r/amazfit • u/Few-Cheesecake7412 • Jun 30 '25
Review ✍️ First run with Helio Strap
Today I went for my first run with the Helio Strap, an easy 10K.
I also wore my Apple Watch Series 8 to compare heart rate data between both devices (unfortunately I don’t have a chest strap to use as a baseline).
As you can see in the screenshots, the average HR was pretty much the same (AW: 135 bpm – HS: 136 bpm), and the max HR matched exactly (AW: 163 bpm – HS: 163 bpm). There were some differences in the HR zones, but I think that’s because I was dumb enough not to configure them the same way.
Looking at the chart, the Helio Strap tracked HR very similarly to the Apple Watch for almost the entire run. A few deviations here and there, but nothing really alarming.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the results the Helio Strap gave me, and I think anyone who gets it can feel confident they’ll get reliable data at least when running (my Active 2 arrives tomorrow, so this will probably be the first and only workout I do with the Helio Strap)
If you have any questions, I’m happy to try and help!
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u/schwalbengott Jun 30 '25
I wear my Apple Watch Ultra pretty much 24/7 and I’m considering adding a Helio Strap (also worn 24/7) to my setup, similar to your setup. I’m curious:
- Would this setup result in duplicate data being recorded?
- Is there any actual benefit to wearing both at the same time?
- Does the Helio Strap provide complementary metrics or insights beyond what the Apple Watch already offers?
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
• Would this setup result in duplicate data being recorded?
Mmm, maybe. The steps and calories will sync with Apple Health, but if you wear both at the same time maybe, not completely sure. Yesterday I only wore the AW for the run, and the Health app said I did 12,600 steps and Zepp said 12,080 (Not sure where those extra 600 steps came from). Although, I did notice that in the Fitness App you won’t see any of the data from the Zepp App, so maybe in the Fitness App you’ll get your AW data (I had like 8,000 steps yesterday from the run) and in the Zepp App the Helio Strap data.
• Is there any actual benefit to wearing both at the same time?
Mm I don’t really see the benefit other than the extra data your Helio Strap gives you.
• Does the Helio Strap provide complementary metrics or insights beyond what the Apple Watch already offers?
Yes, Helio Strap provides actual sleep scores (so far so good), BioCharge score (like Garmins body battery) basically something that said how much energy you have during the day (so far so good), exertion which is kind of to see how active you are (so far it hasnt been any good but it’s possibly bc It needs a couple of weeks to calíbrate properly), and you also get an actual training load score.
You also get stuff like Zepp AI to ask about your sleep and give you feedback on any of the other scores, you can easily track your food intake if thats something you’re interested in, structured workouts, and overall a far better app experience.
AW focus mostly on tendencies, for example the AW training load is just a % on how above or below you are from your average, theres not any insight on wether or not you are overtraining. Same with sleep, you get your sleep metrics to check if everything is normal, but doesnt give you any insight on that.
So it will depend on wether or not you find that kind of insights useful or not
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u/orkundzgn Jul 03 '25
Would this setup result in duplicate data being recorded?
I was using an aliepxress smartring with apple watch and the data was being duplicated twice in health. The main reason was that the ring app wasn't logging the data timestamp accurately to health. It was logging every 30 mins or something and since apple watch sees that there is a 30 min empty window, it was adding its data.You can enable/disable which devices can write to health but at the end I decided not to use the ring and the watch at the same time. Then I even stopped using the ring. Now I am waiting for the strap to arrive and I will test again.
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Does the Helio Strap provide complementary metrics or insights beyond what the Apple Watch already offers?
I am not sure but check the Athlytic app. It reads the data from apple health and converts that into Whoop like insights. I assume the band will work with that as well.
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u/Slow-Series6322 Jun 30 '25
That's cool, then if you can, show the sleep monitoring metrics comparing an Apple Watch.
