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At a price of around 300 bucks, the Amazfit Balance 2 is undoubtedly a bit on the expensive side, at least as far as smartwatches are concerned. Unlike other devices such as the OnePlus 3 or the Samsung Galaxy Watch series though, it doesn’t come with Wear OS, instead opting for its own take on software. As such, Amazfit is hoping that the Balance 2’s combination of features will be enough to entice would-be buyers, especially those who aren’t locked into particular device ecosystems.
That being said, we managed to spend some time with the Amazfit Balance 2, and take a closer, more personal look at what it offers. Should you get one though?
Amazfit Balance 2 Specs
The Good Stuff
For its price, there’s a lot of things that the Amazfit Balance 2 gets right. It feels solid for the most part, and also comes with 10 ATM water resistance meaning that it can go for a round or two of swim sessions, although it’s not exactly built for diving. The display does come with Sapphire Crystal Glass protection, which at this price point is pretty much expected.
The Balance 2’s display is sharp and bright, and I didn’t have any issues when using the watch outdoors. Navigating through the user interface felt reasonably smooth, although I would say that it isn’t as fluid as most Wear OS devices. That being said, setting up the watch was easy, and I managed to create a Zepp account and sync the watch to Google Health Connect along with all my notifications in just under ten minutes.
Battery life is pretty reliable as well, and while Amazfit does claim up to 21 days of usage, I found that the watch might drain a bit faster, although this will of course depend heavily on individual usage. It can easily out last other smartwatches on the market though, such as the OnePlus Watch 3 and TicWatch Atlas.
Some Considerations
There are some limitations though, such as the watch’s inability to type custom replies to messages. You can select from a handful of pre-written replies for text messages for example, but there’s no full-fledged keyboard functionality, unfortunately. There were also times when I felt that the sleep tracking feature wasn’t all that accurate, with maybe a difference in half an hour of my actual sleep versus the recorded data on the watch.
Given that it’s also running on a different software platform (Zepp OS), users who are heavily invested in Google’s software ecosystem might find the app selection on the Balance 2 a bit limiting.
Final Thoughts
To sum things up, the Amazfit Balance 2 manages to combine premium features like an aluminium chassis and Sapphire Crystal display, impressive battery life, as well as a feature-packed software platform all for a price that undercuts devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series and OnePlus Watch 3, for example. The built-in smart AI assistant also works nicely, and is a nice feature to have as well.
That said though, the absence of Wear OS along with a few software quirks do remind you of some of the watch’s limitations, although users who aren’t that keen on Google’s wearable platform might not be bothered by this anyway. All in all though, it’s a solid smartwatch on its own and gets all the basics right, and then some.
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That being said, we managed to spend some time with the Amazfit Balance 2, and take a closer, more personal look at what it offers. Should you get one though?
Amazfit Balance 2 Specs
- 1.5-inch AMOLED; 2,000 nits
- Sapphire glass protection
- Polymer and aluminium chassis
- 10 ATM water resistance
- Built-in microphone and speakers
- 658 mAh battery, up to 21 days
- Biotracker, temperature sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer
- Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, Bluetooth 5.2, BLE
The Good Stuff
For its price, there’s a lot of things that the Amazfit Balance 2 gets right. It feels solid for the most part, and also comes with 10 ATM water resistance meaning that it can go for a round or two of swim sessions, although it’s not exactly built for diving. The display does come with Sapphire Crystal Glass protection, which at this price point is pretty much expected.
The Balance 2’s display is sharp and bright, and I didn’t have any issues when using the watch outdoors. Navigating through the user interface felt reasonably smooth, although I would say that it isn’t as fluid as most Wear OS devices. That being said, setting up the watch was easy, and I managed to create a Zepp account and sync the watch to Google Health Connect along with all my notifications in just under ten minutes.
The Balance 2 is clearly aimed at fitness junkies, with more than 170 sports modes
The Balance 2 is clearly aimed at fitness junkies, with more than 170 sports modes, and smart device recognition for up to 25 strength training movements and eight sports movements. For a more casual user like me who mostly focuses on weekly weight sessions and indoor cycling, it was able to track my stats pretty accurately. Holding down the crown also taps into the built-in AI voice assistant, which works reasonably well for the most part with general queries and such.Battery life is pretty reliable as well, and while Amazfit does claim up to 21 days of usage, I found that the watch might drain a bit faster, although this will of course depend heavily on individual usage. It can easily out last other smartwatches on the market though, such as the OnePlus Watch 3 and TicWatch Atlas.
Some Considerations
There are some limitations though, such as the watch’s inability to type custom replies to messages. You can select from a handful of pre-written replies for text messages for example, but there’s no full-fledged keyboard functionality, unfortunately. There were also times when I felt that the sleep tracking feature wasn’t all that accurate, with maybe a difference in half an hour of my actual sleep versus the recorded data on the watch.
Given that it’s also running on a different software platform (Zepp OS), users who are heavily invested in Google’s software ecosystem might find the app selection on the Balance 2 a bit limiting.
Final Thoughts
To sum things up, the Amazfit Balance 2 manages to combine premium features like an aluminium chassis and Sapphire Crystal display, impressive battery life, as well as a feature-packed software platform all for a price that undercuts devices like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series and OnePlus Watch 3, for example. The built-in smart AI assistant also works nicely, and is a nice feature to have as well.
That said though, the absence of Wear OS along with a few software quirks do remind you of some of the watch’s limitations, although users who aren’t that keen on Google’s wearable platform might not be bothered by this anyway. All in all though, it’s a solid smartwatch on its own and gets all the basics right, and then some.
The post Amazfit Balance 2 Review: Worth the Price? appeared first on Phandroid.
More...
