Amazfit Verge Review - The affordable fitness tracker/smartwatch we've been waiting for?

Huami is the sole partner of Xiaomi wearables has been disrupting the smartwatch and fitness tracking market with its value for money devices. We review their latest, the Amazfit Verge!

The Verge on-wrist

More and more fitness tackers are entering the market and we look at the new Amazfit Verge.

Unboxing/Accessories

Unboxing the Amazfit Verge

The black outer packaging slides out to reveal a white inner box that houses the watch, the USB Type-A charging cradle and documentation.

The outer black packaging indicates the different features of the Verge like an AMOLED color display, water resistance, on board music, Bluetooth and more.

Build Quality/Design

The Verge surprised us with its design and its build materials. The body and the straps are uses a high quality polycarbonate material that has this matte texture that feels good on the hands. The material is both lightweight and surprisingly sturdy. It reminds us of the high quality polycarbonate found in higher priced G-shock watches.

CPU metal contacts, regulatory information, and sensors are at the bottom

Parts that aren't made of polycarbonate are the watch face display, the Strap release lever, CPU charging contacts and the sensors.

Microphone and orange button on the side

On the right side of the watch face is the single button of the device and a microphone hole while the left side is empty/smooth.

The charging cradle and the wire attached to it are both made of the same materials along. Our only initial gripe with the charging cradle is that the wire connects at the middle of the dome shape of the cradle instead of the side/rim of the cradle which results in awkward positions of the watch when attached to charging cradle when charging.

This is a nitpick.

Display Quality

Bright and crisp AMOLED screen

The display is a 1.3-inch 360 x 360 resolution at 392 ppi with sapphire glass protection. It is a significant improvement over previous Amazfit Stratos smartwatch display because it is bright enough to be readable under direct sunlight at maximum brightness, and the colors are vibrant and strong that are trademarks of AMOLED.

Bright screen!

There is a long term concern of burn-in though. Only time will tell.

The touch screen responds to one touch point time at a time and it is quick, accurate and responsive without any noticeable lag.

Battery Life

The battery life of the Verge is one of the best in the market with nearly eight days of continuous use.

In those eight days, we only took the watch off whenever we would be taking a bath or washing our arms/wrists. 

In those eight days, the Verge acted as a time piece, health tracker, notifications hub and music player. This meant that it was constantly connected to my smartphone via Bluetooth.

It takes under 120 minutes to charge from 0 to 100 percent.

Performance

Amazfit app

The initial set up is easy where you pair the Amazfit to your phone via the app and Bluetooth. You can then customize the watch face, the controls and the widgets to your liking.

A lot of features!

If you dive deeper there is an option to check the Amazfit servers for the latest watch firmware and update your device. The app and the navigation in-app is easy to learn and get used to.

Once paired with your smartphone and set-up, you can now receive notifications from all your apps like messages, e-mails, calls and the like. 

From the home screen where you see your chosen watch face, you can swipe from the top for the quick toggle menus. If you swipe from the right side, you will see your chosen first two widgets (in my case, I placed sleep and step trackers) and the apps installed on your Verge.

Lastly, if you swipe from the bottom, you will see your music controls and your notifications. My gripe with this is there is no button to clear all your notifications in one press. You have to manually swipe them away.

The orange button on the side quickly brings you to the home screen. I also use it to turn the display on when its asleep. You also have the option to have double tap to wake the display.

Activity and sleep tracking of the Amazfit Verge

We are happy to report that the Verge is nearly 100 percent accurate when measuring heart rate and when measuring steps. The only time we found it to misread random vehicle rides where there were times it was and wasn't registering the movement of the vehicle as steps.

For the sleep tracker, it is able to track light sleep, deep sleep and awaken states. It isn't as accurate or as robust as the Fitbit's sleep tracking. We hope that Amazfit will able to add detection of N-REM, REM, and exact time recording of each stage of sleep like the Fitbit's.

If you want better fitness and sleep tracking though, we recommend the Fitbit Versa. 

Pros - Affordable, Great build materials and design, Simple and easy to learn UI, 8 day battery life!
Cons - Health tracking could be improved

Amazfit Verge Specs

Display: 1.3-inch 360 x 360 resolution w/ Sapphire Glass protection at 392 ppi
CPU: 1.2GHz dual-core
RAM: 512MB
ROM: 4GB
Battery: 390mAh
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
Sensors: Optical, accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic, air pressure, ambient light, wearing detection
Others: IP68 water and dust resistance, loudspeaker, built-in microphone
Dimensions: 12.6 mm thick
Weight: 46 g
Price: PHP 9,490 (PHP 8,490 sale price)

Verdict

If you do not mind the simpler sleep and health tracking features, the Amazfit Verge is the best smartwatch out right now for its price! 

The build materials, the design, the significantly improved display, and eight day battery life elevate it to heights that few smartwatches have reached.

Build / Design - 4.25

Display - 4.25

Battery Life - 5

Performance - 4

Average - 4.5/5