Andy Devaney
If your January motivation usually lasts about as long as a supermarket snowman, Amazfit would like a word. The new Amazfit Active Max is pitched at the people who are ready to restart, rebuild, and finally stick to a routine—whether that’s running, the gym, or turning up to their first HYROX race with equal parts swagger and fear.
New Year’s resolutions have a habit of collapsing by the second week of January—right around the time your legs remember what stairs feel like. Amazfit’s solution is a watch that removes friction: it tracks, prompts, nudges, and records the sort of progress you can actually see, rather than the vague “I feel healthier” optimism that dies in the presence of a sofa.
At the centre of the pitch is volume and variety. The Amazfit Active Max tracks over 160 sports and activities, aimed squarely at the “I’m doing a bit of everything” crowd: runners mixing intervals with strength work, gym-goers adding cardio, and HYROX rookies learning the uncomfortable truth that burpees are not a personality trait.
Comfort and smart features (the bits you’ll notice on day one)
Amazfit is leaning hard into comfort here. The watch is lightweight (39.5 g), built for the kind of all-day wear that doesn’t end with you flinging it at a wall mid-session.
The automated features read like a list of small annoyances it wants to delete from your life:
- It automatically sets heart rate zones when your maximum HR is detected
- It warns if your heart is beating too fast
- It creates running or hiking routes
- It can start or pause exercises automatically
Then there’s the screen—because if you can’t read it mid-workout, it’s just an expensive wrist decoration. The 1.5-inch display adjusts brightness automatically up to 3000 nits, and Amazfit uses AMOLED to deliver high contrast and vivid colours, making stats easier to read when you’re sweating, squinting, and questioning your life choices.
Training and recovery insights (where the real value lives)
A watch can track your effort. A useful watch helps you understand the consequences.
The Amazfit Active Max serves detailed workout summaries on the watch and in the Zepp App, including post-workout and recovery data. You get training results, accumulated training load, and recovery progress including sleep quality and heart rate variability.
Amazfit also highlights its BioCharge indicator, which reflects your current energy level—another way of translating “today is not the day to chase a personal best” into something your ego might accept. The watch tracks dozens of parameters, with the aim of helping users understand how their bodies respond as training builds.
Maps, navigation, and actually useful extras
This is where Amazfit tries to separate Active Max from the “basic tracker” pack. The watch supports:
- Payments
- Thousands of offline maps, including topographic, ski resort, and contour maps
- Navigation features designed for training outdoors without relying on mobile signal
It also plays nicely with the platforms people already use. Through the growing Amazfit ecosystem, users can share progress to Strava, adidas Running, Google Fit, Health Connect, Komoot, and Relive—which is handy if your training plan depends on accountability, friendly competition, or simply proving to your mates that you did in fact leave the house.
Ecosystem and audio: the “leave your phone behind” angle
The Active Max includes a built-in microphone and speaker, and it can pair with headphones such as Amazfit UP. It also connects to Amazfit accessories like Helio Strap and Helio Ring, plus compatible third-party devices.
Storage gets a mention because it matters for real-world use: 4 GB of storage—four times more than the Amazfit Active 2—which enables podcasts and music playback without an internet connection. For runners and gym-goers who want fewer distractions (and fewer pockets), that’s a practical win.
Availability and price in the UK
The Amazfit Active Max is available from December 30, 2025 at uk.amazfit.com and through selected Amazfit partners. Recommended retail price: £169.00.
