PC_Advisor_Issue_264_July_2017

Reviews
£109 inc VAT
Activity tRAckeR
Amazfit Pace
Buy from
• tinyurl.com/kulvgds
Specifications
1.34in (320x300) always-on
transflective colour LCD
touchscreen display;
1.2GHz Core processor; 4GB
storage; 512MB RAM;
Bluetooth 4.0; Bluetooth
Edge; Wi-Fi; battery life: 5
days regular use/11 days
basic use; IP67, resistant to
water and dust; optical
heart-rate sensor;
280mAh battery; GPS;
GLONASS; 54.5g
Build:
Features:
Value:
Performance:
the Amazfit Pace is high-end on
specs, but pleasingly not so on price.
it packs GPS with run tracking, a
heart-rate monitor, music controls
and more – so does the cheaper
price mean it cuts some corners?
the answer is yes, but not in the
worst ways possible.
Design
the Pace might not be to everyone’s
tastes design-wise, but if you’re into
your reds and blacks, then you’ll
be fine. AFc Bournemouth fans will
be laughing. Past that, the watch
has a surprisingly decent look and
feel for its price point. Leaving cost
aside, we used the black with red
colour option and liked the circular
metallic rim around the face, giving
it a near premium feel.
the rear casing that sits next
to the wrist is comfortable to wear
(Amazfit says it is ceramic), and
has four flat connectors for the
proprietary charging dock. these
sit above the heart-rate sensor,
while the standard 22mm strap
connectors hold a rubberised
band that’s fine for work and for
excessive sweat when exercising.
the screen and body aren’t tiny,
but it never felt like it dwarfed this
writer’s relatively small wrists. the
screen also has a flat tyre effect
that is annoying on smartwatches.
But because the entire screen has
a thin black rim between it and the
metallic rim, you don’t really notice
it. then again, it’s a shame that the
screen doesn’t reach fully to the
edges of its own casing.
the ceramic, metal and rubber
combination is a winner for the
Pace. As long as you like the colour
options, this is an attractive watch
with a decent, reassuring weigh to it.
Features
the circular display is 1.34in across
with a 320x300 resolution. A neat
trick is its always-on transflective
colour LcD. Watches rarely do
always-on exactly right, and it’s
the same here. think of it like
a screensaver, where power
consumption is reduced by dumb
projection. the Pace will still tell you
the time and all your stats on the
watch face in always-on mode, which
turns on after a period of inactivity.
the only way to come out of the
mode is to press
the only physical
button on the
watch, which is
on the right at two
o’clock. it’s a small
niggle, but not
being able to tap
the screen or turn
a bezel to wake is a
tad less convenient
and intuitive.
the screen also
has trouble with autobrightness.
this is on by
default and you can’t override
to select a preferred constant
brightness level. therefore in bright
sunlight, the screen is very hard to
read. the always-on display is also
darker, so you may think at first,
like we did, that there is a fault.
the 1.2GHz core processor and
512MB RAM keep things ticking
over nicely, and there is rarely
significant delay when browsing
menus, selecting functions or using
GPS tracking. the vibration motor
is noticeable, but not the strongest
we’ve ever experienced on a watch.
the Pace has Bluetooth 4.0,
essential to connect to your iPhone
running iOS 9 and later or Android
phone running 4.4 and later. there’s
also the option to connect to a
Wi-Fi network, which you can use
to wander out of Bluetooth range in
your house or at work and still stay
connected to your phone. you need
Wi-Fi to update the software.
it is rated iP67, the same as
gadgets such as the iPhone 7, which
means its resistant to water and
dust, just don’t take it swimming or
in the shower for too long.
the on-board battery is 280mAh
and is pretty good at keeping
the Pace powered. No one uses a
smartwatch with all the functions
turned off, but we comfortably
got three days out of it, even with
constant Bluetooth on connected
to an iPhone and intermittent GPS
use to track runs.
Software
Maddeningly, you can’t view GPS
data anywhere but on the watch
face – you can’t even look at it in
the iOS or Android Amazfit app that
you sync the watch with. this means
GPS records are only on the 4GB
hard drive of the watch and meant
that we never bothered fiddling
about looking at them.
Other running watch set-ups
let you take a deeper look at stats
on your workouts, whether that’s
on your phone or computer. Here,
the cool little map of where you
ran is just a squiggle on a watch
screen, with no map behind it. it’s
frustrating and means you will
never really be able to see if you’ve
improved by looking at the raw data.
this is a real shame because the
Pace excels at GPS data collection
when out running or on a workout.
you can record run, walk, indoor
run, bike, indoor bike and trail run.
it’s fairly easy to pause and record
workouts once you’ve got used to
the touch only inputs of the screen,
waking it first with the button.
Swipe right to go back on menus and
you’re sorted.
Also included when swiping
left on the home screen is activity
progress. Heart-rate graphs,
weather, music, alarms, compass,
stopwatch and sleep tracking. this
is a healthy number of functions
for, sorry to say it again, the price.
there’s a lot here, but it doesn’t
work on apps; you can’t close stuff
to make it run faster. either way,
overall, the interface is well designed
but slow and has one too many
bugs. A recent software update has
improved things slightly, though.
Verdict
the Amazfit Pace is a solid entry
point for those curious enough
to want to record their exercise
without spending a month’s rent
to do so. J Henry Burrell
July 2017 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews 59