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Amazfit is boosting its sports watch lineup with the Active Max, a new smartwatch that promises nearly a month of battery life and sports watch-level fitness capabilities. Launched ahead of CES 2026 as part of the Consumer Electronics Show flurry of announcements, the Active Max builds on Amazfit’s existing Active line with a larger, brighter screen and bigger battery as well as workout and recovery tools typically reserved for much more expensive watches.
At $169, it’s at least $100 cheaper than comparable sports watches from Apple, Google, Samsung And Garminalthough it does not quite match the flight level value of the $80 Amazfit Bip 6our favorite budget smart watch of 2025.
Amazfit has built a reputation for making competitive smartwatches with many of the same health and fitness features as big-name flagships, but at a fraction of the price. Since Amazfit uses its own Zepp OS, pairing isn’t as seamless as watches tied to their phone’s OS, but the payoff is cross-platform compatibility with Android and iPhone.
Bright screen and big battery
The Active Max has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It is framed in an aluminum and plastic case, weighs 35.3 grams and is waterproof up to 5 ATM.
The Amazfit Active Max is a sports-focused smartwatch that can last up to 25 days on a charge.
But its standout feature is its 658mAh battery, which Amazfit claims can last up to 25 days on one charge, or up to 10 days with the always-on display enabled. If these estimates hold up in real-world testing, the Active Max would outlast most mainstream smartwatches, rivaling the level of dedicated sports watches (some of which don’t even have a touchscreen).
Health and fitness features
The other major goal is fitness. The Active Max offers over 160 different workout options, including automatic strength training detection that can help you count reps, and even has its own. AI-powered trainer in the Zepp app.
It also launched a new metric called BioCharge, which tracks energy levels based on production and recovery. It continually updates based on activity, workouts, and stress levels throughout the day to help you optimize workout time, like Fitbit Readiness score and body battery from Garmin.
The watch includes continuous background health tracking, measuring heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen levels and stress, with alerts for abnormally high or low readings. The watch supports Bluetooth calling, built-in music storage, offline maps and route navigation, including maps of over 2,000 ski resorts.
How does it stack up?
At $169, the Active Max isn’t exactly budget smartwatch territory, but it’s a strong value in the sports watch category. It’s a nice option for anyone who values battery life and cross-platform compatibility without having to spend money on the flagship level.
As with most CES season announcements, real-world testing will ultimately determine how well it delivers on its promises, but on paper the Active Max continues Amazfit’s efforts to offer feature-rich wearables at lower prices than its larger rivals. 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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