Get into Zen sleep with Amaz(ing)fit Buds

Amazfit (a Xiaomi sub-company) produce various fitness products such as watches and bands and also ear buds.

Now it has designed the Amazfit Zenbuds which are a pair of true wireless earbuds that offer a unique feature – they can help you fall asleep faster. These earbuds are designed with sleep in mind, with a number of features that are meant to help you relax and drift off to sleep.

In terms of sound quality, the Zenbuds offer clear and crisp audio. The earbuds are comfortable to wear and fit securely in the ear, making them a great option for sleeping or working out. The battery life of the Zenbuds is also impressive, with the earbuds lasting up to 8 hours on a single charge.

Zenbuds with small tips

One of the standout features of the Zenbuds is the ability to play white noise or guided meditations to help you relax and clear your mind before bed. These sounds can be customised and set to play for a certain amount of time, allowing you to drift off to sleep peacefully.

The buds are relatively small, with silicon tips (S/M/L) that fit in the ear canal. The outside of the buds have a silicon protrusion that helps hold them in place in the ear. They are also very light at 2g per bud.

One feature is the touch control system, which allows you to easily control your music and adjust the volume without having to pull out your phone. The earbuds also have a built-in microphone, allowing you to take calls or access your phone's voice assistant without having to remove the earbuds.

The buds come in a charging case with a USB-C port.

Zenbuds case (the lettering is silver and reflective)

The Zenbuds are also sweat and water resistant, making them a good option for working out or for use in wet conditions. The charging case provides an additional 4 charges for the earbuds, giving a total of up to 32 hours of use.

The top of the case swivels to open and the case has 3 white LEDs showing its charge. The left and right buds must be placed in their equivalent (correct) receptacles or they won't charge, but they do magnetically snap in.

Charge status LEDs

The buds have two electrical connectors for charging and they fit on top of the equivalent pins on their respective spaces in the case and are held magnetically.

Electrical connectors

The buds act like normal earphones but also have sensors in to measure heart rate when sleeping and in terms of connectivity, the Zenbuds use Bluetooth 5.0 technology, ensuring a stable and reliable connection to both Android and iOS devices. When sleeping The earbuds track your sleep patterns, including how long you sleep, how deep your sleep is, and how many times you wake up during the night.

This data is then synced to the Amazfit app, where you can view your sleep stats and get insights on how to improve your sleep quality. The app also offers sleep recommendations and suggestions for creating a better sleep environment.

Though the buds have the springy loop bit that fits into the ear, they can fall out, especially if your head moves around a lot and your ear rests on the pillow or mattress.

The current design only plays music/sounds for the set duration or until you fall asleep, but if you wake up again, the sounds don't resume which isn't much good for restless sleep. Though quoted for 8 hours, they can run out of power if you have a sleeping problem such as insomnia or don't fall into deep sleep so they don't detect your asleep at all.

An alarm can also be set in the app, so the buds will wake you in the morning.

They are available directly from the UK Amazfit store for £119 though can be found on other sites too.

They can help with sleep and white noise is preferential to other noises which can be annoying and stop you sleeping, it would be great if they detected you'd woken up again, and started the audio again to re-block external sounds.

Xiaomi Band 4

Xiaomi make everything or they invest in other companies to make stuff for them. If you want something for the home, there will be a Xiaomi (or more likely under the Mi brand) product available. An electric toothbrush, yes, a pen (called a signing pen), yes. Lighting, yes, speakers, smart speakers, humidifiers, air purifiers, air quality sensors.

Some of the products are available directly in the UK (there's even a Mi Store at Westfield in Shepherd's Bush), download the Mi Store app and set your country and you can order through the app.

However in the UK there's only a tiny subset of what Xiaomi actually sell, if you dare, head over to Aliexpress and search of Xiaomi or Mi and see the plethora of products available. Reign in your credit card as it's easy to just buy everything.

Amazfit are one of the companies that Xiaomi initially invested in (and now may well own, another is Segway/Ninebot). There's a previous review of the Amazfit Cor and though the screen is monochrome OLED, it's still quite a nice tracker. Unfortunately the strap eventually broke (which doesn't seem replaceable which seems a shame as the actual unit was working perfectly), so the to replace with a Mi Band 4.

Mi have regularly updated the band and it's very cost effective compared to the general (US) competition (Fitbit etc). It's not the prettiest of devices, the central "pod" (which is removed from the strap to charge) is about 4cm long by 1.5 cm wide and 1cm high. It has a colour AMOLED display and optical pulse/heart rate sensor on the base in contact with the skin. The strap is silicone and uses a pass through system and a knob that pushes into a hole on the other side.

