It doesn't have a transreflective display which provides the gains. I really don't understand why - maybe they are hard to source?
But yeah I would pay a LOT more for an open Amazfit Bip with a great community. To note, the Bip does have an alternative firmware, but its somewhat niche and unknown.
Newer Amazfit devices have a server-side "obsolescence switch" - each time they're repaired they need "activated" via a remote server that uses a proprietary app and account with the server.
There's various ways to do this, like using a Python script to interact with their API, but it's a true anti-feature.
Ideally we'd see an open source version of this kind of device (with the transflective display), or some progress on removing the "pairing lock" from the firmware - I don't think the devices have signed firmwares, so it should be possible to either patch out the check, or replace the validation key with a known key, and generate it locally.
Gadgetbridge is widely under-appreciated open source for these devices, and it's good to see others appreciating its use in liberating these kinds of devices (at least on the phone-side).
But yeah I would pay a LOT more for an open Amazfit Bip with a great community. To note, the Bip does have an alternative firmware, but its somewhat niche and unknown.