Amazfit Helio Strap Review: Whoop Killer or Just Hype?

0:00 I've been waiting for this product for a very, very long time. This is the Amazefitit Helio Strap. We've known the Whoop band for a few years now, and it's becoming increasingly popular. It's a fitness band without a display that tracks key fitness and health metrics throughout the day. However, it comes with ongoing monthly subscription fees, which were increased again this year. And even though I'm definitely not a fan of these subscription models, I love the idea of a screenless fitness tracker, just like many other people out there. And fortunately, many other manufacturers are now jumping on board as well. Gami has already released its index sleep monitor. Polar has announced a new, presumably very similar product for September. And Amazefitit has now introduced this very exciting band called the Helio Strap. It costs a onetime fee of $99 or euros, meaning

0:48 there are no additional subscription costs, yet it still offers much of what the Whoop Band promises. So, I couldn't resist testing the Amazefitit Helio strap myself. I wore it 24/7 in my everyday life, whether running, at the gym, sleeping, or even at a party. In this video, I'll share all the pros and cons of the band so that by the end, you'll know exactly whether it's the right choice for you. And before we dive in, I'm very happy to announce that I'm now also active on Instagram. It took a very long time, but you can now also find me on Instagram under the name German.acent.reviews. I will leave a link to this Instagram page in the video description and there on my Instagram I will share some insights into how I do all my reviews, some behind the scenes and you will also see some impressions of some adventures

1:33 and challenges I take on. Like for example, two years ago I climbed the Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and this year I went to the Mount Everest base camp in Nepal and I will share some insights on all of these things that I do apart from my usual reviews. But now, let's jump into this review of the Amazefitit Helio Strap. Have fun. [Music] The Helio Strap is currently only available in one version. It features a 22mm black nylon band. Nylon is my absolute favorite band material for sports watches and smart watches because it's very light, comfortable, and easy to adjust. The Helio Strap fits very well on my 185 mm circumference wrist. you almost forget that you're wearing it, and it doesn't disturb your sleep

2:19 either. At just 20 g, it's also very lightweight, much lighter than most sports watches, which typically weigh between 40 and 80 g. The Helio strap is water resistant up to 5 ATM, meaning you can shower or swim with it without an issue. Although, it's not suitable for diving. As mentioned, this black version is currently the only one available, and it's unclear whether additional options will be released soon. I would personally be very interested in more color choices or perhaps a band designed to be worn on the upper arm. The core of the band is of course its built-in sensor. It features Amazefitit's sixth generation biotracker which is also used in the new Amazefit Balance 2 that launched alongside the Helio strap and which I'm also currently testing. The Biotracker can monitor things like heart

3:05 rate, heart rate viability, blood oxygen saturation, and stress. It also includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and temperature sensor. We'll dive deeper into the actual tracking data shortly. Inside the sensor is a 232 mAh hours battery, and Amazefit claims up to 10 days of battery life. In my case, it usually lasts around 8 days, which I still find very acceptable. For example, I have continuous SPO2 monitoring enabled, so the battery life depends on how many sensors and measurements you activate. Charging is done using this small adapter which connects to a standard USBC cable. Note that the cable is not included, but I think most of us have a spare USBC cable lying around at home. Charging takes about 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours. The root band is designed to be

3:52 charged via an attachable power bank, so you don't even need to take it off. That's not the case with the Helio Strap. It needs to be removed for charging in the usual way. But enough about the specs. Let's dive into all the tracked data and statistics of the Helio strap. [Music] The data is analyzed using the Zap app, which is also used for all other Amazefitit products. I personally really like the app. It's very well organized and very easy to understand. On the home screen, you first get an overview of the most important daily stats. At the top, for example, there is the newly introduced biocharge score, which Amazefitit launched alongside the Helio Strip. This value works like a body battery and is meant to help you understand how your energy level changes

4:37 throughout the day. After a restful night, your biocharge score is charged and it adjusts throughout the day based on your workouts, stress levels, and rest periods. Intense workouts or stress will cause the score to drop, while rest and recovery will help it rise again, especially during sleep when your energy reserves naturally recharge. Tapping on the score gives you more details, including an info box explaining the current statues, and most importantly, a curve showing the trend. You can see how much energy you gained or lost, how sleep contributed to your recovery, and what your energy level looked like upon waking. The two most important parameters for recovery during sleep are resting heart rate and heart rate viability. Your resting heart rate should ideally be as low as possible. So the normal range is somewhere between 50

