuts and toggles on the "Homescreen". Some of these options pertain to general fitness tracking and activities, while others have to do with the operation of the paired smart wearable. And we haven't even gotten to the parts of the Amazfit app meant to handle the T-Rex and other gadgets. Like we said - the app is in desperate need of simplification.

The second "Enjoy" tab is yet another mess of general fitness and activity features and setting and things pertaining to the T-Rex or other paired wearables.

Enjoy tab

There is even a section in this tab that lists grayed-out options that would be made available, through pairing various devices. We don't know why these aren't simply hidden-away. The mess just keeps on getting worse.

Various menus in the Enjoy tab

As far as we managed to cross-reference the "Enjoy" tab options, most seem to also be reachable through other, better-organized and more-logical interfaces. You should probably just ignore this tab altogether and only go back to it if you absolutely can't find a particular option, you know exists.

Using the T-Rex with the Amazfit app

The Amazfit app is clearly designed to transcend the simple role of a wearable companion. Still, the reality is that this is the only part of its functionality that most users will care for. Pairing the T-Rex with the app should be as simple as scanning a barcode, displayed on the watch. In practice, however, we had major struggles with this endeavor. Or rather, the watch "updating" process that follows initial pairing. That failed repeatedly, leaving the T-Rex in a boot-looping state. Multiple days of debugging later, it turns out that having the T-Rex connected alongside an Amazfit GTR breaks things in more ways than one. Even deleting the latter from the app, alongside clearing the app data did not resolve the issue. Shame, since changing between a fancy and a casual watch in the GTR and T-Rex would have been a viable approach. Especially, since both are relatively affordable.

Pairing devices • Main wearable interface

Once you are all paired-up, you get one of the more-orderly menus to manage the T-Rex. You only get two watchfaces at a time on the T-Rex itself, so you will probably be frequenting the Watch face menu in the App. At the time of writing the review, you get to choose from 30 options in total. There is a sea of unofficial, third-party content beyond that. Read on to the custom app section for that.

Official watchface selection

One of the first things you should do after setting-up the T-Rex is to go through the process of ensuring that your phone's OS doesn't kill its background process. The steps will be different, depending on your device. The Amazfit app provides a special screen with tailored instructions. Unfortunately, ones translated very poorly in English.

Confusing, yet important background running instructions

The App alerts menu also requires some initial time investment. The interface is a very convenient toggle-based, per-app list.

Per-app notification settings

Unlock screen • Incoming call • Idle alert • Incoming SMS • Goal notifications • Heart rate monitoring

Most of the other "core" wearable features are also found in this menu. You should definitely decide on how you want to handle incoming calls and texts on the T-Rex. Also, whether to get activity goal and idle alert notifications.

Heart rate monitoring can be set to a number of modes. You can have it always on, or let the T-Rex trigger it when it detects you are exercising or sleeping. Unfortunately, the latter two can not be enabled together. You can also have it off entirely, to save on battery.

Weather settings

The current weather and forecast functionality is also strictly optional. But, it doesn't waste any noticeable amount of battery and it both works and looks surprisingly well on the T-Rex.

You can re-arrange every option inside the menu of the T-Rex and hide almost all of them too. So anything you aren't using doesn't need to be in the way and all of the other features can be even more convenient.

Watch menu item rearrangement

Event Reminders and alarms can be controlled through the Amazfit app. Both of these only trigger on the wearable, which is cool. If you can get used to a vibration-only alarm, you can use is to be more considerate towards a bedmate in the morning. Alarms can be created and enabled from the T-Rex, as well. The event reminder feature suffers greatly from the lack of any integration with other calendar apps, though.

Alarms • Event reminders

Other T-Rex settings in app

There are quite a few other settings in the Amazfit app, as well. Thankfully, those that pertain to the T-Rex are, for the most part, neatly contained withing this menu.

Beyond the wearable menu itself, there are a few potentially interesting things to check out in the main "Profile" tab. Goals, personal records and the app's friends features are all housed here.

Goals • Personal records • Friends

Data syncing is also supported. If you don't feel like dealing with the tracking aspects of the Amazfit app, you can always just go through the initial setup and then tell the app to upload all of the data it gets off of the T-Rex into Google Fit, Strava or WeChat.

Data sync with third-party services

Finally, there is Behavior tagging. It is a more "out-there" and experimental feature. The main idea is for the user to create personal activities and scenarios that the Amazfit app can recognize, together with the T-Rex and any other supported, paired gadget. The procedure is simple - you just tell the app what you are currently doing, by selecting an activity from a pre-defined list or even making a custom entry of your own. Then you proceed to doing said activity, while the App and paired gadgets try their best to gather all the data they can and then make a recognizable pattern out of it for future reference and automatic tagging.

