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With last year’s Amazfit Active 2, I was able to train with a very small watch priced just under $100. This year’s Amazfit Active 3 Premium improves upon that model in several ways, making it a nearly perfect sports watch for runners beginning their journey. It’s also great for anyone seeking a smaller, high-quality smartwatch that supports an extensive number of other activities.
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In early 2025, Amazfit released the Active Max, priced at exactly the same $170 as the Active 3 Premium. The Active Max is 3mm larger across the face, has a basic two-button design, uses mineral glass, while the Active 3 Premium uses sapphire glass, and has a larger battery with twice the battery life of the Active 3 Premium. The Active 3 Premium has a few more metrics for runners with a size perfect for everyone.
When you look at the software on Amazfit watches, there are very few differences in capability between a $170 watch and models priced over $400, including the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro and Cheetah 2 Ultra. The primary differences in the watches are the materials, LED flashlight, internal storage, mapping functionality, and a few advanced activities such as detailed golf tracking.
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Built for runners
The four physical buttons on the Amazfit Active 3 Premium are useful for runners who don’t want to swipe on a display while running, especially if sweat or rain reduces touchscreen effectiveness. I personally use buttons for all of my watch interactions while running, which is one reason I like the five buttons on Garmin devices.
The Active 3 Premium is also perfect for people with smaller wrists who want a lighter watch. The 20mm wide band helps keep things small, and while the watch is a bit too small for me, the display is still vibrant and clear, so I can read it with my aging eyes.
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The Active 3 Premium provides key running metrics, including lactate threshold, recovery data, training load, and more. I experienced bursitis in my hip, likely from winter alpine skiing, and used the Active 3 Premium and onboard training plans to slowly get back out and run. The Active 3 Premium helped guide me through a slow recovery rather than starting with a half-marathon that could possibly have set back my healing.
Offline mapping is also available to help you find your way back to where you started your run. Navigation like this is not a regular feature of entry-level sports watches.
Through the Zepp app, you can easily set up training plans using Zepp Coach, the extensive Zepp training plan library, training templates where you create your own custom plan, or connect third-party training plans from services like Runna, TrainingPeaks, and Intervals.icu. I started with Zepp Coach and enjoy how it guides you through questions to create a plan that matches your current fitness level and helps you achieve your goals.
Global positioning and sensor performance
The Amazfit Active 3 Premium supports six global navigation satellite systems and has proven accurate at tracking my location while running or biking in my local area. The watch does not have dual-band GPS, which is expected given its low price. If you are trying to navigate in locations where clear-sky views are not available, you may see some uncertainty in the tracking.
Heart rate tracking has worked well for me while running and sleeping. The watch also supports external sensors, so if you are performing activities with a lot of arm movement, you may want to connect a chest or arm band heart rate sensor to track every movement. The watch’s small size and weight help it stay tight on your wrist for better accuracy, too.
The Active 3 Premium can last for up to a week with a couple of runs during this period, but the battery capacity is small (365 mAh), so it is definitely not a multi-week sports watch. Amazfit advertises up to 24 hours of GPS use, so that will cover every runner who is likely to buy this watch for at least a few runs. The vibrant always-on display mode will cut battery life in half, so keep that in mind too as you set it up for your training and daily use.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The Amazfit Active 3 Premium is a solid contender for anyone interested in a smartwatch for activity tracking and for recreational runners looking for coaching plans personalized to their fitness level and daily health metrics. It easily exceeds expectations for a $170 watch, and the lovely Atlas Blue one I tested is gorgeous, with materials that make it feel like a watch costing twice as much.