They will improve it even more in its next generation. I think it's great that it offers so much at this price point, because we need underdogs to keep product prices of bigger brands in check. During last couple of years, running watch prices got really high.
i would like to mentioned that in order to see more accurate hr measurements, 1st wear the watch two fingers above your wrist -make sure its tight enough and 2nd when you're about to start an activity select it and when it shows your pulse then hit the start to begin . I used to have problems with accuracy but following above steps i m pretty close to garmin edge 530 measurements
For sure, wearing the watch tight and away from your wrist bone helps a lot. Unfortunately not in the case of the Stratos 3 for me. I've worn LOTS of watches and none of them were this bad lol.
I've been using this watch for 5 months now and I can easily recommend it to anyone. The watch does everything you ask it to do perfectly. Altough I'm planning on getting the coros paca 2 just because the stratos 3 is kinda blend and boring. So if you want something with tons of data and info that you can play with, than I'd say stratos 3 is not for you. Hopefully this helps somebody. ( by the way, the heart rate accuracy really is sooooo bad. I use a chest strap)
Very few smart watches in this price category allow pairing with an external heart rate chest strap - which I use for squash as wrist based measurement don't cut it anyway with violent/sprint based movements. This is why I purchased it even after seeing this reveiw and the negative comments about it's own wrist HR sensor.
The fenix 6 will also get you that impressive battery life in GPS mode thanks to the new Sony GPS chipset. The Amazfit watches are certainly interesting though!
My Fenix 5x can have better battery life and optical heart rate reading is always less accurate and I paid a lot for a few HRM straps.. Stratos has been on my list.....If it can read running dynamics it be perfect.
@@ChaseTheSummit that's true but then the price variance is a significant factor., unfortunately for many who aren't in the Dollar, Euro, Pound economy. 😊
I have bought much more expensive and more capable Smarthwatches but the feature that's explained at 04:08 is the sole reason I've went and bought this watch. I really hate having to wake up my device to see the time, in the middle of the night or under bright sun. The time information has to be always available. I wish more brands produced watches with Transreflective display.
Lots of brands make transflective watches! Garmin, Polar, Coros, Suunto to name a few! But yeah, I prefer always on displays as well. Thanks for sharing.
Great review! In particular, thanks for covering the Amazfit devices... If it wasn't for your reviews, they wouldn't cross my radar. I could see these devices being good considerations for some folks I know. Amazfit is doing some great work in this space; given another hardware release cycle or two, they might be right up there with Coros, and on Garmin's heels!
Really considered it some months ago as my first wearable ever. The lack of good revues by experts like you and the "too good to be true" prejudice stopped me. Ended up buying Coros Apex 42.
@@ChaseTheSummit No experience to compare it to but still: bug free (only once had an issue with GPS), delivers on battery promise, sleep accuracy is not perfect, easy to operate.
I don't know why, but alway when I watch your videos, I give a thumps up tight at the beginning. :-) Maybe because I already know that I will be informed and entertained, very well.
Dave gotta say your intro music is on point recently! Another great review, I think its really cool that you are branching out into some of the more unique watches and devices out there and hopefully we get to see more of these reviews!
Thanks for this review and also the review of the TRex Pro. There are almost no reviews of these devices by what I might call more serious athletes. Having said that, there are so many of these especially from Amazfit but also Huawei, they are almost a sub-category of their own. Cheers from Down Under!
Thanks! Yeah it's interesting that I see the Amazfit stuff pop up on "Tech Review" channels but never in a real athletic capacity. That's what made me interested enough to buy them. Thanks for watching!
I'm writing this a little late, but after a couple of updates, the heart rate sensor works great and accurate. I have had the watch for over a year and have tested it in several ways.
No offline maps, minimal navigation, no connection to Spotify/Amazon, no running dynamics, doesn't look like many customizeable data pages, and no specialty features like on my tactix Delta Advanced Ballistics. Nope, not caught up yet.
after owning this for less than a year when playing music on bluetooth headphones and gps enabled the watch shuts down power after 15-20 minutes....crappy battery life
One more great video, many thanks! Quite useful you show how the watch fits on your wrist. Compared with circumference size, this gives a good understanding of how big the watch might be. Also, I personally like the navigation analysis you make, as this is an important feature and selling point for my interests. Keep up the good work!
I ve been using stratos 3 almost a year mostly for trail running,hr sensor pretty accurate compared to suunto belt , just needs to be clean. Another pleasant surprise is the barometer , pretty close to a3p. Pretty happy with it. Thanks for the great review.
5:08 GPS, Glonass, Galileo… QZSS is a thing, too. Suntoo supports it. - Ideally you'd be able to disable them independently, i. e. disable GPS yet use Galileo. Else, that additional support is useless in areas with jammers (Baltic Sea), close to military facilities, conflict, or if a presidential motorcade passes by.
Nice review as always! Did you notice any problems with the battery life using an external hr sensor? I had the Stratos + and the battery life was just a few hours GPS use when paired with a Polar OH1. Using the (bad) wrist based sensor the battery life was on point.
Using any Bluetooth with the watch results in maybe 4 hours at the most battery life. However, the heart rate sensor's glass needs to be cleaned and clear, and then it operates accurately.
Yep, unfortunately using those services is sort of illegal so it’s not something I promote. It’s also a bit of a headache if you’re constantly changing your playlists.
I was an owner of stratos 2...had so many issues with it...like watch not syncing, AGPS data could not be downloaded so it took ages until the GPS connection was established, then in the end HR sensor died, so I returned the watch and got fenix 6. The transition was like from old shitty car to Ferarri. I mean F6 has its issues as well, but comparing to stratos 2 these issue do not limit me in using the watch. Would never downgrade from Garmin back to amazshit. My honest comment :-) cheers
The heart rate accuracy is bang on but it takes some fiddling to get it situated. First of all, you have to stay at the "go" screen of the exercise for a bit until it picks up your heart rate, or else it's wildly optimistic for the first 1/4 mile. 2nd, if the back screen sensor is dirty, then it's wildly pessimistic. 3rd, the sensor (and the watch) has to sit closer to your wrist than to your elbow, where the skin is thinnest. If you don't do these things, then you get a trace that's veers wildly up and down. In practice, so long as I make sure the glass is clear on the heart rate sensor, the other two problems will take care of themselves.
