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30 points msephton | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.53s | source
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throwanem ◴[] No.43699591[source]
Developer documentation for the Amazfit device's "Zepp OS" appears to be hosted at https://developer.zepp.com/os/home.

They're absurdly cheap for a device with specs like these. I picked one up off Amazon, along with a small selection of aftermarket metal and nylon-weave bands. It's been years since I bothered wearing any kind of bracelet, and the fetish for expensive watches as conspicuous display of debt-financed pretense of wealth passed me by, but a bracelet topped with a cute little OLED touchscreen, bristling with sensors, and powered by what appears to be an extremely open and friendly programming environment? That's worth the trouble of reaccustoming myself to a somewhat unfashionable accessory.

(Make sure there isn't a space in the simulator executable's pathname. Also note that, because the Band 7 runs Zepp OS 1.0, you won't be able to use any feature that's documented as requiring an API_LEVEL, i.e. OS 2.0 or higher. That's probably part of why these are so cheap, but if they're as flexible as I get the sense from these docs they may be, I'll be upgrading pretty soon to something much more capable like a T-Rex 3.)

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msephton ◴[] No.43702905[source]
The price and capability is really surprising. But the most surprising and welcome thing for me is the long battery life.
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garciasn ◴[] No.43707882[source]
I actually preferred my Amazfit over my Apple Watch for several largely surface reasons:

1. The battery life is absurdly good compared to an Apple Watch. I don't understand why Apple Watches continue to have less than a day of battery life this many years into development; it's just not ok.

2. I absolutely LOVED that my notifications would go to my watch AND my phone simultaneously. With an Apple Watch you get one or the other and the Apple Watch doesn't mirror special notification sounds made on the phone for certain contacts/applications so I lose that functionality which is infuriating for me.

3. The only reason I kept the Apple Watch is because it is FAR SUPERIOR for three primary use cases:

- Swimming: the Apple Watch seems to know what strokes I'm doing 90% of the time whereas the Amazfit watch I had did not even track swimming at all, let alone be correct in its assessment of stroke and distance covered.

- Sleep tracking: the Amazfit watch was hours high on sleep and did not at all track sleep quality in line with my experience; the Apple Watch is far closer to my reality.

- Heart rate monitoring: the Amazfit was WAY low on heart rate when compared to an actual monitor whereas the Apple Watch is within miniscule difference. Amazfit was telling me my resting heart rate was in the low 30s when, in reality, it's closer to the low 70s; this just isn't just wrong, it's dangerously wrong.

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msephton ◴[] No.43709753[source]
I'm sure the Apple Watch is more accurate, but I find it hard to believe that to be that more accurate drops the battery to by a factor of 20. My hunch, as somebody who used to work at Apple, is that the watchOS is no different than any other software and is very far from being optimal.
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1. garciasn ◴[] No.43710050[source]
I didn’t intend to imply the increased accuracy was the reason for the battery life drop; they were just statements about my experience with both and my ultimate choice to stick with the Apple Watch because of the accuracy and more advanced abilities, even with the significant pain in the ass of having to charge the watch every 18h or so.