Amazfit Balance : Full Scientific Review (Best Amazfit Yet!)

Summary

The Amazfit Balance watch, featuring a new BioTracker 5.0 PPG sensor, shows improved heart rate tracking compared to previous Amazfit models. Reviewer Rob, a postdoctoral scientist, tests its performance during various exercises and finds it reliable for indoor activities but less so for outdoor cycling and weightlifting. Sleep tracking is mediocre, and GPS performance is decent. The watch offers good battery life and is a step up for Amazfit, but there's room for improvement.

Takeaways

• 😀 The Amazfit Balance watch features a new BioTracker 5.0 PPG sensor, which improves heart rate measurement reliability compared to previous Amazfit models.
• 🏃‍♂️ The heart rate tracking during indoor cycling shows good agreement with the Polar H10 ECG chest strap, with a correlation value of 0.95.
• 🏃‍♀️ For outdoor running, the Amazfit Balance maintains a similar level of accuracy in heart rate tracking as seen with indoor cycling.
• 🚴‍♂️ During outdoor cycling, the watch struggles more with heart rate tracking due to increased arm movement and tension, resulting in a lower correlation value of 0.65.
• 💤 Sleep stage tracking on the Amazfit Balance is not very accurate, with significant discrepancies when compared to zMAX EEG headband data.
• 📍 The GPS tracking of the Amazfit Balance is decent and better than expected, although not perfect, with some deviation from the route.
• 📊 The watch's performance in heart rate tracking during weightlifting is mediocre, often failing to capture heart rate peaks accurately.
• 🌟 The Amazfit Balance represents a significant improvement over previous Amazfit devices in terms of heart rate tracking.
• 🔋 The watch offers good battery life, lasting about two weeks on a single charge.
• 💬 The reviewer finds the Amazfit Balance design bulky compared to other Amazfit watches, affecting its aesthetic appeal.

Q & A

What is the main feature of the Amazfit Balance watch discussed in the script?

The Amazfit Balance watch features a new BioTracker 5.0 PPG sensor, which improves its heart rate tracking capabilities, making it the first Amazfit device tested that measures heart rate somewhat reliably.

How does the Amazfit Balance perform in heart rate tracking during indoor cycling?

The Amazfit Balance shows a good agreement with the Polar H10 ECG chest strap during indoor cycling, with a correlation of 0.95, indicating that it can track heart rate reliably with only minor deviations.

What is the correlation value between the Amazfit Balance and the Polar H10 during indoor cycling?

The correlation value between the Amazfit Balance and the Polar H10 during indoor cycling is 0.95, which is considered really good.

How does the Amazfit Balance compare to other watches in terms of heart rate tracking during running?

The Amazfit Balance has a similar performance to other devices during running, with a correlation of 0.95, indicating that it can track heart rate accurately even during outdoor activities.

What challenges does the Amazfit Balance face during outdoor cycling?

During outdoor cycling, the Amazfit Balance struggles with increased arm tension and movement, resulting in a lower correlation of 0.65 and missing several heart rate peaks.

How does the Amazfit Balance perform in heart rate tracking during weightlifting?

The Amazfit Balance performs only moderately well during weightlifting, with a correlation of 0.74, often detecting lower heart rates and missing many peaks.

What is the reviewer's overall rating for the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking performance?

The reviewer gives the Amazfit Balance a rating of three to maybe three and a half out of five stars for heart rate tracking performance.

How accurate is the Amazfit Balance in sleep stage tracking?

The Amazfit Balance's sleep stage tracking is not very accurate, with only about 40% of deep sleep correctly identified and a significant amount of light sleep confused with REM sleep.

What is the reviewer's rating for the Amazfit Balance's sleep stage tracking?

The reviewer rates the Amazfit Balance's sleep stage tracking at two out of five stars, indicating it's not reliable for detailed sleep analysis.

How does the Amazfit Balance perform in GPS tracking?

The Amazfit Balance's GPS tracking performance is decent, with signals being relatively consistent and close together, although not perfect.

What is the reviewer's overall rating for the Amazfit Balance's GPS tracking performance?

The reviewer gives the Amazfit Balance's GPS tracking performance a rating of about three to three and a half out of five stars.

What does the reviewer think about the design of the Amazfit Balance?

The reviewer finds the Amazfit Balance to be chunky and not as good-looking compared to other Amazfit watches, which are generally known for their nice design and screens.

