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Infinix Note 50 Pro+ arrives with ultra-fast charging and new AI assistant

3:21 pm | March 21, 2025

Author: admin | Category: Mobile phones news | Tags: AI | Comments: Off

Infinix Note 50 series gains its most premium member yet - the Pro+ variant with 5G connectivity. The phone was announced alongside an AI Ring and AI Buds, which are part of the company's new AI-centric product strategy. The Infinix Note 50 Pro+ 5G+, as is its full name, introduces a new AI assistant called Folax, which offers on-screen content recognition, instant translation, and other features. The Note 50 Pro+ has many similarities to its Pro 4G sibling, introduced earlier this month. It has the same durable metal frame body, 6.78" AMOLED display with 144 Hz refresh rate, UD...

The RingConn Gen 2 Air is the perfect entry-level smart ring – but not the perfect fitness tracker

12:00 pm |

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets Health & Fitness | Tags: AI | Comments: Off

RingConn Gen 2 Air: One-minute review

If you want to dip your toes into the smart ring space with a no-frills, affordable option then the RingConn Gen 2 Air is the best smart ring for you.

Yes, it lacks the sleep apnea tracking and charging case of its fully fledged sibling – the RingConn Gen 2 proper – but it makes up for that with a $120 price cut, and in other areas it performs just as well as the competition.

It can handily track your steps, your sleep patterns, your heart rate and stress levels, and a few other key health metrics, and it comes in a sleek gold- or silver-colored package. What’s more, the stainless steel band is durable – I’ve been wearing it for a few weeks and it looks just as pristine as the day I received it, plus with its IP68 water and dust-proof rating I know it’ll stand up to being underwater for a while.

There are some issues with this smart ring. The charging stand isn’t as useful as the portable charging case you’ll get with the non-Air RingConn Gen 2, and like some other smart rings this one isn’t a great fitness tracker.

It’s too easy to forget to manually start a workout in the app, and currently it only tracks walking, running and cycling, and for the most in-depth tracking you’ll need to take your phone with you. Plus, if you forget your phone not only have you not tracked your run but your stress stats will be affected, as the ring will interpret your elevated heart rate as a negative indicator of how you’re feeling mentally.

Those niggles aside, the RingConn gen 2 air is an excellent budget smart ring, and the one I’d recommend to people who want to see what all the fuss around smart rings is about, but who aren’t, for now, bothered about the bells and whistles you’ll get with pricier options.

RingConn Gen 2 Air: Price and availability

Hamish wearing the RingConn Gen 2 Air — (Image credit: Future)

The RingConn Gen 2 Air is available for $199 (about £150 or AU$320) from RingConn’s official website, which not only makes it cheaper than RingConn’s Gen 2 ring, which costs $299 (about £230 or AU$475) but also one of the cheapest smart rings out there.

And despite the lower cost you’re not missing out on any essential tracking tools beyond sleep apnea and sophisticated fitness tracking (though those features are absent in a fair few smart rings that cost more anyway).

Value score: 5/5

RingConn Gen 2 Air: Design

Comes in gold or silver, sizes 6 to 14
IP68 water and dust-proof rating
No charging case

The RingConn Gen 2 Air, like pretty much every other smart ring out there, looks almost exactly like a normal ring. It's perhaps a little thicker but not noticeably so, and at around 2.5 to 4g it’s not distinctly heavier than other smart rings either.

Moreover it shares a lot of design similarities with its sibling, the RingConn Gen 2, although there are a few notable differences.

Starting with similarities, it comes in sizes 6 to 14, in a gold or silver colored stainless steel casing, and with an IP68 dust and waterproof rating. As for differences, it lacks the Gen 2 proper’s black and Rose Gold color options (but comes with seven colors of protective shells including green, pink and black), and boasts a shorter 10-day max battery life, compared to the Gen 2’s 12 days.

This battery-life difference was certainly the most noticeable. I wore both rings all the time (one on each index finger) with the same settings, and I had to charge the Gen 2 Air more often, though once every 10 days isn’t too annoying.

My only gripe with the charging process is that the Air swaps the Gen 2’s sleek charging case for a stand. The case is ideal for traveling, as it can hold up to 150 days of extra charge without needing to be plugged in, and it also offers a secure place to store the ring when you aren’t wearing it. The Air’s stand, on the other hand, must be plugged in to charge the ring, and doesn’t feel as secure as a storage spot.

Design score: 4/5

RingConn Gen 2 Air: Features

24/7 heart rate monitoring, and step counting
Basic fitness tracking
No sleep apnea tracking

Features-wise the RingConn Gen 2 Air, as you’d expect, is almost identical to the regular RingConn Gen 2.