Behavior tagging

A cool idea, for sure, but not particularly great in practice. If you only train-in one particular thing, like bowling, it can get the job done. Just keep your expectations within reason.

Third-party companion apps

The official Amazfit app has gone a long way since its early days. In its current state, it offers plenty of functionality on the T-Rex and integrates it reliably with your phone. It is not punishing on your battery life, either. However, the Amazfit app is anything but streamlined. Nor is the experience it provides. The amount of extra features, as well as the chaotic ant cluttered UI can be a bit overwhelming for some.

Thankfully, there are alternative approaches. The T-Rex is still relatively new and, as of writing this review, some of the existing alternative app solutions out there have still not been updated to support it. Notably - Gadgetbridge, which is our usual open-source app of choice for driving smart wearables. It is not the prettiest app, nor the most feature-rich, but it has proven to be reliable and is backed by a big community. Plus, it is entirely free. Hopefully, T-Rex support comes to it sooner, rather than later.

Gadgetbridge mistakes the T-Rex for a Mi Band and fails to connect

Amazfit Notify is another long-standing name in the custom smart wearable companion app niche. Its devs have been keeping up and it already supports the T-Rex. There are a few caveats when using Amazfit Notify with newer Amazfit products, like the T-Rex and GTR, though. While Huami's Bluetooth communication protocol is still fairly straight-forward and well understood by the community, recent incarnations have added an extra security layer for initial pairing. Amazfit Notify can handle this in one of two ways.

Setting up Amazfit Notify

If you plan on using Amazfit Notify concurrently, alongside the regular Amazfit app, you can have the former simply piggybank off of the active official app connection. This is a valid approach if you happen to like some things the Amazfit app does right, like its Notifications, but not others. For instance - its bloated activity tracking interface.

Alternatively, you can also use Amazfit Notify independently. In this case, setup is a bit sketchy, though, requiring you to download a modified version of the Amazfit app, which will dump some security keys for Amazfit Notify. It takes a few minutes to pull-off, but the system works and you do end-up with a very different companion app experience.

Just like with the original Amazfit app, there are some extra Android permissions you need to grant and some battery management exclusions to set up. Amazfit Notify has way more accurate and easier tutorials for these, though.

Amazfit Notify home tab

What originally started app as a Notification handler alternative, to step in and fix the issues with early official Amazfit notification handling, has now grown into a full-featured and coherent Amazfit app alternative. You can mostly get by with the home tab alone. All of the important shortcuts are here. You even get access to some custom community watchfaces. Though, in a simple carousel control, without any actual searching options.

Custom watcfaces

Amazfit Notify home tab customization

All of the options and their order on the home tap are also customizable. You can absolutely make a minimalistic and clear UI for yourself. There is even a simple UI option for the entire app, which automatically hides away some of the more advanced options.

Various Amazfit Notify options

Speaking of options - Amazfit Notify is bursting at the seams. You can even get some really cool things like emoji support on the watch itself via modified firmware installation. There is a sea of things to check out. Some of these, as you can imagine, are paid. Unless you get into power-user realms of customization for your T-Rex, though, you can be perfectly content with the free version.

Additional Amazfit Notify app tabs

The amount of "stuff" inside Amazfit Notify can seem overwhelming, at first, but trust us when we say that it is noticeably better organized than the original Amazfit app.

Getting custom watchfaces on the T-Rex is much easier than what was required on devices like the original Bip. The process still involves flashing over custom parts of the gadget's OS. However, the whole process of doing so is a lot better understood by developers now. The main consequence of years of iterative custom work on Amazfit wearables is a thriving community and and constantly growing and impressively diverse library of custom watchfaces.

There are plenty of apps that offer such content. The actual websites that host the watcfaces are far fewer, so choosing an app often comes down to finding one that appeals to you, personally. Our top choice for all Amazfit devices is currently AmazFaces. It now has an official, dedicated T-Rex section with a growing selection.

AmazFaces app

Using user-created custom watcfaces can lead to battery endurance issues. Depending on how many active components and dials the watchface has, as well as its level of optimization, you can even cut your effective battery life in half. Most of the popular items in the repositories are typically well-optimized at this point, though.

One last note - the AmazFaces app relies on having the default Amazfit app installed to actually flash the custom watchfaces over to the T-Rex. The Amazfit Notify app can do the same independently. With a little research, you can definitely find the right set of tools to make a functioning setup of your liking between a few apps.