Introducing the Amazfit Falcon: Trail Running and Water Reservoir Detector for a Multi-Sport Active Wearable gps System

The Amazfit Falcon is similar to multisport watches from Garmin, COROS, and Suunto in terms of the metrics and activities it tracks, and even shares some similarities with the new Apple Watch Ultra. If you want to explore the outdoors, you should look for a device that uses dual- band gps like the Ultra. You cannot get as accurate gps readings as a single band device, but you can find one that uses mapping and navigation features.

Amazfit, which has a number of budget-friendly fitness trackers, is hoping to be included in the household names with the introduction of the premium Amazfit Falcon. The new watch costs $299 and tracks 150 indoor and outdoor sports, as well as recognizing more than 50 strength training movements to track reps and sets.

The Zepp OS that runs on theFalcon has health features like heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking, which you can use with the Zepp Coach. It also includes stress measurements and pairs it with major third-party apps for health and fitness insights.

The Falcon is very similar to some of my go-to outdoor watches. The frame is titanium and it also has an anti-fingerprint coating. After using the device for several workouts, two strength training sessions, and a few attempts at dropping it from wrist height, I came to the conclusion that it was not tough enough to pass 15 military-grade tests. It’s water- resistant up to 200 meters, and I submerged the majority of the time. It was in the shower.

After two weeks of wear, I have yet to replenish my battery. That’s standard for the device, according to the company; with typical usage, you should get 14 days on a single charge, which goes down to seven days with heavy usage. There are several GPS settings that allow you to get 21 to 50 hours on a single charge, or, in battery saver mode, the Falcon can last up to 30 days. When you are running low, it takes just two hours to fully juice up.

The Falcon has a 1.28-inch always-on AMOLED screen that lights up with a flick of the wrist, and you can navigate using four buttons, two on each side. I found that once I clicked into a menu (like the workout options, using the button at the top right) it was easier to swipe up and down and side to side using the touchscreen capabilities.

At 64 grams, the Falcon leans towards the heavier end of the wearable spectrum — which is to be expected for a more rugged watch. It’s not quite as hefty as the 89-gram COROS Vertix 2 or 76-gram Garmin Epix and it’s actually pretty comparable to the 61-gram Apple Watch Ultra, but it was significantly heavier than my standard running watch, the COROS Pace 2 (29 grams) and took some getting used to while wearing 24/7, especially while trying to sleep.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/cnn-underscored/reviews/amazfit-falcon?iid=CNNUnderscoredHPcontainer

An Overview of the Falcon gps watch: A new entry point into the world of multi-sport Gps watches with navigation and navigation features

One of my biggest pain points while using the Falcon was the screen locking feature during workouts. When I wanted to see different metrics, I got a message on the screen that said to “Press the button” and it wouldn’t open. While using the righthand buttons, I unintentionally lapping of the workout when using the lefthand up or down buttons. (This may be a customizable feature, but I have yet to figure out a way to remove it.)

However, at up to 30 days, its battery life, even with the best features engaged, is pretty impressive; it’s just a little less than what you’d get in the comparably priced COROS Vertix 2 or the slightly more expensive Garmin Fenix 7. I found the interface to be a little less user friendly than my competitors but I had never used one before and the learning curve was expected.

I was not thrilled with the constant screen-locking. The navigation features aren’t as good as they could be, but if you’re not a professional athlete or someone who is traveling far off the beaten path, that shouldn’t matter much. The Falcon is an entry point into the world of multi-sport gps watches that will get the job done well.

The Garmin Vivomove Trend: A Hybrid Tracker with a New Fitbit Connector and Wireless Charged Qi Charging Pad

The biggest pain point with a fitness tracker is that each one has its own power source. You can always borrow a device from a friend if you forget a Lightning or USB-C connection. But a proprietary Fitbit connector? Sorry! Guess you will not be tracked on that Italian walking vacation.

So it was with a sense of almost mystical reverence that I removed the Vivomove Trend from my wrist and placed it on the Qi charging pad next to my desk. I leaned over it breathlessly and examined the screen. Charging! It works, even though it isn’t incredibly fast. I will never be trapped on a work trip again with an un charged watch.

The new entry-level hybrid watch from Garmin is a little clunky to use, but I like its attractive, streamlined looks and the new charging system. Wireless charging on any Qi charging pad is almost magical. That, in itself, does a lot to put it at the head of the pack.

If you want to track your health without being required to wear a sporty watch, there are a few options. Withings makes a tracker that looks as much like an analog watch as possible; Fossil’s Wellness watch packs as many metrics as possible into an analog watch face.

The best of both worlds are provided by the Vivomove Trend. It comes in a variety of colorways (my tester is a beautiful, if slightly dated, peach gold with an ivory band). It has a dainty 40.4-mm case and an analog watch face. However, when you click on your device in the Garmin Connect app, you can pick up to three complications that will be visible when you swing the watch up toward your face.

This allows for much more customization than you might think, because some of the complications can combine—I opted for the Techie face, with the date up top and steps, battery, and floors climbed on the bottom.

Source: https://www.wired.com/review/garmin-vivomove-trend/

How To Start an Activity With A Wireless Tracker? Including One Buzz for Measly On-Off (and How to Turn It Off)

To start an activity, check your heart rate, go to settings, or set a stopwatch or timer, you just touch your fingertip to the watch face. The options pop up as glowing icons with a buzz. If you click through to the timer and later realize you want to start something else, you have to back off. As a side note, I do wish more trackers would just include one measly on-off button. (Even analog watches have at least one button!)

The buzz also alerts you when you get a notification or start an activity (you can change the strength of the buzz, but I didn’t notice a big difference). You can manually start an activity or turn on an auto activity tracking with Move IQ.

Move IQ is good but you have to double-tap to start the activity once you select it, since it picked up a 3-minute dash from parking garage to doctor’s appointment. Since it connects to GPS via your phone, my tracked results from walking, biking, and running are consistent with results from other trackers—unless I forgot to start the activity manually, which happened a lot.