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When I raced Hyrox earlier this summer, I opted for my Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro—and I was quite pleased with the results. While Amazfit’s Cheetah line isn’t exactly my favorite, the Cheetah 2 Pro is a solid choice for any runner who wants a watch that looks and feels top-of-the-line (albeit with some mid-tier tradeoffs). And while the Cheetah 2 Pro has a no-nonsense marathon-watch exterior, there’s a surprising amount of software most owners never touch. Here are five features that go beyond the manual.
Unlock a secret developer mode in your Amazfit watch
Buried inside the Zepp app is a hidden menu most people will never find by accident. Go to Profile, then Settings, then About, and tap the Zepp logo seven times in a row. This unlocks developer mode, which lets you dig into device information and debugging options that aren’t normally visible in the consumer-facing app. True, it won’t turn your watch into a hacking tool, but it’s a fun rabbit hole if you like poking around under the hood, and it can occasionally be useful for troubleshooting sync issues or checking firmware details that the standard interface hides from you.
Developer mode also lets you install custom watch faces, rather than relying on the existing native watch face library and upload a custom face on your computer, scan a generated QR code, and install it directly onto your watch.
Overcome jet lag with guidance from your Cheetah 2 Pro
If you travel for races, this one is a true hidden gem: Your Cheetah 2 Pro includes a “jet lag manager.” This feature may not be something you’d think to look for on a running watch, but if you’ve ever shown up groggy to a marathon expo, you know you’ll try anything to help you adjust your sleep and training schedule ahead of race day.
To use this feature, the watch will have you input your travel details to receive an Amazfit “Adaptedness” score (although I’m not quite sure what goes into this score, so please take it with a hefty grain of salt). While that number itself might not be worth paying too much attention to, your watch will then generate suggestions for when to sleep, be active, and get light exposure. When you have so many other travel logistics on your mind, it could be nice to get real-time alerts on your watch designed to help you adapt faster and make the most of your trip.
On your phone, open your Zepp App > Device Page > Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra > Jet Lag Manager to input travel details and view potential schedules. Then you can open the Jet Lag Manager app directly from your watch’s app list—after scrolling down a good bit to find it—and view your personalized schedule and adaptation readiness starting 72 hours before departure.
Protect your eyes with your watch’s red light option
Most users know their Cheetah 2 Pro has a built-in flashlight, activated with a long press of the function button. What’s extra-nifty is that it isn’t just a single white beam. It uses two white LEDs, plus an additional red LED, and the red option gives you a glare-free alternative for the dark so you’re not blinding yourself or wrecking your night vision. There’s also a strobe function built in, which is worth knowing about if you ever need to be visible to traffic on a pre-dawn or post-sunset run, rather than just seeing what’s in front of you.
After you press and hold the top-left button to turn on the flashlight, use the UP or DOWN buttons to cycle through the white brightness settings until you reach the red light mode. You can also swipe down from the watch face to open the Control Center and tap the flashlight icon.
Get the notifications you still want, and none of the ones you don’t
The Cheetah 2 Pro lets you personalize your notifications beyond all-or-nothing enabling/disabling. This way, any critical alarms or low-battery warnings still function even when everything else is muted. For example, if you go to Settings > Notifications > Calendar on your watch, and turn off “Allow notifications,” then calendar-related reminders will no longer pop up. Easy!
What I do is disable all notifications, and then go in and enable only the handful of apps I actually care about (like text messages), while keeping the rest quiet during a long run.
In a similar vein of “less is more,” the Cheetah 2 Pro defaults to more data collection than most runners need on a daily basis. These are the three features I dial back in order to save battery:
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When you’re not actively exercising, reduce heart rate measurement frequency from every one minute down to every five or 10 minutes.
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Turn off “Automatic Stress Monitoring” and “Auto Blood Oxygen” tracking unless you specifically rely on that data.
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Disable continuous location tracking and heart rate logging when you’re not working out. Just remember to re-enable both when you start a workout.
These quick settings changes will help stop your watch from unnecessarily draining battery in the background, and you really aren’t sacrificing much in terms of data.
Fix your Cheetah 2 Pro’s accidental workout pauses
If you’re using your Cheetah 2 Pro during strength training, this is a life-saver. One thing I’ve noticed across Amazfit watches is that the crown (aka the top right button) is either bigger or more sensitive, meaning the watch thinks I’m constantly pausing mid-workout whenever I accidentally bump against it. I pretty much couldn’t swing a kettlebell without bumping the button in some way.
Here’s my fix: Head into Workout Settings and switch the pause mechanism from a “simple press” to “Long Press.” The long press did take me some getting used to when I do want to pause, but I’m grateful that I don’t have to worry about any more accidental pauses caused by natural wrist movement.
Bonus hack: Clear water out of your watch quickly and easily
I’d like to leave you with a bonus hack, since I’m about to head out for a run in the pouring rain: Amazfit has a built-in water ejection feature. Water can linger in your watch’s microphone and speaker ports, muffling sound or triggering false touches. Here’s what to do: Swipe down from the main screen to open the Control Center, tap the Droplet icon, and hold your watch with the speaker facing downward. The watch will vibrate at specific frequencies designed to physically push moisture out of the ports. Like all the hacks above, this is one of those features it’s good to know about now, so you’re ready for the moment you really need it.
