{"id":450061,"date":"2026-02-28T09:53:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T09:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/450061\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T09:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T09:53:11","slug":"amazfits-affordable-5-star-apple-watch-rival-just-got-a-surprise-sequel-and-it-promises-meaningful-progress-for-runners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/450061\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazfit&#8217;s affordable, 5-star Apple Watch rival just got a surprise sequel \u2014 and it promises &#8216;meaningful progress&#8217; for runners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Amazfit has launched the Active 3 Premium smartwatchIt follows the Amazfit Active 2, which we lovedThe watch is available to buy now for $169.99 \/ \u00a3169.90 \/ AU$TBC<\/p>\n<p id=\"e1dec6cd-87fe-4c6f-b394-285784b3f2d7\">We were completely wowed by the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/health-fitness\/smartwatches\/amazfit-active-2-review\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/health-fitness\/smartwatches\/amazfit-active-2-review\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/health-fitness\/smartwatches\/amazfit-active-2-review\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Amazfit Active 2<\/a> smartwatch when it launched last year, giving it a five-star rating and praising its value-for-money proposition compared to the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/best-apple-watch\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/best-apple-watch\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/best-apple-watch\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">best Apple Watches<\/a> \u2014 and now there&#8217;s a brand new sequel that also looks very promising.<\/p>\n<p>The Amazfit Active 3 Premium picks up where its predecessor left off, and importantly, keeps a relatively affordable price tag. Amazfit says the watch is designed to turn &#8220;daily movement into meaningful progress&#8221;, through structured training programs, health data insights, and route navigation features.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-seasonal\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"e1dec6cd-87fe-4c6f-b394-285784b3f2d7-2\">Sporting a 1.32-inch AMOLED screen (matching the Active 2) with sapphire glass protection and 3,000 nits of peak brightness, the 45mm watch brings with it a stainless steel frame, a four-button design, and up to 12 days of battery life with &#8220;typical use&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>            You may like<\/p>\n<p>The on-board sensors monitor all your key stats, including heart rate, blood oxygen levels, stress, and sleep quality. There&#8217;s also a microphone and speaker on the watch, so you can take calls on your wrist (via a connected smartphone), and chat with the Zepp Flow assistant we&#8217;ve seen before on Amazfit wearables.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-2462a73e-9ca6-441a-986a-6cb6c59cd6a6\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>Running fitness made simple<\/p>\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:56.25%;\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/yNcJcTAfkvKAM5ZmiRA3N5.jpg\" alt=\"Amazfit Active 3 Premium\"   loading=\"lazy\" data-new-v2-image=\"true\" data-original-mos=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/yNcJcTAfkvKAM5ZmiRA3N5.jpg\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/yNcJcTAfkvKAM5ZmiRA3N5.jpg\" class=\"inline\"\/>\n<\/p>\n<p>Amazfit wants to make training simpler for runners (Image credit: Amazfit)<\/p>\n<p id=\"e6018622-573a-4e7c-87e0-d5083cdbc982\">Amazfit is clearly positioning this as one of the <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/best-cheap-smartwatch\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/best-cheap-smartwatch\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" data-before-rewrite-localise=\"https:\/\/www.techradar.com\/news\/best-cheap-smartwatch\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">best cheap smartwatches<\/a>: covering all the fitness features most people will need, while also avoiding the clutter and complexity that some of the top-end models in this category can bring with them.<\/p>\n<p>The included running programs will guide you through routes, pacing, recovery, and strength training \u2014 so you can set and hit goals successfully, Amazfit says. It&#8217;s particularly suitable for those just getting started with their running, as you can build up a structured running program basically from scratch.<\/p>\n<p>As well as advanced running metrics like posture and balance monitoring, there&#8217;s also comprehensive GPS mapping that includes turn-by-turn navigation and offline maps. NFC payments are supported, and podcast playback is apparently on the way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-form__strapline\">Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.<\/p>\n<p>Apex Silver, Atlas Blue, and Aero White are your case and strap color options, and the watch costs $169.99 \/ \u00a3169.90 \/ AU$TBC, slightly more than the $129.99 \/ \u00a3129.90 cost of the premium version of the Active 2 \u2014 but it looks like you definitely get a lot for your money, and we have high expectations given our experiences with the 2025 model.<\/p>\n<p id=\"e168ce4b-42ff-41b6-8ff6-429dad5f7363\"><a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJsWTJoeVlXUmhjaTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?hl=en-GB&amp;gl=GB&amp;ceid=GB%3Aen\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqKAgKIiJDQklTRXdnTWFnOEtEWFJsWTJoeVlXUmhjaTVqYjIwb0FBUAE?hl=en-GB&amp;gl=GB&amp;ceid=GB%3Aen\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Follow TechRadar on Google News<\/a> and <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=techradar.com\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=techradar.com\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">add us as a preferred source<\/a> to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!<\/p>\n<p>And of course you can also <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@techradar\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@techradar\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">follow TechRadar on TikTok<\/a> for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Va6HybZ9RZAY7pIUK12h\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"https:\/\/whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Va6HybZ9RZAY7pIUK12h\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-hl-processed=\"none\" data-mrf-recirculation=\"inline-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WhatsApp<\/a> too.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"elk-8c7df7e7-aecb-4574-bd50-fd82e0fbfbf1\" class=\"paywall\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s best cheap smartwatch deals<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Amazfit has launched the Active 3 Premium smartwatchIt follows the Amazfit Active 2, which we lovedThe watch is&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[786,86,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-450061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-gadgets","9":"tag-technology","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}