After 6 weeks of brutal testing through rain, mud, mountains, and midnight runs, here’s the unfiltered truth about Amazfit’s ambitious outdoor smartwatch.
Quick Verdict
⭐⭐⭐½ out of 5 stars
The Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro packs game-changing hardware into a $399 package that should terrify Garmin. But frustratingly half-baked software—especially the dangerously unreliable navigation—keeps it from greatness.
- Rugged by Design: The T-Rex 3 Pro smart watch is adventure-ready with sapphire glass, a bright 3000-nit AMOLED display, and a titanium alloy bezel and buttons - available in 48mm or 44mm to match your style.
- Offline Maps with Route Planning: Stay on track anywhere with offline POI search, auto rerouting, round-trip route creation, and detailed ski maps - your ultimate outdoor companion for every adventure.
- Industry-Leading GPS: Accurately track every move, even under tall buildings or dense tree cover. Dual-band support from six satellite systems delivers fast, reliable connection, through rugged hikes to intense trail runs.
- Built for Every Adventure: With 180+ sport modes, HYROX training, 10 ATM water resistance, and diving certification to 45m, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro activity tracker is built to excel from ocean depths to mountain peaks.
- Built-In Flashlight: Stay visible with a built-in two-color flashlight. Switch between soft red for low interference, bright white for clarity, or Turbo Mode for maximum visibility. An SOS signal offers added peace of mind when needed.
If you can tolerate beta-quality features for killer hardware value, dive in. Otherwise, wait for the inevitable software updates.
Why I Tested This Watch
Let me be blunt: I’m a Garmin fanboy. I’ve worn Fenix watches for years and considered them untouchable in the outdoor space. So when Amazfit claimed their T-Rex 3 Pro could deliver 90% of Garmin’s features at 40% of the price, I had to see if this was marketing fluff or a genuine disruption.My testing regimen:
- ✅ 300+ miles of running/cycling
- ✅ 15 backcountry hikes
- ✅ Daily wear for 6 weeks
- ✅ Navigation testing in 5 different cities
- ✅ Sleep tracking every night
- ✅ Flashlight use in real emergencies
Key Specs & Pricing Breakdown
The Numbers That Matter
| Feature | T-Rex 3 Pro | T-Rex 3 Standard | Main Competitors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $399 | $299 | Garmin Instinct 2X: $449 Fenix 7: $699+ |
| Display | 3000 nits AMOLED | 2000 nits AMOLED | Apple Watch Ultra: 3000 nits Garmin Fenix: 1000 nits |
| Battery | 14 days typical 6 days heavy GPS |
21 days typical 9 days heavy GPS |
Garmin: 16-28 days Apple: 36 hours |
| Special Features | ✅ Flashlight ✅ Speaker ✅ Offline maps |
❌ No flashlight ❌ No speaker ✅ Offline maps |
Varies by model |
| Water Rating | 10 ATM | 10 ATM | Most: 5-10 ATM |
What’s Actually New?
- Industry-first white + red LED flashlight system
- On-device route generation (supposedly)
- Built-in speaker for calls and alerts
- 3000-nit display matching Apple Watch Ultra brightness
Overview and Key Specs
The Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro is available now in a 48mm size, with a 44mm variant arriving later. At $399 it undercuts many high-end competitors and packs a couple of new hardware tricks: a bright display, a dual-white-LED flashlight plus a red LED, a built-in speaker (for phone calls and audio prompts), and—critically—on-device offline route generation and rerouting.
Core specifications I tracked during testing:
- Two sizes: 48mm (available) and 44mm (coming in October)
- Price: $399
- Pro display brightness: 3000 nits (regular T-Rex 3: 2000 nits)
- Hardware: dual white LEDs + single red LED flashlight, microphone + speaker
- Offline maps and advertised on-watch route generation / rerouting
- No cellular—calls require your phone nearby (acts as a Bluetooth headset)
Design, Display, and Build
The T-Rex 3 Pro looks like what it is: a rugged, outdoorsy watch. The 3000-nit display on the Pro is bright and usable even in glaring sun—similar to the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s brightness. In daily usage I didn’t find the screen limiting; both the 3000- and 2000-nit variants are perfectly readable outdoors. The Pro’s screen gives you excellent contrast for maps, metrics, and the new flashlight UI.
The Flashlight That Changed My Mind
I’ll admit it: I thought the flashlight was a gimmick. I was wrong.
