Smartwatches have become considerably more capable, but battery life can still become a problem when you spend several days away from an outlet. Amazfit thinks sunlight can help solve that problem, and its new T-Rex Dual Solar takes an unusual approach by putting solar collection on both sides of the watch.
Announced today, the Amazfit T-Rex Dual Solar combines a 1.32-inch AMOLED display with two separate solar surfaces. Amazfit calls it the world’s first AMOLED smartwatch with a dual-sided solar charging system, although that is a company claim and should be treated as such.
The front solar system collects energy through the display while you are wearing the watch. According to Amazfit’s testing, exposing it to 50,000 lux for three hours per day can increase typical battery life from up to 25 days to as much as 34 days.
Things get more interesting when you take the watch off. Amazfit has built another solar panel into the glass-ceramic back plate. The rear panel has twice the collection area of the front panel, so users can intentionally place the watch in sunlight when they want to collect more energy.
There is even a Solar Priority Mode that puts the T-Rex Dual Solar into an ultra-low-power state while it sits off your wrist. More importantly for hikers and other people spending extended periods away from electricity, Amazfit says sunlight can eventually revive a completely depleted watch. That could restore access to things such as maps and route information without finding an electrical outlet.
Of course, solar charging does not mean you can throw away the regular charger. How much energy the watch collects will depend heavily on sunlight, positioning, exposure time, and how you use it. Still, having solar function as an emergency power source is considerably more interesting than simply squeezing another few hours from the battery.
Even without solar assistance, Amazfit claims up to 25 days of typical battery life from the 660 mAh battery. Accuracy GPS Mode is rated for up to 41 hours, while an Outdoor Extreme battery mode reduces power consumption while retaining important outdoor functionality, including GPS track points.
The rest of the hardware looks appropriately excessive for something carrying the T-Rex name. You get a Grade 5 titanium bezel, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, 10 ATM water resistance, recreational diving support to 50 meters, and a built-in flashlight with a red-light option.
That AMOLED display can reach up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness, which should help when reading it outdoors. Interestingly, that brightness matches the current T-Rex 3 Pro, which Amazfit also rates at up to 3,000 nits. The existing T-Rex 3 tops out at 2,000 nits.
Navigation is another major part of the package. The T-Rex Dual Solar includes preloaded full-color maps, downloadable contour and ski maps, turn-by-turn navigation, waypoint navigation, route planning, and points of interest. A Navigation Gradient Curve can display upcoming climbs and descents, while LiveShare allows users to share their location, heading, and activity information with other people.
Amazfit is also introducing an Expedition activity mode aimed at multi-day trips. Combined with the low-power settings and solar recovery, this is clearly a smartwatch intended more for hiking, climbing, and extended outdoor adventures than simply counting steps around the neighborhood.
All of that capability comes at a price, though. The Amazfit T-Rex Dual Solar costs $649.99, putting it well above the company’s $399.99 T-Rex 3 Pro and $279.99 T-Rex 3. At that price, buyers should probably have a genuine need for the outdoor features rather than buying it just because solar charging sounds cool.
Still, the rear solar panel is a clever idea. A solar watch normally spends its time trying to collect energy from whichever part faces the sky. Amazfit essentially lets you flip this one over and deliberately turn it into a tiny solar charger.
The Amazfit T-Rex Dual Solar can be had here now for $649.99. For people who regularly disappear into places where electrical outlets are hard to find, having a smartwatch that can potentially bring itself back from the dead using nothing but sunlight could be genuinely useful.
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