The Amazfit Active Max Is Built For the Long Run (Literally)

It’s listed at half the price of an Apple Watch or Garmin, with a battery that can last almost a month. So, what’s the trade-off?

Vanessa Hand Orellana Lead Writer

Vanessa is a lead writer at CNET, reviewing and writing about the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers. She joined the brand first as an on-camera reporter for CNET’s Spanish-language site, then moved on to the English side to host and produce some of CNET’s videos and YouTube series. When she’s not testing out smartwatches or dropping phones, you can catch her on a hike or trail run with her family.

Expertise Consumer Technology, Smart Home, Family, Apps, Wearables

Amazfit is supercharging its sports watch lineup with the Active Max, a new smartwatch that promises nearly a month of battery life and sports-watch level fitness chops. Launched ahead of CES 2026 as part of the wave of Consumer Electronics Show announcements, the Active Max builds on Amazfit’s existing Active line with a larger, brighter display and a bigger battery along with training and recovery tools typically reserved for far more expensive watches.

At $169, it’s at least $100 cheaper than comparable sport watches from Apple, Google, Samsung and Garmin, though it doesn’t quite match the steal-level value of the $80 Amazfit Bip 6, our favorite budget smartwatch of 2025.

Amazfit has built a reputation for making competitive smartwatches with many of the same core health and fitness features as big-name flagships but at a fraction of the price. Because Amazfit runs its own Zepp OS, pairing isn’t as seamless as watches tied to their phones’ operating systems, but the payoff is cross-platform compatibility with both Android and iPhone.

Bright screen and big battery

The Active Max has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It’s framed in an aluminum-and-plastic case, weighs 35.3 grams, and is water-resistant up to 5 ATM.

But its standout feature is its 658 mAh battery, which Amazfit says can last up to 25 days on a charge, or up to 10 days with the always-on display enabled. If those estimates hold up in real-world testing, the Active Max would outlast most mainstream smartwatches, competing at the dedicated sport watch level (some of which don’t even have a touchscreen). 

Health and fitness features

The other major focus is fitness. The Active Max has more than 160 different workout options to choose from, including automatic strength training detection that can help you count reps, and even has its own AI-powered coach in the Zepp app.

It also debuted a new metric called BioCharge, which tracks energy levels based on output and recovery. It continuously updates based on activity, workouts and stress levels throughout the day to help you optimize training time, similar to Fitbit’s Readiness score and Garmin’s Body Battery.

The watch includes continuous background health tracking, measuring heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen levels and stress, with alerts for abnormally high or low readings. The watch supports Bluetooth calling, onboard music storage, offline maps and route navigation, including maps for more than 2,000 ski resorts.

How does it stack up?

At $169, the Active Max isn’t exactly budget smartwatch territory, but it’s a strong value in the sport watch category. It’s a worthy option for anyone prioritizing battery life and cross-platform compatibility without having to spend flagship-level money.

As with most CES-season announcements, real-world testing will ultimately determine how well it delivers on its promises, but on paper the Active Max continues Amazfit’s push to offer feature-rich wearables at lower prices than its big-name rivals. Amazfit says the Active Max will be available starting December 30.

For more announcements ahead of CES 2026, check out CNET’s full CES coverage.

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