Outlines

00:00

📌 Introduction to Amazfit Balance Review

The script introduces the Amazfit Balance smartwatch, highlighting its new biot tracker 5.0 PPG sensor that offers improved heart rate tracking. The reviewer, Rob, a postdoctoral scientist specializing in biological data analysis, shares his initial impressions and plans to test the watch's heart rate tracking during various exercises, sleep stage tracking, and GPS accuracy. Historically, Amazfit devices have not performed well in Rob's tests, but the Balance seems to break this trend. Despite this, Rob finds the Balance's design chunky and less appealing compared to other Amazfit models. The focus is set on objective testing rather than subjective design opinions.

05:00

🚴‍♂️ Heart Rate Tracking During Indoor Cycling

Rob tests the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking capabilities during indoor cycling, comparing its performance against the Polar H10 ECG chest strap, known for accurate readings. The results show a generally good agreement with a correlation of 0.95, indicating a reliable performance. However, there are occasional discrepancies, particularly when the heart rate decreases, where the Balance overestimates. Despite these minor issues, Rob is satisfied with the Balance's performance for indoor cycling, considering it a significant improvement over previous Amazfit devices.

10:01

🏃‍♂️ Heart Rate Tracking During Running

The script details Rob's testing of the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking during outdoor running. Despite the increased physical movement and potential for less accurate readings due to arm tension and bumpiness, the Balance maintains a strong correlation of 0.95 with the Polar H10, suggesting it does not suffer from cadence lock and can accurately track heart rate. Individual run analyses show only minor deviations, confirming the Balance's reliability during running.

15:02

🚴‍♀️ Challenges in Outdoor Cycling and Weightlifting

Rob discusses the increased difficulty in tracking heart rate during outdoor cycling and weightlifting. Outdoor cycling introduces more arm tension and movement, which typically hinders accurate heart rate readings. The Balance struggles with this, showing a lower correlation and missing several heart rate peaks. Weightlifting, another challenging exercise for heart rate tracking, also presents issues for the Balance, with many peaks missed and a correlation of 0.74, indicating less reliable performance. Comparatively, the Balance performs better for indoor cycling and running than for these more dynamic activities.

20:03

💤 Sleep Stage Tracking Evaluation

The script describes Rob's evaluation of the Amazfit Balance's sleep stage tracking capabilities, compared to a zMAX EEG headband known for measuring brain waves. The Balance shows only about 40% agreement for deep sleep, with more time incorrectly categorized as light sleep. Light sleep agreement is about two-thirds, and REM sleep agreement is roughly 53%, with significant confusion with light sleep and awake times. Individual night analyses reveal a mix of accurate and inaccurate sleep stage detections, suggesting the Balance is not reliable for detailed sleep analysis but may provide a rough estimate of total sleep time.

25:03

🚴‍♂️ GPS Tracking and Final Thoughts

Rob tests the Amazfit Balance's GPS tracking by cycling the same route multiple times and observes the signal overlap. The Balance shows some noise in signal acquisition but generally acquires the signal quickly. Throughout the routes, the GPS signals are relatively close, with occasional deviations. While not perfect, the GPS performance is better than expected. In conclusion, the Balance offers improved heart rate tracking over previous Amazfit models, especially for static exercises, but struggles with more dynamic activities and sleep tracking. Rob gives the watch a tentative rating of three out of five stars, acknowledging its的进步 but also its limitations.

Keywords

💡Amazfit Balance

Amazfit Balance is a smartwatch model by Amazfit, which is a brand known for its wearable devices. In the context of the video, it is the central product being reviewed. The reviewer discusses its performance in various metrics such as heart rate tracking, sleep stage tracking, and GPS accuracy, comparing it to other devices. It is noted as an improvement over previous Amazfit models.

💡Biot tracker 5.0 PPG sensor

Biot tracker 5.0 PPG sensor refers to the photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor version 5.0 used in the Amazfit Balance for tracking biometrics. PPG sensors are optical sensors that measure heart rate and other vital signs. The video mentions it as a new addition to the Amazfit device, which improves heart rate measurement reliability compared to previous models.

💡Heart rate tracking

Heart rate tracking is a feature in smartwatches and fitness devices that measures the wearer's heart rate continuously or at set intervals. In the video, the reviewer tests the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking during different exercises like indoor cycling and running to evaluate its accuracy and reliability.

