I just went hands-on with the Amazfit Balance 2 — this premium multisport smartwatch boasts 21 days of battery life

Tom's Guide

4 days ago

Amazfit just announced the Balance 2, a high-end smartwatch designed for multisport athletes and boasting a sizable AMOLED touchscreen, a pair of physical controls, 100 meters of water resistance and support for more than 170 workout types.
The brand also unveiled the Amazfit Helio Strap. Similar to the Whoop 5.0, the Helio Strap is a screen-less wellness tracker designed to be worn on the wrist and promising continuous heart-rate monitoring with minimal fuss.
Amazfit says that using the two in parallel, with the watch being your primary device for recording workouts and the Helio Strap being your go-to for monitoring sleep and recovery, should result in even greater holistic-tracking accuracy. All of the data from both gets processed and combined in the Zepp app.
I haven't gotten my hands on the Helio Strap just yet, but I have been wearing the Amazfit Balance 2 for a few days now. Here's everything you need to know about this freshly debuted fitness-focused smartwatch.
The Amazfit Balance 2 is available now for $299, making it one of the brand's priciest wearables. The Amazfit Helio Strap is also available now for $99. The devices are additionally being sold in a bundle for $379 or $20 off.
The Balance 2 is built around a roomy and bright 1.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen protected by sapphire glass. The max brightness is 2,000 nits, the same as two of the best smartwatch models in 2025, including the Apple Watch Series 10 and Google Pixel Watch 3.
The combination of an aluminum alloy frame and fiber-reinforced polymer (plastic) should mean a durable yet reasonably lightweight construction.
At just under 60 g with the included rubber strap attached, the Balance 2 weighs roughly the same as the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The circular case has a somewhat large diameter of roughly 48mm and a fairly standard thickness of around 12mm.
In my first few days with the Balance 2, I'm finding it wears quite comfortably, even though I tend to prefer smaller smartwatches; I especially like the orange strap, which is plenty stretchy, soft and with ample adjustment points.
Two physical controls adorn the side of the case. The upper one is both a digital crown, which can be used to scroll through apps and info on the app, and a pressable button that brings up the main menu by default. The lower button opens up the workout menu by default.
With 100 meters of water resistance, you can safely wear the Balance 2 while swimming or even scuba diving (don't worry, there's a dedicated tracking mode for that).
The Balance 2 sports Amazfit's latest holistic sensor array (BioTracker 6.0) and can monitor everything from heart rate to blood oxygen saturation to stress to menstrual health. It should also be a darn good watch for sleep tracking, based on my experience with other recent Amazfit models.
Meanwhile, an onboard GPS and barometric altimeter should provide accurate location and elevation data. The Balance 2 additional sports an onboard temperature sensor.
Designed for multisport athletes dedicated to their training, the Balance 2 has over 170 workout tracking modes, including the usual suspects, like running and cycling, and more nuanced/recently trending activities like freediving, pickleball and HIIT workouts.
It automatically recognizes over 25 strength training movements and even generates post-workout muscle heatmaps to help you target areas for future sessions.
Amazfit's Zepp Coach feature uses AI analysis to provide personalized training plans for runners to help prep for a 5K, 10K or marathon. The device additionally has a dedicated HYROX racing mode.
The Balance 2 isn't only for hardcore workout buffs, though, despite its billing. For those who love hitting the links and/or the slopes, it offers a large cache of global ski resort maps along with support for over 40,000 golf courses worldwide.
I'm especially curious to check out the watch's new BioCharge Score (coming soon, date TBD). It's similar to Garmin's Body Battery or Samsung's Energy Score except it's dynamic, changing throughout the day based on a user's rest and exertion.
There's no cellular connectivity but the Balance 2 does have an onboard speaker and microphone for taking calls from a paired smartphone. Speaking of which, the companion Zepp app works with Android (7.0 or later) and iOS (15.0 or later) devices.
Like most modern smartwatches, the Balance 2 supports mirrored smartphone notifications. It also has some handy tools, like an onboard notes app and camera remote function.
Similar to the recently launched Amazfit Active 2, the Balance 2 supports offline maps with turn-by-turn directions. However, let's hope the user experience has improved some since my testing, as I found the brand's take on offline maps to be less than smooth and user-friendly.
Amazfit says the Balance 2 battery should last for up to 21 days in smartwatch mode with normal use. However, the brand doesn't state how long the device will last when using GPS for tracking, a notorious power hog.
The Balance 2 ships with a small charging puck that works with USB-C — the same one used by the Amazfit T-Rex 3 — but you'll need to provide your own cord and outlet adapter.
The Amazfit Balance 2 has the build quality and features of a flagship smartwatch, along with a hefty price tag to match. At $299, the Balance 2 is competing head-to-head with devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, which is not only a fantastic full-featured smartwatch but also an impressive fitness and wellness tracker.
Historically, one of the things that sets Amazfit apart from larger brands, like Samsung, Google and Apple, is a focus on wallet-friendly wearables that don't skimp on high-end wellness features or design. The $99 Amazfit Active 2 is a perfect example of this.
The Balance 2 is Amazfit's attempt at something more premium and luxurious. And though it has some advantages over the Active 2, like greater water resistance and a clicky digital crown, I'm not convinced those are worth three times the cost... but we shall see.
Stay tuned for a full review of the Amazfit Balance 2 and the Amazfit Helio Strap.