The Amazfit T-Rex 3 in a real endurance test on Madeira!

Solidly built, yet comfortable to wear

The Amazfit T-Rex 3 is anything but understated. With a diameter of 48,5 millimeters and a weight of 68 grams including the strap, it's a robust companion. The case is made of durable polymer, complemented by a stainless steel bezel.

It is certified according to military standard MIL-STD-810H and, according to the manufacturer, can withstand temperatures from -30 to +70 degrees Celsius, as well as shock and humidity up to 10 ATM. Despite its size, the watch is comfortable to wear even while sleeping, which isn't necessarily a given for an outdoor watch.

The 1,5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 480 pixels and up to 2000 nits of brightness is brilliant. On the high plateaus of Madeira or during a boat trip across the open sea, the display remained easily legible despite blazing sunlight.

Levadas, tunnels, stones – navigation and shock resistance

Hiking in Madeira means constantly changing terrain beneath your feet. The Levada do Caldeirão Verde and the Levada das 25 Fontes—narrow paths, deep ravines, damp tunnels, and wet scree were the order of the day.

The T-Rex 3 endured all of this without complaint. Even in dark tunnels, where I frequently bumped my arm against the wall, the display remained intact. Although Amazfit uses Gorilla Glass instead of sapphire glass, there wasn't a single visible sign of damage in practical use.

GPS reception with multiband GNSS (GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS) was consistently stable. Even in wooded or rocky areas, I rarely experienced signal loss.

For navigation, I used offline maps that I had loaded onto my watch before the trip using the Zepp app. The maps showed contour lines, paths, and junctions. In the city, some even included street names. Komoot routes can be easily imported via the connected Konoto, but the route via Strava was only available via a manual GPX upload.

 Turn-by-turn navigation works reliably, with the watch issuing a warning if the route deviates by more than about 50 meters. However, there's no automatic route recalculation.

On the Atlantic – whale watching put to the test

When the boat took us out to sea, the T-Rex 3 was really shaken up. Salt water, vibrations, sun – perfect conditions to test its water and temperature resistance.

With its EN13319 certification, the watch is officially submersible to 45 meters and can withstand a pressure of 10 ATM. Even after several hours in salt water, there were no technical glitches, and even after the tour, no corrosion was visible on the buttons. A good sign of the T-Rex 3's solid construction.

The GPS tracking remained reliable even at sea, and I was able to track the boat's course seamlessly later in the Zepp app. The sunrise, tide, and weather warning displays are useful additional features that were especially beneficial for planning the trip.

Diving in the hotel pool

The next day, I continued swimming laps in the pool in a relaxed manner. The T-Rex 3 automatically detected the start of my swim and reliably counted the laps. Heart rate measurement via the PPG sensor delivered solid readings, albeit with slight deviations during rapid changes in intensity. This, again, is a well-known phenomenon with optical heart rate monitors.

Technically, the watch measures heart rate, SpO₂ (blood oxygen), skin temperature, and heart rate variability (HRV) around the clock. The so-called "Readiness Score" combines these values ​​to assess your physical endurance for the day. I especially appreciated this feature after strenuous hikes.

While ambitious divers lack a full dive computer function with decompression time and no-stop information, the scope is more than sufficient for recreational water sports.

Everyday life in Funchal – Smart features and battery life

The T-Rex 3 was also my daily companion away from nature. In Funchal's old town, it showed me my steps, elevation, and current exertion. It also includes useful features such as a barometer, compass, sun position indicator, cycle tracking, a Pomodoro timer, and even an altimeter with an automatically calibrated sensor.

Thanks to integrated Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz) and Bluetooth 5.2, the connection to the smartphone remains stable. Music can be transferred as MP3 files to the 2,6 GB of internal storage, although there is no support for streaming services like Spotify. Data transfer takes place via the Zepp app, which is somewhat cumbersome in practice.

 NFC payments generally work, but only with Curve, a third-party service. There's no direct connection to banks like Apple Pay or Google Wallet.

The watch scores highly for its battery life. According to Amazfit, it can last up to 27 days in standard mode. I only had to recharge it after about a week of daily tracking, always-on display, and GPS activities. In GPS mode, it lasts between 42 and 180 hours, depending on the settings.