I wore the two best Amazfit smartwatches for a month – Is the flagship worth $230 more?

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I examined the Amazfit Balance 2 in 2025 and it served as my most popular smartwatch for months due to its vibrant show, lengthy battery life, and assist for the sports activities I play. Over the previous few months I’ve had the chance to check out its successor, the Amazfit Balance 3 in addition to the flagship Cheetah 2 Ultra . Each are very comparable, however the Cheetah 2 Extremely is $230 extra. 

I have been operating, biking, mountain climbing, rowing, {golfing}, swimming, and dwelling with each, and there are causes chances are you’ll wish to consider one over the opposite so let’s try to show you how to with that call.

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The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra prices a pricy $600, whereas the Amazfit Balance 3 is simply $370. The Steadiness Extremely carefully matches the Cheetah 2 Extremely with extra of a concentrate on Hyrox and hybrid coaching actions whereas the Cheetah 2 Extremely is targeted totally on optimizing experiences for runners.

We’ll concentrate on two of the latest smartwatches from Amazfit with comparable options and performance to see if it is smart to pay the additional $230 for the flagship.

Specs

You can purchase the Amazfit Steadiness 3 if…

1. You wish to get monetary savings

I am usually impressed by Amazfit’s means to launch compelling smartwatches at reasonably priced costs, so I used to be caught off guard by the dear Cheetah 2 Extremely at $600. The Steadiness 3 at simply $370 is improbable and beats out the choices from Garmin, Suunto, and Polar. Once you evaluate the Steadiness 3 specs with different sports activities watches, it is robust to justify the upper value of rivals. 

Additionally: This Garmin beat my Apple Watch Ultra in almost every way (and it’s just as rugged)

Whereas the Amazfit Steadiness 3 is simply $370, it would not compromise a lot with a chrome steel physique, sapphire glass show, ample 64GB of storage, vibrant giant AMOLED show, and lengthy battery life.

2. You take part in actions on or within the water

The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Extremely has a waterproof ranking of 5 ATM whereas the inexpensive Steadiness 3 has a ranking of 10 ATM. The Steadiness 3 additionally handed a variety of assessments as a part of the MIL-STD-810G certification course of so it’s constructed to face up to the weather and difficult environments you prepare in.

When you spend time swimming, kayaking, snowboarding, snorkeling, and different actions within the water, the Steadiness 3 is designed to proceed functioning with a water resistance of as much as 100 meters deep. Inside lots of the water-based actions there are additionally particular exercise settings centered on these actions, together with water kind, navigation choices, and extra that make monitoring water-based actions complete.

3. You need a huge watch with a devoted LED flashlight

Garmin was the primary to launch a sports activities watch with a devoted LED gentle and since then Amazfit, Suunto, and Polar have applied this cool design characteristic that’s now a default for any watch on my wrist. The LED gentle on the Amazfit Steadiness 3 shines in white or purple and security gentle choices can be found within the settings for a lot of out of doors actions.

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One purpose I bought the unique Amazfit Steadiness was the modern design and profile. The Steadiness 3 is a little bit of departure from that with a singular case across the watch face with giant openings within the body. There’s additionally fairly a little bit of steel that extends down over the place the bands connect with the watch. When you like huge, but pretty flat watches, then chances are you’ll love the design of the Steadiness 3. It’s clearly constructed for these with giant wrists and for these of us, it seems good.

You can purchase the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Extremely if…

1. You need a sleeker and lighter watch

The Steadiness 3 I examined is the stainless-steel mannequin weighing 62 grams, however even the titanium model at 55 grams is heavier than the titanium Cheetah 2 Extremely’s 52 grams. If you find yourself mounting one thing in your wrist, only a few grams could make an enormous distinction in consolation and match. 

Past the burden, the Steadiness 3 has much more case construction across the watch face and construct down into the lug space in comparison with the sleeker Cheetah 2 Extremely. This helps make it a greater match for runners who don’t desire further weight or bulk round their smartwatch. The Cheetah 2 Extremely additionally has 4 flat buttons whereas the Steadiness 3 has a rotating crown that protrudes from the highest proper of the watch.

Additionally: I did not expect this Amazfit watch to match my Garmin in functionality – but it delivered

The Cheetah 2 Extremely retail bundle contains each silicone and cloth watch bands so you possibly can put on what works finest on your routine. I am an enormous fan of snug cloth bands, however the silicone one additionally has loads of openings for sweat and luxury.

2. You get pleasure from path operating and coaching plans

The Cheetah sequence of Amazfit watches focuses on runners, whereas the Cheetah 2 Extremely targets path runners. There’s a distinctive trail-running mode on the Cheetah 2 Extremely that applies load issue calculations for gradient, terrain resistance, and vertical achieve, with slick, color-coded elevation maps to indicate extreme ascents or difficult descents.

Amazfit gives custom-made coaching plans that you may arrange via the Zepp smartphone app’s AI-based Zepp Coach, giant default coaching plan library, customized coaching templates, or third-party coaching plans. 

I’ve loved utilizing the totally customizable Zepp Coach plans, which allow you to outline how a lot and whenever you wish to prepare to enhance your efficiency. The plan syncs with the watch, after which custom-made information pages on the watch show you how to succeed. 

Author’s selection

I cherished the unique darkish brown Steadiness that I purchased and used for months, so I used to be shocked after I examined each of those watches and ended up selecting the Cheetah 2 Ultra as my most popular every day watch. It is lighter and has a smaller case across the show so it is rather more snug. I do miss the rotating digital crown, one thing the Steadiness 3 has and the Cheetah doesn’t — however the Cheetah’s decrease weight wins out. 

The Amazfit Balance 3 is compelling, nonetheless, because of the low $370 value level, LED flashlight, top quality supplies, lengthy battery life, and wonderful 1.5-inch AMOLED show. Actually, it is robust to beat at this value.