Amazfit Balance 3 and Balance Ultra Signal a More Serious Era for Fitness Smartwatches

Amazfit has expanded its Balance smartwatch lineup with two new models designed to push the series deeper into serious fitness territory: the Amazfit Balance 3 and the premium Amazfit Balance Ultra. Launched about a year after the Balance 2, the new watches bring brighter displays, more physical buttons, stronger battery options, upgraded training software, and a clearer focus on hybrid athletes who move between strength work, endurance sessions, recovery, and daily wellness.

The Balance 3 arrives as the direct successor to the Balance 2, while the Balance Ultra becomes the first Ultra model in the family. Together, they show how Amazfit is reshaping the Balance identity from a lifestyle-first wearable into a more athletic platform built around structured training and long battery life.

A Bigger, Brighter, More Physical Balance Watch

The Amazfit Balance 3 features a 1.5-inch OLED display with a 480 x 480-pixel resolution and sapphire glass protection. The most visible upgrade is brightness. The screen now reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, which is 50% higher than the previous generation.

That matters for runners, cyclists, swimmers, hikers, and outdoor athletes who need glanceable information under harsh sunlight. A watch that is difficult to read outdoors quickly becomes frustrating, especially during workouts where pace, route, heart rate, or interval data needs to be checked instantly.

Amazfit has also changed how users interact with the watch. The Balance 3 now has four physical buttons in total. The rotating crown and right-side button remain, but the company has added two extra buttons on the left side. This gives the watch a more sport-oriented feel and makes it easier to control during workouts, in water, or when wearing gloves.

The move toward more buttons is not just cosmetic. Many fitness-focused users prefer tactile controls over touchscreen-only navigation because physical buttons are more reliable during sweat-heavy sessions, rain, swimming, or cold-weather training.

Balance Ultra: Titanium Body and Bigger Battery

The Amazfit Balance Ultra takes the concept further. It uses a titanium body and measures 51.8mm in diameter. It is 13.4mm thick, or 15.5mm when including the heart rate sensor.

Its headline advantage is battery life. The Ultra packs a larger 780mAh battery, rated for up to 30 days of typical use and up to 50 hours in Accuracy GPS Mode. That positions it as the more endurance-focused option for users who want longer time between charges, especially during outdoor activities that rely heavily on GPS.

The Ultra model also includes five physical buttons, with three placed on the left side. That is one more than the Balance 3, again reinforcing the watch’s focus on quick physical control during training.

Despite the Ultra’s premium positioning, many core features are shared with the Balance 3. Both watches include the same screen, microphone and speaker setup, 64GB of storage for offline maps and music or podcast files, the BioTracker 6.0 PPG Biometric Sensor, and dual-band GPS.

Battery Life Becomes a Key Differentiator

Battery performance is one of the most important differences between the two models.

The Amazfit Balance 3 includes a 658mAh battery and is rated for up to 21 days of typical use, matching the Balance 2. Its dual-band GPS system has become more efficient, now lasting up to 41 hours in Accuracy Mode, compared with 33 hours on the previous model.

The Balance Ultra, by contrast, steps up to a 780mAh cell and extends typical usage to 30 days. It also pushes Accuracy GPS Mode to 50 hours.

For everyday users, 21 days will already be more than enough. But for endurance athletes, travelers, hikers, or anyone who dislikes frequent charging, the Ultra’s larger battery gives it a clear practical advantage.

Bigger Cases, Tougher Bodies, and Water Resistance

The Balance 3 is available with a stainless steel case, while a titanium version is also planned. The watch has grown compared with the previous model. It now has a 51.4mm diameter, up from 47.4mm on the Balance 2. It is also slightly thicker at 12.5mm, or 14.6mm including the heart rate sensor, compared with 12.3mm on the older model.

The Balance Ultra is slightly larger again, measuring 51.8mm across.

Both watches are rated for 10 ATM water resistance. Amazfit says the body is suitable for open water swimming, fin swimming, and even free diving to 45 meters. This gives the new Balance series stronger appeal for multisport users who want one watch for gym work, running, swimming, and outdoor tracking.

The Hybrid Training System Is the Real Strategic Shift

The hardware upgrades are important, but the bigger story is Amazfit’s new Hybrid Training system. The Balance 3 and Balance Ultra debut as the physical center of this system, while the improved Zepp App acts as the intelligence layer behind it.

