Amazfit Band 5 Review: Amazing Value

POSITIVES

✓ Ease of use

Simple and efficient - easy to use and maneuver

✓ Price

Bang for your buck in the budget smartwatch space

✓ Battery life

Long lasting battery that keeps powering through

NEGATIVES

✘Not the sleekest looking watch

Won't necessarily turn heads when you're wearing it

✘ Watch band can loosen on its own

Not the most reliable band

✘ Do Not Disturb mode does not automatically sync with watch and phone

You'll have to manually change these settings on your watch

Retail Price: $49.99

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DISCLAIMER: AMAZFIT SENT US A REVIEW UNIT OF THE BAND 5 BUT ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE OUR OWN

Amazfit has done it once again, releasing an affordable and feature-packed budget smartwatch that lives up to its expectations. The Band 5 includes quite a lot of new features including sleep quality monitoring, health tracking and even blood-oxygen saturation monitoring. For $49.99, there’s a lot of punch in this smartwatch but how did it perform during a one month test? Let’s take a look.

Earlier this summer, I reviewed the Amazfit Bip S smartwatch and was very impressed with the  battery life and overall user experience of the Zepp app when paired with the watch. The Band 5 is no different, with a few additional features that make it an enticing package. 

Look & Feel

First off, the Band 5’s watch band is made of a simple yet durable TPU material. The version I’m reviewing is the Midnight Black color but it is also available in Orange and Olive. The watch face is an elongated touchscreen with more color saturation than the Bip S and has one menu button. Although the band is comfortable to wear, I found sizing to be somewhat problematic, as my wrist size was in between the smallest hole and second smallest hole. As a result, there were a handful of times I saw the watch catching on a piece of clothing or item causing the band to come off my wrist.

The 1.1-inch touchscreen on the Band 5 is simple to navigate and has an AMOLED display measuring at 47.2 x 18.5 x 12.4mm. The colors are vibrant and noticeably better than the display of the Bip S. I have no problem looking at the watch face when I am outside in broad daylight. The watch itself is lightweight and although not as sleek looking as more expensive fitness trackers, it has a subtle athletic body that is comfortable to wear for the everyday.

Features

There’s quite a lot of goodies packed into the Band 5 and for the most part, they all worked pretty well. The blood-oxygen saturation monitoring and heart rate monitoring appeared accurate through the multiple tests I conducted, albeit both took a while to calibrate. There’s also other tracking capabilities including women’s health tracking during menstruation, sleep quality monitoring, breathing exercise, stress monitoring, and the PAI health assessment. It essentially gives users a health score based on a number of different factors and offers suggestions on how to improve your score. 

As an analytics professional, seeing data and insights is one of my favorite things to do and there’s a lot of data available in the Zepp app when synced up to the smartwatch. On a Google Pixel 5, the Zepp app works seamlessly and allows you to sift through different dates to look at scores like your heart rate and step count. The amount of detail is impressive and for those looking to dive into any of these features, like monitoring your heart rate regularly, the Band 5 makes it easy to manage and review.

For those who want to exercise with the watch, there are 11 sports modes included. The Band 5 is also 5 ATM water resistant. The watch can also connect to Amazon Alexa, which is a useful bonus feature. You can also use remote control to access your phone’s music and phone camera as well. 

If you’re a fan of customization, the Zepp app allows you to choose from 45+ watch faces, a capability I’ve been enjoying when swapping through various faces on different days.

My Only Con

In addition to the finicky watch band, there has been one other issue I hope will be fixed with the Band 5. It is do not disturb mode. My Pixel 5 has do not disturb hours set and although I will only receive muted notifications during that time period on my smartphone, if notifications are enabled on the Band 5, it will continue to vibrate unless I separately mute them on the watch as well. I wish it was possible for the setting within my smartphone to sync automatically with the Band 5. This is a minor inconvenience in the scheme of things, but would be a helpful benefit nonetheless. There have been a few times where I’ve been woken up or surprised to hear the vibration without realizing it was from the watch. It was not until I dug deep into the settings of the watch itself a week later that I discovered a separate Night Mode for the watch where you can program new settings.

Battery Life

Perhaps my favorite part of Amazfit product lineup is the amazing battery life that comes in their devices. The Band 5 is no different. The advertised 15-day battery life lives up to expectations and charges via a simple two-pronged cradle that connects to a USB-A cable. The watch will also notify you when it needs to be charged and at what percentage your Band 5 is at. Amazfit even touts a 25-day battery life if the watch is in power-saving mode.

Overall Thoughts

The Amazfit Band 5 is a great deal for those looking for a fitness tracker that is comfortable, affordable, and simply works. Even though it doesn’t have the wow-factor look, the bright high-quality display works effortlessly and is easy to navigate. The Zepp app shows off the various features available to users and does exactly what it needs to do. If you can grab the Band 5 at a sale price, it’s a no-brainer. 

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