Thanks for sharing. I did several tests with the Stratos 3 and in my experience I couldn't get a single accurate heart rate recording out of it. Not sure if it's the color of my skin, density of my arm hair, or my unit is a dud... But it's bad.
@@ChaseTheSummit I don't know. The instruction manual does warn people with darker skin will have poorer readings, so my very dark skin should be inaccurate, but in practice I've found my Stratos 3 to be dead on at rates below 180 bpm. Above that...pfff...it becomes wildly optimistic. It'll say 220. I am NOT 220.
Glad to see you with amazifit products. I'm BIP owner (50$) and i really like it but sinds i ran bit faster is sometimes difficut to see curently pace. I would like to buy something with bigger screen. I was very curious how would you rate the stratos. I could have it for $ 165. If it had blood saturation measurement, I would not have to think. A display like in a stratos would also be an easy choice. What I like are the buttons and the touch screen. I heard that a lot of people sometimes had a problem with pausing the training because by accident one of the buttons was pressed. Greeting. I forget. Daily i use a gear s3 classic but i like to have some watch with good battery (gps) i for sport.
@@ChaseTheSummit i had the 1st Bip. BIP S IS WATER RESISTANT and different menu. For someone who begin running or need long batery life for hiking w could be really good choice for low price.
It takes longer to sync because your review is three years behind this watch has been out for a there used to be an amazfit app before But your review is the best I’ve seen for this watch. Thank you not knocking on you you were wondering why it took so long to sync my heart rate sensor for older model the newer hr sensors are worst
The Stratos 3 launched in August 2019 so it's not terribly old. For example the Garmin Forerunner 245 is older and syncs much quicker. Thanks for watching!
The stratos 3 cardiac sensor works best on the right arm, do the test and watch the magic happen. I don't know why, but he is much more precise on his right arm.
Looks like a great review! I'll be interested to see how Garmin and other companies respond to Coros and Amazfit. That display response seems a hair slow to me after the Venu 2. Also that button layout looks a little weird compared to the 5-button I'm used to. I do have a collection of MP3s but if you don't, you could just purchase a favourite 20 songs or so and use that for workouts
For sure, it's a pretty good value at $200 bucks I just wish the HR sensor was a hair more accurate. I think the MP3 limitation isn't a huge deal unless you love podcasts. That would be a challenge. thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit Completely agree. An interesting question for Amazfit would be whether all-day HR plays into the metrics they provide or not. Depending on their implementation/usage of all day optical HR, that sensor accuracy could be a huge deal-breaker
Hi Dave, greatly appreciate the in depth review wherein all the nitty gritty details are covered. Can the torpid nature of the heart rate sensor be replaced with straps which provide more accurate data and still proceed with purchasing this watch? At this point honestly its a steal and the other which we would like to understand the durability as opposed to the other players.
Nice video, but I have one tip for you. Most of the time when you were showing the features and menus on the watch, you were pointing the watch at yourself instead of the camera. I found myself tilting my phone in hopes of a better view, which of course did not work.
I emailed amazfit asking which watch would be better for triathlon style training. Their answer was that Stratos had triathlon mode but t rex would support open water swimming. They claimed that neither would get good HR in water. They stressed that the T Rex was newer and would have more updated software.
I wanted to upgrade my trex because of the poor hartratemeter, but now im gonna stick with it, because i love the PAI feature and no other brand has it. Tx
I have had the watch for about 10 months now, at the beginning it was good for the money. Unfortunately I am not getting updates anymore ...on the app you can send feedback to amazfit but it seems useless, I have never received any response... The notification is bad, or sometimes doesn’t work. As you mentioned the heart rate accuracy is bad, and with the external heat rage sensor the battery life is shocking! From a %100 charge after 4 hours bike ride the battery drops to about %85!!!! But for the $220 watch all the features aren’t bad, but the key functions aren’t good.
Hi. I just got my Stratos 3 last month. I'm struggling to know how to activate the Accurate mode, Balanced Mode, or the Power saving mode. I've been searching online for tutorial but can't find any. Please help 🥺
Does the stopwatch have splits/laps feature with designated physical buttons for start/stop Splits/reset etc? I do interval training so this feature is important to me. I've watch so many reviews about watches like these but none of them talk about feature like this? Hopefully in your future videos you can mention and show real quick if it does have this feature. Thanks!
I had the stratos 2 and now i had over a year stratos 3! I use it for many sports bicycle running swimming hiking canoeing....... GPS signal is good , battery life is okay, no more updates yet , but the issue is sometimes when is recording the workout (with or without GPS) is crashing....and it is loosing all the data from the recording! I think this is happening when it is connected with the phone and the app ! I sent feedback many times to support and they respond with an update before 4 months....but the issue is remaining.... If someone know anything about that issue please tell me thx!
This might be a bit late, do you think the price diference from the stratos (150€-200€) for the new Garmin Instinct 2 (350€-450€ Solar) would still be a good choice? Or would it be preferable get a few more bucks to get the instinct 2? on a trail runners perpesctive. Fancy colour screens are not a factor. Thanks, luv you channel!
@@ChaseTheSummit thanks for the tip. The budget is a big key part. For half the price the sratos looks quite promissing. Might try to get a stratos on 2nd hand. One thing the stratos has that i like is the hability to program interval trainings, haven't seen that on many budget friendly options. I like the "maping" and head back function of the stratos, and looked better than in the instinct 2. On the other hand, the instinct 2 is like you said, much better overall, the prince ain't that bad either for what it offers. Guess il go stratos3 if i manage a second hand one. Or i'l save for the instinct 2
Hi, I need a sportwatch with accurate sensors for my strength training. I do also, hiking, mountaineering and I sometimes run. So hr sensor and gps have to be accurate. The problem is that I'm on a budget (max 400$). The Garmin Instinct Solar look like the best for me but Coros and Polar make good things too. I discovered Amazfit thanks to you. Maybe a Stratos 3 or a T rex pro will do the job. What's the best sportwatch for strength training and hiking ? Or which brand ? Your reviews are amazing
Please do a video on watches $100 and under comparison . I would like to buy them as gifts for family so they can get a start on monitoring their activities /health, this way they will get interested and move on to a more in depth watch on their own. Thanks.