While wearing the ring the Gen 2 Air can track all various health and fitness stats – your heart rate is monitored 24/7, alongside your steps, your stress ( based on how your heart rate fluctuates), and your SpO2 levels, and it also offers menstrual cycle tracking.

You can also use the ring as a basic fitness tracker, if you remember to start your workout manually in the RingConn app, and your exercise takes the form of walking, cycling, or running. And through the RingConn app you can also access an AI-powered health program. Admittedly it’s a little basic right now because it’s in beta, but it’s a helpful tool to keep on top of your daily health targets.

The biggest difference between the Air and the full-on RingConn Gen 2 is the lack of sleep apnea tracking on the cheaper model. This kind of downgrade is to be expected given the lower price, and while the feature is certainly handy to have on a sleep-focused tracker, it’s also the feature I miss the least – though I say that as someone who doesn’t have, nor is currently concerned that they might have, sleep apnea.

Features score: 3/5

RingConn Gen 2 Air: Performance

App tracks your sleep and vitals
Includes an AI fitness plan, though it's basic right now
Can track fitness, if you remeber to manually set it up

The RingConn Gen 2 Air performed well in my tests, with it being as good a tracker as my RingConn Gen 2 proper in the stats that both smart rings measured.

The RingConn app showing sleep and fitness stats — (Image credit: Future)

It’s a solid step counter, it did a good job tracking my heart rate levels, and it was able to give me informative insights into my sleeping patterns every night so I can continue to build better bedtime habits. I also found the overall wellness balance the app provides to be super-handy as it allows me to get a quick recap of my health across the four main categories the app monitors.

The only disappointment in the tracking department is fitness. It’s not a terrible tracker as long as you have your phone on you, as it can provide some basic insight into your runs and walks, like tracking where you went and your heart-rate zones, but it’s too easy to forget to manually log it before you begin.

Not logging even walks can then affect your stress monitoring, as the ring can believe your elevated heart rate is due to something stressful and not because you’re out being active.

So if you’re after a fitness tracker, this isn’t the one. But for more general healthy habits this smart ring is a fine choice.

Performance score: 4/5

Should you buy the RingConn Gen 2 Air?

Buy it if…

You want a budget smart ring
It’s not as feature packed as the alternatives, but it’s nevertheless a strong budget option that offers good bang for your buck.

You hate the look of smartwatches and fitness bands
Smart rings are ideal for folks who want to track their health stats but who would also rather wear an analogue watch than a smart watch or fitness band.

You want a sleep tracker
With a 10-day battery life, smart rings like this are excellent for sleep tracking.

Don’t buy it if…

You want a fitness tracker
RingConn’s smart rings are lacking in the fitness-tracking department. It’s helpful for step counting, but not that much else given that it’s easy to forget to manually log the few workouts it supports.

You want sleep apnea tracking
The RingConn Gen 2 Air forgoes sleep apnea tracking in order to hit its lower price point compared to the full-fat model – so if that’s a feature you want you’ll need to pick up its sibling.

You lose things easily
It’s very easy to lose smart rings if you aren’t careful, given how small they are, so if you’re the kind of person who tends to mislay items then maybe consider a different gadget.

Also consider

RingConn Gen 2
The full-fat RingConn Gen 2 is pricier but comes with a charging case, sleep apnea tracking, and more base color options.
Read our RingConn Gen 2 review

Samsung Galaxy Ring
With excellent software and no monthly payments (like RingConn), the Galaxy Ring is our pick for the best smart ring you can buy. It's a lot pricier, but its extra features could be enough to sway you.
Read our Samsung Galaxy Ring review

Oura Gen 4
Oura is pretty much synonymous with smart rings, and its latest gen 4 model proves why. While it's more expensive (especially when you factor in the subscription), those interested in buying a smart ring should certainly check it out before they buy something else.
Read our Oura Ring 4 review

How I tested the RingConn Gen 2 Air

To put the RingConn Gen 2 Air through its paces I wore it night and day for a few weeks. I also wore it at the same time as the RingConn Gen 2 (I had one on each index finger) so I could directly compare the two models.

I took the Air with me when I travelled, wore it whenever I did a workout, submerged it in water to check the waterproofing claims, and made sure to let the battery run as long as possible between charges so I could could see for myself how long it can last, and how it stacks up against the RingConn Gen 2 proper.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4): Two-minute review

How do you make the best MacBook, and arguably one of the best laptops on the market, better? You could redesign it, but that’s a move fraught with potential downsides; if the current design is popular, you risk disenfranchising fans. In that case, making small changes, especially under-the-hood ones, is probably the smart move, and it’s clearly Apple’s strategy.

The MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) is virtually indistinguishable from the M3 model. Apple has left the exquisite keyboard and responsive trackpad untouched, and the same goes for the brilliant Liquid Retina display. The 2.7lbs. weight is unchanged, and even the two Thunderbolt 4 ports are essentially the same. Visually, the only thing that's new is a new color option, and the Sky Blue finish is a subtle hue that can, depending on the light, look almost gray, but a second glance always reveals that pleasing almost pastel-like azure. It’s a color that should sell out fast.

@techradar
♬ original sound - TechRadar

The other two significant changes are to the hardware. Replacing the FaceTime camera is the new 12MP Center Stage Camera. It’s an ultra-wide lens in a screen notch that can keep you in the frame during video calls, and it’s a nice-to-have though not earth-shattering update.

There’s also the M4 chip, which adds cores and performance over the M3 Apple silicon it replaces. Like the M3, this is a fast, efficient, 3-nanometer chip with plenty of headroom for AAA gaming, video editing, music creation and, of course, Apple Intelligence.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) REVIEW — (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

From one perspective, the biggest upgrade might be in the value space. Apple doubled the base memory from 8GB of unified memory to 16GB while reducing the price to $999 / £999 / AU$1,699. That’s a shocking, and very welcome, turn of events. The best MacBook is now back to its pre–MacBook Air M3 price, and better value because of it.

It really is hard to find any fault with the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4). It’s lightweight, attractive, powerful, easy to use, and up for anything. I gamed, streamed video, browsed the web, answered email, texted friends, conducted FaceTime calls, edited video, practiced guitar, and wrote this review on it. I’m not concerned about the lack of design changes, and I like the new color, the Center Stage Camera, and especially the price. I would not be surprised to see the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) rise to the very top of our best laptops list.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: Price and availability

Starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,699
Lower launch price than the discontinued M3 model
M2 and M3 models no longer on the Apple Store, but M2 MacBooks can be found at third-party retailers

Rarely do I get to write about a price drop for a new product that arrives with feature enhancements. Usually, we get the same or sometimes a little less for the money. That is not the case with the MacBook Air 13-inch M4.

Even though Apple hasn't radically refreshed its best MacBook, the updates in performance, memory, and video conferencing, plus a new color, hit all the right notes – and when paired with a now $100 (in the US) lower price, they have me singing a happy tune.

Funnily enough, the first 3lb MacBook Air – the one that slid out of a manilla envelope in 2008 – cost $1,799. It would take a few years for it to hit that $999 sweet spot, which it maintained until recently.

Sometimes that $999 got you a lower-end Intel Core I, but in the age of Apple silicon we’re getting great performance and efficiency at an excellent price.

The MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) comes in three base configurations. If you upgrade to the $1,199 / £1,199 model the GPU gets a bump from eight to 10 cores, and the storage doubles to 512GB. Go for the $1,499 / £1,499 / AU$2,399 top-tier model and the base unified memory is increased from 16GB to 24GB, and you can get up to 2TB of storage. Whichever option you go for, you can upgrade the RAM to 32GB.

It’s available in the new Sky Blue (like my 256GB review unit), Midnight, Starlight, and Silver. Apple has discontinued Space Gray (for now).

Apple unveiled the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) on March 5, 2025, and the laptop starts shipping on March 12.

Price score: 4.5/5

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: Specs

The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) comes in three pre-configured options.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: Design

No major redesign
Sky Blue is subtle but attractive
Excellent construction, materials, keyboard, and trackpad

There are still some who mourn the passing of the original MacBook Air’s wedge design, the one that started at a more than half inch (1.61 cm) at one end and ended at 0.16 inches (4.064mm) at the other. That design remains so popular that the M1 model featuring it is still a top seller at Walmart.

I’ve moved on. The MacBook Air M4 is just 2.7lbs / 1.24kg, and at 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches / 30.41 x 21.5 x 1.13cm, is thinner than the OG MacBook Air was at its thickest point. This is a laptop that's built for your backpack and, yes, it’s light enough that you might forget it’s there.

Everything about the MacBook Air M4 feels premium. The 100% recycled aluminum enclosure is light but solid and has all the exacting tolerances Apple is known for. It’s a finely machined, eye-catching piece of hardware, and few laptops can match its elegance.

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The backlit keyboard is an absolute pleasure to type on, and has remarkable travel and response for such a thin design. It includes all your function keys and a multipurpose power / sleep / Touch ID button that’s useful for unlocking the MacBook Air and logging into various apps and services with your registered fingertips.

I do prefer the Microsoft Surface Laptop’s Windows Hello feature, which lets you log on using your face in much the way you do with Face ID on any of the best iPhones, although I don’t have to touch anything because I set the MacBook Air to unlock automatically with my Apple Watch.

