The Amazfit Pop 2 smartwatch isn’t your typical Amazfit watch. First, it isn’t compatible with the usual Zepp app but has its own exclusive app called Zepp Active. Second, it runs an operating system I haven’t seen on other Amazfit smartwatches so far (more on that later). But whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing can only be ascertained with a review – and here’s mine.
The Amazfit Pop 2 undoubtedly has a premium design. The strap has the right amount of softness, enough to give it a comfy feel without compromising on toughness. Meanwhile, the dial is made of zinc alloy with a finish shiny enough to double as a mirror. The choice of materials gives it a noticeable heft at 59 grams, positioning the watch at the heavier end of the smartwatch weight spectrum. For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 weighs 30 grams. It goes without saying that you will definitely feel the presence of the watch on your wrist at all times – there will be no wearing and forgetting. The weight helps the watch feel more expensive than its Rs 3,999 price tag, though, so it isn’t all downsides. There’s also no discomfort or itchiness even when I had it on all day.
The Amazfit Pop 2 makes good use of materials (Image credits: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)
The 1.78-inch AMOLED display is perhaps one of the strongest selling points of the Amazfit Pop 2. It has a 326ppi (pixels per inch) density, which is smartphone territory. Squint as hard as you want, but you won’t see any pixelation. Legibility is great too, as the display looks crisp even under direct sunlight. On sunnier days, though, you might have to manually turn up the brightness to the max, since there’s no auto-brightness support.
One of the most important features for me on a budget smartwatch is always-on support. Being an analogue watch fan, having to rotate my wrist just to tell the time even when I’m seated doesn’t sit right with me. There’s also the coolness factor at play – if your watch has such a nice display, why should it stay lifeless while on your wrist? So when I went through the Amazfit Pop 2’s spec sheet and spotted the part where it said always-on support, I was compelled to turn it on immediately.
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PremiumObviously, always-on doesn’t come enabled by default. You’ll have to navigate through some menus to get to it and toggle it on. The reason for this is obvious – battery life. Always-on is a battery hogger on phones, and the same is valid for smartwatches. Normally, Pop 2 lasted around a week between charges. But with AOD on (and all-day heart monitoring), battery life falls down to just 2-3 days. That didn’t stop me from keeping it on throughout my usage, though. Charging is hardly a bother when you have a magnetic cable. You can slap that onto the back of the watch and the battery reaches from 0% to 100% in ~1.5 hours.
The Amazfit Pop 2 offers a bunch of cool watchfaces to choose from (Image credits: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)
On the fitness front, the Amazfit Pop 2 packs a slew of sports modes – over a hundred – accompanied by a number of health-tracking features. While workout tracking is accurate, data can sometimes be a bit off. But for the price, I can’t complain. What could be a lot better is step tracking. If you commute on anything other than your foot, the watch can sometimes register false steps, causing unwarranted spikes in your data. And those spikes aren’t anything minor. The Zepp Active app as of writing shows I’ve travelled over 17kms on foot in around two weeks, though the truth is the exact opposite. Sleep tracking is mostly accurate, though.
Despite offering over a hundred sports modes, there’s a gaping hole in the watch’s potential. I wasn’t able to find anything related to women’s health on the watch and app, and I’m not sure if that’s something that can be added with a firmware update.
Moving on to the software bits, they’ve been put together well. The Zepp Active app is clean and easy to use, although I miss the comfort of dark mode at night. One thing that bothered me was the fixed notification from the app, whose random corny “motivational” quotes hardly had anything to do with fitness. Mercifully, you can turn those off.
The random corny “motivational” quotes from the Zepp Active app hardly had anything to do with fitness at all (Image credits: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)
Speaking of notifications, I had no issues with those on the watch. They arrive on time, and I never missed anything. The haptics motor isn’t the best – it’s got a bite to it – and I had to switch to the soft mode because strong made me jump sometimes.
The Zepp Active app has a decent UI and is easy to use (Image credits: Zohaib Ahmed/Indian Express)
The Bluetooth calling experience isn’t all that great. It just about gets the job done. While the speakers on the watch are fairly loud – as loud as an entry-level phone – the volume levels on calls were always a bit too low. I was forced to almost put my watch up against my ear to hear the other party. And the other party complained they couldn’t hear me too well either.
Remember when I said Pop 2 has unique software? The developer email on Zepp Active Play Store listing is LinWear Smart Watch, which is interesting. Because the main Zepp app is by Huami, the former name for Amazfit. LinWear appears to be an ODM that also makes watches for Realme’s Dizo brand. This does make you wonder about the original manufacturing as well.
Amazfit Pop 2: Verdict
Amazfit Pop 2 is a well-rounded product and it has got great build quality, an awesome display, and offers a good user experience. The fact that the watch seems like Amazfit doesn’t manufacture it made me sceptical initially, but those doubts faded as I used the watch. My main issues were around inaccurate step tracking and the low volume when using Bluetooth calling. Still, this is a budget device, that offers plenty of features and a big display at under Rs 5,000. The problem for the Amazfit Pop 2 is that the market has so many options– with more fitness accuracy– and at similar price points that standing out is not going to be easy.