Real-World Flashlight Uses:
- Finding dropped AirPods under the car seat (happened twice)
- Emergency trail lighting when my headlamp died
- Reading restaurant menus in dim lighting
- Tent navigation without waking my partner
- Safety strobe during pre-dawn runs
Flashlight Performance Breakdown:
| Use Case | T-Rex 3 Pro | Garmin Fenix 8 | Usefulness Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close-range tasks | Excellent | Excellent | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Trail illumination | Good (15-20ft) | Better (25-30ft) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Emergency signaling | Red LED perfect | White only | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Battery impact | Minimal | Minimal | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| The killer feature: The red LED preserves night vision perfectly. After using it for midnight bathroom runs, I’m convinced every outdoor watch needs this. |
Out on the trail the flashlight is serviceable. Up close it feels similar to a Garmin Phoenix 8 in short-range brightness. For long throw—lighting objects far away—the Phoenix 8’s lamp reaches further. That matters most if you intend to use the watch as a primary trail headlamp; for backup or proximity tasks, the T-Rex 3 Pro is fine.
You can also configure the flashlight as a safety flashing light during run modes, and I liked that it can automatically enable after sunset. The flashing pattern selection isn’t as deep as Garmin’s options, but it’s a solid inclusion that actually gets used.
Speaker & Phone Calling: Bluetooth Headset on Your Wrist
The addition of a speaker takes the T-Rex 3 Pro beyond simple notifications. It’s effectively a Bluetooth headset companion to your phone—no cellular onboard—so calls route through your phone and play through the watch speaker. Dialing or picking up is straightforward: you can dial a number, import contacts (the flow is clunky but functional), or call recent callers.
What Works:
- ✅ Quick calls while hands are full
- ✅ Voice notifications during workouts
- ✅ Find my phone feature (loud beeping)
- ✅ Alarm that actually wakes you up
What Doesn’t:
- ❌ Volume too low in noisy environments
- ❌ Tinny audio quality (expected, but still disappointing)
- ❌ No music playback (speaker is call-only)
- ❌ Drains battery faster when used heavily
Real talk: I’ve taken exactly 7 calls on the watch. It’s convenient when your phone is buried in a backpack, but don’t expect to conduct business meetings through your wrist.
Offline Maps, Route Generation, and Rerouting: The Big Promise
The headline feature for many is the T-Rex 3 Pro’s ability to generate routes on-device and supposedly perform offline rerouting—tasks previously only truly handled by Garmin on wearables. Amazfit pitches three core scenarios:
- Round-trip route creation (e.g., “I want a 10K route heading generally north”)
- On-the-fly rerouting around an obstacle
- Navigation to a chosen point or point of interest
On paper this is huge: having full offline route generation on a watch is rare. In practice, however, the experience proved rocky and inconsistent.
Real-World Testing: Where It Works and Where It Falls Apart
I tested the three core route scenarios exhaustively. The results were mixed at best and outright problematic in several cases.
Round-Trip Routing
Round-trip routing lets you specify direction (north/south/east/west), distance (up to 50 km), and then it calculates options. For short routes—about 10K or lower—the calculation sometimes worked and returned plausible loops within a few seconds. For longer requests the watch often failed or took 30–40 seconds only to time out or abort. When it did provide routes, you get three route options to pick from, but don’t expect consistent success beyond shorter distances.
Route Quality and Dangerous Choices
This is where my concern shifts from “buggy” to “potentially dangerous.” On multiple routes the watch routed me directly onto highway interchanges—literally suggesting paths into oncoming traffic—instead of on the nearby multi-meter-wide pedestrian/bike path that parallels the road. I zoomed the map, checked the trail location, and the watch repeatedly prioritized the highway lane over the safe pedestrian route.
That’s not just annoying; that’s unsafe. Route generation should default to pedestrian- and cycling-friendly paths when you select walking/running/cycling. This failed badly here.
Rerouting Functionality
Amazfit advertises “automatic rerouting.” In reality it doesn’t automatically reroute. To invoke rerouting you must stop and end your activity, then navigate through menus to request a reroute. Pausing an activity is not enough—you must completely stop the activity to generate a new route. Even when you follow that awkward procedure, reroutes often fail.
Even more frustrating: you cannot create a new route that gets you back to start mid-activity. The system is locked to “follow the course you came” which defeats the main purpose of mid-activity rerouting: getting home the fastest way possible when plans change. The combination of needing to end an activity and being blocked from routing home kills the usefulness of this feature.
Translations and Voice Prompts
When navigation does work, the voice prompts are a mixed bag. Translations are awkward: prompts like “front left” or “front right” are used instead of “slight left” or “slight right.” At times the watch announced, “go up elevation X meters” in the middle of a long climb—an odd and unhelpful message. My favorite oddity: when you go off-course it admonishes you with,
“You have deviated from the route. Please pay attention to your travel path.”
It’s blunt, and amusing, but it highlights sloppy text translation and tone choices that erode confidence in navigation prompts.