Amazfit describes the new platform as “Amazfit’s Hybrid Training System, combining advanced smartwatch hardware with Zepp App intelligence to help athletes train with structure across strength, endurance, recovery, and daily life.”

That framing is important. Amazfit is no longer presenting the Balance line only as a wellness watch with fitness features. It is trying to create a unified training platform that connects gym activity, endurance work, stress, recovery, sleep, and daily lifestyle pressure.

The system combines three main data layers: BioCharge, LifeLoad, and Training Load.

BioCharge focuses on the body’s energy and recovery state. LifeLoad tracks lifestyle demands and stress levels. Training Load measures the strain created by exercise.

Together, these features are designed to help users understand not only how hard they trained, but whether their body is ready for more intensity or needs recovery.

HYROX Support Gives Amazfit a Specific Athletic Angle

Amazfit is also leaning into HYROX, the indoor fitness competition format that combines running with functional workout stations. As the official partner of HYROX, Amazfit is offering structured preparation plans, race simulation, virtual pace, and race-specific workout support.

This gives the Balance 3 and Balance Ultra a more defined athletic identity. Instead of only offering broad workout tracking, the watches include tools for a fast-growing competition format that attracts hybrid athletes who train both strength and endurance.

That could help Amazfit stand out in a crowded smartwatch market. Many competitors offer running metrics, heart rate tracking, GPS, and recovery scores. HYROX-specific tools give the Balance series a sharper use case for athletes preparing for that style of event.

Health, Fitness, and Smart Features

Both watches include a broad set of wellness and smartwatch features. Health tracking supports heart rate monitoring, HRV tracking, blood oxygen measurement, sleep analysis, stress monitoring, and breathing rate tracking.

Fitness users also get support for 25 automatically recognized strength-training exercises, which should make gym sessions easier to track without manually logging every movement.

The watches support dual-band GPS and six satellite positioning systems, along with offline maps and route navigation. They also include Bluetooth calling, voice notes, and Zepp Flow voice controls, allowing users to perform certain tasks without constantly reaching for a phone.

The 64GB onboard storage is another notable feature. It gives users room for offline maps and media files, including music and podcasts, which is useful for long runs, hikes, or workouts where carrying a phone is inconvenient.

Price and Availability

The Amazfit Balance 3 Stainless Steel is available starting June 2, 2026, for $369.99, or £370 in the UK.

A titanium version of the Balance 3 is coming soon, priced at $449.99 or £450.

The Amazfit Balance Ultra is available starting June 2, 2026, priced at $599.99 or £600. It comes with two straps in the box: synthetic leather and silicone.

The pricing shows Amazfit targeting the upper mid-range and premium fitness-watch market without moving fully into the highest price brackets occupied by some specialist endurance watches.

What This Launch Means for the Smartwatch Market

The Balance 3 and Balance Ultra reflect a broader trend in wearables: users increasingly want smartwatches that combine daily convenience with serious training tools. The market is no longer divided neatly between lifestyle watches and sports watches. Many buyers now expect both.

Amazfit appears to be responding by giving the Balance series more durable materials, brighter displays, longer GPS endurance, more buttons, and deeper training analysis. The introduction of an Ultra model also gives the lineup a clearer premium tier.

The company’s challenge will be execution. Advanced metrics only matter if users trust them, understand them, and find them actionable. By combining BioCharge, LifeLoad, and Training Load into a single training intelligence system, Amazfit is trying to make recovery and readiness data easier to interpret.

Conclusion: Balance Becomes More Athletic

The Amazfit Balance 3 and Balance Ultra mark a clear evolution for the Balance family. The Balance 3 improves the core formula with a brighter sapphire-protected display, more buttons, better GPS endurance, 21-day battery life, and a larger body designed for more serious activity tracking.

The Balance Ultra adds a titanium build, a fifth button, a larger 780mAh battery, up to 30 days of typical use, and up to 50 hours of GPS in Accuracy Mode.

Together, the two watches show Amazfit moving the Balance line beyond general wellness and into hybrid fitness territory. For users who want a watch that can track work stress, recovery, gym sessions, endurance training, open-water activity, and daily smart features, the new Balance series is built to make that case more convincingly than before.