I mainly focus on watches that offer GPS tracking and typically that's not available under $100 but I'll consider that in the future! Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit Maybe you should run a watch review drive ,where subscribers donate say $5 each and then you can buy some watches under $100 (huge market in this price range) and review them (keep any extra dollars for all your time and effort ), thanks.
I had the first Stratos back in 2018 (also known as the Pace 2) solid on ever feature but the HR monitor. It was always inconsistent and from most other in-depth reviews I saw for that watch they all mentioned the heart rate monitor was off.
My amazfit stratos 3 doesent measure sleep at all, have reset the watch, nothing.. do you have any advice? maybe som setting? i am elderly and sleep control is importante for me, thanks in advance, Levi in Sweden
Thanks for the video. That all is really best reviews about the gps watch which i found at TH-cam. I really wonder your comments for honor watch gs pro when you compare it with trex pro and stratos 3. the second one is that All are cheapper than fenix or suunto and theese have almost same features with expensive brands ( except some features) So they are really pretty good for them price. i am not proffesional runner but theese get motive me to make exercise more. the other one i really like gps, 3 axis compass, altimeter and back track features. i like being at land. but really hard to make decision to buy one of them :) the difference of price is worth when you compare fenix,suunto,polar with amazfit and honor ? I want to make decesion and buy one of them 😀
How did you find the battery with bluetooth chest strap. With my amazfit stratos 3 the battery drains very quickly when connected to bluetooth chest strap. I think in the review you said that it supports ant+ sensors but that is unfortunately not true. It will only connect to bluetooth hr sensor. The problem is that bluetooth connections with hr monitor drains battery very quickly on my stratos 3. One hour run and it drains about 20-30% which is a lot. Did you notice the same. And if you run a lot you have to charge it very frequently if you also use the external hr monitor. On longer 5h hikes the watch dies. I would say this is big minus for those who use external hr very frequently.
I didn't do extensive testing with an external HR strap other than to make sure it connected. It seems like this is a common complaint and a real issue with the Stratos 3. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'll do some more testing.
Amaz(fit)ing review, thanks! Beside the heart rate issue, I don’t think you can find something similar at this price point. As a Coros Pace 2 owner, I feel like the Stratos packs more at the same price. I wonder how it performs at the pool. Maybe I can get a hold of one and share my experience!
The Stratos certainly has more on paper but I'd still lean towards the COROS PACE 2 for its reliability and accuracy. The Stratos 3 might be a better "smartwatch" but the COROS is hands down a better sports watch.
#amazfit #pace #stratos3 . The #zapp application shows the #GPX files from the #Motorola one phone and they can be sent to the watch via bluetooth, but the #Redmi note 10 phone does not show any kind of GPX file in the zapp application
I've been trying out the Amazfit GTR 2 for a few days. This one does not accept external HR belts, so pretty useless for sports. Without Alexa this one also loses in almost every respect to my Vivoactive 4. But ordered a GTS 2 Mini because it has more interesting features also without Alexa and I'll try and set it up from scratch to get Alexa also here in an unsupported region.
@@ChaseTheSummit it's not really too interesting from a sports perspective compared to Stratos. It's more a budget smart watch with impressively many sports profiles. But it's limited in it's smarts. Alexa is super useful (I got it to work on my GTS 2 Mini) and the GTR 2 can be used for phone calls, but that's pretty much it. I like the GTS 2 Mini a lot more already because of the added smart festures. Gonna return the GTR2 and keep the Mini...
Depends if you want a vibrant display or you want the capability to navigate a route. I think the T-Rex is more enjoyable to use day-to-day but the Stratos has a few more features.
bought this Stratos 3 in Dec 2020 and used it for 6 months but of late the heart rate sensor stopped working may be I used in open sea in weekends and has caught up with moisture, oldest one was amaze fit pace and is 2 years old still great and working fine but now I switched GTS for more functional watch. Can any one help me to replace the heart rate sensor and were can I get
@@ChaseTheSummit the heart rate sensor is not Available any were I checked on Chinese web site Ali express and my local mechanic say it can be fixed but parts r not available
Fucking hell man! I ve literally watched every Stratos test and none is actually testing the on how an activity is started, paused, stopped. Same with starting, lapping, stopping a timer. This is the most overlooked feature. If you ever did a speed running session, you will know that a runner needs to stop the clock to 1 tenth of a second accuracy. This can only achieved by enabling the physical button to start, stop the above mentioned features. WHY NO ONE IS COVERING IF THE BUTTON DOES THAT? A watch not having a button for this is NOT an activity watch in my book.
@@ChaseTheSummit i have a garmin venu sq. And trying to find a fairly accurate (closest to a garmin) but cheap running watch. What would you recommend in the budget friendly spectrum
This watch is pretty bad. I was doing an interval training and playing music at the same time and the watch literally froze. Anytime you start a workout the UI gets extremely laggy. Pretty expensive for what it delivers. Music dropouts are constant while running. Not sure if it was bad luck but the experience I had with that watch was pretty lame. Also the watch is pretty big, it's unbearable for any other activity than running.
WHY DOES NO ONE TELL YOU HOW THE NAVIGATION WORKS!!!! I bought the T-Rex pro expecting to see my GPS coordinates, or a direction on the compass to a specified point.. what did I get.. nothing.. really nothing. a line on a map well after the outdoor activity is done... so.. useless. My phone can do that. just throw it into a running pouch or hiking bag and look at it afterwards.
The Stratos 3 has basic breadcrumb mapping/navigation that can follow a pre-made GPX file course. It's not full blown mapping and it takes some doing to get set up.
@@ChaseTheSummit thank you very much for getting back to me. This is the most useful information for a "gps" watch that gets excluded in every review I have seen. I loved everything about the t-rex pro, but i the lack of details about the gps functionality is on purpose and feels very dishonest.
