Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra gets seven new coordinate formats

Zepp Health is rolling out a navigation upgrade for the Cheetah 2 Ultra. Firmware 6.4.16 adds seven coordinate formats, including UTM and MGRS, although one useful piece is still missing.

Seven coordinate formats are now available

The new setting sits under Settings > Preferences > Coordinates. Owners running firmware 6.4.16 are reporting seven choices: decimal degrees, degrees and decimal minutes, degrees/minutes/seconds, MGRS, UTM, British Grid and Japan Grid. 

That makes the Cheetah 2 Ultra considerably more useful alongside conventional maps. UTM is widely used on topographic maps because it gives you a grid reference rather than forcing you to work with latitude and longitude, while MGRS provides another grid-based option for users who already work with that system.

British Grid should be particularly handy for people using Ordnance Survey maps in Great Britain. Japan Grid does the same sort of job for compatible Japanese mapping, so Zepp Health has gone beyond simply adding UTM and calling it a day.

Cheetah 2 Ultra navigation keeps getting better

This is not the first navigation upgrade the watch has received since launch. An earlier firmware release added remaining distance, ascent and descent to the next waypoint and final destination, alongside GPS improvements under tree cover. 

Zepp OS 6 then brought route previews and more mapping changes to the watch. That release also expanded the map scale options and continued pushing the Cheetah 2 Ultra further toward proper outdoor navigation. 

Adding proper coordinate formats fits that positioning much better than another general smartwatch feature would. It is the sort of thing most users will ignore, but for hikers, trail runners and anyone using a watch alongside printed maps, it fills a real gap.

One obvious piece is still missing

The strange part is that coordinates still cannot be added as a normal workout data field. Owners can view them from the map screen, but they cannot keep their current coordinates visible alongside fields such as elapsed time, distance or elevation.

That makes the new formats slightly more awkward to use than they need to be. If you are navigating with a paper map, having UTM or MGRS permanently visible on a workout page would be much quicker than switching back to the map whenever you want to check your position.

Waypoint management also remains fairly basic. The same firmware adds more waypoint icons, but users report that saved waypoints still cannot be renamed, while courses and waypoints cannot be sorted alphabetically or by distance. 

For now, though, firmware 6.4.16 gives the Cheetah 2 Ultra a noticeably better coordinate system. It is a useful step for anyone relying on the watch for outdoor navigation.

Sources: Zepp Health via Reddit