💡Sleep stage tracking

Sleep stage tracking is the ability of a device to monitor different phases of sleep, such as deep sleep, light sleep, and REM sleep. The video script discusses the Amazfit Balance's performance in tracking sleep stages and compares it with an EEG headband, which is a device that measures brainwaves to determine sleep stages.

💡GPS tracking accuracy

GPS tracking accuracy refers to how precisely a device can track and record the user's location and movements using the Global Positioning System. The reviewer assesses the Amazfit Balance's GPS tracking by cycling the same route multiple times and observing the overlap and deviation of the recorded paths.

💡Correlation

In the context of the video, correlation measures how well the Amazfit Balance's data aligns with that of other devices or reference methods. A high correlation (close to 1.0) indicates a strong agreement between the Amazfit Balance and the device it is being compared to, suggesting reliable tracking performance.

💡Polar H10

Polar H10 is a heart rate monitor chest strap used as a reference device in the video for comparing the accuracy of the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking. It is noted for providing very accurate heart rate measurements, which are then compared with the data from the Amazfit Balance.

💡Outdoor cycling

Outdoor cycling is a type of exercise that the reviewer uses to test the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking capabilities. It is considered more challenging for watches to accurately track heart rate during outdoor cycling due to increased arm movement and tension, which can affect the quality of the PPG signal.

💡Weightlifting

Weightlifting is another exercise used to test the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking. It is highlighted as a difficult activity for watches to track accurately due to the tension and movement involved, which may cause the watch to miss heart rate peaks or record inaccurate data.

💡zMAX EEG headband

The zMAX EEG headband is a device that measures brainwaves and is used as a reference to test the Amazfit Balance's sleep stage tracking. The headband provides a standard for comparison, allowing the reviewer to evaluate how accurately the Amazfit Balance can detect different sleep stages.

💡Affiliate links

Affiliate links are a form of performance-based advertising where an affiliate (the reviewer, in this case) earns a commission for marketing another company's products. In the video script, the reviewer mentions that some links in the description are affiliate links, meaning they may earn a commission if a viewer purchases an Amazfit Balance or other items through those links.

Highlights

Amazfit Balance features a new BioTracker 5.0 PPG sensor for improved heart rate measurement.

The Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking is more reliable compared to previous Amazfit models.

Heart rate tracking during indoor cycling shows good agreement with the Polar H10 ECG chest strap.

The device's heart rate readings have a high correlation of 0.95 with the Polar H10.

Amazfit Balance's design is considered chunky and less aesthetically pleasing by the reviewer.

The watch's heart rate tracking during outdoor running also shows a strong correlation of 0.95.

Outdoor cycling presents a challenge for the Amazfit Balance, with a lower heart rate correlation of 0.65.

The device struggles with heart rate tracking during weightlifting, with a correlation of 0.74.

Sleep stage tracking on the Amazfit Balance is not highly reliable, with significant inaccuracies.

GPS tracking on the Amazfit Balance is decent but not perfect, with some deviation from the route.

The reviewer rates the Amazfit Balance's heart rate tracking at three to three and a half stars out of five.

Sleep stage tracking receives a rating of two out of five stars.

GPS tracking performance is estimated to receive a rating between three to three and a half stars.

Overall, the Amazfit Balance is an improvement over previous Amazfit devices but still has room for improvement.

The reviewer personally finds the watch's design bulky and not as attractive as other Amazfit models.

The Amazfit Balance is priced at around $200, offering good battery life but with a mixed performance review.

