I just went hands-on with the Amazfit T-Rex 3 and it could be my new favorite wallet-friendly rugged smartwatch

The Amazfit T-Rex 3 is a budget-friendly, tough-built smartwatch designed for outdoor enthusiasts. Compared to the competition, it's less than half the price of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and a third of the Garmin Fenix 8, yet offers similar top-level specs including multi-band GPS, 100 meters of water resistance, epic battery life and a bright AMOLED screen.

Compared to its predecessor, the Amazfit T-Rex 2, the new model boasts an upgraded stainless steel bezel for increased durability, support for offline maps with turn-by-turn directions, a more comprehensive set of training tools, better battery and a display that's easier to view in daylight.

I just got my hands on the Amazfit T-Rex 3 and am genuinely impressed with the design and features for the money. Read on for my first impressions of this beastly smartwatch, including thoughts on its wearability, wellness tools, battery life and its overall outlook.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 hands-on: Price and availability

The Amazfit Active 2 debuted in September 2024 with a launch price of $279. Available for purchase through Amazfit directly or via major retailers like Amazon, you can often find it on sale for $20 to $50 off.

There are three styles: Onyx (black case and strap), Lava (black case, orange strap), and Haze Grey (silver case, grey strap). The device shown in this review is the Lava variant.

Amazfit T-Rex 3: Specs compared to the competition

Amazfit T-Rex 3 hands-on: Design and wearability

Setting up the Amazfit T-Rex 3 took a matter of minutes, though I already had the most recent version of the Zepp app downloaded to my phone. The T-Rex 3 arrived with 70% battery, which meant I was able to pop it on my wrist and start rocking it right away.

This is a large wearable. It's wider and thicker than the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and roughly the same height. It's also heavier than the Ultra as well as the Garmin Fenix 8.

Despite this, I was surprised by the T-Rex 3's wearability. On my 6.5-inch wrist, it doesn't look that enormous and despite the extra thickness, it doesn't appear to sit any higher than the Ultra 2.

The T-Rex 3 ships with a high-quality silicone strap that's soft, comfortable and flexible. The strap closes via a metal pin and buckle; two silicone loops secure any extra real estate in place.

Rather than standard spring bars, Amazfit chose to attach the T-Rex 3 strap using a screw system that requires a unique three-pronged screwdriver bit. The tool is included with the watch. Just don't lose it. For users wishing to use their own strap, Amazfit also includes two plastic converter pieces that you affix using the same screw system as the strap. Once installed, the T-Rex 3 accepts any standard 22mm strap.

The user interface combines a responsive touchscreen with four physical buttons that have excellent tactile response and knurling for grip. The case is made out of impact-resistance plastic while the bezel, which extends above the Gorilla Glass screen for protection, is made out of stainless steel.

While the T-Rex 2 sported a 1.39-inch AMOLED screen with 1,000 nits of max brightness, the T-Rex 3 ups the ante with a 1.5-inch AMOLED screen that maxes out at an impressive 2,000 nits. That's not quite as high as the Apple Watch Ultra 2's 3,000 nit screen brightness but it is on par with the Google Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, which are also two of the best smartwatch models you can buy.

As should be the case for any smartwatch aimed at outdoor adventure enthusiasts, water resistance is a respectable 100 meters, which is enough for the vast majority of water-based sports minus deep sea diving. Additionally, it's rated to operate in extreme temps from -22 degrees to 156 degrees Fahrenheit.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 hands-on: Health sensors and tracking modes

The T-Rex 3 features Amazfit's latest and greatest health sensor array which can keep tabs on heart rate, heart rhythm, blood oxygen saturation, body temperature and more. Like most of Amazfit's newest wearables, the T-Rex offers comprehensive sleep-tracking tools — though its size makes it a bear to wear to bed — along with loads of training features.

Similar to Garmin, users are provided with post-workout data analysis of their VO max, training load and training effect, along with recovery time suggestions.

This is the first T-Rex model to offer users a daily readiness score and insights into heart rate variability, an important metric for monitoring cardiovascular and nervous system health. It also features a new strength training mode where users can build customized workout routines.

Speaking of workouts, the T-Rex 3 supports more than 170 workout types including tons of nuanced outdoor sports like hunting, fishing, skateboarding, rock climbing, sky diving, freediving, hyrox race mode, ultramarathon mode and many more.

In addition to multi-band GPS, there's also an onboard barometric altimeter for monitoring changes in elevation as well as a standard gyroscope and accelerometer for keeping tabs on body movement.

For hikers and adventurers, the T-Rex 3 supports downloading and saving detailed contour maps for offline navigational use with turn-by-turn directions. Other handy features for outdoor enthusiasts include weather reports, storm warnings, tidal charts, altitude reminders (for when you're ascending/descending quickly) and more. Plus, for winter sports enthusiasts, the latest T-Rex automatically recognizes a huge range of ski resorts worldwide.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 hands-on: AI and smart features

The T-Rex 3 plays nicely with Android and iOS devices but smart features are much more limited than what you'll find on the latest Wear OS and watchOS devices. Still, there are a couple of handy tools present, including a voice-activated AI assistant that's powered by OpenAI (which I have yet to test).

The watch also supports mirrored smartphone notifications with speech-to-text message replies. Beyond that, though, you won't find much more by way of traditional smartwatch features. There's not even NFC for mobile payments.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 hands-on: Battery life and charging

Amazfit advertises the T-Rex 3 as a battery-life beast. Indeed that seems to be the case.

Though I've only spent roughly 36 hours with the smartwatch, just 4% of the battery has drained. While I didn't track any workouts, I did spend a lot of time poking around the watch's features and performing a major software update all without considering a trip to the charger.

However, more testing is needed to confirm Amazfit's lofty battery life claims, including up to 27 days of usage in standard smartwatch mode and 42 hours of usage with maximum GPS tracking enabled.

That said, even if the T-Rex lasts for half that amount of time, I'd be impressed. While brands like Garmin and Polar make devices with similarly impressive longevity, there aren't any full-feature rugged smartwatches that even come close. The Apple Watch Ultra 2, for instance, gets just 70 hours per charge (and that's in low-power mode) and 12 hours when using GPS tracking; the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is a similar story.

Annoyingly, the T-Rex 3 ships with only a small magnetic charging puck, so, you'll need to provide your own USB-C cable and wall outlet brick. Even more frustrating is the fact that said puck is nearly identical to the one that ships with the also-newish Amazfit Active 2 but just different enough that they're incompatible. Why, Amazfit, why? At least Garmin keeps its silly proprietary charging cable consistent between product lines.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 hands-on: Outlook

Between Garmin, Polar and Coros, there's no shortage of tough-built, long-lasting outdoor-oriented smartwatches with impressive training and navigational tools. However, models with these features from the above brands tend to cost a rather pretty penny.

For example, the nearest Garmin competitor to the Amazfit T-Rex 3 is the Fenix 8 which is priced at roughly three times as much as the often discounted sub-$300 Amazfit. Meanwhile, the also similar Polar Grit X2 Pro is more than double the cost.

The question is, can the T-Rex 3 match the reliability and durability of the competition? I intend to find out through thorough testing in the water, the dirt and the snow. Stay tuned!