Usually, around this time of year, Amazfit takes to the stage to launch its latest GTR or GTS series smartwatch. This year, though, things are a bit different. Instead, the brand has introduced the Amazfit Balance, a new watch that will carry the torch as Amazfit’s flagship lifestyle smartwatch.

Amazfit says this watch is all about achieving a balance between work, life and wellness, and some AI software smarts and a whole bunch of sensors are present in order to help you do this. I was excited to see what the new watch is like, so I strapped it around my wrist as quickly as possible, and here are my early impressions.

Price and availability

The Amazfit Balance is available today from Amazfit’s website where it retails for $229 in the US and €249 in Europe. It will also be coming to Amazfit’s retail partners, such as Amazon, in the coming weeks.

Design

• Dimensions: 46x46x10.6mm
• Weight: 35 grams excluding strap
• Aluminium alloy middle frame, Fibre-reinforced polymer bottom shell

The Balance is available in two flavours, with either a silver bezel and fabric strap, or in black with a silicone sports-style strap. I’m testing the former, and I think it looks superb. The strap has a slightly rustic, almost tartan look about it, and it contrasts nicely with the sleek watch face with its large flat-fronted AMOLED display, digital crown and assignable button.

The strap closes with velcro, but it’s a fancy slimline version, similar to the material that you find on posh velcro cable tidies. It’s designed in such a way that the two parts of the strap never separate, so you slip into it like a bangle and then cinch it down. This makes it much less of a hassle to take on and off, and the stretchy material aids in this, as well as making it comfortable to wear, even when it’s on tightly.

What first struck me about the Amazfit Balance was how slim and lightweight it is, especially in contrast to the bulky TicWatch Pro 5 that I’ve been wearing for the past few months. Putting on the Balance was a breath of fresh air, and although the actual difference is only a matter of 10 grams or so, it really is noticeable when it’s attached to your wrist.

Features

• Readiness analysis
• Body composition measuring
• Zepp Pay contactless payments

As you’d expect from a flagship Amazfit watch, the Balance is loaded with sensors to track all of your fitness metrics. This includes a PPG biometric optical sensor along with a BIA bioelectric impedance sensor. There’s also onboard GPS with dual-band positioning along with a gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, air pressure sensor, temperature sensor and more.

New on this model is a feature called Readiness analysis which uses sleep-tracking data and biometrics to let you know when you’re ready to push the limits of your workouts, and when you should consider taking it easy. There’s also the ability to perform an upper body composition measurement using the watch alone, or a full body analysis when paired with the Amazfit Body Composition Analyzer Mat.

The Amazfit Balance also marks the introduction of Zepp Pay, which allows you to make contactless payments using your watch. Zepp has partnered with Mastercard and Curve to enable this functionality in 33 countries including the UK, France, Germany and Spain. There’s no mention of the US just yet, though.

Performance

• 14-day battery life in typical use / 25 days in battery-saver mode
• Zepp OS 3.0 with over 150 downloadable apps
• 1.5-inch 480×480 AMOLED display, 1,500 nits

The Amazfit Balance has impressive battery claims, and you should expect around 14 days of battery life in normal use. If you enable the always-on-display this will shrink to around 6 days on a charge, or if you choose battery-saver mode you can stretch this up to 25 days. Of course, battery life will vary greatly depending on how you use your watch, and I haven’t had time to put these claims to the test just yet, but keep an eye out for our full review in the near future.

The watch runs the brand’s own Zepp OS 3.0, and again this is something I need to spend more time with to judge properly. On first impressions, though, it’s a nice clean interface, not too dissimilar from Wear OS, although the app layout takes some keen inspiration from the Apple Watch. In the few hours I’ve spent with the watch, the OS has been smooth and fluid with no hiccups, and there are plenty of customisation options to make the watch your own.

The display is large and bright, and coming from the TicWatch Pro 5, I really appreciate the lack of a raised bezel around the screen. It makes it much easier to tap things that are placed towards the edge of the display, and swipe gestures feel much more natural, too.

Of course, there’s a boatload of workout tracking options, with over 150 activities supported. This includes strength training, where the Amazfit Balance should be able to accurately track sets and reps. I’ve not had the chance to try any of these modes yet, aside from clocking up some serious steps around the IFA show floor, but I’m looking forward to seeing how they perform.

First impressions

The Amazfit Balance has a lot going for it, it’s slim, lightweight and stylish, absolutely packed with fitness features, and comes at a very competitive price. If it can live up to all of its claims, then it could be one of the finest smartwatches of 2023. I’ll deliver my full verdict after spending some more quality time with it.