Fitness enthusiasts and Amazfit smartwatch owners are raising concerns over a sudden glitch affecting the “Exertion Score” feature on the Zepp app, which many rely on to gauge workout intensity and recovery. The issue, which surfaced after a recent app update, has sparked frustration among users who depend on the metric to optimize their fitness routines.
What’s Going On With the Exertion Score?
The Exertion Score, a key feature of Amazfit’s ecosystem, analyzes heart rate, duration, and activity type to estimate how strenuous a workout was on a scale of 1 to 100. However, since the Zepp app’s latest update (version 8.5.0), dozens of users have reported erratic scores that either spike unexpectedly or drop to zero mid-workout. Some claim the app now underestimates low-intensity activities like yoga, while others say high-intensity sessions like HIIT or running yield scores far lower than usual.
“I cycled for an hour with my heart rate averaging 160 bpm, but the app gave me an Exertion Score of 12. That’s mathematically impossible,” complained one user on Reddit, where a thread discussing the bug has garnered over 200 comments. Others noted the issue persists across devices, including the popular Amazfit GTR 4 and T-Rex 2 models.
Amazfit’s Response and Workarounds
Amazfit’s support team has acknowledged the problem, stating they’re “investigating irregularities in post-update data synchronization.” Meanwhile, users are resorting to workarounds like downgrading to older app versions or manually calculating exertion using third-party apps like Strava.
The glitch comes at an awkward time for Amazfit, which recently launched a marketing campaign promoting its “advanced biometric tracking” for the Amazfit Balance, its flagship smartwatch. While the Balance isn’t immune to the bug, its broader suite of health features has kept some users patient. “The hardware is solid, but the software needs polish,” admitted a Reddit commenter.
Why This Matters
For fitness-focused users, metrics like the Exertion Score aren’t just numbers—they inform training schedules, recovery days, and long-term goals. Inaccurate data could lead to overtraining or undetected fatigue. “If I can’t trust my watch, what’s the point?” lamented a marathon trainer in the Reddit thread.
Amazfit has yet to provide a timeline for a fix, but the company’s community managers have assured users that “a resolution is a top priority.” For now, affected customers are advised to double-check workouts against raw heart rate data or alternative apps until the next update rolls out.
Got an Amazfit device? Share your experience in the comments or visit the Reddit thread to join the conversation.
This article was written based on user reports and community feedback. Amazfit has not released an official statement beyond support ticket responses.