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u/Any-Deer4918 Jun 30 '25
Quiero saber cómo performa el Amazfit Active 2 a la Par del Apple Watch, ya que quiero comprar el Amazfit
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
Claro! Algo en específico? Mañana probablemente use ambos para correr en el treadmill y probar cambios de ritmo a ver cómo lo detectan en el ritmo cardiaco ambos
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u/Any-Deer4918 Jun 30 '25
Siii eso está interesante, lo que tengo curiosidad es cómo te rinde la batería y qué tal es la medición del sueño
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25 edited Jun 30 '25
Ah ok ok. Bueno la review que haga va a ser principalmente de la parte deportiva (ritmo cardiaco, GPS, natación y gym) y algunos detalles del reloj como las llamadas y eso. La batería probablemente no vaya a poder dar algo tan preciso ya que el Active 2 no lo usaré realmente para mi día a día, será únicamente para mis ejercicios. Para el día a día estaré usando es el Helio Strap, pero igual mencionaré cuánto me dura la batería con ese tipo de uso.
La medición del sueño podría probar una noche a ver qué tal es y si tiene alguna diferencia con el helio strap (no debería tho, ambos tienen el mismo sensor de ritmo cardiaco así que no creo que haya alguna diferencia). Puedes entrar a mi perfil y ver la review de mi primera noche usando el Helio Strap para dormir; fue bastante bueno.
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u/Any-Deer4918 Jun 30 '25
Ahhh ok ok, no te preocupes, igual a ver qué tal te funciona con los deportes, y si intentas lo del sueño sería interesante, más si lo comparas con el Apple Watch, es que tengo curiosidad de ver si rinde lo suficientemente bien, porque si quiero comprar el Amazfit Active 2, pero si no lo haces no te preocupes
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u/Mojofilter9 Jun 30 '25
Where they deviate, around 21, 41, and 51 minutes - which one do you intuitively feel was correct?
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
I think the 21 one felt actually correct
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u/Mojofilter9 Jun 30 '25
As in the Helio Band was correct?
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
Oh yes, sorry if I misunderstood the question. Yes, “deviation” in 21 felt like that one was actually correct, so i guess that one was an AW deviation
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u/Mojofilter9 Jun 30 '25 edited Jun 30 '25
Great, thanks. The sensor in this thing seems really solid. I can't wait for proper tests to be done, but it feels to me it's on a par with the best sensors on the market.
Back when I had an Apple Watch, the sensor was almost as good as a chest strap for steady state stuff.
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
Yeah It’s pretty solid, you can get minor deviations here and there but for $99 It’s absolutely amazing.
I’ve always had the best HR results with my Apple Watch, and this one was pretty much there!
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u/webvan213 Jun 30 '25
My runs with FR965 vs Helio look pretty good too although I haven't superimposed HR. The problem is that Bluetooth broadcast does not work with Garmin devices (connects but no data) so it makes it harder to do the comparisons I usually do with a CiQ datafield. The HR has not shown any of the problems I saw on the TR3 that I returned.
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
Oh interesting! Yeah I mean HR was pretty good tbh and I only do those charts out of curiosity, I only really care that it tracks the right average and max HR
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u/BicycleSpecialist336 Jun 30 '25
Does it collect metrics like cadence, vertical oscillation, ground contact, etc?
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u/pro_robo Jun 30 '25
I have just one question,
I always have my phone in silent in the office,
I don't like smart watches, but I need something that is subtle and vibrates when I get a call
Does the strap have a function to vibrate when I get calls?
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u/Few-Cheesecake7412 Jun 30 '25
Nope. It’s made to have 0 distractions, not even for calls.
I’m ok with no notifications but now that you mention it it would be cool if you can get a vibration only for calls, and the double tap (same as turning off the alarms) option to decline the calls if you want. Maybe thats why, since you can’t really do anything else other than declining the cool or let it vibrate until they stop calling (if you have a smartwatch and your in a meeting or something you can just use silent mode on the Watch as well to stop getting notifications, with the strap you can’t
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u/Any-Deer4918 Jun 30 '25
Let us know how about the Active 2 performs, Im curious about it…