Comparisons: Not a Garmin Phoenix Killer, But a Threat to the Instinct Line
Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro vs. The Competition
| Feature | T-Rex 3 Pro | Garmin Instinct 2X | Apple Watch Ultra 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $399 ✅ | $449 | $799 |
| Battery | 14 days | 28 days ✅ | 3 days |
| Display | AMOLED 3000 nits ✅ | MIP 280 nits | AMOLED 3000 nits ✅ |
| Navigation | Broken | Flawless ✅ | Excellent |
| Ecosystem | Limited | Extensive ✅ | Extensive |
| Durability | Excellent | Military-grade ✅ | Excellent |
| Smart features | Basic | Basic | Full smartwatch ✅ |
The Verdict:
At $399, the T-Rex 3 Pro offers incredible hardware value. But Garmin’s superior software and ecosystem make the extra $50 for an Instinct 2X worthwhile for serious outdoor athletes.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Good value for hardware: flashlight, speaker, bright 3000-nit display at $399.
- Convenient flashlight: genuinely useful indoors and as a safety light while running.
- On-device routing promise: if fixed, on-watch route generation would be a major differentiator.
- Rugged build: designed for outdoorsy users and looks the part.
Cons
- Routing is unreliable: frequent failures, long calculation times for larger routes, and dangerous highway routing.
- Reroute workflow is broken: not automatic, requires ending activities, cannot route back to start.
- Translation and voice-prompt oddities: poor phrasing reduces clarity while navigating.
- Speaker volume: too quiet for many calling situations.
- Software feels half-baked: repeated rough edges suggest insufficient beta testing or ignored feedback.
Who Should Buy the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro?
If you want a rugged watch with modern hardware at a bargain price and you’re comfortable accepting rough software that may be improved over time, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro is tempting. It’s a good match for casual outdoor users who value the flashlight, bright screen, and rugged look more than flawless navigation.
Don’t buy it if you depend on reliable mapping and rerouting for navigating challenging trails or urban runs. If safety and dependable turn-by-turn routing are critical to you—especially in unfamiliar terrain—this watch is not ready to replace a Garmin Fenix or similarly capable device.
Final Recommendation
Buy it if you can score it for $350 or less during sales and don’t need navigation. The flashlight alone is worth $50 in real-world value.Wait if you need it for serious outdoor navigation or can stretch your budget to a Garmin Instinct 2X.
- Rugged by Design: The T-Rex 3 Pro smart watch is adventure-ready with sapphire glass, a bright 3000-nit AMOLED display, and a titanium alloy bezel and buttons - available in 48mm or 44mm to match your style.
- Offline Maps with Route Planning: Stay on track anywhere with offline POI search, auto rerouting, round-trip route creation, and detailed ski maps - your ultimate outdoor companion for every adventure.
- Industry-Leading GPS: Accurately track every move, even under tall buildings or dense tree cover. Dual-band support from six satellite systems delivers fast, reliable connection, through rugged hikes to intense trail runs.
- Built for Every Adventure: With 180+ sport modes, HYROX training, 10 ATM water resistance, and diving certification to 45m, the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro activity tracker is built to excel from ocean depths to mountain peaks.
- Built-In Flashlight: Stay visible with a built-in two-color flashlight. Switch between soft red for low interference, bright white for clarity, or Turbo Mode for maximum visibility. An SOS signal offers added peace of mind when needed.
The Future:
Amazfit has the hardware chops to genuinely disrupt the outdoor watch market. If they fix the navigation and polish the software, the T-Rex 4 Pro could be the watch that finally makes Garmin sweat. Until then, this remains a tantalizing preview of what’s possible when ambition exceeds execution.
FAQ
Does the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro have cellular?
No. The Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro has a speaker and microphone for calls, but it requires your phone nearby; it acts as a Bluetooth headset rather than a standalone cellular device.
How bright is the display?
The Pro version features a 3000-nit display. The non-Pro T-Rex 3 edition uses a 2000-nit panel. Both are very readable in bright sunlight.
Can the watch reroute automatically if I go off-course?
No. Despite the marketing claim, the watch does not automatically reroute. You must end an activity and invoke rerouting manually, and that process often fails in practice.
Is the flashlight usable on trails at night?
Yes as a backup or proximity light. It’s excellent for indoor tasks and tent use. For long-throw trail illumination the light is effective at short range but doesn’t reach as far as some Garmin models.
Should I buy this instead of a Garmin Fenix or Instinct?
It depends. If you need dependable navigation and full-featured rerouting, Garmin remains the safer choice. If you want a lot of hardware for a lower price and can tolerate software roughness, the T-Rex 3 Pro is worth considering.
As a veteran fitness technology innovator and the founder of GearUpToFit.com, Alex Papaioannou stands at the intersection of health science and artificial intelligence. With over a decade of specialized experience in digital wellness solutions, he’s transforming how people approach their fitness journey through data-driven methodologies.
Last update on 2025-09-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API