AmazfitHelio Strap Fitness Tracker Wristband, 24/7 Activity & Sleep Tracker with Heart Rate, 10 Days Battery, 27 Sports Modes, Strength Training, Hyrox Race, Subscription Free for Android & iPhone

I have recently bought into the Amazfit/Zepp system having been a Fitbit user for many years, and I have to say currently I am impressed.General wear : I couple this Helio band with a T-Rex 3 watch, depending on the activity I am doing. The Band is great for just day to day wear when you want something vaguely unobtrusive and don't need the screen or notifications continually buzzing. I am a bit of a watch lover, so being able to wear it as well as a normally watch is a huge bonus ( and it doesn't look like i am being weird and wearing 2 watches ). It is really light, but I would say that having reasonable sized wrists the band could be a bit longer as there isn't much overlap ( see picture, apologies for the quality ), but it still fits, does up and is really comfy.Performance : I ran this alongside my Fitbit for a week, so that I could judge what the differences were likely to be. First thing that struck me was how close the data was to each other, but I was super impressed with the extra info that this provides over and above the Fitbit. The Sleep data is comprehensive and covers all the relevant things you might need to know, steps seems to be pretty good, although is much better at filtering out the "white noise" that can be detected as steps by some other devices, heart rate is pretty much exactly right, blood oxygen readings are a bit more random, but I would expect that really and is only a guide ( having recently had Pneumonia this has been quite an important reading for me ).But the thing I am currently most impressed with is the general workout tracking. Both this and the T-Rex have similar set ups, and picking the right workout is key to getting the right information. There are a huge amount to choose from, and I would highly recommend choosing. The Auto function for me is too random, and picks up things that aren't workouts, so I have both devices set to manual selection rather than auto detect. Once selected the system runs throughout and records everything you would need to know accurately and comprehensively.The recovery info is great, and gives a real insight to how hard or not you are training.The battery life has surprised me. a week of full use dropped the battery to 65%. I guess that a large chunk of the life comes form the fact you aren't running a screen or GPS form the devices ( only through the app, which does work nicely ), but even with tracking on it doesn't seem to use a massive amount of battery compared to other devices.Overall then, subtle looks, loads of features and a seemingly supernatural battery life, for no subscription charges. Whats not to like ?The best part for me though is that all of this info comes at a low up front cost and zero monthly subscription.

The Helio Strap has slipped onto my admittedly bony Mancunian wrist without any fuss. It is a slim, screen-free band that spends every hour quietly funnelling heart rate, SpO₂, stress and sleep figures into the Zepp app. When I remember to fasten my creaking old Amazfit watch as well, the two pieces of kit swap numbers without complaint; when I forget the watch in the scramble to find nursery shoes, the strap behaves perfectly well on its own.Amazfit reckons the battery will last ten days. In real life I have been getting a shade over eight, which feels fair enough considering it is logging every heartbeat and enduring a couple of sweat-drenched gym sessions each week. I like the Strength mode: it counts reps and rest periods more accurately than I manage with my fogged-up glasses. There is even a HYROX setting for proper athletes, although my ambitions rarely stretch beyond Parkrun. Automatic workout detection can be a touch jumpy, once awarding me five active minutes for waddling from sofa to fridge, but a quick dive into the settings soon calms it down.No subscription fees, a feather-light build, reliable sensors and neat links to Strava and TrainingPeaks make the Helio good value. Just remember you are stuck with a single strap colour, and be prepared for the occasional false alarm when you wander round the kitchen. For steady training in soggy Manchester it gives me plenty of data without weighing me down or draining my bank account.

Updated late Aug 2025Heart tracking has been fixed with the latest update and sleep tracking is quite accurate.Older review:Downgraded from 5 to 3. And again to 1. I’m stopping wearing it. Every time I go on a stationary bike the heart rate measurement drops massively after exactly 10 minutes. A software fault maybe. Not getting any support on this. I’ve sent several messages with no reply.Sleep tracking is fine. The calorie counter and steps seem fairly accurate (apart from the above issue). The food tracking is fun and I was impressed with how you can photograph your food and the AI works out the contents. I stopped using that though. It’s a lot of work keeping that going. Overall a good band. I think it will get even better.

I’ve been testing this watch extensively over the last month or so, and I can confidently say DO NOT BUY! Every review you’re seeing on YT is paid for nonsense. The step counter is wildly inaccurate and as for monitoring sleep it’s completely useless - on a night where I was travelling through the night and quite active, it reported 8 hours sleep. On nights where I’ve had 8 hours, I’ll get reports of 3 minutes sleep.The most painful truth, I ordered a rubbish £15 clone of this on AliExpress and it was way more accurate to my Apple Watch and Garmin than this was.Do yourself a favour, and don’t bother. It’s really not worth it.