<!–>
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Amazfit Balance 2 smartwatch is available now for $249.
- The watch has a vivid AMOLED display with sapphire glass, 21-day battery life, dual speakers, and advanced golf features.
- Subscription music services are not supported and the app store is still limited.
–>
Late last year I bought a lovely Woodland Brown Amazfit Balance and still marvel at the look, feel, and performance of that $200 smartwatch. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been using its successor: the upgraded Amazfit Balance 2<!–> and it’s an improvement, with a very affordable starting price of $249.
Also: The best sports watches you can buy: Expert tested
The Amazfit Balance 2 has significantly longer battery life (21 days vs 14 days), increased water resistance from 5 ATM to 10 ATM, heavier weight and slightly larger size, dual speakers, and latest generation BioTracker 6.0 biometric sensor. The increased battery life is due to the larger 658 mAh battery (previously 475 mAh) that adds seven grams of weight, but also feels slightly more power efficient.
The watch uses standard 22mm quick release watch bands, and Amazfit includes two in the retail package in the Black and Lava colorways. For charging, it uses the same magnetic charging puck via standard USB-C, and with the increased battery life, is a joy to use, knowing you don’t have to worry about keeping it topped up at every possible opportunity.
The speakers and microphone support phone calls, your preferred voice assistant, and the Zepp Flow AI assistant powered by OpenAI’s GPT technology. The Zepp Coach function also uses AI to help plan workouts and provide fitness insights in both the free and premium options.
In the app, you also get full color maps, route navigation, and accurate positioning with six satellite systems ensure you stay on track and never get lost. Heart rate readings also closely match other watches and the Balance 2 also supports connecting to external sensors such as heart rate monitors and speed/cadence sensors.
<!–>
While the Amazfit Balance 2 tracks the details of your sleep and it is comfortable with a rather thin 12.3mm thickness, not everyone is able to sleep with a watch on. Personally, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks taking off the Balance 2 and using Amazfit’s new Helio Strap to track my sleep, as its much smaller and lighter.
The Helio has no watch face, and functions like a Whoop band, but pairs seamlessly with the Zepp app to sync the data collected by both devices in one place. I’ve found this interchangeability to be one of the key benefits of using Amazfit’s growing ecosystem of products, anchored by its robust app.
One of the new key features in the Zepp app is its BioCharge score, which incorporates data collected by all your devices to provide a holistic picture of your physical energy stores. It’s similar to Garmin’s Body Battery metric, with calculations based on HRV, resting heart rate, sleep, and more to let you know where you stand in any given day.
The Amazfit Balance 2 supports more than 170 workout modes with smart strength training for 25 exercises where the watch will auto detect repetitions, sets, and rest. Hyrox integration is a big part of Amazfit wearables and well supported on the Balance 2. Similar to other advanced sports watches, you can customize the data fields that appear while you exercise with Amazfit supporting up to six fields on each screen.
Also: Finally, a $150 Android smartwatch I wouldn’t mind putting away my expensive Garmin for
The most significant new sport for my lifestyle is the addition of golf. You can download more than 40,000 course maps and use it in offline mode, an impressive amount of content for the watch. Courses often move the pin around on the greens and with a simple swipe you can locate the pin and get the most accurate distances as you move around the course. Spinning the digital crown acts to zoom you in and out, too.
The watch uses GPS to mark your results, and in my experience has proven to be fairly accurate. Amazfit also supports ski resort maps, but I have to wait another six months to test this functionality.
Amazfit offers the Zepp Aura premium service for $11.99/month or $69.99/year and provides all new watch owners with a free 14-day trial in order to help you figure out if the premium services are worth the price. Amazfit also provides several advanced features for free, but if you want to take advantage of the AI sleep assistant, view advanced sleep reports, and enjoy an extensive collection of sleep and meditation music then you may want to consider the premium service.
ZDNET’s buying advice
Thanks to the opportunity I have here at ZDNET to evaluate all of the latest and greatest wearables, I tend to use flagship sports watches for tracking my workouts. I bought the original Balance and highly recommend the Amazfit Balance 2<!–> for people looking for a full and complete sports watch that will help you train and achieve your goals.
Amazfit’s Zepp smartphone app has gotten even better with its seamless integration of multiple devices, along with all the health and wellness data you can ask for at an affordable price compared to other flagship wearables.
Why I replaced my Whoop band with this fitness strap (hint: there’s no subscription)
