Amazfit Balance 3 Review

Quick Summary

The Balance 3 is a premium fitness smartwatch from Amazfit, built for people who run, lift and train for events and want a watch that lasts for weeks rather than days. A bright sapphire-glass AMOLED display, built-in maps, dual-band GPS and a battery that can run up to 21 days make it a serious sports watch. The other half of the story is the price: at ₹35,999 it sits in premium territory, so you should value the training tools and endurance to justify it.

Design & Build Quality

The Balance 3 is a round watch with a stainless steel frame and a polymer shell, and at 62 g without the strap it is lighter than it looks. It is a substantial watch, so it sits best on medium to large wrists, although the 22 mm silicone strap adjusts across a wide wrist range. The look is sporty but smart enough to wear with office clothes.

Build is a real strength. Sapphire glass resists scratches, the 10 ATM rating and dive certifications mean swimming and shallow diving are covered, and MIL-STD-810G testing adds confidence for rough use. Four physical buttons let you control it with wet or gloved hands. It also carries a built-in flashlight with a red mode and an SOS setting, useful for early-morning runs.

Display

The 1.5-inch AMOLED screen is sharp and, at a peak of 3,000 nits, very bright. That matters for runners and cyclists, because the display stays readable in strong Indian sunlight where weaker screens wash out. The always-on option keeps the time and basic data visible without lifting your wrist, though it will cost some battery. Sapphire glass keeps the face clear of the scratches that hit cheaper watches within months.

Software & Performance

The watch runs Zepp OS and works with Android and iPhone. Its main idea is HybridCharge, which combines training load, recovery, stress and daily demands into a simple picture of how ready you are to train. It is a useful guide rather than a final answer, but it helps beginners avoid doing too much.

The watch also syncs with popular training apps such as Strava, TrainingPeaks and Runna, plus Apple Health and Google Fit, so your data does not stay locked in one place. Voice control works only in select countries and regions, so do not count on it. With 64 GB of storage, there is plenty of room for maps.

Sports & Fitness

This is where the Balance 3 earns its price. Dual-band GPS and offline full-colour maps with turn-by-turn navigation make it a dependable companion for unfamiliar roads and trails, and round-trip route planning is handy for runs. Running power, VO2 max, training load and recovery status give serious athletes the numbers they look for, and 180+ sports modes cover almost everything you might do.

Strength training gets proper attention too, with automatic recognition of 25 movements, and the HYROX race and training modes will please that growing crowd. Swimming, open-water and freediving modes are included, and the watch can pair with heart rate belts, cycling sensors and running power meters.

Health Tracking

All-day heart rate, blood-oxygen, skin temperature and stress tracking run in the background, and sleep tracking covers stages, naps and breathing quality, with sleep heart rate variability for recovery insight. Menstrual cycle tracking is included. A wrist sensor can only give estimates, so treat the numbers as trends to watch and not as medical advice. As a lifestyle and recovery guide, it is comprehensive.

Battery & Charging

Battery life is a headline strength. Typical use can reach up to 21 days, heavy use about 10 days, and accurate GPS mode around 41 hours, which is enough for a long ultra-distance effort. These are the brand's own figures, and the always-on display and constant GPS will pull them down, but this watch should still need charging far less often than any smartwatch with a smaller battery.

One annoyance: the magnetic charging head comes without a cable, so you will need your own USB cable and adapter.

Connectivity & Calling

Bluetooth calling works through the built-in speaker and microphone, so quick calls from the wrist are possible, and notifications arrive as expected. Quick replies work on Android only, while camera control works on iPhone only. Wi-Fi is limited to 2.4 GHz, and music is a remote control for the music on your phone rather than a stored library, so you cannot leave the phone behind and listen to your own playlist.

Features Assessment

The features that count here are the sports and navigation tools, and they are strong. The flashlight, dive ratings and training insights are useful in real life. Smart features such as weather, alarms and a daily briefing are sensible rather than exciting, and the watch is not trying to replace a phone. Lack of onboard music is the most noticeable gap for runners who prefer to leave the phone at home.

Ease of Use

Four buttons and a touchscreen make the watch easy to operate in any condition, and the Zepp app does most of the heavy lifting for plans, templates and data review. There is a learning curve with the number of metrics, but the key screens are clear. Setup is simple on both Android and iPhone.

Value for Money

At ₹35,999 for the single stainless steel version, the Balance 3 is a premium purchase. You are paying for sapphire glass, a steel build, offline maps, dual-band GPS and weeks of battery life, and for a committed runner or gym-goer those justify the price. If you only want step counting, notifications and sleep tracking, a cheaper watch will do the job just as well.

Who Should Buy It?

Runners, hybrid athletes and HYROX or triathlon trainees who want maps, GPS and recovery guidance in one watch. Travellers and trekkers who dislike nightly charging. Anyone who wants a premium-looking sports watch that works on both Android and iPhone.

Who Should Consider Alternatives?

Those who want onboard music, a strong third-party app store or tap-to-pay should look at other smartwatches. Casual users who need basic notifications and step counts do not need to spend this much. Anyone with a very small wrist should try a watch on before buying.