Review on Amazfit Bip S Fitness Smartwatch by Rene Putman

Comments to the emptiness of non-Linux consumers, cryptobotanists: This thing is calling China. For everyone else: Calls vs. Privacy: * You must download their app and create an account just to use the watch. There's no way around it. Even the folks on Github who created scripts to spoof their API didn't find a way out.* Switching from an official app to an open-source app that doesn't call home with your private data can be a lot easier be. You need to get the authorization key from their servers in order for your own application to communicate with the watch.* Deleting your account is a nightmare. First, they don't make it easy to find the sign-up portal through a web browser. They don't even make it easy to access customer service. Their customer service clearly only speaks Chinese and they didn't even begin to help me with the issues I had deleting my account. Their interface for deleting accounts is completely broken (hmm, I wonder why?). Also, many of their websites and portals blocked my ProtonVPN addresses, which made matters worse. The whole process took a month! All in all it allows you to use apps like Gadgetbridge, but there has to be something better. Trying to deal with Amazfit/Zepp/Mii/whatever they call themselves will only give you migraines. Functionality: * Sleep tracking is pretty boring. It's a shame because that was the main reason I bought the watch. I hope this improves over time as development seems to be very active. * If you're not tracking actual physical activity, it's basically a building block. Little passive activity other than counting steps. You can download the pedometer from SECUSO (Safety and Usability Society) and get almost the same accurate reading just from your phone, no GPS.