The quoted battery life is 20 days, though this can reduce if certain settings are enabled (like heart rate read every minute and accurate sleep tracking etc), however it's still pretty reasonable with everything turned up to the max and won't need charging for several days at least. The band is also waterproof down to 50m (i.e. 5 ATM of pressure) so good for a swim in the pool or shower, but not recommended for deep sea divers.

There are lots of "watch faces" available (most are horrid) and if you're an Android/Windows user, then are are sites that show how to design and install your own.

To get the data off the band it works with the Mi Fit app (which is available on both iOS and Android). All customisation is done through the app, though some can be done through settings on the band itself, though it's a bit fiddly.

It can all the normal things a tracker can i.e.

• Notifications
• Controlling Music
• Calls
• Steps
• Calories

There's also workouts that can be tracked" -

• Outdoor Running
• Treadmill
• Cycling
• Walking
• Freestyle
• Pool swimming

The band can also display the Weather.

On the band itself it's possible to set (under More): -

• Do Not Disturb (DND)
• Alarms
• Music
• Stopwatch
• Timer
• Find Device
• Band Display (brightness etc)

Everything works, heart rate tracking is as good as any optical sensor device can be as if you're doing sport and the band moved away from the skin, it's not going to measure properly. Sleep tracking works very well and shows speeds of awake, deep sleep and REM sleep.

The Official Mi UK price is £34.99 which is still pretty good for the features, however if waiting a few days and ordering from China isn't an issue that will significantly reduces the cost.

Amazfit helping you build your Cor fitness

Amazfit are a relatively unknown brand in the UK, but they're big in China and are actually reasonably well known as as they make the Xiaomi Bands and it's possible to use Amazfit products with the Mi Fit app (which integrates into Apple Health - while the Amazfit branded app is standalone, though may offer some increased functionality with their products).

The Cor is the next generation on from the Arc which has a monochrome OLED display while the Cor is now colour. It has the usual complement of measurements, steps, sleep tracking, calories (made up as it's not tracking anything you eat etc) and pulse rate via n optical sensor under the body of the unit.

It's also possible to get notification from various apps and these can be enabled and disabled in the Mi Fit app.

Though the display is colour, it doesn't really add much to the previous and unless a preset display is chosen, some displays can affect battery life (as they get updated more often).

Step counting, heart rate and sleep tracking are comparable with the Fitbit AltaHR (wouldn't surprise if the actual electronics internally were the same or very similar), where Amazfit does excel is in price, the Cor can be had for around $40 from your favourite Chinese site. It's also waterproof to 5ATM so can be used for swimming and snorkelling and other water sports without fear of damaging it.

Amazfit are definitely a brand to watch in the fitness tracking department and they're constantly coming out with new products.

Recommended in terms of price and functionality, though the Mi Fit app doesn't yet compete with say Fitbit's, also battery life is claimed at 20 days and though it might not actually quite reach that, it will definitely last a week or 2 on a single 2.5hr charge.

Xiaomi Huami AMAZFIT A1603 Smartband

Xiaomi make lots of stuff, but they also work with partners and specifically Huami who make wearables (under the AMAZFIT brand). In the US it's known as the Amazfit ARC.

Though the functionality is almost identical to the Xiaomi Band 2, it looks much nicer and the silicon strap has a 'hatch' effect on it which is very comfortable to wear. The actual unit is permanently attached to the strap and has a soft 'brushed' metal feel. Underneath there's an optical heart rate sensor and charging pins and the top is a UV coated scratch resistant OLED display.

Like most trackers it measures steps but also sleep (you obviously have to wear it at night), distance and active calories. The battery life is VERY good (Huami claim 20 days). It can also display notifications from your phone (currently iOS and Android are supported).

As a bonus it's also water proof and can be used when swimming, though it doesn't track swimming.

There's a USB charging cable that is magnetically polarised so it 'snaps' on to the charging pins on the bottom of the unit, this also stops you getting it the wrong way around.

There is an Amazfit app available and through it's pretty basic, it does support all the devices features and notifications, alarms etc can be set through it. However, it the ARC also works with the Xiaomi Mi Fit app, which has a lot more features and links with Apple Health and Android Fit on the relevant platforms. The Mi Fit app also seems to have a few more advanced features like being able to track heart rate when sleeping which give more accurate results (though reduces battery life).

It's definitely a cut above the Mi Band2 in terms of looks and comfort and on a par with traditional fitness trackers from established US companies, though at a very competitive price. However, the apps of more expensive western vendors are generally quite a bit better with more functionality.

The list price is $99 from the US Amazfit site, but various Asian sites have it available for around £30 including shipping.