Amazfit GTR3 Pro, GTR 3 and GTS 3 - Smart Health or smartwatch?

On 12 October 2021, Huami, unveiled three new watch models under its Amazfit brand: GTR 3, GTS 3, and GTR 3 Pro. With this launch Huami debuted its Zepp OS and its long-awaited blood pressure sensor which is only available on the GTR 3 Pro model.

Zepp OS focuses on being lightweight and efficient while offering a smooth and premium user experience on the wrist. Most importantly, Zepp OS allows Huami and developers to build mini apps to further enhance health and IoT features – allowing the GTR and GTS lineup to move into smartwatch territory as opposed to their predecessors which were basic watches. The strategy of developing lightweight smartwatch Operating Systems is a key trend for emerging vendors, especially those who want more control of features and user experience over Google's WearOS platform.

Health tracking is a big theme, and Huami is eager to showcase its blood pressure tracking feature that the company hyped at its earlier press conference. PumpBeats, officially launched on its GTR 3 Pro and Huami states it only sees a small discrepancy compared to blood pressure readings from a sphygmomanometer. However, Huami is inviting future Pro users who have hyper-tension to participate in clinical research, so it is taking steps to further improve the accuracy of this important feature.

With intensive competition in the current wearable market, Huami is striving to fulfill users' expectations of wearable devices being more functional. And with the launch of Zepp OS, Huami is showing its ambition to push the concept of health from watches to other IoT devices. However, there are competing platforms such as Harmony OS and Wear OS aiming to fulfill similar goals within the smartwatch category. Canalys believes Huami is aiming to make new products that are sleek and premium to catch up with competitors while realizing unique health features of its own. The challenge for Huami is to continuously invest in the development of its OS while exploring more partnerships to create new and meaningful health features.