There’s no shortage of spectacular smartwatches that finally made the 20th century’s sci-fi “computer wristwatches” a reality for anyone with the money. Apple, Google, Samsung, OnePlus, and Garmin make the most impressively advanced smartwatches on the market.
But plenty of ’em cost $500 or more. Even on sale, that’s a lot of coin to drop on something if you’re not completely sure that you’re ready for a smartwatch.
Whether you’re just looking to upgrade from your old smartwatch on a budget or you’re looking for your first smartwatch, you can dip your toe in the smartwatch waters with an Amazfit Active 2 for $100.
two looks, old and new
There are two flavors of the Amazfit Active 2. Both are largely the same watch with the same specifications. Let’s start with the Active 2 Sport Smart Watch ($100). It has a 1.32″ AMOLED screen capable of 2,000 nits, a measurement of brightness.
That’s reasonably bright, which will help you see the screen clearly in bright sunlight. Controls are simple, there being just two physical buttons on the side of the stainless steel case with which to control the watch.
As far as software goes, you get GPS navigation, smartphone notifications, health monitoring, sleep quality tracking, more than 160 workout modes for physical activity, weather reports, and more. It’s a lot from a $100 smartwatch.
Paying an extra $30 for the Active 2 Premium Smart Watch ($130) includes all of the above and gains you both a black leather band and a red silicone band, so you can swap one out for the other if you’re feel like wearing it to the gym in the morning and wearing it to a fancy dinner later at night.
The Premium comes with sapphire glass instead of the Sport’s tempered mineral glass. Sapphire glass is a lot tougher and more scratch resistant. Some of my watches have the former, and others have the latter.
You may think that you’ll just be careful enough not to bang your watch into anything. Every watch wearer thinks that, me included. But it happens to everyone sooner or later. It’s an ugly reality of wearing a watch.
My Sapphire glass watches have withstood scratching far better than my mineral glass watches when I’ve banged them into counters and doorknobs. That upgrade alone would nudge me toward paying for the Premium.
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