While Apple hasn't redesigned the keyboard, there is one small change that you might not notice at first glance: the mute key now features a speaker icon with a line through it, which matches what you see on-screen when you press the key. It's a small but clarifying change.

There’s ample room to rest your palms, and the glass-covered multi-touch trackpad is huge and responsive.

Ports and other elements are unchanged from the last two MacBook Air generations. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports on the left side with up to 40GBps of throughput and which are capable of driving two external screens, even with the MacBook Air lid open. Next to those is the MagSafe charging port, and on the right side is the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The four-speaker stereo sound system is hidden in the hinge below the display. It can fill a room with bright, crisp audio, although it mostly lacks bass (the 15-inch model offers a 6-speaker sound system with force-cancelling sound woofers).

Design score: 4.5/5

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: Display and Center Stage

With one exception, the 13-inch M4 MacBook Air’s display is identical to the last generation. It’s still a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina panel with 2560 x 1664 resolution and 500 nits of sustained brightness, which in my experience is viewable in direct sunlight, and support for one billion colors. It’s a fantastic display for everything from gaming to streaming to content creation.

There is a notch at the top for the camera, but most apps do not wrap around that cutout, and it’s not distracting on the desktop.

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The notch also contains the new 12MP Center Stage Camera. The idea here is that the lens is an ultra-wide camera, but for the purposes of video conferencing it crops to an undistorted rectangle. Then, as you move around, the frame moves around to keep you in the frame. If you like to get up and walk around, or people walk in and out of the video conversation, this can be tremendously useful, and it worked well for me as long as I didn't stray too far out of frame. If you need the camera to stay still (as I do when I use the 1080p camera to go on TV), you can easily turn Center Stage off.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) — (Image credit: Future)

Compared to Microsoft’s excellent Surface Laptop 7, the screen is missing one feature: touch. I used Surface laptops for years, and I did enjoy being able to touch and even draw on the display with a dedicated Bluetooth pen. Apple has steadfastly resisted introducing touch on its MacBook line – and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs didn’t think it made sense. If you require that kind of multipurpose device, you may want to consider the M4 iPad Pro 13-inch plus a Magic Keyboard.

Display score: 4.5/5

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: macOS and Apple Intelligence

macOS Sequoia is a rich, deep, and well-organized platform
Everything is well integrated into Apple's wider ecosystem
Apple Intelligence can be useful, but it's not yet compelling

With macOS Sequoia, Apple has built one of the most consistent and stable desktop platforms on the planet. It virtually never crashes, and it’s full of useful features.

The latest version is mostly a refinement of the platform, but if it’s been a while since you’ve upgraded you will notice feature enhancement like better widgets and window-management tools, the excellent new Passwords app, and audio transcription on Notes.

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What’s more, macOS makes excellent use of the M4’s power.

At one point I ran Garage Band, and I was pleased to discover that not only could I use the MacBook Air to tune my guitar, but it could also tell me if I was playing my chords correctly. I also used Pixelmator Pro image and video editor (now owned by Apple) to effortlessly apply complex masks.

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Apple MacBook 13-inch M4 — (Image credit: Future)

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Of course, the big news on the software side is Apple Intelligence, Apple’s own brand of AI, which is supported by the M4’s 16-core neural engine.

It enables features like Image Playground, which lets you imagine wild scenes that can include representations of you and others from your Photos library. It’s good fun, but I still struggle to see the utility, and I wonder when Apple will offer a more open-range image-generation platform, one that enables me to describe a complex scene in a prompt and get a result. Most Windows laptops running Copilot can do this.

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Writing Tools, which is available in Apple's native text composition apps like Notes and Mail, is useful, especially if you struggle to write clear, cogent sentences. It's of limited utility to me.

Similarly, Siri got a few nice upgrades, like the ability to respond to text prompts and better handle broken speech patterns, but it's still unable to carry on longer conversations or learn anything about you, and you still can't use it to comprehensively control your MacBook. What’s worse is that promised updates to Siri that would have made it a more able competitor to ChatGPT and Gemini have failed to materialize. At least Siri can now tap into ChatGPT (if you allow it) for more complex queries.

Safari is an excellent browser, but I still find myself using Chrome.

Software score: 4/5

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: Performance

M4 has more CPU cores than the M3 that preceded it
Ample power
Decent but not massive performance upgrade
Excellent platform and increasing Apple Intelligence capabilities

Benchmarks

Here’s how the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Geekbench 6.2.2 Single-Core: 3679; Multi-Core: 14430
Geekbench Metal score (8-core GPU): 48515
Cinebench 2024 Single-core: 165; Multi-core: 652
Battery life (web surfing): 14 hours 51 minutes, and 59 seconds

For comparison, here’s how the MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

Geekbench 6.2.2 Single-Core: 3,148; Multi-Core: 11,893
Geekbench Metal score (10-core GPU): 49090
Cinebench 2024 Single-core: 141; Multi-core: 615

Ever since Apple switched from Intel to Apple silicon we’ve seen significant gains in performance and efficiency. The power of these lightweight laptops and the M-class chips can appear limitless, and all-day battery life is now usually a given.

