Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'd never heard of Amazfit prior to a week or so ago. Which is okay; they'd never heard of me either. I certainly know who they are now! I found myself in need of a timepiece, but I wanted one that was a little more comprehensive than my usual Timex Ironman. A "smart" watch; something like an Apple Watch might've been nice; I'm a Mac adherent and have been for thirty-plus years. But research showed their watches possessing a hefty price tag and a skimpy battery life. Having received gift cards for my birthday, I looked around, did my homework, and finally decided to give the amusingly named Amazfit Bip a try. Or, more precisely, the Amazfit Bip 3 Pro. I guess that's a Bip 3 that's lost its amateur status. My initial thoughts on receiving it...hey! This is COOL! What you have here is a slick looking watch that does everything I could want it to do...heart monitoring, blood oxygen sensing, workout tracking, even sleep monitoring...and it does a lot more stuff Amazfit does a much better job at listing in its promo material than I would be able to do here. Of course you can change its face, and the amount of widgets available. I kinda like that; an overly busy display is annoying. Speaking of which, the display is big and readable even in bright sunlight, which at my age is pretty vital. I can get notifications on incoming messages and phone calls. The Zepp app (which comes in both iOS and Android flavors) makes it fairly easy to digest all of this incoming info. It's all packed in a lightweight package that boasts a battery life of two weeks. I can't verify that yet, but I'm almost a week in and I'm at 52% life remaining...and this is with a lot of playing around with the thing to learn how to use it and several workouts and hikes using the GPS. Yes, a GPS! With mapping, even! Now on to the downsides, such as they are. It's not a Dick Tracy watch (I know, I am dating myself here) which means that I can be notified of incoming phone calls and texts, but not answer them. And I can't play music on it. Control it, yes, play it, no. But honestly, these are two very minor gripes in a watch that comes in at under $60. But then...there is the execrable strap. Yes, It truly is awful: hot, sticky, and tight. Mind you, I am a large-framed person but frankly my wrists aren't THAT big around. How a really buff guy could wear the Bip comfortably right out of the box just mystifies me. Now, you could stretch it--I've done this in the past with watches--but you don't have to: quick-release pins make the silicone torture devices a cinch to swap out. I got a pack of three stretchy nylon straps for a little over $10 (I'll include a link below) and, PRESTO! Problem solved. The watch is now comfortable, so much so that I barely notice wearing it. And it looks rather spiffy too. There's plenty of colors and designs to choose from. And now? I really don't see any downside to the Bip 3 Pro. Low cost, plenty of available data, easy to learn and use, customizable, and it looks good on your wrist. Mind you, I'm still waiting on a jetpack, but this sort of gee-whiz stuff may be a bit much for an old codger. Maybe a hoverboard... Link to the stretchy nylon replacement straps I got (there's lots more that will work): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZSW3RKS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details