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Amazfit is bolstering its sports watch lineup with the Active Max, a new smartwatch that promises nearly a month of battery life and sports watch-level fitness chops. Launched ahead of CES 2026 as part of a wave of CES announcements, the Active Max builds on Amazfit’s existing Active line with a larger, brighter display and larger battery along with training and recovery tools typically reserved for much more expensive watches.
At $169, it’s at least $100 cheaper than similar sports watches from apple, Google, Samsung and Garminalthough it does not exactly match the theft level value of $80 Amazfit Bip 6Our favorite Budget smart watch For the year 2025.
Amazfit has earned a reputation for making competitive smartwatches with many of the same basic health and fitness features as the big-name brands but at a fraction of the price. Since Amazfit runs its own Zepp operating system, pairing isn’t as seamless as watches tied to its phone’s operating systems, but the payoff is cross-platform compatibility with both Android and iPhone.
Bright screen and large battery
The Active Max has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It’s enclosed in an aluminum and plastic case, weighs 35.3 grams, and is water-resistant to 5 ATM.
The Amazfit Active Max is a sports-focused smartwatch that can last up to 25 days on a charge.
But the standout feature is its 658 mAh battery, which Amazfit says can last up to 25 days on a 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 outlast most mainstream smartwatches, and compete at the level of dedicated sports watches (some of which don’t even have a touchscreen).
Health and fitness features
Another main focus is fitness. Active Max has over 160 different exercise options to choose from, including automatic strength training detection that can help you count reps, and it even has its own feature. Artificial Intelligence-powered coach In the zip application.
It also launched a new metric called BioCharge, which tracks energy levels based on production and recovery. Constantly updated based on activity, workouts and stress levels throughout the day to help you optimize your training time, similar to Fitbit Readiness and Garmin Body Battery.
The watch includes continuous background health tracking, measuring heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen levels, and pressure, with alerts for abnormally high or low readings. The watch supports Bluetooth connectivity, on-board music storage, offline maps and route navigation, including maps of more than 2,000 ski resorts.
How do you stack up?
At $169, the Active Max isn’t budget smartwatch territory, but it’s a solid value in the sports watch category. It’s a good option for anyone who prioritizes battery life and cross-platform compatibility without having to spend money on a flagship.
As with most CES season announcements, a real-world test 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 starting December 30.
For more announcements ahead of CES 2026, check out CNET’s complete CES coverage.
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