Amazfit Active Max review – They say size doesn’t matter

Tags: Review | Amazfit | Men's | Smart

30.12.2025 | 9 MIN

The Amazfit Active Max isn’t a revolution — it’s a smart addition to the lineup. So why do these smartwatches exist in the first place?

When I first heard about the Active Max, my first thought was simple: why?

Why is there an Active Max when there’s already the Balance 2 and T-Rex 3 Pro?

So what are these watches for — and who are they meant for? Are they for the most active people? Do they offer the best spec sheet in the lineup?

Eventually I figured it out. And you will too. Just make it to the end of this article. And maybe read everything in between while you’re at it.

A case size that fits the release date

If I had one word that perfectly captures the Active Max, it would be “chunky.” If these watches are characteristic in any way, it’s definitely that impression.

I don’t know when you’re reading this, but it ties in nicely with the publication date (Dec 30). The original Amazfit Active 2, launched around the turn of 2024 and 2025, had just been through its first Christmas, and that 48.5 mm case (12.2 mm thick, sensor not included, I’m guessing) fits the vibe.

Speaking of the sensor, that’s actually the first thing about the Active Max that drove me up the wall. The sensor sticks out quite a bit from the case and the moment you loosen the watch a little at night, the Active Max turns into a surprisingly effective flashlight/nightlight. The sensor LEDs shine out through the back of the watch—and not in a negligible amount.

But credit where due—I like the articulating/hinged lugs. Thanks to them, the watch conforms well to almost any wrist size. That said, this model definitely isn’t for everyone. With a case this large, you need a bigger wrist to pull it off. My wrist is 17 cm around and it looks roughly like this.

(wrist shot photo)

Design-wise, not much has changed. There’s a 24-hour scale on the bezel, the strap is silicone (22 mm, Quick Release) and it has vent holes. I’m glad they abandoned the system where you tuck the end of the strap into its underside and went back to the classic—buckle and two keepers.

The glass is mineral and I feel Amazfit worked a bit on the “smudge-resistant coating.” Their watch glass used to have one annoying habit—one glance and it was smudged. This one feels a tad better. Maybe a better oleophobic layer?

Despite the size, the watch isn’t a paperweight. The watch case (without the strap) weighs 39.5 grams. It isn’t an all-plastic piece, though. The case and buttons are aluminum, the caseback is plastic with a metallic finish/coating.

By the way, the chosen glass and case materials set it apart from higher tiers where you’ll find sapphire and titanium.

With its display size, Active Max matches T-Rex 3 Pro and Balance 2

Amazfit never skimped on display size and the Active Max now joins the “one-and-a-half-inch” club. More precisely, it’s a 1.5" AMOLED touchscreen with 480 × 480 px resolution and up to 16 million colors.

The display sits at 323 PPI and you’d really have to try to make out individual pixels. And it shines up to 3,000 nits! But once the battery drops below 30%, you’re out of luck. You won’t get anywhere near 3,000 anymore.

Swipe left and right to move between widgets. Swipe down for notifications, up for the control center with various modes (Do Not Disturb, Sleep, etc.), a Find My Phone function, and other quick toggles.

Control is complemented by two physical buttons—the top one opens the main menu and also takes you back to the watch face, the bottom one gives quick access to the sports profiles.

The buttons have a light knurled texture, which makes them easier to operate.

The UI smoothness is excellent, but sometimes it feels a bit too smooth... I know that sounds odd, but for instance, scrolling the app list is super sensitive. Scroll in Settings, though, and suddenly it’s less sensitive. Kind of ideal. Which is all the more confusing because sensitivity differs across the system. And of course, you can’t adjust it.

GPS and the optical sensor didn’t disappoint

First, the raw specs.

The Active Max packs an accelerometer, barometer, GPS receiver, gyroscope, compass, heart rate sensor, and thermometer.

The GPS supports five satellite constellations, but only on one frequency, which sets it apart from the T-Rex 3 Pro and Balance 2.

I even tracked down the specific antenna the Active Max uses. It’s called Airoha AG3352B, and you can find online that it has about 1.5 m horizontal accuracy in open-sky conditions.

And the quality? I tested it on a tiny roundabout in Komenského sady in Ostrava, and it doesn’t look bad, does it?

Blue — Amazfit Active Max, purple — Garmin Tactix 7 PRO.

And as for accuracy versus the optical Verity Sense, it looks like this:

Blue — Active Max, purple — Polar Verity Sense.

There are minor slips here and there, mainly on heart rate drops, but nothing major. For a run in real winter conditions, the Active Max did great.

Not only is the watch accurate, but these sensors also greatly contribute to long battery life. While the Active 2 managed about 10 days in typical use and roughly 21 hours with GPS on, the Active Max—logically thanks to the larger case—goes noticeably further.

In everyday use it can last up to 25 days in smartwatch mode, and about 13 days with heavy use. Honestly, I think most people will land somewhere closer to the heavy-use scenario. And that one includes the following parameters:

Default brightness setting, dynamic watch face, voice assistant on, heart rate measurement (every minute), stress tracking, 30 minutes of Bluetooth calling, 60 minutes of music playback per week, 3 workouts with GPS on for 30 minutes each, 100 raise-to-wake activations, 150 message notifications (with screen lighting up), 3 incoming calls, 4 NFC payments, 15 minutes of display usage.

I admit I’ve never seen such a detailed breakdown of usage scenarios.

If you use the watch intensively and also turn on the Always-on display, battery life drops to roughly 10 days.