Transcripts

amazfit finally made a watch that

doesn't totally suck this is the amazfit

balance which has the new biot tracker

5.0 PPG sensor which makes this the

first amazfit device I tested that

actually measures my heart rate at least

somewhat reliably it definitely isn't

perfect but it might just be good enough

in this video we're going to test the

hard rate tracking performance of the

amaz Fit balance during different types

of exercises and we'll additionally test

the Sleep stage tracking performance and

the GPS tracking accuracy of this new

amazfit device as always I don't want to

waste your time so there are time stamps

on the timeline let's get

started hello everyone for those of you

that are new to the channel my name is

Rob and I'm a postdoctoral scientist

specializing in biological data analysis

now amazfit devices have historically

performed terribly in my testing and

like I said the amazfit balance is the

first watch to break this trend sadly

the one thing that a maze fit generally

does do very well does not flag back in

this watch namely the nice design of

most of their watches amazfit devices

generally have quite beautiful screens

and a good design but I personally find

the am F balance quite chunky and not so

goodlooking however that's a subjective

opinion and that's not what you're here

for let's focus on some objective

testing instead and let's start with the

heart rate tracking performance I'll

start off by looking at the performance

of the Amit balance during indoor

cycling which is a relatively easy

exercise for watch the track given the

limited movement and of tension on my

arm and here you can see an overview of

those results now to test the

performance I'll compare the heart rate

measurements of the amaz with balance

against the polar h10 ECG Jaz strap

which can generally record my heart rate

very accurately now each dot in this

plot is a single heart rate measurement

with along the horizontal axis the value

according to the polar h10 ECG chest

strap and on the vertical axis the value

according to the amaz Fit balance now

the closer the points are to this blue

line right here the better the agreement

and and the darker black the color mod

that there are and as you can see

there's generally a pretty good

agreement between the polar h10 and the

amaz Fit balance most points are on or

at least close to the blue line and the

correlation which is this r value up

here is also quite high at

0.95 the maximum value of this

correlation is 1.0 so a correlation of

0.95 is really good there are a few

points away from the Blue Line

especially below it right here but still

this doesn't look too bad but we really

need to look at those individual bike

rides to see what's going on and here

you can see that first example interval

spinning session where we see a pretty

decent agreement between the amaz Fit

balance and the ECG chest strap now

along the horizontal axis we have the

time and my heart rate is on the

vertical axis with in blue green my

heart rate according to the polar h10

ECG chest strap and in red my heart rate

according to the amaz with balance and

for this ride most of the time the heart

rate was correctly detected only right

here where I had a DE decrease in my

heart rate did the M balance detect an

increase in my heart rate so detected

about double my heart rate right here so

it detected a heart rate of about 140

BPM I would say whereas in reality my

heart was about 70 BPM so it probably

had a bit of a noisy signal but this is

the exception rather than the rule

looking at my next spinning session we

see this looks quite good most of the

time my heart R agrees between the polar

h10 and the amaz with balance and that's

also what we see for this bike ride

right here though again there's one art

effect right here where it all of a

sudden detected an increase in my heart

rate but as I said this is the exception

rather than the rule because for most

indoor cycling sessions it looks rather

good like for instance right here and

also right here there is some minor

deviation for instance right here a

slight delay in it picking up an

increase in my heart rate but overall

I'm quite happy with the performance of

the mid balance during indoor cycling so

that's not looking too bad there are

some small artifacts but nothing much to

complain about compared to other older

MV devices is this is actually great

performance but let's take a look at how

this watch Compares and we will do that

by comparing the performance of the M

with balance to many of the other

devices I've tested in the past and that

overie is displayed right here the

correlation value I was talking about

before is the metric we will use for

this which is displayed along the

horizontal axis here we want that value

to be as close to one as possible on the

vertical axis actually order to watch us

from worst to best so the further to the

right and the higher devices the better

is its correlation with the ref device

and I marked the Amit balance in red

right here and as you can see compared

to all other watches out there it's in

the upper middle class of watches it

isn't amazing as the Apple watches up

here are for instance but it's

definitely decent and probably good

enough what is important to know is that

many of the other amazfit devices are on

the bottom right here and right here so

out of the bottom eight watches right

here one two three four five six were

amazed with devices so this is really a

significant Improvement all the way up

