Xiaomi, a well know company for its products, not only for the mobiles but and for the gadgets, just recently announced Huami Amazfit Smartwatch. We have reviewed the smartwatch in the past, so and the app that originally is in Chinese only, but can be found in English at the official Greek MIUI forum. Huami Amazfit Smartwatch has made a huge impression on the market, and that is because Xiaomi always come with innovative ideas, and of course this product couldn’t be an exception. So the fact that Huami Amazfit Smartwatch is really great is I believe undoubtedly, but we must look at it’s big rival, the Huawei Honor S1 that was only recently announced
Design
The Huami Amazfit Smartwatch doesn’t have the usual look of an everyday sports smartwatch. We have made a detailed review of it in the past as I said before. But let us remember some of the thing that we said then. Huami Amazfit Smartwatch features a big round display with rounded edges as well. The screen’s diameter is 1.34 inches and has a 300×300 screen resolution. On the right side we see a button which is for unlocking the smartwatch and is the only physical button that we will find on it. On the back we will find the sensor for measuring the heart beats and the charging connectors. Features a dual-colored wristbands in orange and black, but if you don’t like it, you can replace it with any 22mm wristbands you prefer. The wristbands that the Xiaomi features, have been made in a such way that it prevents sweating, so it’s highly recommended to leave them where they are.
The Huawei Honor S1 has a similar look with the Xiaomi Amazfit, but it doesn’t have the round frame of the Huami. Gives the idea that the watch is smaller, with a frame around the screen made of aluminum and a black area between this frame and the screen, making the screen’s diameter only 1.04 inches, 0.3 inches smaller from the Huami Amazfit. While Huami Amazfit features an IPS LCD screen, the Huawei screen is a simple LCD. The resolution of the screen is only 208 x 208 pixels (Huami remember has 300 x 300). Supports multi-touch option, as and Huami does and comes in 3 colors, Navy Blue, Deep Gray and Vibrant Orange. The Huawei Honor S1 features 18mm wristbands, which they might look very beautiful, but Xiaomi’s are much much better. The Honor S1 doesn’t have any physical button as the Xiaomi has and on the back of the watch carries charging connectors and optical heart rate monitor sensors.
The Huawei Honor S1 weights only 35 grams, when Huami Amazfit Smartwatch weights 53.7 grams and is smaller by size due to the smaller screen size. The diameter of the Huawei is only 39.5 mm × 9.9 mm, when on the other hand, Amazfit with the bigger display measures 46mm. I guess you all understand that in terms of design, Xiaomi Amazfit Smartwatch is the winner!
Hardware
Huami Amazfit SmartWatch features under the hood a dual core 1.2GHz processor paired with a 512MB of RAM and 4GB of ROM and a lithium polymer 280mAh battery. With a full charged battery, the smartwatch in watch mode can last up to 11.6 days, in running mode up to 5 days and in GPS+running mode up to 35 hours.
For the Huawei Honor S1 we don’t know the hardware configuration, since the company didn’t reveal it. All we know is that the battery can last up to 6 days of normal use.
Features
The Huami Amazfit is compatible only with android mobiles and uses the Amazfit App to communicate. Features WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0, offers quite acceptable GPS and GLONASS positioning systems for movement tracking that is mainly used in sports planning and it doesn’t support sim. In order to measure the heart rate, features a PPG-based sensor, combined with its latest self-developed algorithm to monitor heart rate and display an appropriate data. With the latest version of the App, we see a future weather widget, unlocking feature of the smartwatch like mi band and other like 500+ free songs, AliPay payment system and push messages.The Huami Amazfit features Corning Gorilla Glass technology, meaning is scratch resistant, so you can wear it with no fear. It has got an IP67 certificate, meaning is dust and water resistant, as well.
The Huawei Honor S1 is also not a standalone device and features BT 4.2 capability. Despite the fact that the watch was rumored to be a a Tizen-running device, in reality the smartwatch runs a Real Time Operating System (RTOS). Officially we haven’t heard anything about this system, but in the ‘Huawei Terminal USB port communications software V1.0’ was found such a phrase inside the smartwatch. Of course since we are speaking for a sport smartwatch, and the Huawei features all the required apps like heart rate monitoring based on a PPG sensor or pedometer app. Also features an IP68 certificate, meaning is water resistance and it can be underwater for 30 minutes at depths of up to 1.5m.
Here we can say we have a draw, since both smartwatches feature the same apps and features, except from the IP certification, where Huawei is better.
Conclusion
Both companies have done a very good job here. Xiaomi is an absolute winner on the design, on performance there is nothing clear for now, connectivity seems to be the same for both smartwatches, software, where the Huawei Honor S1 is half a step ahead. So we can say that Xiaomi has worked more on design, while Huawei has come in with a ‘working’ smartwatch. As for price, Huawei is available for pre-order starting October 19 at $105 and it’s said to be available for purchasing on October 25. The Huami Amazfit SmartWatch can be ordered from Geekbuying at this moment, and if you use our coupon GKBAUG8, you can buy it at a lower price and for only $151.99 can be yours!
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