5:24 and 70 beats per minute. But this ultimately depends on many different factors like your age, gender, fitness level, and recovery. But generally speaking, the lower your resting heart rate, the better your body is recovering. For example, if your normal resting heart rate is 50, but one night it's 60, then that night likely wasn't very restful. And there could be many reasons for that. Your HRV or heart rate variability on the other hand should be as high as possible because the more variable your heartbeat, the better your body is recovering and adapting. So a normal range here would be somewhere between 30 and 70 milliseconds. But this also depends on many different factors. And the higher your HRV, the better your fitness generally speaking. What's also important is that the HRV value remains balanced and stable, which gin for

6:10 example represents with its HRV status feature. And speaking of Gamin, I compared all of the health and fitness data from the Helio Strap with many other devices I constantly test over time. For example, during the last couple of weeks, I wore the Gamin Venue X1, the Gamin 41970, as well as the Ultra Human Ring Air, and the data from the Helio Strap was very consistent with the data from these devices. The biocharge score behaves similarly to Gamin's body battery and both Amazefitit and Gamin put my HRV between 90 and 100 milliseconds. My resting heart rate is reported by Gamin at just under 40 beats per minute and by Amazefit at just over 40. So the difference here is minimal. It's especially interesting to observe how the resting heart rate and heart

6:56 rate variability respond to certain environmental factors or certain influences of your lifestyle. For example, if you have a very big meal right before sleep or if you do a very intense exercise right before sleep, you will definitely notice a difference in your resting heart rate and heart rate variability during sleep. And alcohol is having an even bigger impact on this. I was attending a party on Saturday and had a few drinks and I could clearly see that my values deviated significantly from my norm that night. Resting heart rate went up, HIV went down. It's fascinating to spot these trends as they help you make better lifestyle choices for your health. There was also a dedicated sleep section that shows all the relevant stats. At the top, you will see a sleep score from 0 to 100 and a quick summary. Then you will find total

7:41 sleep duration and a breakdown of sleep phases. Tapping on that gives you a more detailed view showing heart rate trends, breathing rate, and time spent in light sleep, deep sleep, and sleep. Of course, I can't validate the exact breakdowns of sleep stages without being in a sleep lab. Maybe I will do that in the future because that would be really interesting for me as well. But yeah, I wouldn't really rely on the exact durations of the sleep stages for any device because it's only about 80% accurate because all of the manufacturers have a different approach on how to measure sleep stages. And yeah, it's not totally reliable no matter if it's a Helio strap, a gaming watch, an Apple Watch, or a fitness ring. But the sleep stages are not the most important markers in sleep tracking either. Sleep and wake times, however,

8:28 were very accurate and matched well with the other devices I'm testing, like the Gamin Venue X1 and Ultra Human Ring Air. The device can also detect naps during the day, though I don't take naps, so I don't have data for that. Below that, you'll find a list of sleep metrics such as sleep duration, consistency, and face breakdown. You can also dive deeper into individual stats, view trends over the past 7 days, and see how you compare to other users. Further down, you'll see resting heart rate, breathing rate, and even a sleep apneoa risk section where breathing irregularities during sleep can be detected. You can also keep a sleep journal to record your mood when waking up and log what you did before falling asleep, helping you find correlations with your sleep quality. But let's go back to the daily overview. There was also a nutrition section where

9:14 you can log your food intake, either by typing, speaking, or even taking a photo of your meal. The app then analyzes the data and shows you the macronutrients, calories, and more. It compares your calorie intake with your calories burned, so you can see whether you're in a calorie surplus or deficit. I don't personally use this feature, but it's especially helpful if you're trying to lose weight. Further down, you'll see the core daily metrics again, so the resting heart rate, HIV, sleep duration, and sleep apneoa risk plus skin temperature. Then there is a heart health section showing all heart related metrics including blood oxygen saturation. So SPO2 steps are of course also tracked and matched up very well with the data from gamin and ultra human and calories burned are also shown along a timeline including workout breakdowns.

10:01 We'll talk about workouts in more detail shortly. In the stress section, you get a timeline showing when and how much stress you experienced throughout the day, helping you identify patterns and causes. There is also a metric called PII or personal activity intelligence. It's a score showing how active you've been over the past 7 days. The goal is to maintain 100 PII points or more. You earn PII points primarily through raising your heart rate. So, the more intense your activity, the faster your score increases. You see how many points you've earned today and how close you are to your next goal. At the bottom of the daily overview, you can manually enter and track your weight. And then you also see your BMI, body fat percentage, and muscle mass. For all of these health stats, you can also enable notifications, for example, if your heart rate spikes or if stress levels

