Amazfit Active Review: Loaded with fitness features and an AI twist!

Amazfit Active Review: If you’re someone with an active lifestyle, one of the go-to gadgets has become a smartwatch. These tech marvels are basically like a computer on your wrist, helping you keep a check on your health and fitness. But what constitutes a good smartwatch? For starters, it should have a crisp and bright display so that you can view your workout details even under direct sunlight. Moreover, there should be a boatload of health sensors with accurate tracking to keep a check on essential health metrics such as heart rate, SpO2 and more. It should also look attractive to match your everyday outfits. Lastly, having a long battery life is a must so that you don’t have to juice it up again and again. With so many things to look out for, it becomes crucial to choose the right option. And this is where the problem arises.

The smartwatch market in India has been flooded with a boatload of options for every need and every budget. While the best smartwatch makers such as Apple and Samsung offer top-of-the-line hardware and intuitive software, their smartwatches also command a steep price. What if you want a smartwatch under Rs. 15000 that offers all of the bells and whistles without costing a premium?

Amazfit has launched its latest smartwatch, the Amazfit Active, at Rs. 12999, which aims to achieve this. But does it actually stand out as a top option to consider or does it drown in a sea of smartwatches in the Indian market? I’ve spent a few weeks with the smartwatch, and I think it is one of the most sensible purchases to make. Here’s why.

Amazfit Active: Design and display

At first glance, you find there’s nothing special about the Amazfit Active and it is quite ordinary. Neither does it boast of a premium finish like the Apple Watch Ultra 2 nor does it have multiple buttons that fulfill several purposes. However, its ordinary design is what makes it better. Its simplistic design aids its usability and makes sure it goes along with all your outfits without sticking out like a sore thumb. It features an aluminium frame that gives it a premium feel without commanding a steep price.

The Amazfit Active comes in 3 colours - Midnight Black, Lavender Purple and Petal Pink. I had the Black variant and I think it is the best out of the three, sporting a minimalistic design. There’s a single button on the right that opens up the menu, giving you access to its suite of features. A single speaker is located on the left.

On the front is a 1.75-inch AMOLED display which is both bright and colourful. It is easily visible under direct sunlight by cranking up the brightness, which is great considering the sunny weather conditions of Delhi in peak summers. The touch sensitivity is great and it reacts nicely to swipes and taps, with an additional always-on display option. There are multiple watch faces onboard and more can be downloaded via the companion app. Oh, and you can also go swimming with the Amazfit Active smartwatch courtesy of its 5ATM water resistance rating.

On the back, you’ll find Amazfit’s PPG BioTracker sensor that tracks your heart rate, oxygen saturation and more. But more about this later. All in all, the Amazfit Active is a nice-looking smartwatch that’ll go with most of your outfits without sticking out.

Amazfit Active: Performance

While the design of a smartwatch should be nice, its performance and health tracking are where it should be bang on the money. And it is certainly the case with the Amazfit Active…mostly. The smartwatch comes equipped with a plethora of health trackers such as 24-hour heart rate monitoring, SpO2 monitoring, stress level tracking and more. Most of these health features are fairly accurate, except for a few. The smartwatch aims to be your all-encompassing health companion, and this is where it can become a bit overwhelming. The oxygen saturation levels and stress tracking are pretty bang on most of the time. However, weirdly the step count was sometimes as off as by 1000 steps when compared to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Apple Watch SE 2 which is pretty concerning. It also supports 120 sports modes.

It gets an innovative feature called Readiness Score that derives from data such as heart rate, stress, sleep, HRV, respiration, and temperature and assesses your physical readiness each morning. While I had nothing to compare it to, the heart rate and stress levels remained consistent. One of the standout features of the Amazit Active is the Zepp Coach. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), it is a personal coach that evaluates your physical fitness, fatigue level, and training status based on exercise intensity. It accordingly provides suggestions for the same. It is certainly an intriguing feature and has worked out fairly well so far, but I’m keen to test it out on a long-term basis. Do note that most of the fitness metrics can be seen via the companion Zepp app on Android smartphones and iPhones.

Apart from the fitness and health fitness features, the Amazfit Active smartwatch also gets a plethora of other traditional features that are staples of a smartwatch. These include checking and responding to notifications, attending calls on the go, and even playing music. All of these features work exactly as advertised. There’s even Amazon Alexa onboard that serves as a smart assistant on the wrist. You can ask Alexa to set alarms or disable them, check the weather, and even other general questions. It also has basic navigation support and route navigation which can come in handy if you’re lost.

While the health and fitness features are crucial on a smartwatch, having a fluid UI is equally important. The Amazfit Active gets a pretty simplistic UI but one that is extremely fluid. Never in my time using it did it stutter even once, which is an impressive feat considering the boatload of features present on the smartwatch!

Amazfit Active: Battery life

Amazfit advertises up to 14 days of battery life on a single charge, and it is pretty consistent with what I’ve been getting. On moderate usage, the smartwatch can easily last 10 days, which is extremely impressive when compared to my Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. However, using GPS drains the battery quickly, and you’ll run out of juice much quicker. One of the most disappointing things about the Amazfit Active is the lack of any sort of fast-charging tech. The smartwatch takes almost two hours to recharge 0-100% and does not offer any quick charging feature.

Amazfit Active: Verdict

The Amazfit Active is a smartwatch that is bang on the money - most of the time. It features a vast array of health and fitness features that are pretty accurate and even gets an AI-powered Coach that provides suggestions for your workout routine. The smartwatch features a crisp AMOLED display with bright and punchy colours and a plethora of watch faces. It delivers up to 10 days of battery life on moderate usage, which is an impressive feat.

But, should you go for it? Absolutely. The Amazfit Active offers a good, all-round combination of fitness features and an intuitive user experience, packaged in a premium-esque design. While it does not stand out, it doesn’t actually need to!