- Amazfit has launched the Cheetah 2 Ultra smartwatch
- It is made for trail runners and ultra running enthusiasts
- It arrives just one day after the new budget wearables from Garmin
Amazfit has managed to carve out a role for itself as a popular budget-friendly wearables 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 brand new offering, and it’s hot on the heels of a new cheap Garmin watch that’s headed to 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 at altitude, unpredictable terrain and hours spent on the move.”
It comes with a grade 5 titanium frame, frame and back cover; a 1.5-inch AMOLED display that goes up to 3,000 nits maximum brightness and has a scratch-resistant sapphire glass panel; up to 33 hours of battery life in Trail Running Mode and up to 30 days of juice in normal mode; and dual-frequency six-satellite positioning for accurate GPS tracking.
If you’re going off-road and need route guidance, you’ll find full-color route planning, which Amazfit says comes with “rendering speeds 2.5 times faster and update rates 12 times faster 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 news from Amazfit. The company also recently updated the firmware for its T-Rex Ultra 2 watch to offer heart rate zones and waypoint data to better assist you when you’re training, racing or just out 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 price tag of $599.99, the company shows it’s not afraid to compete with more mid-range rivals.
Funnily enough, the announcement comes just a day after Garmin unveiled a new range of affordable smartwatches, including the Forerunner 70, Forerunner 170 and Forerunner 170 Music. The former costs £219.99 / AU$399 (about $300), and with the most expensive (the Forerunner 170 Music) priced at £299.99 / AU$549 (about $400), Garmin looks to show that it can still make excellent budget smartwatches of the kind Amazfit’s customers are used to.
It’s also interesting to note that while the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is aimed squarely at long-distance runners and ultra-marathon competitors, the Garmin Forerunner 70’s predecessor – the Forerunner 55 – was worn by Sabastian Sawe when he broke the sub-two hour London Marathon record in April this year.
So if distance running is your thing, both of these watches should be on your radar. It’s just up to you to decide which one best fits your budget.
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