Of course, the world has not stood still. Some Windows laptops are now arriving with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, and these ultraportables often nearly match Apple silicon for performance and battery life.

The M4 10-core CPU and 8-Core GPU backed by 16GB of unified memory inside my test system generally outperformed the X Elite on single-core scores but are now matched for multi-core performance.

These are just numbers of course, and I prefer to rely on real-world performance. In my tests, the MacBook Air 13 and its M4 chip handled everything I threw at it. It can be difficult to stress out the system – I played the AAA game Lies of Pi at maximum settings and it was smooth as butter, thanks no doubt in part to the new Game Mode that optimizes performance for gaming.

I highly recommend getting a controller (I use one designed for the Xbox), but regardless, the new MacBook Air offers a great gaming experience with thrilling, smooth graphics, and excellent sound.

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I often ran the game alongside multiple background apps, including Final Cut Pro. I had no trouble editing four 4K 30fps streams at once, but when I loaded up four 4K 120fps clips, I did notice some stuttering on video playback, although as this is not a considerably more expensive MacBook Pro, that doesn’t concern me.

I noticed in my benchmarking that the Metal Score on the MacBook Air M3 was slightly higher than that of the M4 system, but that’s because I had a 10-core GPU on the older MacBook and just an eight-core GPU on the new M4 system. You can, as I noted earlier in the price section, pay a bit more for the two extra cores. It’s worth noting, though, that the differences in performance between the M3 10 Core and M4 8-Core GPU were minimal.

The system supports WiFi 6e and Bluetooth 5.3, which is good, if not entirely forward-leaning – I'd like to see WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Performance score: 4.5/5

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review: Battery life

14 hours battery life (web activities)
Effectively lasts all day (mixed use)
Charges to 50% in 90 minutes; 100% in three hours

Apple is promising up to 18 hours of battery life from the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4), which is mostly a test of how long the laptop can play 1080p video for; for comparison, Microsoft promises 20 hours from its Surface Laptop 7 for a similar task. The MacBook Air 13 M4’s real-world battery life numbers will vary significantly when performing a mix of sometimes CPU-intensive tasks.

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In my tests, which included playing games (which made the base of the laptop quite warm), editing video, opening multiple browser windows and streaming video, battery life came in around eight hours. That’s quite good for a hard day of work, and especially for such a thin and light laptop. In our Future Labs test, which is primarily web browsing, the MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) managed 14 hours, 51 minutes, which is about 30 minutes longer than the M3 but for slightly different tasks.

Overall, you're getting good, all-day battery life, but your experience will vary based on the tasks you perform.

After I drained the laptop to zero, I recharged it with the included 30W charger (the more expensive 24GB model comes with a 35W charger) and (matching Sky Blue) woven MagSafe charger to 50% in 90 minutes, and 100% in three-and-a-half hours.

Battery score: 5/5

Should you buy the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4)?

Buy it if...

You want the best ultraportable experience
The MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) might look the same as last year's model, but it's a definite upgrade – and that price makes it a winner.

You like your laptops thin and light
At 0.44 inches / 1.13cm thick and just 2.7lbs /1.24kg, the new 13-inch Air is a perfect backpack companion.

You need a good blend of power and efficiency
The MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) packs more than enough power for most users and you can bank on all-day battery life.

Don't buy it if...

You want a touchscreen
Apple may never introduce a touchscreen MacBook. For that, look to the Surface Laptop, or an iPad Pro paired with a Magic Keyboard.

You want more AI
Apple Intelligence is showing promise, but it still pales in comparison to what you'll find on some Windows Laptops with the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite.

Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) review: Also consider

If our Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4)
The MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) is virtually the same as the 13-inch model in every aspect except size (and screen size), but the base model does start with two extra GPU cores. It also gets a price reduction compared to the M3 model, so if screen real estate matters to you, this is the MacBook Air to go for.

Check out our MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review

Dell XPS 13 Plus
Its thin and light design, stunning OLED screen, great sound quality, and comfortable keyboard make this a premium Windows 11 laptop that in many ways rivals the MacBook Air. However, it’s prone to overheating, and the touch bar is divisive.

