Amazfit Balance 3 Watch Review: My Favorite Watch Of 2025 Gets An Update

Golf watches have undergone a serious revolution over the last half decade. No longer are they simply devices that give you the yardage to the centre of the green and little else - the best golf watches have transformed into your own personal trainer on your wrist, walking with you through all your exercise.

The Amazfit Balance 2 was what I’ve come to call an ‘inverted golf watch’, one that started out as a regular fitness watch and incorporated golf, rather than the other way around.

I tested the Balance 2 last year and loved it so much that I’ve worn it daily for the last 12 months. I’ve used it for all facets of my active life including golf, soccer, skiing, hiking and general gym work. I also did a 100-hole hike with it on my wrist earlier this summer, so you can imagine my excitement when I was sent the new and improved Balance 3 for testing.

Amazfit have a clear target audience with their Balance line of watches and the Balance 3 is no different - these devices are built for people for whom sport and physical activities are a big part of their everyday life. To quote the brand directly, this watch is designed for “individuals balancing demanding work, family responsibilities, and disciplined routines”, with the Balance line supporting “a Hybrid Training lifestyle where strength, endurance, and recovery develop together.”

If this sounds like you, superb. You’re in the right place. If not, then maybe this isn’t the right watch for you. However, let me get into the golf side of things before you reach your conclusion - not everyone using this watch HAS to be running half-marathons every month.

Upon unboxing the Balance 3, you’re met with one of the prettiest watches on the market. I loved the orange strap on the Balance 2 and it garnered many compliments over my 12 months wearing it - sadly it is gone, but it is replaced by a black strap that has proven more comfortable for me to wear.

The main change in the looks department is the new 1.5” AMOLED display, which is wonderful. The 3000-nit brightness and sapphire glass ensure excellent visibility, no matter the light conditions. Despite the vibrant display, the battery life is as good as any watch I’ve ever tested, with a charge lasting up to 21 days without the sport features. A full charge will give you up to 41 hours of Accuracy GPS Mode which incorporates sports like golf, running and more.

There are two versions of the Balance 3 to choose from, the stainless steel version I tested (£369.90/$369.99) or the titanium alloy version (£449.90/$449.99), both of which look superb.

Given this publication is named Golf Monthly, I had better talk about the on-course performance of the Balance 3. The golf mode on the Balance 2 was good, but not great. Pleasingly, notable improvements have been made, but it is a case of evolution rather than revolution.

The main improvements come from the hardware. This watch delivers 2.5x faster generation and 12x faster map refreshing than the previous model and this improvement is very evident to me as someone who used the Balance 2 so regularly. Everything is quicker and snappier, from recognizing what hole you are on to the time it takes for the menus to load.

My biggest critique of the Balance 2 only became apparent to me after I wrote the review, but the action button on the top right of the face pressed into my hand during my follow-through, activating the watch’s version of Siri. As I watched my shot fly towards the green, my watch would speak to me and ask me if I needed anything and there was seemingly no way to prevent this. Thankfully, the same button on the Balance 3 is far smaller and this issue is now a thing of the past.

Other than that, there aren’t too many changes on the golf side of things, but that is fine. Yardages were accurate last year and the same can be said for the 2026 version. There are still 40,000+ courses to play, but they still need to be downloaded and sent to your watch before you tee it up (this takes less than a minute). You’ll also get numbers to hazards, bunkers and more, whilst the pin mover feature returns and allows you to really dial in your yardage to the flag.

Your watch will sometimes get confused as to what hole you’re on, especially if you hit an errant drive onto another fairway. This will take some manual input to fix and can be frustrating at times, but it’s only a small issue.

Dedicated golf watches will incorporate more stat-tracking features, but the connected Zepp app does a decent job in collecting the rounds you’ve played and giving you basic stats like greens in regulation and your number of putts. You also get a cool map of where you’ve walked - who doesn’t want that?

The fact of the matter here is that if you want a watch dedicated to golf and golf alone, there are better watches on the market. If you want a watch that does a bit of everything, be that tracking your sports or giving you news and weather, the Balance 3 should absolutely be on your shortlist.

If you’re like me and have fitness and exercise as a major part of your day-to-day life, I’d recommend this watch without hesitation. If not, don’t worry - our guide on the best value golf watches will have something in there for you.