Amazfit Balance 2 smartwatch review

For those unfamiliar with Amazfit multisport watches, they’re not the fitness arm of Amazon. Instead, Amazfit is the wearable brand of a Chinese company called Zepp Health Corporation. 

It’s why the app that syncs with the Balance 2 is from Zepp. They’ve been going since 2013 and their strengths lie in an array of features, good value and a long battery life. 

You certainly can’t argue with the list of features, which goes on forever and includes everything you’d expect of a smartwatch including an app to manage jetlag and a Pomodoro timer to help you focus on the task at hand. 

For sub-£300, for general users it’s impressive. But how does it perform for multisporters? 

A very visible screen

Firstly, it’s highly visible on the fly, be it the swim, bike or run. That’s down to a bright 1.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen that’s protected by sapphire glass. 

Maximum brightness comes in at 2,000 nits, which is the same as the pricier Apple Watch Series 10 and Google Pixel Watch 3. 

The mix of an aluminium alloy frame and fibre-reinforced polymer looks stylish and should mean a durable construction. 

As well as touchscreen, it has a dial akin to Coros’ and an extra button that pings to the workout mode by default. 

Multisport modes

There are over 170 sport modes, including swim, bike and run, plus triathlon. Oh, and chess and bridge if you need to monitor your heart rate while leaving your partner in check mate (what will they think of next?!). 

The Balance 2 syncs to third-party apps like TrainingPeaks, plus it seamlessly connects to other triathlon regulars like power meters and heart-rate straps via Bluetooth. 

Impressively for the price it supports offline and navigation mapping, which feature labels, contour lines and elevation marks.

However, you must download the map region on the Zepp app first before syncing. If you’re looking to follow a certain route, however, you’ll have to tap into a third-party app like Strava, download the GPX file and import. That’s all a little clunky. 

Amazfit Balance 2 mapping

Unlike the map scrolling, which is impressive and has no lag. The crown’s useful for zooming in and out.

You might think all these features come at the expense of accuracy but not so. You can choose from four GPS settings, including the full option, which is multi-band. This proved accurate on the bike and run, and pretty good in open-water swimming. 

The heart-rate feedback wasn’t quite as impressive, especially in early use when it skewed erratically. But it soon settled down. 

Bottom line

Battery life is an impressive 33hrs in full GPS mode and 21 days in daily use.

It also comes with two straps: red and black which is a nice additional treat in an already competitively-priced watch.

Amazfit Balance 2 specs

Price	$299.99 / £299.90
Weight	2.1oz / 58oz
Screen	1.5in AMOLED, scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass, 480×480 pixels
Dimensions	1.87in x 1.87in x 0.48in / 47.4mm x 47.4mm x 12.3mm
Battery life	Up to 21 days in smartwatch mode, up to 33 hours in GPS mode
Tech	Dual-band GPS, advanced fitness metrics, contactless payments, energy monitoring, AI-informed training advice, 24/7 health and well tracking, 170 activity profiles
Storage	32GB (music and maps)
Connectivity	WiFi, Bluetooth 5.2