@@ChaseTheSummit not far off from What it was when I first bought it. I’ve beat this thing up at work and it still works. One thing I’ve noticed throughout the years is the GPS takes awhile to pick up satellites sometimes. Even in clear weather.
This watch sounds great. Kinda harsh that you gave it a maybe for a heart rate monitor that can be improved with an update. This watch sounds like a steal at $200
I'm only harsh because the competition is pretty fierce at the $200 price point and your money is hard earned. The HR sensor on the Stratos has been completely unacceptable in my testing and given that it's used for a lot of the features (V02 Max, race predictor, training load, etc...) that means they'll be inaccurate as well. It would be nice to see them update this in firmware... and if they do I'll be sure to follow up! Thanks for watching.
i love drive watch ... amazfit please make an all stainless steel smart watch that is 180g heavy please, 75% global population live and wears metal watch ... hate plastic light
![ILLSLICK X YOUNGOHM - We're The same [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yUJNkobYR0E/mqdefault.jpg)
They will improve it even more in its next generation. I think it's great that it offers so much at this price point, because we need underdogs to keep product prices of bigger brands in check. During last couple of years, running watch prices got really high.
For $200 bucks it's a great value!
i would like to mentioned that in order to see more accurate hr measurements, 1st wear the watch two fingers above your wrist -make sure its tight enough and 2nd when you're about to start an activity select it and when it shows your pulse then hit the start to begin .
I used to have problems with accuracy but following above steps i m pretty close to garmin edge 530 measurements
For sure, wearing the watch tight and away from your wrist bone helps a lot. Unfortunately not in the case of the Stratos 3 for me. I've worn LOTS of watches and none of them were this bad lol.
I've been using this watch for 5 months now and I can easily recommend it to anyone. The watch does everything you ask it to do perfectly. Altough I'm planning on getting the coros paca 2 just because the stratos 3 is kinda blend and boring. So if you want something with tons of data and info that you can play with, than I'd say stratos 3 is not for you. Hopefully this helps somebody. ( by the way, the heart rate accuracy really is sooooo bad. I use a chest strap)
Thanks for sharing!
@@ChaseTheSummit always! Thanks for the great review! Can't wait for the next one 🔥
I just have one but the screen brightness is not good as expected is it normal or i have issue with mine
Very few smart watches in this price category allow pairing with an external heart rate chest strap - which I use for squash as wrist based measurement don't cut it anyway with violent/sprint based movements. This is why I purchased it even after seeing this reveiw and the negative comments about it's own wrist HR sensor.
There are some sub $200 watches that do this like the COROS Pace 2. But yeah, that's a nice feature to have!
What do you think about $100 Stratos 3?? There are watches with better price/features out there?
I am Fenix 5 user, but lately have become a fan of Amazfit watches primarily due to their price point and amazing battery time in gps mode.
The fenix 6 will also get you that impressive battery life in GPS mode thanks to the new Sony GPS chipset. The Amazfit watches are certainly interesting though!
My Fenix 5x can have better battery life and optical heart rate reading is always less accurate and I paid a lot for a few HRM straps..
Stratos has been on my list.....If it can read running dynamics it be perfect.
@@ChaseTheSummit that's true but then the price variance is a significant factor., unfortunately for many who aren't in the Dollar, Euro, Pound economy. 😊
I have bought much more expensive and more capable Smarthwatches but the feature that's explained at 04:08 is the sole reason I've went and bought this watch. I really hate having to wake up my device to see the time, in the middle of the night or under bright sun. The time information has to be always available. I wish more brands produced watches with Transreflective display.
Lots of brands make transflective watches! Garmin, Polar, Coros, Suunto to name a few! But yeah, I prefer always on displays as well. Thanks for sharing.
Great review! In particular, thanks for covering the Amazfit devices... If it wasn't for your reviews, they wouldn't cross my radar. I could see these devices being good considerations for some folks I know.
Amazfit is doing some great work in this space; given another hardware release cycle or two, they might be right up there with Coros, and on Garmin's heels!
For sure. I'd like to see them improve the heart rate sensors. But other than that it's a pretty solid option.
@@ChaseTheSummit will you do a review for Amazfit GTR 3 & GTR 3 Pro ?
@@biswajeet07 Maybe someday if I can find the time!
Really considered it some months ago as my first wearable ever. The lack of good revues by experts like you and the "too good to be true" prejudice stopped me. Ended up buying Coros Apex 42.
How do you like the Apex?
@@ChaseTheSummit No experience to compare it to but still: bug free (only once had an issue with GPS), delivers on battery promise, sleep accuracy is not perfect, easy to operate.
I don't know why, but alway when I watch your videos, I give a thumps up tight at the beginning. :-) Maybe because I already know that I will be informed and entertained, very well.
Ha! Thanks I. C. T.! That means a lot!
Dave gotta say your intro music is on point recently! Another great review, I think its really cool that you are branching out into some of the more unique watches and devices out there and hopefully we get to see more of these reviews!
Thanks J Pd! I spend way too much time trying to find the right music 😆 The Amazfit products are really interesting!
Thanks for this review and also the review of the TRex Pro. There are almost no reviews of these devices by what I might call more serious athletes. Having said that, there are so many of these especially from Amazfit but also Huawei, they are almost a sub-category of their own. Cheers from Down Under!
Thanks! Yeah it's interesting that I see the Amazfit stuff pop up on "Tech Review" channels but never in a real athletic capacity. That's what made me interested enough to buy them. Thanks for watching!
I'm writing this a little late, but after a couple of updates, the heart rate sensor works great and accurate. I have had the watch for over a year and have tested it in several ways.
Glad to hear that. I'll have to re-test.
What kind of updates?
Practicality wise the watch has got all features of high end Garmins, Suunto, polar etc
They're catching up!
No offline maps, minimal navigation, no connection to Spotify/Amazon, no running dynamics, doesn't look like many customizeable data pages, and no specialty features like on my tactix Delta Advanced Ballistics. Nope, not caught up yet.
@@zfjames It's a $199 watch (on sale for $129 right now) . Were you expecting it to compare to your $1400 watch? 😂 Thanks for watching.