here but let's zoom in a bit so we can

actually read those labels and that

zoomed infus is played right here so

these are just the watches with a

correlation of 0.9 or higher and as you

can see even amongst these better

watches the maze Fit balance is doing

quite decently it's quite close to the

Fitbit Lux the Huawei watch 3 and the

polar Varity sense for instance so this

doesn't look too bad there are

definitely better devices out there

especially Apple watches some Huawei

watches but also Google pixel watches

and Samsung Galaxy watches aren't bad at

all but I also suspect that this

performance of the amaz with balance is

good enough for most people so that's

not too bad at all but we haven't really

challenged the amaz with balance so

let's do that let's now take a look at

the next most difficult exercise for

watch the track running outside now

running outside increases the bumpiness

during the exercise however there's

still little tension on my arm and on my

wrist so this is only slightly harder

for the watch you get a clean heart rate

signal let's see how the amaz with

balance did and you can see that overiew

right here but now for running and as

you can see the agreement is still very

good the correlation is very similar at

0.95 and all values are on or close to

the blue line or most measurements at

least there are a few below it for

instance right here and also right here

and a few above it but the deviation is

quite minor so this looks good for the

ma with balance it doesn't seem to

suffer from Cadence lock where it meses

your Cadence instead of your heart rate

but let's take a look at the individual

runs to see where there's still some

points below and above the blue line and

here you can see the results for my

first run with again the polar h10 in

blue and the amaz Fit balance in red and

there's generally a good agreement

between the amaz set balance and the

polar h10 there are some minor deviation

for instance right here and also right

here but generally this looks very good

and that's also we see for the second

run right here though in the beginning

it missed my heart rate for a while

before it caught on but after it

acquired the heart rate signal it

actually looks really good and that's

also what we more or less see for this

example run right here though here it

did struggle a bit in the beginning

right here but later on it looks really

good and that's also true for this final

example I wanted to show you here it

struggled a bit near the end but overall

not a bad performance so here we have a

similar overie to before but now for

running so again the further to the top

right the better device and as you can

see there has far fewer devices in this

overiew because I only recently started

running so I don't have data for that

many watches but as you can see the amaz

with balance is actually doing quite

good again Apple watches are some of the

top performers out there but the amaz it

balance isn't half bad I would say it's

good enough for most people it's really

close to for instance some Huawei

watches and also some pixel watches so

I'm not disappointed by this so we saw

some small artifacts again but the

correlation is still quite high I would

say at roughly 0.95 however let's now

make things even more difficult by

looking at the performance of the amazit

balance for outdoor cycling now cycling

outside increases the tension on my arms

because I have to all on to the

handlebars there's also much more

movement and bumpiness making it much

harder for a watch to get a clean heart

rate signal I tested the MH balance for

a total of 21 bike rides I have for

first a quick S note if you're

interested in the latest updates on the

wearables I'm testing I'm planning to

start back up with my newsletter and

posting more Optical things on my

Instagram and my YouTube shorts channel

so if you're interested in any of those

those are linked below also I'm trying

to become part of the first people who

receive watches to review from companies

like Garmin Samsung and mafit and if you

want to help me make faster and better

reviews it would really help if you like

subscribe and or comment but of course

this is totally up to you now enough

self- promotion let's get back to

testing the amaz with balance and that

overview is displayed right here so this

is a similar overview to before but now

we're biking outside and as you can see

this is where the amaz with balance

starts a struggle there are still some

points close to Blue Line or at least

the majority is still close to the blue

line but there are many points below the

blue line right here so there's this big

triangle right here of points below the

Blue Line indicating that in these

moments the watch detected a two low

heart rate the correlation is also much

lower at 0.65 where before the

correlation was 0.95 for both running

and cycling inside cycling Outdoors

really makes the watch struggle but

let's take a look at the individual bike

rides to see what's going on here and

here we have the first example bike

right with again the reference in blue

green and the mafit balance in red and

as you can see the agreement is not

amazing there's generally quite a delay

in it picking up an increase in my heart

rate so it does seem to catch up over

time but it really needs a bit more time

to get those peaks in my heart rate you

can see that right here but also right

here right here and right here so each

time I have a sudden increase in my

heart rate it really struggles to keep

up that's what we see to a higher or

