Why I wear this $180 smartwatch even after testing Garmin and Samsung watches

What is the deal?

The Amazfit Balance smartwatch dropped in worth once more on Amazon. It initially value $220 earlier than going to $200, and now earlier than Black Friday, the machine’s price ticket at present sits at $180. This low cost impacts each the Sundown Gray and Midnight Black colorways.

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Amazfit Balance smartwatch is accessible now for $219.
• It includes a modern and classy design with a superb AMOLED show, correct GPS, and an inventory of health-tracking options.
• Simply be ready for the data-heavy companion app, which can take a while to familiarize with.

As a wearables reviewer right here on ZDNET, I have been spoiled by the chance to check out flagship smartwatches from Apple, Samsung, Garmin, Coros, and plenty of others. As I used to be seeking to check out one thing new on the finish of 2023, the most recent Amazfit Balance Special Edition watch fashions caught my eye, particularly on the beginning worth of $220.

Additionally: 5 ways to get more out of your WearOS smartwatch

Through the years, I’ve examined a number of Amazfit watches and have been impressed with the {hardware} and software program expertise that I’ve gotten for the cash — a lot in order that I purchased myself the Woodland mannequin of the Steadiness collection.

After a month of use, the Amazfit Steadiness stays on my wrist and continues to satisfy the wants of an off-the-cuff athlete like myself. Actually, it even beats out my Apple Watch in some methods, like importing interval exercises from my telephone. Here is why else the most recent smartwatch is value contemplating.

For match and end, the Amazfit Steadiness is simply 10.6mm thick and simply over 40 grams (with a strap), so it suits seamlessly on my wrist and underneath my winter long-sleeve shirts. Sleeping with the watch hasn’t been an issue both, and because of the 5 ATM waterproof ranking, it is dealt with being worn out within the wet Pacific Northwest.  

In my testing with two different, dearer watches, the general coronary heart charge readings have been principally the identical, although there have been moments when the Amazfit would path by 5 to eight beats per minute. Once more, it is a $200 wearable competing towards ones that value two to 3 occasions as a lot. 

GPS monitoring was nearly the identical as measured with a $1,000 Garmin watch, even in closely wooded areas with peaks and valleys. I additionally examined the sleep monitoring of the Amazfit Steadiness whereas carrying my Oura Ring, and the adjustments to sleep levels, coronary heart charge, respiratory charge, and different metrics have been impressively about the identical. 

Additionally: The smartwatch with the best battery life I’ve tested is also one of the cheapest

The info capturing on the Amazfit is intensive, as you may shortly uncover within the Zepp smartphone software. The Zepp app has developed over time, however not essentially for the higher, as there’s an exhaustive variety of faucets wanted to discover all your knowledge, arrange your Amazfit expertise, and acquire particular insights in your exercises. I wish to tinker with all the knowledge, however navigating the person interface won’t be everybody’s cup of tea.

For instance, to sync your watch to the app, it’s essential to faucet into the profile tab, scroll down to seek out watch settings, after which scroll by one other checklist to seek out sync choices. This degree of customization in your private wants makes the watch really feel like a way more costly wearable than it’s, however the expertise will also be daunting. Fortunately, when you get every little thing arrange the primary time, the principle app expertise solely revolves across the dwelling, sleep, and exercise tabs.

Additionally: The smartwatch with the best battery life I’ve tested is also one of the cheapest

The Amazfit Steadiness helps Amazon Alexa as a voice assistant, has a speaker and mic so you should use it for calls linked through Bluetooth to your telephone, and may even document voice memos when you’re understanding (in case you have the breath to do it.) I am going to observe that offline music is supported however provided that you add MP3 information. On-device streaming providers should not supported.

That is the primary Amazfit watch powered by Zepp OS 3.0. With this latest model of the watch software program, there are greater than 150 downloadable apps within the retailer, you possibly can hook up with exterior exercise gadgets (energy meters and coronary heart charge belts), sensor capabilities are enhanced, and builders have extra methods to optimize the look ahead to customers.

Additionally: The best sports watches you can buy: Expert tested

The Zepp expertise is not totally supported within the US; you possibly can’t use Zepp Pay for NFC funds. New subscription-based providers referred to as Zepp Aura and Zepp Health may make the general expertise considerably complicated, with partial entry to options included free of charge and superior performance solely obtainable whenever you pay for it. For what it is value, I didn’t check any of the subscription providers, and the watch was nonetheless adequate for my life-style wants.

Lastly, the Amazfit Steadiness is marketed to last as long as 14 days between fees, with a drop to only 5 days when the always-on show is enabled. With my two to 3 runs per week and each day use — with the always-on show disabled — I solely wanted to cost the watch simply each 7 to eight days, which was implausible.

ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation

In case you are in search of an reasonably priced smartwatch that lasts greater than per week with heavy use, has a superb AMOLED show, is modern and slim, measures all of the important well being and wellness metrics, and even helps you to take care of telephone calls out of your wrist, then the Amazfit Balance is the one to get. The companion app will take some getting used to, particularly firstly, however every little thing else in regards to the watch greater than makes up for it.

One final tip: The watch makes use of normal 22mm bands, so you’ll find tons of of different band choices on Amazon to match your type.