Read more: Dell XPS 13 Plus review

How I tested the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4)

I used the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) for five days
I worked, played, listened, edited, and wrote this review on it
I usually ran multiple apps at once

After receiving my MacBook Air 13-inch (M4) review unit I immediately unboxed it and began testing, and it did not leave my side for much of the next five days.

I ran benchmarks, installed multiple apps, and then began using it to edit images and video, play AAA games, listen to music, stream movies and shows, answer email, browse the web, and generate words and images with Apple Intelligence.

I've been reviewing technology for over 30 years, and I've tested everything from DOS-based word processors to Apple's Vision Pro. I've reviewed laptops of all stripes, including traditional clamshells and convertibles. I regularly work on macOS but also use the Windows platform almost every day – I like to keep my hands in all the ecosystems.

Amazfit Active 2: One minute review

In my 10 years of using Apple Watch, the Amazfit Active 2 is the closest I've ever come to ditching my Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Subjectively, the styling of the Active 2 isn't normally what I'd lean to, but Amazfit has nailed a clearly classic stainless steel design that will delight fans looking for a more subtle, understated smartwatch.

For just $99, the Amazfit Active 2 far outstrips its price tag, punching well above its weight in terms of features, fitness tracking accuracy, and more. Its battery life is to be lauded and definitely holds up to Amazfit's claims.

It's not perfect: it doesn't quite sit flush on my wrist, and to get NFC you have to pay $30 extra for the premium model. However, the astonishing $99 price tag covers up all of the quirks to render this a pure five-star pick in my book.

It's miles ahead of the CMF Watch Pro 2, and easily on a par with some more expensive mainstream offerings.

Nitfy features including an on-board AI assistant add to the experience. The Strength Training feature could use a little refinement, but its intelligent rep counter and timer are handy in the gym.

Overall, there's very little not to like here, and even the $129 premium model (not tested here) strikes me as good value for money.

Amazfit Active 2: Specifications

Amazfit Active 2: Price and Availability

$99/£99/AU(tbc)
Two versions
Premium version is more expensive and includes premium strap, NFC

The Amazfit Active 2 is available now from the company's website, as well as Amazon and a range of third-party retailers.

The base model reviewed here costs $99/£99, with Australia pricing and availability to be confirmed. For that you get the Watch, a sport strap, and the charging puck (but no USB-C cable).

The premium version is $129/£129 and includes a more premium leather strap, as well as a free silicone sport band. Upgrading to the premium version also gets you more durable sapphire glass and NFC for contactless payments.

That puts the Amazfit Active 2 nicely in the price bracket of the best cheap smartwatches on the market. It's a little pricier than the likes of the CMF Watch Pro 2, but cheaper than the Apple Watch SE 2 and the Garmin Forerunner 165.

Given the overall quality and what you get for your money, I think it's a fantastic price and a real value-for-money pick.

I'll touch on this more in my review, but given the overall price and what you get extra, I'd also have no reservations recommending the more premium model. However, both are excellent value.

Value score: 5/5

Amazfit Active 2: Design

New round display
Classic look with premium stainless steel
Imperfect fit

When it comes to smartwatches, I'm definitely team squircle. However, Amazfit made a big change with the design of the Active 2 that is slowly growing on me.

Where the original was really a clone of the Apple Watch in many respects, the Amazfit Active 2 boasts a stunning round design with a stainless steel body.

This is absolutely a smartwatch designed to look like a classic watch, with a really premium feel and finish. It's much more refined and less bulky than the CMF Watch Pro 2 I tested recently, and it's also really comfortable.

You get two buttons used for power, triggering workouts, and activating the AI assistant, as well as various other tasks you can assign.

I honestly can't believe how premium the design feels for a $99 smartwatch, Amazfit has really smashed it with this one and there's very little not to like.

Of course, it's not perfect: the bezel between the stainless steel chassis and the edge of the display is a little large, but even this doesn't look out of place and actually lends to the overall aesthetic.

The display is a 1.32-inch AMOLED display identical (in size and shape) to the aforementioned CMF Watch Pro 2. However, this one puts out 2,000 nits of peak brightness rather than Nothing's 600 nits.

On the back you get your usual array of heart rate tracking paraphernalia and LED sensors. The Active 2 is extremely light; our model tested here weighs less than 30 grams. It's super comfortable, although I did find the fit to be slightly imperfect, as it doesn't quite sit flush to my wrist. However, this is a very minor issue and doesn't detract from the overall experience. The sport strap, while comfortable, is also a little finicky to apply at first. The premium version features a more elegant black leather strap that I'd wager is easier to put on, and you get the sports strap included for free anyway.

These are very small gripes though. I have to say that at this price point, the Active 2 is one of the most impressive-looking smartwatches on the market, and will delight prospective users looking for a more classic look and feel rather than the chunkier aesthetic of other cheap smartwatches.