@@ChaseTheSummit I wasn't but my man Saad said high-end sooo. 😂
@@ChaseTheSummit where the sale on. Link ?
after owning this for less than a year when playing music on bluetooth headphones and gps enabled the watch shuts down power after 15-20 minutes....crappy battery life
Pairing stratos 1 with chest HRM with GPS,ate battery. Sold it for fenix 3 ,4 years ago never looked back.
According to the comments in this video it's a common complaint! Thanks for sharing.
One more great video, many thanks! Quite useful you show how the watch fits on your wrist. Compared with circumference size, this gives a good understanding of how big the watch might be. Also, I personally like the navigation analysis you make, as this is an important feature and selling point for my interests. Keep up the good work!
Thanks! Glad you found it helpful!
I like the "μου λείπεις" (I miss you) tattoo!!! (I come from Greece)
Thanks! 🇬🇷
Awesome job - great review man
Thanks Hunter!
I ve been using stratos 3 almost a year mostly for trail running,hr sensor pretty accurate compared to suunto belt , just needs to be clean.
Another pleasant surprise is the barometer , pretty close to a3p.
Pretty happy with it.
Thanks for the great review.
Thanks for sharing! It's a unique device.
I use a lot my Amazfit Stratos 3 for cycling and I realized the HR sensor works better when you tight the belt. Anyways I rather use my chest band.
Thank you for reviewing this watch.
Nice job Dave. Let's get to the 955 then. Let's do it!
Hopefully some day!
@@ChaseTheSummit Let us know ASAP please!
And I just stumbled upon your Stratos 3 review today. Good review as always, keep it up! This and Trex Pro, can't make decisions which to choose 👌🤣🤣🤣
Tough choice! If the T-Rex had navigation it would be an easier choice.
@@ChaseTheSummit good point though. I'm also inclining more towards garmin Venus 2. not bad per se
Another great review. Keep them coming!!
Thanks! Will do!
Great review, it's a great buy if you pair a chest strap to it.
For sure, though according to the comments battery life seems to be an issue if you use a chest strap. I need to look further into this!
@@ChaseTheSummit Please do!
@@hanstenberg My experience - 20% battery per hour.
5:08 GPS, Glonass, Galileo… QZSS is a thing, too. Suntoo supports it. - Ideally you'd be able to disable them independently, i. e. disable GPS yet use Galileo. Else, that additional support is useless in areas with jammers (Baltic Sea), close to military facilities, conflict, or if a presidential motorcade passes by.
Thanks for sharing.
And then there's NavIC.
Nice review as always! Did you notice any problems with the battery life using an external hr sensor? I had the Stratos + and the battery life was just a few hours GPS use when paired with a Polar OH1. Using the (bad) wrist based sensor the battery life was on point.
This seems to be a real issue judging by the comments on this video! Thanks for sharing.
Using any Bluetooth with the watch results in maybe 4 hours at the most battery life.
However, the heart rate sensor's glass needs to be cleaned and clear, and then it operates accurately.
They have youtube to mp3 conversions so u could do that with spotify too
Yep, unfortunately using those services is sort of illegal so it’s not something I promote. It’s also a bit of a headache if you’re constantly changing your playlists.
Had this watch and loved it . Sold it for the 6x plus. Reason I sold it is because of how fast an external hr strap kills thr battery.
This seems to be a common complaint! I'll need to test this for myself. Thanks for sharing.
I was an owner of stratos 2...had so many issues with it...like watch not syncing, AGPS data could not be downloaded so it took ages until the GPS connection was established, then in the end HR sensor died, so I returned the watch and got fenix 6. The transition was like from old shitty car to Ferarri. I mean F6 has its issues as well, but comparing to stratos 2 these issue do not limit me in using the watch. Would never downgrade from Garmin back to amazshit. My honest comment :-) cheers
Thanks for sharing. That analogy 😆 . Then again, the price jump is also like going from an old car to a ferrari!
huge fan love your reviews and IG
Thanks
Bought it! Let the games begin!
how has it been for you?
The heart rate accuracy is bang on but it takes some fiddling to get it situated. First of all, you have to stay at the "go" screen of the exercise for a bit until it picks up your heart rate, or else it's wildly optimistic for the first 1/4 mile.
2nd, if the back screen sensor is dirty, then it's wildly pessimistic.
3rd, the sensor (and the watch) has to sit closer to your wrist than to your elbow, where the skin is thinnest.
If you don't do these things, then you get a trace that's veers wildly up and down. In practice, so long as I make sure the glass is clear on the heart rate sensor, the other two problems will take care of themselves.
Thanks for sharing. I did several tests with the Stratos 3 and in my experience I couldn't get a single accurate heart rate recording out of it. Not sure if it's the color of my skin, density of my arm hair, or my unit is a dud... But it's bad.
@@ChaseTheSummit Did you remove the clear sticker that covers the heart sensor?
@@langhamp8912 of course! 😂
@@ChaseTheSummit I don't know. The instruction manual does warn people with darker skin will have poorer readings, so my very dark skin should be inaccurate, but in practice I've found my Stratos 3 to be dead on at rates below 180 bpm. Above that...pfff...it becomes wildly optimistic. It'll say 220. I am NOT 220.
@@langhamp8912 Interesting. Thanks for sharing! I'm as white as a ghost. Maybe that's my problem haha.
Glad to see you with amazifit products. I'm BIP owner (50$) and i really like it but sinds i ran bit faster is sometimes difficut to see curently pace. I would like to buy something with bigger screen. I was very curious how would you rate the stratos. I could have it for $ 165. If it had blood saturation measurement, I would not have to think. A display like in a stratos would also be an easy choice. What I like are the buttons and the touch screen. I heard that a lot of people sometimes had a problem with pausing the training because by accident one of the buttons was pressed. Greeting.
I forget. Daily i use a gear s3 classic but i like to have some watch with good battery (gps) i for sport.
I've been considering picking up a Bip to test! Interestingly I saw the Stratos 3 for $129 on Amazon today which is craaaaazy. Thanks for sharing.
