Amazfit T-Rex 3 gets blood pressure tracking, but there’s a catch

The Amazfit T-Rex 3 brings an increasingly sought-after health monitoring capability – blood pressure tracking. This feature currently operates with certain regional restrictions, but there’s a workaround for that.

Blood pressure monitoring remains relatively uncommon in the smartwatch market, with Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series being among the few notable devices offering this functionality. Their feature works via the optical heart rate sensor while there are a few devices that even offer miniature wrist-based inflatable cuffs! But all of this is still somewhat of a novelty.

Essential readingTop fitness trackers and health gadgets

Zepp Health first introduced this technology in their GTR 3 Pro model in 2022, followed by the Amazfit Balance. Like Samsung, these devices utilize the watch’s existing optical heart rate sensors, combined with specialized algorithms, to estimate blood pressure readings.

The implementation of this feature has evolved since its initial release. The GTR 3 Pro started with manual measurements, later expanding to include automatic overnight tracking in the Chinese market. The T-Rex 3 now follows a similar pattern to the Balance, offering on-demand measurements only.


How to measure blood pressure with your Amazfit watch

The big caveat here is that the feature does not work in all regions. I am in the UK and the ability to install the blood pressure app is not available. So I had to resort to a workaround.

Basically, you need to create another account for a region where the feature is supported – so I chose Singapore. According to social media, Brazil is another country which has the app enabled. There are probably a few others. This does mean, though, that you need to unpair your watch from your current account – and set it up as a new device on your new account. Yup, not ideal.

Amazfit Blood Pressure app

Presumably this is to do with regulatory certifications. Some countries are more stringent when it comes to this sort of thing and require more in terms of proof that the device is capable of capturing certain health metrics. This is not a bad thing.

In any case, for those with accounts in approved regions, its a simple matter of downloading the app from the Zepp OS store and installing it on your watch. Afterwards, you simply run the app whenever you wish to take a blood pressure reading.

Now, it is worth noting that you need to perform an initial calibration in order to start using the feature. The watch will notify you of this when you first open the blood pressure app, and initiate a setup screen on the Zepp Health smartphone app. This will walk you through the 10 minute process.

Here are some screenshots on what it consists of.

The gist of it is that you need to take three measurements with a medically certified blood pressure monitor (I used a Withings one) – and three measurements with the Amazfit T-Rex. Both of these should be on your dominant arm. After that is done, you can start using the feature. Also, this calibration needs to be done on a monthly basis. So it is not a one time process.

The app explains that you need to wear your watch tightly and sit still until the measurement completes. It will then start to do its thing and 30 seconds later it will spit out your systolic and diastolic blood pressure reading.

Amazfit T-Rex 3 blood pressure

Zepp Health includes a clear disclaimer that these readings are for reference only and not meant for medical decisions. However, independent validation offers some reassurance. Tests conducted by the First Hospital of Peking University on the earlier GTR 3 Pro model demonstrated reasonable accuracy, with variations of less than 5.14mmHg for systolic and 4.88mmHg for diastolic readings compared to medical devices.

In my experience, the readings are more or less where I expect them to be. But it would have been more impressive if the device was able to do this without the calibration. As things stand, I don’t know whether the figures are where I expect them to be because the device is accurate – or because it is piggy-backing on the accurate data captured by the traditional blood pressure monitor.

In any case, these are still early days as far as blood pressure tracking from smartwatches. I expect in the next few years, with advances in sensor technology, the feature will be much more accurate, it will not require calibration and it will be widely available.

In the meantime, those with an Amazfit Balance and T-Rex 3 can explore this functionality via the workaround mentioned above. Just remember to take those readings with a pinch of salt.

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Ivan Jovin

Ivan has been a tech journalist for over 7 years now, covering all kinds of technology issues. He is the guy who gets to dive deep into the latest wearable tech news.

One thought on “Amazfit T-Rex 3 gets blood pressure tracking, but there’s a catch

  • Good to know but unfortunately registering an account in Singapore or Malaysia or India etc. to use the blood pressure app blocks zepp pay because that is only supported in European countries.

    Reply

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