Five Life Hacks Every Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra User Should Know
The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is a premium trail running watch made of titanium and sapphire crystal. The price of $599.99 seems quite high for a brand known primarily for its budget models. And while the Amazfit Cheetah line isn’t my favorite, the Cheetah 2 Ultra remains an incredibly reliable choice for any runner who wants a watch that looks and feels like a high-end timepiece.
Like the Cheetah 2 Pro , there’s more to this surprisingly feature-rich watch than meets the eye. Here are five features of the Cheetah 2 Ultra that go beyond the manual.
Unlock the secret developer mode on your Amazfit watch.
The Zepp app has a hidden menu you probably wouldn’t stumble upon by accident. Go to “Profile,” then “Settings,” then “About Device,” and tap the Zepp logo seven times in a row. This unlocks developer mode, which allows access to device information and debugging options normally unavailable in the regular app. This won’t give you access to sensitive hardware, but it’s a useful place to check firmware details or troubleshoot syncing issues, and it’s also a fascinating place to explore the device’s inner workings.
Developer mode also allows you to install custom watch faces, instead of relying on the existing built-in watch face library and downloading your own watch face to your computer, scanning the generated QR code, and installing it directly on your watch.
With the Amazfit Cheetah 2Ultra, you can be prepared for climbing hard-to-reach places at a glance.
If you’re planning a route with significant climbs, this is one of the Ultra’s best features. The watch includes an elevation view tool that color-codes the difficulty of the climbs along the route. So instead of staring at the elevation profile and trying to guess where the steepest inclines are, you get a more visual representation of where the terrain gets steep. This feature is easy to miss if you’re not an avid trail runner, but it’s worth turning on before starting any route so you know what you’ll be facing (before the climb itself tells you).
Here’s how to use the color-coded altitude indicator on your Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra watch:
-
Create your route: Open the Zepp app, go to the Training tab, select Create Route and save your route.
-
Send the route to your watch: Sync your devices and make sure the route has been successfully transferred to your watch.
-
Open Trail mode: Before you start running, launch the Trail Running sport profile on your watch.
-
Activate your route: While in Route mode, go to “Settings,” select “Navigation,” then “My Route,” and select the route you created. Swipe the elevation profile to see a color-coded preview.
If you want to see this elevation profile during your run, you can add elevation display to the data screen. Here’s how to customize the data screens on your Amazfit:
-
Select Workout on your watch and choose an activity (for example, Outdoor Running).
-
Go to Settings > Advanced > Data Page.
-
Click on the desired data field to display the height. You can scroll through existing data pages or click “Add Page” to create a new one.
Use the flashlight’s boost mode when you need extra light (and practice using the SOS function).
All Ultra users rave about their watch’s built-in flashlight, but it has other advantages, too. The Ultra flashlight features white, red, SOS, and boost modes, rather than just a single beam. The boost mode is designed for situations where maximum brightness is needed, such as when scanning a dark trail, while the SOS mode is a safety feature that requires a clear flashing signal in the dark. You can cycle through modes with multiple taps, rather than relying on a single setting.
After pressing and holding the button in the upper left corner to turn on the flashlight, use the UP or DOWN buttons to cycle through the white light brightness levels until you reach the red light mode. You can also swipe down from the watch face to open Control Center and tap the flashlight icon.
Use your Cheetah 2 Ultra to view new maps.
You might assume your options are limited to the maps Amazfit preloads or offers through the Zepp app’s map store—and there are plenty of those already. But you can go a little further. The Cheetah 2 Ultra can be used as a map viewer when importing OSM ( OpenStreetMap ) map files, meaning if you’re heading to a hard-to-reach location that’s poorly covered by standard maps, you have a convenient workaround. Just remember that the downloaded map must accurately match your actual location to be usable, so this is more of a planned life hack than something you’ll devise mid-journey.
Use the extra memory on your Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra to download MP3 files.
While the Ultra doesn’t directly download music from streaming services like Spotify or Amazon Music, like some competitors , you can manually upload MP3 files to the watch. This is notable because the Cheetah 2 Ultra doubles the Pro’s storage to 64GB, meaning plenty of room for saved running routes, offline maps , and MP3 files for music. It’s an extra step compared to simply syncing streaming data, but for those who want to truly run without a phone during long runs, it’s a useful life hack. To upload music, go to your Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra device page in the Zepp app > Select “Music” > select .mp3 files from your phone and transfer them to the watch.