@@ChaseTheSummit i had the 1st Bip. BIP S IS WATER RESISTANT and different menu. For someone who begin running or need long batery life for hiking w could be really good choice for low price.
It takes longer to sync because your review is three years behind this watch has been out for a there used to be an amazfit app before But your review is the best I’ve seen for this watch. Thank you not knocking on you you were wondering why it took so long to sync my heart rate sensor for older model the newer hr sensors are worst
The Stratos 3 launched in August 2019 so it's not terribly old. For example the Garmin Forerunner 245 is older and syncs much quicker. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for your reviews! I'm looking for a new smartwatch and they are super helpful! :)
Happy to help!
Love your work! Great video
Thanks for the support Doc!
Best reviews on YT. Any inside word on the garmin fenix 7 release date?
Thanks Dom! Sorry, I don't have anything to share on future products.
The stratos 3 cardiac sensor works best on the right arm, do the test and watch the magic happen. I don't know why, but he is much more precise on his right arm.
Hmmph. That's odd. I tried a lot of positions and had very little luck with it. Thanks for sharing.
One of the best review for smart watches and fitness I ever seen.. Do fitness people support him by subscribing 👍
Thank you!
Looks like a great review! I'll be interested to see how Garmin and other companies respond to Coros and Amazfit. That display response seems a hair slow to me after the Venu 2. Also that button layout looks a little weird compared to the 5-button I'm used to.
I do have a collection of MP3s but if you don't, you could just purchase a favourite 20 songs or so and use that for workouts
For sure, it's a pretty good value at $200 bucks I just wish the HR sensor was a hair more accurate. I think the MP3 limitation isn't a huge deal unless you love podcasts. That would be a challenge. thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit Completely agree. An interesting question for Amazfit would be whether all-day HR plays into the metrics they provide or not. Depending on their implementation/usage of all day optical HR, that sensor accuracy could be a huge deal-breaker
Hi Dave, greatly appreciate the in depth review wherein all the nitty gritty details are covered. Can the torpid nature of the heart rate sensor be replaced with straps which provide more accurate data and still proceed with purchasing this watch? At this point honestly its a steal and the other which we would like to understand the durability as opposed to the other players.
Sure, you could use a chest strap or arm sensor to get better accuracy on the Stratos 3. It's a nice device if you understand it's shortcomings.
Nice video, but I have one tip for you. Most of the time when you were showing the features and menus on the watch, you were pointing the watch at yourself instead of the camera. I found myself tilting my phone in hopes of a better view, which of course did not work.
Thanks for the feedback
Any ideas w hen there will be Stratos 4?
Stratos 3 was released in 2019 so I guess I will hold a bit for the newer model.
No idea. It seems like they've sort of replaced it with the T-Rex model.
I emailed amazfit asking which watch would be better for triathlon style training. Their answer was that Stratos had triathlon mode but t rex would support open water swimming. They claimed that neither would get good HR in water. They stressed that the T Rex was newer and would have more updated software.
Great review, I dig the hat you wear in your videos. Your website shows sold out. Planning on getting more in?
Thanks! I've been toying with the idea of buying more! Stay tuned!
@@ChaseTheSummit count me in for 2… I am kinda a hat snob.
I've owned 2 amazfit devices. Non had usable heart rate data.
Thanks for sharing.
I wanted to upgrade my trex because of the poor hartratemeter, but now im gonna stick with it, because i love the PAI feature and no other brand has it. Tx
Thanks for sharing!
I have had the watch for about 10 months now, at the beginning it was good for the money.
Unfortunately I am not getting updates anymore ...on the app you can send feedback to amazfit but it seems useless, I have never received any response...
The notification is bad, or sometimes doesn’t work.
As you mentioned the heart rate accuracy is bad, and with the external heat rage sensor the battery life is shocking! From a %100 charge after 4 hours bike ride the battery drops to about %85!!!!
But for the $220 watch all the features aren’t bad, but the key functions aren’t good.
I've heard a similar complaint from others regarding the battery drain with HR strap paired. That's really strange! Thanks for sharing.
Hi. I just got my Stratos 3 last month. I'm struggling to know how to activate the Accurate mode, Balanced Mode, or the Power saving mode. I've been searching online for tutorial but can't find any. Please help 🥺
Does the stopwatch have splits/laps feature with designated physical buttons for start/stop Splits/reset etc? I do interval training so this feature is important to me.
I've watch so many reviews about watches like these but none of them talk about feature like this? Hopefully in your future videos you can mention and show real quick if it does have this feature. Thanks!
Not that I'm aware of.
Does it have a swimming activity?
Watching your videos makes me wanna put on my running shoes and run. No matter how much Kilometers I have already "eaten" that day...🤷🏻♂️🙌👍
Thats the goal! Thanks for watching!
I had the stratos 2 and now i had over a year stratos 3! I use it for many sports bicycle running swimming hiking canoeing....... GPS signal is good , battery life is okay, no more updates yet , but the issue is sometimes when is recording the workout (with or without GPS) is crashing....and it is loosing all the data from the recording! I think this is happening when it is connected with the phone and the app ! I sent feedback many times to support and they respond with an update before 4 months....but the issue is remaining....
If someone know anything about that issue please tell me
thx!
That's unfortunate. Thanks for sharing!
This might be a bit late, do you think the price diference from the stratos (150€-200€) for the new Garmin Instinct 2 (350€-450€ Solar) would still be a good choice? Or would it be preferable get a few more bucks to get the instinct 2? on a trail runners perpesctive. Fancy colour screens are not a factor.
Thanks, luv you channel!
The Instinct 2 is superior in just about every way. But if you're on a budget the Stratos might be a good option.
@@ChaseTheSummit thanks for the tip. The budget is a big key part. For half the price the sratos looks quite promissing. Might try to get a stratos on 2nd hand.