lower degree in many of the bike rides

so for this bike ride right here it

didn't struggle as much during the

second part but during the first part it

had some issues for this bike ride it

actually looks quite good so there's not

much to complain about also this one

doesn't look that bad then for this bike

right where it did detect my heart rate

it was quite good though it missed my

heart rate for a large part of the ride

so somehow it lost the signal right here

and then for other bike rides we again

see a delay in it picking up an increase

in my heart rate you can see that

especially near the end of this bike

ride right here and also for this bike

ride it either had the delay or it

completely missed a peak in my heart

rate as you can see right here so it's a

bit of a mixbag some bike rides look

okayish I would say this one looks

okayish though it still has its issues

the other are quite a bit worse where

for instance right here it misses a

large part of the peak right here so be

aware that at least on medium as balance

is struggling a bit and again this is a

similar overview to before but now for

biking outside and as you can see the

amazfit balance marked in red isn't

amazing it's not the worst device out

there which again are other amazit

devices so the top five worst performing

watches here are all amazit devices so

for instance the amaz with bipu Pro but

also the amazfit T-Rex Pro and GTS S2

mini and also some newer ones like the

GTR 4 aren't doing great amazfit devices

are really some of the worst devices out

there at least up until the Amit balance

which is doing quite okay for most

exercises but it's not amazing for

biking outside as you can see right here

most devices are doing better than the

amaz with balance for biking outside so

I wouldn't really recommend it for that

type of exercise and again Huawei

watches Google pixel watches and

especially Apple watches are doing a lot

better so while biking out outside the

amaz with balance didn't perform as well

as it did for instance for indoor

cycling and running it missed a

significant number of peaks in heart

rate and also has some delay in picking

up on changes in my heart rate so if you

want to use it for outdoor cycling I

wouldn't recommend it now before looking

at the Sleep stage tracking test let's

take a look at the performance of the

amaz with balance while weightlifting

this is generally also a very hard

exercise for many watches to track and

here we have that overview similar to

before but now for weightlifting and as

you can see it looks okay okay it's not

as bad as what we saw for outdoor

cycling so the correlation at 0.74 is a

bit higher than what we saw for outdoor

cycling which I believe was 0.64 0.65

but it's definitely not as good as what

we saw for indoor cycling and running

which has a correlation of

0.95 and that's probably due to it

sometimes detecting a to low heart rate

especially here in the higher heart rate

range it almost always attacks it to low

heart rate this indicates to me that

most likely the individual sets that I

do it cannot pick up on those peaks in

my heart rate but let's take a look at

the individual weightlifting sessions to

see what's going on here so here we have

the first example weightlifting session

I wanted to show you with again the

reference in blue green and you may Fit

balance in red with the peaks in my

heart who representing each set that I

did and as you can see the peaks in blue

aren't completely followed by the

amazfit balance in red some of the Peaks

are somewhat detected for instance right

here and right here but many of them are

missed and this is what we see for many

of the weightlifting sessions some of

the Peaks are caught but many or even

most are missed and I would say the amaz

with balance isn't that reliable for

weightlifting and again here we have a

similar overview to before but now for

weightlifting and here the amaz FD

balance is somewhere in the middle I

would say you can see it marked here in

red it's not amazing and also not

terrible though generally I wouldn't

recommend using any device with a

correlation of 0.9 or preferably even

0.95 or high for weightlifting you

really want decent performance and you

also want it to pick up on those peaks

in heart rate and the amaz with balance

just doesn't do it but that's true for

most watches out there it's just really

difficult to track your hard during

weightlifting if we zoom into the best

performing watches we can see that only

some selected Huawei watches Apple

watches and also some Google products

like the pixel Watch 2 and the Fibber

charge 6 are decent during weightlifting

other watches I would really not

recommend and if you want accurate heart

rate tracking during weightlifting my

general recommendation is to use an ECG

chest strap like for instance the polar

h10 this doesn't suffer from that

tension on your wrist in your arm so

it's just much more reliable but if you

don't find it comfortable one of these

devices is probably your best bet so for

weightlifting the amaz with balances Med

the Yer I would say it isn't as bad as

some of the other devices out there but

it definitely isn't good it misses many

of my peaks in heart rate so I wouldn't

rely on it for weightlifting still

overall it showed a significant

Improvement compared to basically all

other amaz devices out there and it did

quite well for two easier exercises

cycling indoors and running but it

struggled during weightlifting and

outdoor cycling therefore overall i'

