Amazfit is expanding its Active Max line of sports watches with a new smartwatch that promises nearly a month of battery life and sports watch-level fitness capabilities. Launched ahead of CES 2026 as part of a wave of Consumer Electronics Show announcements, the Active Max builds on Amazfit's existing Active lineup with a larger, brighter display and larger battery, as well as learning and recovery tools typically reserved for much more expensive watches.
It's priced at $169, which is at least $100 cheaper than a similar sports watch from the manufacturer. Apple, Google, Samsung And Garminalthough this does not quite correspond to the theft level value Amazfit Bip 6 for $80our favorite budget smartwatch 2025.
Amazfit has built a reputation for making competitive smartwatches with many of the same core health and fitness features as well-known flagships, but at a fraction of the price. Since Amazfit uses its own Zepp operating system, pairing is not as easy as with watches tied to their phone operating systems, but the benefit is cross-platform compatibility with both Android and Android. iPhone.
Bright screen and big battery
The Active Max features a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with peak brightness of up to 3,000 nits. It is housed in an aluminum and plastic body, weighs 35.3 grams and is waterproof to 5 ATM.
Amazfit Active Max is a sports smartwatch that can last up to 25 days on a single charge.
But its standout feature is the 658mAh battery, which Amazfit says can last up to 25 days on a single charge, or up to 10 days with the always-on display enabled. If these estimates hold up in real-world testing, the Active Max will outperform most popular smartwatches, competing at the level of dedicated sports watches (some of which don't even have a touchscreen).
Health and Fitness Features
Another important area is fitness. Active Max offers over 160 different workout options to choose from, including automatic strength training detection to help you count reps, and even has its own Trainer with artificial intelligence in the Sepp app.
The company also introduced a new metric called BioCharge, which tracks energy levels based on production and recovery. It constantly updates based on activity, workouts, and stress levels throughout the day to help you optimize your workout time, similar Fitbit Readiness assessment and Garmin Body Battery.
The watch includes continuous background health tracking, measuring heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen levels and stress, as well as alerting for abnormally high or low readings. The watch supports Bluetooth calling, built-in music storage, offline maps and route navigation, including maps for more than 2,000 ski resorts.
How does it work out?
At $169, the Active Max isn't exactly in budget smartwatch territory, but it represents significant value in the sports watch category. It's a decent option for those who prioritize battery life and cross-platform compatibility without breaking the bank at the flagship level.
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 competitors. Amazfit says the Active Max will be available from December 30th.
For more announcements ahead of CES 2026, check out CNET's full coverage of CES.
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