It's also one of the most comfortable I've ever worn, and you'll forget you're wearing it after a few hours out of the box.

Compared to the slightly cheaper CMF Watch Pro 2, a top pick in our best cheap smartwatch guide, the Active 2 has several key design advantages despite only being 30 bucks more.

There's the aforementioned brightness gulf, and crucially the Active 2 also has 5 ATM water-resistance, meaning it can withstand up to 50 meters of pressure, and can be worn for showers or brief swims. It's not waterproof by any means, but it's a lot better than most other options in this cheap smartwatch bracket, and it's really nice to know you don't have to take it off for every shower, cold plunge, or hot tub session.

Other impressive features include anti-fingerprint coating glass on the standard version. If you opt for the premium model, you don't get this, but you do get sapphire glass, which is much harder to scratch.

Design score: 4.5/5

Amazfit Active 2: Features

Vast feature set
Unique strength training and HYROX Race modes
AI coach, 164 sport modes, extensive health tracking

I'm frankly astounded at how many features you get with the Amazfit Active 2 considering its price tag.

I'd say the Active 2's feature-set is impressive for a smartwatch of any price tag, let alone one that costs less than $100. Starting with sport, exercise, and health, the Active 2 features nearly every feature you'd expect in a cheap smartwatch.

There's workout tracking for 164 sport modes, with a couple of unique advanced features. If you're training strength, there's smart recognition of 25 movements, automatic rep tracking, and a built-in exercise timer/workout plan generator you can follow. (I'll address the efficacy of this more in the performance section).

Runners will find a Track Run mode, smart trajectory correction, and even a virtual pacer. There's also Zepp Coach, an AI-powered workout companion that can generate customized training plans.

Health-wise, you'll find a daily Readiness score and insights and monitoring for heart rate, as well as blood oxygen, stress, temperature, heart rate, sleep heart rate variability, sleep stages and schedule, sleep scores, and more. There are reminders on board for high and low heart rates, low blood oxygen, and even high stress levels with prompts to perform breathing exercises.

Elsewhere, there's an onboard AI companion, Zepp Flow, that can pull up metrics with voice commands and change settings. Zepp Pay, powered by NFC, is only available on the more expensive premium model we didn't test, so if that's an important feature to you, it might be worth paying the extra.

You do get a separate wallet app for membership cards though, and other cool software features like To Do List. The Active 2 works with both Android and iPhone, and can be used to control your phone's music via Bluetooth, you'll also get call and SMS notifications as well as app notifications, and even Find My Phone.

Under the hood, you get GPS (Amazfit says there are five satellite positioning systems but hasn't shared any further info) and Bluetooth 5.2 BLE, as well as a microphone and speaker. It also, rather essentially for a watch, tells the time.

If I were being harsh, reserving NFC for the premium model is arguably a shame, but this is a technicality. Honestly, I can't believe how much smartwatch you get from the Active 2 for $99. You don't find features like ECG at this price point in the smartwatch market(even the doubly expensive Apple Watch SE doesn't offer it), but it's important to note that there are always going to be limitations in a $99 smartwatch.

Still, at this price, you'll struggle to find a more extensive set of features in a smartwatch, and the lack of NFC isn't enough to merit deducting any points when you can add it for $30.

Features score: 5/5

Amazfit Active 2: Performance

Exceptional battery life
Very accurate fitness and heart rate tracking
Snappy everyday use
Useful AI assistant

All of these features don't mean much if a smartwatch can't perform, but I'm happy to report that the Amazfit Active 2 has excelled in testing, handling everything I've thrown at it with ease.

Starting off with everyday use, the Active 2 is very snappy to use in day-to-day tasks. I've found scrolling menus, changing settings, reading messages, and more to all be very responsive and seamless.

Obviously, the Active 2 doesn't have the same polish as Apple's watchOS 11, and doesn't even run Wear OS, but it's still very impressive. It also features some very sharp-looking faces including the Vital face pictured here.

I conducted a series of tests to check the accuracy of the Active 2's exercise tracking and was really impressed. A gentle 34-minute run with the Active 2 on my left wrist and the best Apple Watch, the Apple Watch Ultra 2, on my right wrist, yielded exceptional parity.

The Active 2 nailed the GPS route map and the exact distance within two decimal places. Apple Watch gave my average heart rate as 135 bpm, while the Active 2 said 136.

Active calories for the Apple Watch and Active 2 were listed as 341 and 372 respectively, which is a bigger gap but still respectable. The jury is out on just how accurate any smartwatch calorie tracker is, so just being in the relative ballpark is enough for us here. For all we know, the Active 2 could well be the more accurate reading.

