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Amazfit Bip U: test / review

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Published on: 23-11-2020 / Modified: 25-11-2020
I started testing smartwatches in 2020 out of curiosity and without knowing if I would like this kind of product. In fact, it was another Amazfit that made me want to continue testing this kind of product. The Amazfit Bip U is the third Amazfit smartwatch I've tested this year.

Amazfit has a similar positioning to Xiaomi on smartphones, the brand seeks to offer a maximum of features for a lower price than the competition and this without making too many concessions on quality. I tested the Amazfit GTS which sold for around €100, I tested the Amazfit X which sells for over €200 and now I'm going to test an entry-level model which sells for just over €50.

On paper this Amazfit Bip U offers the same features as a GTS (or even more), so this new Amazfit product looks very promising.

Manufacturer web site:
https://www.amazfit.com/en/bip-u.html

Price Amazfit Bip U

The list below shows the prices for the Amazfit Bip U from more than 50 sites around the world. If you are not satisfied with any price, you can subscribe to a price alert to be the first to be notified when the price drops.

Timeline

23/11/2020 Delivery of the Amazfit Bip U and start of testing

Waarom deze smartwatch?

I test more and more products and I test both entry-level products (e.g. Amazfit Bip U) and high-end products (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Watch 3) and despite everything, I remain very price sensitive. I really hesitated for a long time before buying the Galaxy Watch where the Amazfit Bip U does not.

Price is one of the arguments for this smartwatch and it is undoubtedly what will attract buyers in the first place but the story doesn't stop there. For around 50€, the Amazfit Bip U offers everything that can be found on a watch costing two or three times this price (heart measurement, sleep, sport, oxygen in the blood, ...). What's the catch? Maybe there isn't one!

The Amazfit Bip U seems to be aimed at a young audience (teenagers) but I think this watch will reach a much larger audience, it is sufficiently neutral in design to appeal to a much larger audience.

Structure of my tests

I test products according to a pre-established structure (see below) to provide you with maximum information. Unfortunately, this takes a lot of time. Unlike some sites where products are tested on a single day, I use the products I test for a minimum of a few weeks and sometimes even a few months. If the test is not complete at the time of your visit, I invite you to come back later or ask your question in the comment section below.

Unpacking

The Amazfit Bip U is sold in a packaging that could be hung on a shelf in a supermarket where other manufacturers go to great lengths to create an atmosphere around the product. This product is clearly a mass market product, I have nothing against it, quite the contrary.

The box contains the watch, a manual available in several languages as well as a USB cable with magnetic tip to recharge the watch. The box does not come with a charger, so you need to connect this cable to a USB port on a computer or a smartphone charger.

First configuration

To configure the Amazfit Bip U, you need to use the free Zepp application (developed by Amazfit) to scan a QR code on the watch screen and associate the watch with your smartphone. The process is very simple, scan the code with the Zepp application and follow the instructions. In reality, I had to do it 4x times because after scanning the QR code, the application pushes an update to the watch and this process resulted in an error message three times...the fourth attempt was the right one (without having changed anything to the process). I used a Samsung Galaxy S20 for this first configuration, it is not an exotic device though. In short, after passing this stage, everything went smoothly.

The application allows you to update the Amazfit Bip U but it is also used to collect data (sleep, heart,...) and to personalize the watch. Since my test of the Amazfit GTS, Amazfit has made progress in terms of personalisation, many dials are available and you can also choose the functionalities available on the watch.

Finish

Before I received the Amazfit Bip U, I wondered what Amazfit had had to make a sacrifice to be able to sell this product at such an attractive price. I got the answer at first contact. The finish is very basic, the watch is made of plastic and the screen is smaller. Is this a problem? I don't think so.

The watch is certainly made of plastic, the level of finish is quite correct. There is no metal rim, so the watch is very light and the screen does not take up the whole surface of the watch. Amazfit had to cut costs somewhere.

The watch is so light that I don't feel it on my wrist, so the choice of plastic is an advantage here.

Connectivity

The Amazfit Bip U connects via Bluetooth with your smartphone, so you need to be close to the smartphone to synchronise. The Amazfit Bip U does not have a GPS chip, only the Pro model has a GPS chip.

Battery range

Amazfit announces on its website that the battery life can last up to 2 weeks. Manufacturers always tend to be more optimistic than reality but the result obtained by the Amazfit Bip U is nevertheless quite good.

I last about 9 days with the battery in normal use and with normal use, I integrate several uses of the watch per day (measurements) and about 2 hours of sport over the measured period. I don't activate the screen switch on with the movement of my wrist and the screen is set to 75% brightness. It is therefore possible to increase the brightness by decreasing the brightness of the screen.

Battery charging is fairly fast, it takes a little over an hour to go from 1% to 100%.

The Amazfit Bip U therefore offers good autonomy and a fairly fast recharge time.

Screen quality

The screen of the Amazfit Bip U is undoubtedly one of the smallest screens I have ever had the opportunity to test. The GTS offered a 1.65 inch screen whereas here the Bip U is limited to 1.43. The difference is not very big but you can see it, the bottom of the screen is occupied by a border with the Amazfit logo.

Amazfit also used an LCD screen where the GTS used an Amoled screen. The difference lies in the contrasts. With an LCD, black is never really black, it is slightly grey where black is really black with an Amoled screen. It is a logical choice for this price positioning and it doesn't really affect the readability of the screen. If you have never had a watch with an Amoled screen you will most likely not notice anything.