give the hard rate tracking of the amaz

balance three to maybe even three and a

half out of five stars next let's take a

look at the Sleep stage tracking of the

amaz F balance which I tested during a

total of seven nights now to test the

Sleep stage tracking performance I'll

compare the amaz F balance to the zMAX

EG headband which can actually measure

my brain waves now this device also has

its limitations especially when it comes

to to detecting awake time I discussed

this in several of my videos so I won't

go into details here but what it boils

down to is it'll mostly ignore the awake

time detection in the analysis and here

I show an overview of the sleep test

results now on top are the sleep stages

as recorded by the zMAX eug device and

on the left are the sleep stages as

recorded by the amaz with balance now

each column here sums to 100% meaning

that we can see what percentage of each

of the sleep stages according to the

zMAX was predicted as each sleep stage

body M with balance and if they

perfectly agree all values on the

diagonal should be 100% now first of all

we see that only about 40% of what was

deep sleep according to the EEG device

was also deep sleep according to the

amfit balance so that doesn't look very

good more was actually predicted as

being light sleep instead now light

sleep agreement is okayish I would say

about 2third of what was light sleep

according to the EG device was also

detected as light sleep by the am F

balance however a significant amount is

actually being confused as RAM sleep in

sted about 25% now Ram sleep agreement

also isn't that great though not as bad

as I initially feared at about 53% and

most confusion was with light sleep at

about 27% but a lot of it was also being

confused as awake time instead now as I

said before we're not going to focus on

the awake time detection but just for

completeness only about onethird of what

the zMAX detected as a wake time was

also detected as a wake time by the

amazit balance but the zMAX actually

tends to detect a lot of short awake

moments that I'm not sure are really

relevant so we're not going to focus on

this too much luckily most confusion was

with light sleep which makes sense

actually as light sleep is the closest

Sleep stage to being awake but again

we're not going to focus on the awake

moments we're mostly going to focus on

this part right here so with the Deep

Sleep light sleep and R sleep and for

the amaz Fit balance it's actually

really interesting to look at the

individual Knights to help us better

understand what's going on here and here

we have the first Knight I wanted to

share with you on top we have the sleep

stages according to the zMAX EG headband

with along the horizontal AIS the clock

time and my sleep St stages on the

vertical axis and on the bottom we have

a similar plot but now for the amid

balance now in purple right here I

highlight the deep sleep as recorded by

the zMAX EG headband and as you can see

there's a marginal agreement between the

zMAX and the amid balance some of the

deep sleep that the zMAX detected was

also detected by the amaz with balance

about half of it which matches that 50%

that we saw before but the amaz with

balance also detects some extra deep

sleep and for this second night we see

more or the same thing some of the Deep

Sleep detected by the zMAX is also

detected by the amid balance again

roughly half I would say but also some

extra deep sleep is detected and that's

more or less the general pattern that we

see though there are some better kns

like this one right here for instance

now as I mentioned before Ram sleep

agreement is okay though not amazing you

can see that right here for instance

where some of the ram sleep segments

detected by the EG device were also

detected by the amid balance for

instance right here right here and right

here but the am balance also detects

some extra Ram sleep for instance right

here and right here and it also misses

some Ram sleep that's more or less the

general Trend that we see though some

Knights are better like this one right

here and some are not as great like this

one right here so it's really a bit of a

mix so that doesn't look terrible but

also not great so I wouldn't really rely

on it as I said I'm not going to focus

on the awake moments marked in green

here according to the EEG device because

there are just so many of these short

awake moments that the EEG device

detects that I'm not sure that

interesting but we can generally see

that the amaz balance roughly detects

when you fall asleep and when you wake

up we see that for most nights also

right here it doesn't look too bad for

my falling asleep and waking up moment

though I had a bit of a slumbering face

right here where the amaz with balance

detecting me as being awake all of the

time still overall it looks pretty okay

and we see something similar right here

where again I had a slumbering face and

the amaz with balance just decks me as

being awake but still generally for

getting an estimation of your total time

of sleep this doesn't look too bad okay

that's honestly not very encouraging it

doesn't seem like a totally random

result but it's definitely not good and

there are plenty of better devices out

there believe me and to prove that to

you let's see how the am withit balance

performs compared to other watches that

will help us put these results into

perspective now this graph right here

shows you an overview of the agreement

of different watches with different

reference devices along the horizontal

axis we have the average agreement over

the individual sleep stages and on the

vertical axis we have the agreement of

the worst sleep stage now a better de

agreement the more to top right to

devices and this overview is slightly

complicated because I use different

reference devices so the devices not

marked in any color were tested against

the dream 2 EG had been my general

reference but dream went bankrupt so I

cannot use it anymore the devices marked

in blue purple were tested against

polography so the gold standed in sleep

stage tracking and the devices marked in

green were tested against the zMAX EG

headband so the same device we're using

in this test today and you can see the

amaz fit balance marked in green right

here so it's really amongst the lower

performing watches I would say it's not

as bad as for instance the Mi band but

it's also not nearly as good as many of

the other devices out there especially

Apple watches are very good sleep stage

trackers but also the eight Sleep p 3

aura rings the pixel watch and even the

whoop strap are pretty decent sleep

stage trackers and the amazit balance

just doesn't come close so I really

recommend just using the amazit balance