One thing the stratos has that i like is the hability to program interval trainings, haven't seen that on many budget friendly options. I like the "maping" and head back function of the stratos, and looked better than in the instinct 2. On the other hand, the instinct 2 is like you said, much better overall, the prince ain't that bad either for what it offers. Guess il go stratos3 if i manage a second hand one. Or i'l save for the instinct 2
Hi, I need a sportwatch with accurate sensors for my strength training. I do also, hiking, mountaineering and I sometimes run. So hr sensor and gps have to be accurate. The problem is that I'm on a budget (max 400$). The Garmin Instinct Solar look like the best for me but Coros and Polar make good things too. I discovered Amazfit thanks to you. Maybe a Stratos 3 or a T rex pro will do the job. What's the best sportwatch for strength training and hiking ? Or which brand ? Your reviews are amazing
If you want accuracy I'd probably stay clear of Amazfit and lean towards Coros or Polar. The COROS Apex is a great value! Hope that helps.
@@ChaseTheSummit Actually, for hiking you need accurate GPS data, and Amazfit will deliver that.
Please do a video on watches $100 and under comparison . I would like to buy them as gifts for family so they
can get a start on monitoring their activities /health, this way they will get interested and move on to a more in depth
watch on their own. Thanks.
I mainly focus on watches that offer GPS tracking and typically that's not available under $100 but I'll consider that in the future! Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit Maybe you should run a watch review drive ,where subscribers donate say $5 each and then you can buy some watches under $100 (huge market in this price range) and review them (keep any extra dollars for all your time and effort ), thanks.
Would you go for the stratos 3 or coros pace 2. Since both have similar pricing.
Pace 2 all day. But that’s only because I prioritize the sports features over everything else.
have you tried pairing a heart rate sensor and earbuds at the same time? from my experience you can only pair 1 device at the same time
I have not but I'll certainly test that out now that you mention it!
I had the first Stratos back in 2018 (also known as the Pace 2) solid on ever feature but the HR monitor. It was always inconsistent and from most other in-depth reviews I saw for that watch they all mentioned the heart rate monitor was off.
Yeah the HR sensor is far from accurate. I'd like to see them improve on this!
It can be used for hiking too? To draw a gpx track?
It can
@@ChaseTheSummit thank you!
My amazfit stratos 3 doesent measure sleep at all, have reset the watch, nothing.. do you have any advice? maybe som setting? i am elderly and sleep control is importante for me, thanks in advance, Levi in Sweden
Thanks for the video. That all is really best reviews about the gps watch which i found at TH-cam. I really wonder your comments for honor watch gs pro when you compare it with trex pro and stratos 3. the second one is that All are cheapper than fenix or suunto and theese have almost same features with expensive brands ( except some features) So they are really pretty good for them price. i am not proffesional runner but theese get motive me to make exercise more. the other one i really like gps, 3 axis compass, altimeter and back track features. i like being at land. but really hard to make decision to buy one of them :) the difference of price is worth when you compare fenix,suunto,polar with amazfit and honor ? I want to make decesion and buy one of them 😀
I haven't checked out the Honor Watch yet but stay tuned!
@@ChaseTheSummit i await the new video impatiently !
I really want the Amazfit watches to work…but I returned 2 for heart rate issues. I guess I wait longer.
I'd like to see them improve in this department! Thanks for watching!
How was the GPS? I've got the gtr and the GPS is impossibly bad
Hey great video. Is it possible s to get your data synchronised with strava with amazefit devices.
Yes
How did you find the battery with bluetooth chest strap. With my amazfit stratos 3 the battery drains very quickly when connected to bluetooth chest strap. I think in the review you said that it supports ant+ sensors but that is unfortunately not true. It will only connect to bluetooth hr sensor.
The problem is that bluetooth connections with hr monitor drains battery very quickly on my stratos 3. One hour run and it drains about 20-30% which is a lot. Did you notice the same. And if you run a lot you have to charge it very frequently if you also use the external hr monitor. On longer 5h hikes the watch dies.
I would say this is big minus for those who use external hr very frequently.
I didn't do extensive testing with an external HR strap other than to make sure it connected. It seems like this is a common complaint and a real issue with the Stratos 3. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I'll do some more testing.
Dancing optical sensors is a nice editing touch 😂
Hah! Not intentional but now that you say that 💃
Amaz(fit)ing review, thanks!
Beside the heart rate issue, I don’t think you can find something similar at this price point. As a Coros Pace 2 owner, I feel like the Stratos packs more at the same price.
I wonder how it performs at the pool. Maybe I can get a hold of one and share my experience!
The Stratos certainly has more on paper but I'd still lean towards the COROS PACE 2 for its reliability and accuracy. The Stratos 3 might be a better "smartwatch" but the COROS is hands down a better sports watch.
Can you please tell me what the longest "screen timeout" setting is?
30 seconds I believe.
#amazfit #pace #stratos3 . The #zapp application shows the #GPX files from the #Motorola one phone and they can be sent to the watch via bluetooth, but the #Redmi note 10 phone does not show any kind of GPX file in the zapp application
Strange
Where can i buy it
Amazon. Check the links in the description.
I've been trying out the Amazfit GTR 2 for a few days. This one does not accept external HR belts, so pretty useless for sports. Without Alexa this one also loses in almost every respect to my Vivoactive 4. But ordered a GTS 2 Mini because it has more interesting features also without Alexa and I'll try and set it up from scratch to get Alexa also here in an unsupported region.
Thanks for sharing. the GTR2 was next on my list. Think I should check it out?
@@ChaseTheSummit it's not really too interesting from a sports perspective compared to Stratos. It's more a budget smart watch with impressively many sports profiles. But it's limited in it's smarts. Alexa is super useful (I got it to work on my GTS 2 Mini) and the GTR 2 can be used for phone calls, but that's pretty much it. I like the GTS 2 Mini a lot more already because of the added smart festures. Gonna return the GTR2 and keep the Mini...
I have it, great watch. Just sad no ant+ / stryd integration
ANT+ would have been nice.
Thank you for the review, I love Garmins 5 buttons interface but it would be nice to see a touch screen as well on Fenix 7.
Thanks for sharing.
HALLO MY Friend One Question PLEASE is also done with Polar Or Garmin Breast Belt
I'm not sure I understand the question. The Stratos is compatible with ANT+ sensors if that's what you're asking. Thanks for watching!
does it detect automatically you are exercising like samsumg gear3?