The rectangular shape of the screen makes it easier to present menus and data, I have noticed that sometimes text comes out of the screen. It is a bit like the operating system was designed for a watch with a larger screen.

As a whole, this screen fulfils its role very well, it reacts correctly to touch to switch from one menu to another.

Features

Das Amazfit Bip U ist eine leichtere Version des Amazfit GTS, es hat viele der gleichen Bildschirme mit weniger Optionen für das Bip U.

Der Hauptbildschirm kann entweder direkt von der Uhr aus angepasst werden (einige Bildschirme sind verfügbar) oder über die Zepp-Anwendung, wo viele andere Bildschirme verfügbar sind.

Auf dem Hauptbildschirm können Sie die Uhr so konfigurieren, dass sie auf dem oberen Bildschirm angezeigt wird. Es gibt die üblichen Helligkeitsregler, aber auch einige Funktionen wie das Zeitfenster für den "Bitte nicht stören"-Modus, der verhindert, dass sich die Uhr mitten in der Nacht einschaltet.

Der untere Bildschirm wird für Benachrichtigungen verwendet, aber um diese nutzen zu können, müssen Sie die Berechtigungen in der Zepp-Anwendung konfigurieren. Sie können Benachrichtigungen für eingehende Anrufe, SMS und Benachrichtigungen von bestimmten auf dem Telefon installierten Anwendungen wie z. B. Whatsapp erhalten. Sie müssen für jede Anwendung eine Berechtigung erteilen. Diese Benachrichtigungen gehen nur in eine Richtung (Smartphone an Beep U), es ist nicht möglich, auf Nachrichten zu antworten.

Auf der linken Seite des Hauptbildschirms sehen Sie die verschiedenen Sportmodi, die Uhr zeigt nur vier auf einmal an. Auf der rechten Seite befinden sich die wichtigsten Widgets, um Ihre Aktivitäten zu verfolgen.

Das Amazfit Bip U hat sehr gut gestaltete Menüs, es ist einfach zu bedienen und im Gegensatz zu den exotischeren chinesischen Marken wird sich sein Betriebssystem mit dem Rest der Amazfit-Reihe weiterentwickeln.

Measurements

The Amazfit Bip U allows you to monitor your daily activities such as the number of steps, sleep time, oxygen in the blood, ... The Amazfit Bip U offers a classic range of indicators that can be found on most watches today.

The reliability of the step measurement is highly dependent on the pace and the type of ground and the sleep measurement depends on your inactivity after 10 pm. The watch will quickly consider a quiet activity as sleep, which is unfortunately the case for all the watches I have tested.

I took several heart rate measurements using my Polar H10 belt at the same time. Reading the figures that follow, you might think that the Amazfit is not reliable in terms of heart rate measurements but you should look at the graphs of each exercise. The watch seems to have disconnected during the exercises, perhaps due to the movements, the heartbeats measured are well below the figures of the Polar H10. The average is therefore quite different, but the maximum values are quite close.

The Amazfit Bip U is therefore able to provide measurements close to the Polar H10, but is sensitive to shocks, so it must be attached to the wrist so that it can continue to measure heartbeats without interruption. I didn't have this problem with the Amazfit GTS.

Session 1 - Amazfit Beep U
Average heart rate: 132
Max. heart rate: 166
Calories: 368

Session 1 - Polar H10
Average heart rate: 146
Max. heart rate: 164
Calories: 508

Session 2 - Amazfit Bip U
Average heart rate: 122
Max. heart rate: 147
Calories: 301

Session 2 - Polar H10
Average heart rate: 134
Max. heart rate: 147
Calories: 399

Session 3 - Amazfit Bip U
Average heart rate: 143
Max. heart rate: 162
Calories: 383

Session 2 - Polar H10
Average heart rate: 141
Max. heart rate: 160
Calories: 474

App

The Amazfit Bip U like all other Amazfit watches use the Amazfit application which has recently been renamed to Zepp. It's a bit of a curious name but the application is basically the same.

This application is designed to collect more data than Amazfit watches. This in itself is a laudable intention but it unnecessarily complicates the application which lists tons of indicators that remain empty.

The Zepp application therefore offers many possibilities, but you have to be able to find your way to the data you are really interested in among all that is available.

Compatibility

Amazfit watches are compatible with all phones that can run the Zepp application.

Operating system

Not yet available / tested

Encoutered bugs

Not yet available / tested

Compare Amazfit Bip U with the others

Test / Review conclusion

I have tested several Amazfit watches in recent months and for me, Amazfit is very comparable to Xiaomi in the smartphone world. This brand manages to market quality watches at a very competitive price.

The Amazfit Bip U is an entry-level watch with a plastic finish, a smaller screen but with almost all the functionality of a more expensive watch.

The Amazfit Bip U is an easy-to-use watch with a well-designed operating system that will continue to evolve over time, following the rest of the Amazfit range. The watch offers most of the features you would expect from a watch, all it lacks is GPS but this is quite rare in this price range.

The measurements I have taken with the Amazfit Bip U have shown that the strap must be very well attached as it is very sensitive to movement but overall and in this price range the Amazfit Bip U does a good job.

The battery life is quite good, it is not the best on the market, but it can last between one and two weeks depending on the type of activity.

In this price range, you won't find many watches as good as this one, I think its biggest competitor will be the Mi Watch Lite (also tested on this site).

Strengths

Value for money
Battery life
Ease of use

Weaknesses

Limited content of notifications (sometimes just titles)
Slight delay in notifications
Loss of measurements with wrist movement