for tracking your total in bed maybe

your total sleep time but not more than

that so the Sleep stage tracking

performance of the amaz with balance is

basically what I expected it to be like

it's not something I would rely on I

think it can be used to get an estimate

of your total time spent in bed but

that's about it I wouldn't use it for

anything more detailed therefore I'd

give the Sleep stage tracking

performance of the amaz with balance two

out of five stars next we're going to

take a look at the GPS tracking

performance of the amaz with balance I

tested the GPS tracking performance by

by cycling the same route several times

and seeing how well the signals overlap

let's take a look and here you can see

the results for six times I cycled back

from work now I always started my ride

either right here or right here and I

didn't give the watch any extra time to

acquire the signal and as you can see

there is some noise in the moment it

acquired the signal so this ride right

here for instance I probably started all

the way down here and it took some time

for it to acquire the signal and if we

zoom in a bit to these four rides right

here all of them are supposed to start

roughly in front of this building right

here and you can see definitely there's

a bit of noise in when it acquired a

signal one time the signals all the way

down here and I'm not sure what it is

I'm not sure if this is a very late

acquisition and I actually started it

all the way back there where also this

one was started or if it was actually

started down here and it's noisy still

the signal acquisition isn't perfect but

it definitely doesn't take a lot of time

for it to acquire the signal so might be

good enough for most people you might

just have to wait a little bit for it to

get the signal and if we then look down

the route we can see it's a bit noisy

though not terrible there's one signal

which is very deviant right here others

are actually relatively close to each

other and this one keeps deviating quite

a bit also one more signal is deviating

a bit right here and if you go down the

route there's always one or two signals

that are deviating a bit and the others

are relatively close it's not terrible

actually many of the signals here are

super close and this looks better than

some other watches let's zoom out a

little bit if we go down the rout we can

see the signals are actually not that

far away from each other it actually

looks quite decent here I took different

routes you can see one time I went along

here and one time along here but the

signals stay quite close together

usually here near the radio tower

there's a bit more deviation and we can

also see that right here there might

actually be some signals coming from

right here that are interfering still

overall this doesn't look too bad

honestly the signals are relatively

close together and there are many

watches that are doing worse there are

some better devices out there like for

instance the Apple watch and especially

Garmin watches but this doesn't look

that bad to me but let's take a look at

some rides to work to see what these

look like and these are displayed right

here I only have three rides for this so

these are three times I cycled to work

here we can see that the signals always

acquired very quickly and very

consistently I always started it on the

corner right here so there's a bit of

deviation right here but this doesn't

look too bad and if we zoom out a bit we

can actually see that the signals are

relatively consistent now we're only

looking at three signals right here so

there isn't as big of a chance of a

deviating signal but generally if we go

along the Route it actually looks quite

decent it's not amazing there is some

deviation also right here and right here

but it generally doesn't look too bad in

my opinion if we go along the Route even

further there's generally a relatively

small deviation between the signals but

you can judge for yourself compared to

some of the other watches I've tested in

the past where I take a similar route

overall I'm actually not that

disappointed yes there is some deviation

it goes a bit away from the road but

overall this is relatively consistent

and for a device like this I actually

expected worse performance so overall

not bad so the GPS tracking performance

of the amaz Fit balance isn't half bad

it isn't amazing but it's actually

better than I expected I always find it

difficult to put an actual number on it

without actually quantifying it but it

probably give the GPS tracking

performance around three to maybe even

three and a half out of five stars

before getting to my final conclusions

of course there's many limitations to my

testing the main one being that I just

tested it on myself with whatever

firmware was available at the time now I

tried to summarize my final judgment on

the amazfit balance and I find myself

struggling somewhat I saw you can now

get it for about $200 which isn't

terribly high it's not cheap but it's

also not the most expensive watch out

there it also has a good battery life at

about 2 weeks and the watch is

significantly better than anything amaza

that's produced so far however it still

isn't that great it has quite good heart

rate tracking for more static exercises

but it really struggled for cycling

outside and weightlifting the Sleep

stage tracking also wasn't that great

the GPS tracking performance on the

other hand wasn't too bad also and I

know this is more subjective I really

don't like the way it looks a mafit

generally does such a good job making

watches with a really nice screen and a

relatively slim design and this thing is

just a bit too bulky for me but of

course that last part is very subjective

all in all I'd probably give this watch

three out of five star bars mafit has

definitely improved their heart rate

tracking which is good but they've got a

bit to go before I would strongly

recommend any of their watches of course

also check out some other reviewers if

they reach different conclusions if you

do decide to get an amazfit balance an h

s pot 3 a whoop strap an order ring

another device or anything at else on

Amazon for that matter even something as

small as toilet paper want to

potentially save some money and at the

same time support the channel their

different affiliate and non-affiliate

links in description below they do not

cost you any extra and some even

discount also given that you made it to

the end of this video on the amazfit

balance check out my other reviews of

amazfit devices as well and also my top

General recommendations in the meantime

thank you so much for watching and catch

you in the next

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