10:48 rise. You can also use the Helio strap as an alarm set via the app. The band will then vibrate and you can stop it with a tap. There is also a find device feature in case you misplace your Helio strap. Additionally, the Zap app is compatible with third party apps like Straa, Training Peaks, Adidas running, Kimoot, and especially Apple Health. There was also an optional upgrade called Zap Aura, a premium sleep tool that offers more in-depth sleep analysis, an AI powered sleep assistant, sleepy music, meditations, and much more. It costs around $2 to $3 per month, but I personally don't use it and haven't tested it further. Some sounds and background noises are free, and as mentioned, the rest of the app, meaning the vast majority, is completely free. [Music]

11:35 When it comes to health and fitness tracking, the Helio Strap can really track a lot. There is hardly anything that the tracker can't track. However, its limitations become clear when we take a look at the training section because in this regard, the Helio strap is clearly not on par with sports watches or smart watches. You can start workouts through the app and track them using the Helio Strap, but the statistics gathered are fairly limited. For example, during a run, it tracks heart rate, pace, cadence, steps, calories, and aerobic and anorobic training load, but it lacks more advanced metrics found in some sports watches, like ground contact time or vertical oscillation. That said, most people probably won't need those advanced metrics anyway. I compared the heart rate data with a chest strap, and during runs, the Helio strap was very

12:20 accurate. The curve was almost identical to that of the chest strap, and the average heart rate only differed by about 0.3 beats per minute, which is as precise as it gets. During strength training, the accuracy wasn't quite as high, but still better than most sports watches. Where many watches produce nearly useless data during weight training, the Helio strap gives results that are actually usable. In strength training, you also get a visual animation of the muscle groups you've trained, and the device can even recognize certain exercises. Classic moves like a bench press, biceps curl, or triceps pushdowns were detected reliably in my case, where less common exercises were not, but you can go back and manually edit these afterward. The biggest limitation, however, is that the Helio Strap doesn't have built-in GPS. It uses your smartphone's GPS for route

13:07 tracking, which means that it can only track routes outdoors when paired with a smartphone. You'll need to have your phone with you anyway since workouts can only be started and stopped through the app. The route tracking is therefore only as accurate as your phone's GPS. So decent but not on par with a good sports watch. Another clear and very obvious drawback is the lack of a display. Yes, this is a big advantage of the tracker and the whole point of getting this screenless tracker in the first place. But if you want to take a look at your heart rate during running or your distance during cycling, obviously you can't do that with the Helio Strap. What you can do, however, is use the heart rate broadcast function, which allows you to send your heart rate to external devices like a treadmill, where it can then be displayed. There are 27 different sport modes available with a

13:53 good variety. Personally, the only thing I missed was a trial mode. A key highlight, however, is the Hierrox mode. This is a sport that's growing in popularity, combining endurance running and strength training. Amazefit is an official partner of Hierrox and even offers a special Helio strap Hierox edition. The band can also auto detect workouts and in the app you can customize how sensitive that detection should be. So whether a few steps should count as a workout or only more intense sessions. Another limitation is that you can't use the Zap Coach with the Helio Strap. That's reserved for Amazement watches like the New Balance 2 or T-Rex 3. That means you can't create training plans with the Helio Strap and long-term training analysis tools like those that track your progress are quite limited and nowhere near what a traditional sports watch offers. But that's not the

14:40 goal of this tracker either. The Helio Strap is not a high performance training tool. It's much more focused on daily health and fitness tracking. [Music] All right, so what can we conclude about the new Amazefitit Helio Strap? I was really, really excited about the release of this product and I wasn't disappointed. You just need to know what you are getting into. Yes, it has no display, which is a drawback during workouts for more ambitious athletes who want instant feedback. It also has no built-in GPS, so it can only record a route when it is connected to a smartphone. But training isn't the main focus of this band. It's much more focused on tracking your most important health and fitness data in your daily life. And in that regard, I think it's very, very good. It collects a wide

15:27 range of useful stats that are presented very clearly in the app. Compared to my other devices like various Gin watches, the Ultra Human Ring Air or a chest strap, the Helio Straps data is definitely accurate and reliable. Most people will see it as a competitor to the Woot Band. And if you consider that the cheapest root band subscription costs twice as much per year as the one-time costs of a Helio Strap, it's a no-brainer for me. Don't get me wrong, the Rube software and app are definitely a bit more refined, but the Amazement features are more than enough for most people, and the data accuracy in my testing was pretty good as well. And like I said, for just 99 USD or euros one time, I think the Helio Strap is a fantastic choice. But let me know in the comments section down below what you think about the Amazefitit Helio Strap.

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