What surprised me is that in terms of battery life the Active Max can even chase the dino powerhouse T-Rex 3 Pro. With GPS on, the Active Max lasts up to 64 hours, and if you play music as well, it drops to about 22 hours.

Those are numbers you’d expect from much more expensive smartwatches.

Health tracking driven by AI

If I’ve linked Amazfit with anything in recent years, it’s unequivocally AI support—both in training and health tracking.

Let’s get practical. Let’s admit you’ll check data far more often in the phone app than on the watch itself. And when you open it, this is what pops up first:

What do I look at? Sleep, of course. You get a full breakdown of stages, a 0–100 score, and you can also log what you did before bed. Whether it was some activity, gaming or reading a book, the AI factors it in and evaluates what affects you positively or negatively.

Take a look above. The AI tells me my heart rate decelerated more slowly and immediately asks if I had a drink, for example. Isn’t that great? You don’t even need a spouse.

Overnight it also evaluates heart rate variability and, combining all the nightly variables, the algorithm (or AI, if you like) calculates your BioCharge—your body’s charge on a 0–100 scale. Amazfit moved away from separate mental and physical readiness scores and unified everything under BioCharge. Maybe they realized that evaluating mental readiness is a bit tricky. And mainly… what would you even do with it? “Boss, I can’t do that project today—my brain isn’t braining.”

During the day, the watch tracks stress, heart rate, breathing rate, and blood oxygen. You can also measure all of this with the One‑tap Measuring feature. It does exactly what it says—measures everything at once with a single tap in a matter of seconds.

One more difference: unlike higher tiers, the Active Max records heart rate at most every minute, not every second.

Yes, you can take calls on the Active Max

Back to AI, because I enjoy Zepp Flow. It’s an AI assistant that can not only control the watch but also search the web. There’s a catch though—it understands Czech, but it doesn’t speak it. You can ask in Czech, but you’ll get the answer in English.

Speaking of answers, Android users have fairly broad options for replying to notifications—either via preset replies or a QWERTY keyboard. There’s speech-to-text as well, but again we hit the same limitation with Czech.

The same goes for voice notes and working with the calendar. You tell the assistant to save an event to the calendar and name it something like “Schůzka u šéfa.” The event gets saved, but the title is translated automatically. And I don’t mean moved to a different date—I mean the title itself.

Another key area for me is maps. They’re here, of course, including turn-by-turn navigation. But Zepp doesn’t offer route planning in its app, so you have to rely on an external mapping tool. I always stress that Amazfit’s maps are fine for basic navigation, but they lack depth and detail. You also can’t tap the offline map and start navigating—you always need to pre-load a route onto the watch.

(wrist shot with map)

Bluetooth calling is also a handy helper, with the watch acting as a classic hands-free. Just answer on the watch and handle the call comfortably. I also like the call notification delay—you can set the call to appear on the watch, say, three seconds late. If you’re in the office with your phone in front of you, the watch won’t bug you unnecessarily.

You can also store music on the watch and use it as a player. You’ve got 4GB of storage for that. Android users again have a small advantage thanks to the Remotify app, which can even transfer Spotify playlists.

I don’t know why, but PAI is my favorite sports feature

The Active Max can do a lot. It calculates training load, estimates VO2 Max, recovery time, and based on your health and training metrics, the AI can recommend the right workout for each day. The feature is called Zepp Coach. If you don’t want to listen to AI, you can build your own workouts or pick from a training plan.

PAI is a bit of a rarity. Based on workout intensity and duration, it assigns you a point score. It even recommends a specific workout and promises a specific score if you meet the parameters. If you, say, go for a 2-hour ride keeping your heart rate over 104, you’ll get 8 PAI. With a more intense session, you can earn more PAI. You can earn up to 75 PAI per day.

I dug up an older activity—an hour and a half run, almost 20 kilometers at a 4:47 pace, with an average heart rate of 146—and I got 56 PAI for it.

Amazfit states for PAI: “The HUNT Fitness Study shows that people who maintain a PAI score of 100 or higher present a lower risk of hypertension, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. HUNT Fitness Study: This study was conducted by Professor Ulrik Wisløff of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Faculty of Medicine. It lasted for more than 35 years and included more than 230,000 participants. To use this feature, all-day heart rate tracking must be enabled.”

When you go for a run with the Active Max, you get a ton of data. Just take a look.

You’re really not missing anything the higher models offer—running dynamics, running power, and all the charts in a high level of detail.

Specifically, you get data on:

• time, pace, and distance
• cadence, stride length, vertical oscillation and ratio, ground contact time, and step count
• altitude, elevation gain, and climb breakdown
• calories burned
• heart rate, heart rate zones, and running power
• real-time power

To be honest, the only thing I ran into was the lack of golf maps. But that actually makes sense—Amazfit clearly reserves that for the more premium tiers.

And if you’re into a less common sport, odds are Amazfit has it. The watch supports over 170 sports profiles, and the breadth is best illustrated by oddities like hunting, snow shoveling, square dance (I honestly have no idea what exactly that is), or dragon boat.

So what is the Active Max?

Big. That’s it.

At the beginning I asked why the Active Max exists. Is it for the most active individuals?

No, it’s really about the case size.

And it makes sense. Look at Amazfits under €200 (roughly). They’re all tiny or rectangular. No affordable round option for men.

That changes with the Active Max.

It brings a solid foundation of features, a very reasonable price tag, and seriously robust battery life. What more could you want?

Photo credits:

• studio photos — Hodinky 365 photographers
• screenshots — Zepp app
• graphs, maps — DC Rainmaker Analyzer