- Amazfit has launched the Cheetah 2 Ultra smartwatch
- It is made for trail runners and ultra-running enthusiasts.
- It arrives just one day after Garmin’s new budget wearables
Amazfit has managed to carve out a niche for itself as a popular budget wearable brand and its devices often find a place on our list of the best cheap smartwatches money can buy.
Now, the company has launched a new offering and hot on its heels is a new cut-price Garmin watch that targets exactly the same buyers.
Amazfit’s new product is called the Cheetah 2 Ultra and the company describes it as “a specialized instrument for trail runners that measures success in elevation, unpredictable terrain, and hours of movement.”
It comes with a grade 5 titanium bezel, frame and back cover; a 1.5-inch AMOLED display that reaches up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness and features a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal panel; up to 33 hours of battery life in Trail Running mode and up to 30 days of battery life in normal mode; and positioning of six dual-frequency satellites for precise GPS tracking.
If you’re going off-road and need directions, you’ll find full-color route planning that Amazfit says comes with “2.5x faster rendering speeds and 12x faster update speeds than before.” There are also improved training and performance metrics, expanded third-party integrations, and more.
And the Cheetah 2 Ultra is not the only new feature from Amazfit. The company also recently updated the firmware on its T-Rex Ultra 2 watch to offer heart rate zones and benchmark data, which will better help you when training, competing, or just going for a leisurely run.
A whole range of new watches.
Amazfit typically positions its devices at the more affordable end of the market, but with the Cheetah 2 Ultra’s $599.99 price tag, the company is showing that it’s not afraid to compete with mid-range rivals.
Interestingly, the announcement comes just a day after Garmin revealed a new range of affordable smartwatches, including the Forerunner 70, Forerunner 170, and Forerunner 170 Music. The first costs £219.99 / AU$399 (around $300), and with the most expensive (the Forerunner 170 Music) priced at £299.99 / AU$549 (around $400), Garmin looks set to show that it can still make excellent budget smartwatches of the type Amazfit customers might be used to.
It’s also interesting to note that while the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is aimed squarely at long-distance runners and ultramarathon competitors, Sabastian Sawe used the Garmin Forerunner 70’s predecessor, the Forerunner 55, when he broke the sub-two-hour record at the London Marathon in April this year.
So if long distance running is your thing, both watches should be on your radar. It’s up to you to decide which one best fits your budget.
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