Amazfit GTR 3 and GTS 3 bring more options to the smartwatch market

The Apple Watch arguably dominates the smartwatch market, and Samsung's wearables have become even more prominent now that it has switched to Wear OS. Those, however, aren't the only game in town, even if you consider the handful of brands using Google's smartwatch platform. There are those that have opted to strike their own path, using their own operating system. Amazfit, more closely associated with Xiaomi than Amazon despite the name, is one such brand, and it's adding three more smartwatches to join the already crowded wearable arena.

Compared to the likes of Apple, Samsung, and even Mobvoi, Amazfit is admittedly a smaller brand that owes some of its popularity to its association with Xiaomi. Over the years, however, it has been making a name for itself with smartwatches that boast days or even weeks of battery life. This year, it is bringing not one, not even two, but three smartwatches, though the latter's a bit of a cheat because the third one's really a "Pro" variant.

The Amazfit GTR 3 Pro is clearly the company's flagship smartwatch this year in both features and price. Featuring a large circular 1.45-inch AMOLED screen, the smartwatch boasts the ability to track more than 150 activities and biometrics, including heart rate and blood oxygen levels. That said, those features do take a hit on battery life, and the GTR 3 Pro is advertised to last about 12 days before needing a recharge.

In contrast, the smaller 1.39-inch Amazfit GTR 3 promises 21 days of use. That may come at the expense of some features, particularly in the sensors available to it. Curiously, the square Amazfit GTS 3 will only last 12 days with average use and without its continuous GPS tracking, though the feature set is on par with the GTR 3.

That's probably why both the Amazfit GTR 3 and GTS 3 start at $179.99 while the GTR 3 Pro goes for $229.99. Along with these smartwatches, Amazfit is also pushing its Zepp OS to developers as an alternative wearable platform by providing tools to make creating watch faces and apps easier. This will be critical to the success of Amazfit's smartwatches which, despite compatibility with both Android and iOS devices, will naturally lag behind when it comes to apps.