The Amazfit X gets a final release announcement amid a deluge of dissatisfaction from its Indiegogo backers

Amazfit launched its innovative curved-display smartwatch early in 2020 via Indiegogo, where it started at ~US$154. It was then debuted again on Yuopin, a similar crowdfunding platform for the Chinese market, for 999 yuan (~$147). Now, Huami announced the innovative flexible-display wearable's fixed retail price: 1999 yuan (~$293) or effectively double this cost.

It will come into effect during the last three months of 2020. Meanwhile, things have gone less than smoothly for the X's original Indiegogo backers. The campaign ended in June of this year, having amassed nearly $2 million in backing. However, many of these contributors have publicly complained that their shipments have been delayed repeatedly: currently, the OEM estimates they will be done in October.

This may inexorably be more tolerable in the Covid-19 pandemic era. However, that fails to explain away discrepancies in the device's performance and function reported by those backers who have apparently received their units. These issues are mostly related to the X's GPS accuracy, battery life and ability to update or sync via its companion Zepp app. Then again, the vast majority do not seem to pertain to the device's 92-degree curved AMOLED screen.

These worrying claims are also particularly surprising in an Amazfit product, a brand of the company Huami that is also responsible for commercial successes such as the GTR and GTS smartwatches, as well as the manufacturer of fitness bands marketed by Xiaomi. This unfortunate situation may intensify when the quality of these units is compared to those sold via conventional channels.