By Jacob Chambers, Founder & Lead Reviewer · Updated 22 September 2026
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Amazfit's pitch for the Balance 3 is that it's the watch for people who do a bit of everything: run three times a week, lift twice, maybe enter a HYROX. That's most people who buy a £370 sports watch, if we're honest, and the Balance 3 goes after them with a spec sheet that looks like it was copied from a watch costing £150 more.
The headline numbers come from Amazfit's UK spec page rather than the Amazon bullets, which skip half of them. A 1.5in AMOLED at 480 x 480 under sapphire glass, 3,000 nits peak. Dual-band GPS across six satellite systems. Up to 41 hours of accurate GPS tracking and 21 days of typical use. 64GB of storage, NFC, a flashlight, 10 ATM water rating. It launched in the UK in June 2026, and on Amazon UK the stainless steel version sells for £369.90, the same price Amazfit charges direct.
How we review
This review is built from Amazfit's published technical specifications, verified Amazon UK owner feedback, and direct comparison with the Amazfit and Garmin watches we've already reviewed. Battery and GPS figures are the manufacturer's; where our view differs from the marketing, we say so.
Hybrid trainers, specifically. If your week is two runs, two gym sessions and a Saturday class, the Balance 3 covers all of it with more polish than any Amazfit before it: 25 auto-recognised strength exercises, rep counting, running power, lactate threshold, ground contact time and the official HYROX race and simulation modes. Pure runners chasing marathon PBs will find the Cheetah 2 Pro or a Garmin Forerunner more focused. Walkers who want a fitness tracker don't need to spend this much.
Check price on Amazon£369.90This is where the Balance 3 earns its money. Amazfit rates accurate GPS mode (dual-band, all systems) at 41 hours, which is ten hours more than the Cheetah 2 Pro's 31 on a watch that costs £80 less. Power saving GPS runs to 84 hours. For someone running 40km a week, that's roughly a fortnight between charges with the screen on standard settings, and Amazfit's figure of 21 days typical use drops to seven if you run always-on display.
Dual-band matters more than the number of satellite systems. A single-band watch drifts in city centres and under tree cover because signals bounce off buildings; the second frequency lets the chip reject those reflections. Most serious running watches now have it, and it's the spec to check first on any rival.
| Display | 1.5in AMOLED, 480 x 480, 323 ppi, up to 3,000 nits |
|---|---|
| Cover | Sapphire glass |
| Case | 51.4 x 51.4 x 12.5mm (14.6mm with sensor) |
| Weight (no strap) | 62g stainless steel, 55g titanium |
| Battery | 658mAh: 21 days typical, 10 heavy, 7 always-on |
| GPS battery | 41h accurate, 84h power saving |
| Positioning | Dual-band, six satellite systems, circularly polarised antenna |
| Water rating | 10 ATM |
| Storage | 64GB (offline maps, music) |
| Heart rate sensor | BioTracker 6.0 PPG (5PD + 2LED) |
| Extras | NFC Zepp Pay, flashlight, mic and speaker, Bluetooth calls |
| Compatibility | Android 8.0+, iOS 17.0+ |
HybridCharge is Amazfit's readiness system. It combines BioCharge (a body battery), LifeLoad (non-training stress, meaning sleep, work and resting heart rate) and training load into one number that tells you whether today should be hard or easy. If you've used Garmin's Training Readiness or a Whoop recovery score, you already know the idea. It isn't new. What's improved is the presentation in the Zepp app, where Weekly Focus and Training Balance show whether your week leans too heavily on one type of session, which is exactly the thing hybrid trainers get wrong.
The heart rate data feeding it comes from an optical wrist sensor, and those have well-known limits. A 2025 study comparing wearables against a Polar H10 chest strap found all devices agreed closely with the strap at rest and on steady treadmill work, but accuracy collapsed during burpees (study on wearable heart rate accuracy). HYROX is built out of burpees, sled pushes and wall balls. So if you're going to pace a race off heart rate, buy a strap; our heart rate monitor guide covers the options.
Offline maps are free and genuinely usable, with turn-by-turn directions, rerouting if you go off course, and a round-trip route generator that builds a loop from a target distance. Amazfit claims the new renderer refreshes 12 times faster than its previous one, which is the right thing to have fixed, since slow redraws were the main complaint about earlier Amazfit maps.
Day to day it does the smartwatch jobs well: Bluetooth calls through the built-in speaker, notifications, Zepp Pay with up to eight cards, and a red and white flashlight that sounds gimmicky until you use it to find your keys at 6am. The one irritation is small but real. The box contains the magnetic charging head and no cable, so you need a spare USB-C lead before you can charge it.
The obvious comparison is Amazfit's own Cheetah 2 Pro. The Cheetah is lighter, titanium and more running-focused, but the Balance 3 has the bigger screen, more GPS battery, a 10 ATM rating and the flashlight for £80 less. We'd buy the Balance 3. The T-Rex 3 Pro is the rugged outdoor alternative if you want buttons that work in gloves.
Against Garmin, it's a trade of hardware for software. A Forerunner 265 gives you a better training platform and a stronger resale market; the Balance 3 gives you a sapphire screen, maps and longer battery for similar money. The full field is ranked in our best Garmin watch guide and our COROS PACE 4 review covers the other strong value option.
Check price on Amazon£369.90Yes, if you judge it on hardware. You get a 1.5in 480 x 480 AMOLED under sapphire, dual-band GPS from six satellite systems, 41 hours of accurate GPS tracking, 64GB of storage for offline maps and music, NFC payments and a 10 ATM rating. Garmin's watches at the same money give you a better app and training platform but less of the physical spec.
The Cheetah 2 Pro is the running-specific model with a titanium case at £449.90. The Balance 3 is the all-rounder with a bigger 1.5in screen, a built-in flashlight, a longer 41 hour accurate GPS battery and HYROX race tools. For most people who lift as well as run, the Balance 3 is the better buy and £80 cheaper in stainless steel.
The stainless steel model costs £369.90 and weighs 62g without the strap. The Titanium Black is £449.90 and weighs 55g. Both have the same screen, sensors and battery. Seven grams is not worth £80 to most people, so buy the steel one unless you specifically want the black finish.
Yes. It is rated to 10 ATM, which covers pool and open water swimming comfortably, and it supports both modes plus freediving and recreational diving profiles. That is a higher water rating than the Cheetah 2 Pro's 5 ATM.
Yes. Amazfit lists sync to Strava, Runna, TrainingPeaks, Intervals.icu, Google Fit and Apple Health. It also pairs with chest straps, running and cycling power meters and cadence sensors, and with a Stryd footpod for accurate indoor pace in HYROX mode.
Accurate enough at rest and on steady runs, less so on sharp intervals, which is true of every optical wrist sensor. If you train by heart rate zones in HIIT or HYROX sessions, pair a chest strap. The watch accepts one over Bluetooth.
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