Amazfit Balance 3: first impressions from Stockholm

I am in Stockholm right now for the HYROX World Championships. This might sound impressive, but I’m not competing, at least not this year!

I managed to get invited along to the Amazfit European launch event for the Balance 3 and Balance Ultra (both dedicated HYROX watches), where I grabbed a media loaner for some testing. Here is the story of my first test, involving graveyards, dynamite, and a waterbed.

Test 1

I decided to go for an 11-mile run around the nearby lake Brunnsviken. It was a lake in Sweden, so it definitely was going to be pretty, and it looked about 6km from one end to the other. Including getting there, it seemed to be over 10 miles (11 as it turns out). While preparing, I found out that there is the Norra Begravningsplatsen cemetery next to the lake, and that it contains the final resting place of Alfred Nobel, he of dynamite and Peace Prize fame. Time for a tad of sightseeing.

Alfred Nobel and a graveyard at dusk

Running around an unfamiliar cemetery as night approached, with no idea where to find a specific grave among hundreds, is not a good idea. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But…

I gave up trying to find the gravestone relatively quickly and headed for the lake. With my limited knowledge of cemeteries, this Swedish one compared favourably to British ones. Very well kept, with some quality headstones.

The lake that was not a lake

As I hit the lakeside path, I fortuitously bumped into a random Swedish-Chinese guy who noticed my three watches. I say fortuitously because he knew the route, and my plan had been to keep the lake on my right so as not to get lost. However, #FatalFlaw, it was not a lake. Keeping it on my right would have led me to ‘Lake’ Stocksundet and ultimately the entirety of the northern Swedish coastline; basically, I was on a lap of the Baltic Sea. Significantly farther than 11 miles, probably taking in about 6 countries. He showed me a bridge over the ‘sea’ to complete the 12km loop 😉

It also turned out, by a freakish coincidence, that my new run partner was the CEO of Somnus Lab, a company I’d never heard of. They’re a competitor to Eight Sleep but without a subscription, which seemed like a good idea that would address Eight Sleep’s key flaw. Their product circulates temperature-controlled water to each side of a bed independently, regulating each sleeper’s temperature through the night. I may well review one. It was genuinely good to run with someone who shared a very similar knowledge and interest in the wider wearables and recovery market.

What the Balance 3 looks and feels like

The Balance 3 is a large watch with a vibrant, AMOLED display and some excellently designed watchfaces. The stainless steel case follows the same design principle Amazfit has developed across recent models: a lattice-like structure in the metalwork that I’d say felt ‘industrial’, coupled with quality craftsmanship. With the amount of metal on show, it must be durable. This is a dress watch of sorts, also passing as a sports watch; it covers both angles well and would look good on most larger wrists 24/7.

The glass is flat but is raised slightly above the case edge rather than behind a raised bezel. That is not unusual, but worth noting that there is a very slightly raised chance of screen damage – the lens is chamfered slightly, so probably nothing to worry about.

Navigation combines three buttons, an intricately conceived rotating crown, and a touchscreen. All five work well together. The raise-to-wake has a slight delay, which is noticeable (sub-second) but not frustrating. The button feels marginally too recessed for quick mid-workout access, but by the same token, it will never be incorrectly pressed. The crown is well-weighted and easy to use for menu navigation, though a five-button, non-crown layout would look sportier on the wrist, in my opinion.

The HYROX-edition strap (not supplied) is the visual standout for anyone wanting to advertise their sport of choice. It’s black with yellow accents and grey detailing, looks pretty cool IMHO.

GPS: three devices, one unfamiliar route

I ran with the Balance 3, a Garmin Forerunner 970, and an Apple Watch Ultra 3, using a Fourth Frontier Zone ECG chest strap for heart rate reference alongside a Polar Verity SENSE optical arm sensor.

The route was lumpier than my standard 10-mile GPS test, with urban canyon sections near tall buildings, tree cover, and a short underpass. Conditions that can separate the good from the bad and ugly.

Under the underpass, the Forerunner 970 was the clearest performer, with the Balance 3 ahead of the Apple Watch Ultra 3, though all three handled it quite well.

Near the tall buildings, where multipath errors are inevitable, the Balance 3 and Forerunner 970 were clearly the stronger pair. Separating them was not possible on the visual overlay alone, as this section demonstrates.

Through the tree cover, all three devices repeatedly swapped the leading position, with no consistent two-device pairing that could exclude the third to give an overall ranking of the three.

 

 

No device failed outright. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 was weakest in the urban canyon sections. Between the Balance 3 and the Forerunner 970, performance was closely matched across the run as a whole, with the FR970 edging the overall result on this route. See our GPS accuracy guide for full context on how we assess these results.

Heart rate: what the data shows

The Polar Verity SENSE is the effective reference for this run. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 suffered significant dropout near the end, which skews its paired statistics and prevents any accurate conclusion from this session. The Fourth Frontier ZONE chest strap over-read significantly at the start, which rules it out as the reference.

Against the SENSE, the Balance 3 returned a Fair rating: bias -9.4 bpm, limits of agreement -34.4 to +15.7 bpm across 6,347 data points. The Forerunner 970 paired with the ZONE chest strap returned Good against the SENSE: bias -6.5 bpm, limits -27.7 to +14.7 bpm. Directly paired, the Balance 3 and the FR970 combination returned Excellent at +2.8 bpm bias, limits -25.7 to +31.3 bpm. They tracked closely together for most of the run.

The Balance 3 read high in sections, consistent with the Fair overall rating against SENSE. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 dropout periods account for its Poor paired statistics; no conclusion on its accuracy is possible from this session. IMHO, the standard interpretation of the stats is wrong and overly generous.

On a lumpy, unfamiliar trail run next to a city centre environment, the Balance 3 performed solidly. More testing awaits. For more on how we interpret heart rate data, see our heart rate testing guide.

Early verdict

GPS performance was close to the Forerunner 970 across most of the run, and heart rate tracking with Polar SENSE was fairly good. I’m hoping for slightly better results in future tests.

The hardware’s first impressions are great: the screen is genuinely bright, the case design is distinctive, and the HYROX strap is a nice touch if you want to pay the extra. Some market-leading HYROX features are already on the watch and in the app. I’ll come back later with a more detailed assessment of those.

A more detailed review follows in the coming weeks. For a broader Amazfit picture ahead of a review in a few weeks, see the Balance 3 and Ultra vs Balance 2 comparison and the HYROX sports tech guide.

Quick answers

Is the Amazfit Balance 3 good for GPS accuracy?
Based on first impressions testing in Stockholm alongside a Garmin Forerunner 970 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, the Balance 3 performed closely to the FR970 across urban canyons, tree cover, and an underpass. The FR970 edged the overall result on this route. Full GPS accuracy testing on the standard 10-mile route follows in the complete review.

How does the Amazfit Balance 3 heart rate compare to Garmin?
In this Stockholm session, the Balance 3 and Garmin Forerunner 970 (with ZONE chest strap) returned an Excellent direct pairing at +2.8 bpm bias. Against the Polar Verity SENSE reference, the Balance 3 rated Fair and the FR970 rated Good. Both were within a similar range of the reference device.

Is the HYROX strap included with the Amazfit Balance 3?
No. The HYROX-edition strap is a separate purchase. The Balance 3 ships with a standard silicone strap.

Last Updated on 29 July 2026 by the5krunner