Nope
I have Stratos 1. It Has only 4hrs of running with external HR belt. Stratos 3 features more time?
Apparently it has the same issues with external HR sensors according to other commenters.
So this vs trex pro? Is it worth that extra money?
Depends if you want a vibrant display or you want the capability to navigate a route. I think the T-Rex is more enjoyable to use day-to-day but the Stratos has a few more features.
@@ChaseTheSummit ok. Thanks for the reply
Isn’t the stratos 3 an older device and isn’t getting any further updates/support?
It's their latest watch in this category. It has been out for some time now .
It's not new. But it's not old either. 😂
@@ChaseTheSummit I certainly know that feeling on a personal level!
bought this Stratos 3 in Dec 2020 and used it for 6 months but of late the heart rate sensor stopped working may be I used in open sea in weekends and has caught up with moisture, oldest one was amaze fit pace and is 2 years old still great and working fine but now I switched GTS for more functional watch. Can any one help me to replace the heart rate sensor and were can I get
Oof that stinks. I'm not sure where you could get that repaired. Maybe a local electronics shop?
@@ChaseTheSummit the heart rate sensor is not Available any were I checked on Chinese web site Ali express and my local mechanic say it can be fixed but parts r not available
Can you skip music from spotify
Is it always white text on black background? Because I hate that outside of watch faces.
You can choose between a black or white background color. Hope that helps!
Fucking hell man! I ve literally watched every Stratos test and none is actually testing the on how an activity is started, paused, stopped. Same with starting, lapping, stopping a timer. This is the most overlooked feature. If you ever did a speed running session, you will know that a runner needs to stop the clock to 1 tenth of a second accuracy. This can only achieved by enabling the physical button to start, stop the above mentioned features. WHY NO ONE IS COVERING IF THE BUTTON DOES THAT? A watch not having a button for this is NOT an activity watch in my book.
Amazefit gtr2 please
It's on the list. Thanks for watching!
can you do amazfit gtr 2
It's on my list. Not sure when though! Thanks for watching!
@@ChaseTheSummit i have a garmin venu sq. And trying to find a fairly accurate (closest to a garmin) but cheap running watch. What would you recommend in the budget friendly spectrum
Better Sync time Within Apps, Battery, Price, than garmin..
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Coros page 2 or stratos 3 my friend
I'd go Pace 2 purely because COROS as a company is awesome and will help with any issues. It's also got a more accurate HR sensor.
Nice
This watch is pretty bad. I was doing an interval training and playing music at the same time and the watch literally froze. Anytime you start a workout the UI gets extremely laggy. Pretty expensive for what it delivers. Music dropouts are constant while running. Not sure if it was bad luck but the experience I had with that watch was pretty lame. Also the watch is pretty big, it's unbearable for any other activity than running.
It's currently around $130 so I wouldn't say it's expensive but yeah, if you can't use it... That's a problem. Thanks for sharing your exerience.
@@ChaseTheSummit I paid the equivalent of 150 US here in Australia. For the overall quality, cheap plastic, I think it’s pretty expensive.
@@aleksaha8342 display is worst.
WHY DOES NO ONE TELL YOU HOW THE NAVIGATION WORKS!!!! I bought the T-Rex pro expecting to see my GPS coordinates, or a direction on the compass to a specified point.. what did I get.. nothing.. really nothing. a line on a map well after the outdoor activity is done... so.. useless. My phone can do that. just throw it into a running pouch or hiking bag and look at it afterwards.
The Stratos 3 has basic breadcrumb mapping/navigation that can follow a pre-made GPX file course. It's not full blown mapping and it takes some doing to get set up.
@@ChaseTheSummit thank you very much for getting back to me. This is the most useful information for a "gps" watch that gets excluded in every review I have seen. I loved everything about the t-rex pro, but i the lack of details about the gps functionality is on purpose and feels very dishonest.
good i watched this video before planning on purchasing the watch, heart rate accuracy is a must so not buying it
Thanks for sharing!
It's $96 on aliexpress.
Nice! It's a couple years old now so I'm not surprised.
I need to upgrade from my fenix 3 lol.
The 3 is still solid! How's the battery life after all these years?
@@ChaseTheSummit not far off from
What it was when I first bought it. I’ve beat this thing up at work and it still works. One thing I’ve noticed throughout the years is the GPS takes awhile to pick up satellites sometimes. Even in clear weather.
This watch sounds great. Kinda harsh that you gave it a maybe for a heart rate monitor that can be improved with an update. This watch sounds like a steal at $200
I'm only harsh because the competition is pretty fierce at the $200 price point and your money is hard earned. The HR sensor on the Stratos has been completely unacceptable in my testing and given that it's used for a lot of the features (V02 Max, race predictor, training load, etc...) that means they'll be inaccurate as well. It would be nice to see them update this in firmware... and if they do I'll be sure to follow up! Thanks for watching.
@@ChaseTheSummit Good review nonetheless.
Heart rate aside, the watch seems a little too good to be true for $200. They seemed to have packed everything in there, almost.
I know right? They packed a lot into a $200 watch and I even saw it on sale yesterday for $129! bonkers. Thanks for watching Brice!
Heart rate sensor is bad. I have this watch.
Yup, unfortunately I've seen the same results.
i need a watch for around $200 that has accurate heart rate
I'd look towards the Garmin Forerunner 55 or the COROS Pace 2
@@ChaseTheSummit awesome, thanks for the advice
The website seems to miss all the detailed information you’d expect to want to know about🤦🏾 nothing on the supported firstbeat features either
Haha yeah, the website isn't all that great. It's strange considering how many features are actually packed into the Stratos 3. Thanks for watching!
i love drive watch ... amazfit please make an all stainless steel smart watch that is 180g heavy please, 75% global population live and wears metal watch ... hate plastic light
Interesting. Most people are looking for a lighter watch!
Your assumption that your other devices are more accurate is misplaced. In general most of these device are inaccurate.
a Chest ECG sensor is going to be more accurate in most situations and that's generally what I use as a baseline.
no sleep tracker
It actually does have sleep tracking that can be viewed in the app.
personally irony think they are worth it.
Thanks for sharing.