Move over Garmin Fenix 8, there's a new tough-built, long-lasting smartwatch in town. Budget-minded wearables manufacturer Amazfit just launched the new T-Rex 3 smartwatch during the IFA 2024 show in Berlin, and it looks to be an impressive refresh of the well-received T-Rex 2, the best cheap smartwatch for the outdoors.
Sporting a bigger and brighter AMOLED screen, an upgraded stainless steel bezel and free access to offline maps with turn-by-turn directions, the T-Rex-3 represents far more than an iterative update to the the series. Here's everything you need to know about the new smartwatch.
Amazfit T-Rex 3: Price and availability
The Amazfit T-Rex 3 is available starting today (September 6) for $279 via Amazfit directly or through Amazon. That's a price increase of $79 over the watch's predecessor, which, by the way, looks to be completely out of stock everywhere.
Amazfit T-Rex 3: Key upgrades
The T-Rex 3 offers 16% more screen real estate than its predecessor, sporting a 1.5-inch display compared to the T-Rex 2's 1.39-inch screen, and twice the maximum brightness: 2,000 nits vs. 1,000 nits. That's the same as the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Google Pixel Watch 3.
Maximum battery life has been increased from 24 days to 27 days. Plus, you can now get a whopping 180 hours of usage when using GPS tracking, without sacrificing accuracy, compared to 26 hours with the T-Rex 2.
The water resistance rating is still 100 meters but the new stainless steel bezel should provide improved screen protection. The T-Rex 3 also comes with free access to offline maps, including contour maps, and even offers turn-by-turn directions.
T-Rex 3 owners can additionally access two new training metrics: readiness and heart rate variability. Plus, the device has been updated with support for even more workout types, 170 in total. New arrivals include Freediving, Hyrox Race mode and Ultramarathon mode.
The updated smartwatch also boasts a new Strength Training mode where you can build custom workout routines, along with a handful of AI-backed training features that I look forward to testing out once I get one on my wrist. Finally, there are new advanced privacy settings for GPS data, to better keep your location on the wraps.
Amazfit T-Rex 3: Outlook
Ultimately, the T-Rex 3 offers a lot of the same impressive features and specs found in the also new but far more expensive Garmin Fenix 8, which starts at $999.
For folks who appreciate a large and immersive touchscreen packed into an extremely tough-built case with loads of training tools and mind-blowingly good battery life, the T-Rex 3 is difficult to ignore.
With that in mind, I look forward to getting one in for testing in the coming days/weeks and will report back with my findings.