The Active 2 pinged 1km intervals at exactly the same time as the Ultra 2, and its heart rate monitor is actually more responsive, delivering more frequent reading updates than Apple's version, always within one or two bpm.

Comparing every metric gave a positive match, which I can only conclude indicates that this Active 2 can keep up with pretty much any smartwatch on the market when it comes to fitness tracking. It of course lacks the depth of the best Garmins, but so does pretty much every other smartwatch out there.

The Active 2 delivered similar competitive measurements versus the Ultra 2 during a strength workout test I did. It was here that I was first exposed to the Active 2's unique Strength Training features.

The watch features a built-in rep counter and system for logging weight, timing rest, and more. I can see that with plenty of practice, this could be a handy tool for strength training, because you can track your weightlifting on the fly and check your progress after the fact.

I found the automatic rep tracking worked most of the time, it's not perfect and obviously not as useful for exercises that don't involve moving your arms, but there's promise here. There's also a gym routine planner in the app, however, this is less intuitive. I was able to put together a test workout and follow the plan in the gym, but was left bamboozled by a number of strange quirks.

Each unit you add to the training is called an "interval", not to be confused with actual interval training. The app refers to reps (how many times you lift in a single set) as "times", and these are, somewhat confusingly, logged under the duration section of the exercise you want to add.

Likewise, sets (the number of times you do a certain number of reps) are referred to as "repeats" or "loop counts". The terminology is very confusing, and the first few times I tried to create a workout I really mangled it. The language is generic so that it can also be applied to other workout modes including intervals, running, and more, which is fine, but it's definitely clunky.

Furthermore, rest isn't added automatically between sets, but has to be put in manually. With practice I'm sure it's helpful but it is definitely not easy to do.

This was my only wrinkle in an otherwise flawless performance. The Strength Training feature is a very small part of the overall experience, so again it doesn't detract too much, and it's nice to have.

In my opinion, the coup de grace is battery life. Rated for up to 10 days of "typical usage," I started my battery life testing at around 9 am with 55%. 24 hours later I had used barely 15% battery.

53 hours later, my battery was 13%, using up less than 0.8% an hour, almost bang on the up to 5 days of heavy usage Amazfit promises. During that time I conducted three strength workouts, a run, and two full nights of sleep tracking, never taking the watch off or charging it.

As with any smartwatch, your mileage may vary and battery life can be influenced by a ton of factors including GPS usage and the always-on display. As it stands, though, the Active 2 is certainly good for its promised longevity.

The Active 2 also has an AI assistant party piece dubbed Zepp Flow. Powered by OpenAI, it's like Amazfit's own version of Siri, except it actually works and is useful. You can assign it one of the buttons for quick access, and use your voice to input simple commands.

You can adjust and tweak settings, call up health metrics using questions such as "How many steps have I walked today?", and even reply to messages on Android with the feature. Of all the prompts and questions I tried, Zepp Flow didn't put a foot wrong once, and it's incredible to see an AI-powered wrist assistant that's actually useful, especially on a $99 smartwatch.

Performance score: 4.5/5

Amazfit Active 2: Scorecard

Amazfit Active 2: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

You want the ultimate cheap smartwatch

You won't find a better smartwatch at this price, or one with this many features.

You're on a budget

This is much less expensive than cheap options from the likes of Garmin and Apple.

Don't buy it if...

You want elite fitness tracking

The Active 2 can't keep up with Garmin's industry-leading fitness tracking, and there are more capable pure fitness watches out there.

You want full iPhone or Android integration

Eschewing watchOS or Wear OS will always lead to quirks, so if you want the most seamless experience with your iPhone or Android, buy an Apple Watch or Wear OS model respectively.

Amazfit Active 2: How we tested

I used the Amazfit Active 2 as my main smartwatch for an entire week. I tested it during running and strength workouts, as well as overnight for sleep tracking. Comparisons were conducted using the Apple Watch Ultra 2, and I tried and tested all of the Zepp app features and functionality using an iPhone 16 Pro.

Amazfit Active 2: Also consider

The Original CMF Watch Pro is a pretty stylish and capable watch. It's cheaper than the Active 2, and has better battery life and a larger display over the newer CMF Watch Pro 2.

Read our full CMF Watch Pro Review

The CMF Watch Pro 2 boasts a similar circular design and many of the same features as the Active 2, but is around $30 cheaper in any given market.

Read our full CMF Watch Pro 2 Review

In terms of features and performance, the Active 2 is actually closer to the Apple Watch SE 2 than it does a lot of cheap smartwatches. Apple's version is more polished and the perfect iPhone option, but is much more expensive.

Read our full Apple Watch SE 2 review

First reviewed: March 2025

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