In 2024, I tested the Amazfit Cheetah, a smartwatch that clearly had a one-track mind for runners. Two years later, we have the Cheetah 2 Pro, a much more elegant and premium watch that still targets runners but now costs $150 more than its predecessor. At this price, it goes head-to-head with the Garmin Forerunner 570 and the Coros Apex 4, which is like showing up to a knife fight with a slightly nicer butter knife.
While the Cheetah 2 Pro is marketed for runners, it can track more than 170 activities. Since I'm dealing with a hip injury at the moment, I couldn't run extensively and focused on indoor rowing, walking, biking, and golf. Amazfit has significantly improved support for golf since 2025 with quick swipes to view distances to hazards, target, and pin positioning, and manual zoom support. I went out early last week and shot my best ever on a local par-3 course, with the Cheetah 2 Pro providing the guidance I needed to stay focused on my game - and not on my slowly healing hip.
The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro is one of the more expensive watches from Amazfit, thanks to its sapphire glass display, titanium build, integrated LED flashlight, microphone/speaker, and GPS battery life of up to 31 hours. In my typical usage with activities every three days, I went two weeks between charging the large 540 mAh battery. The Amazfit Balance 2 is similar but lacks an LED flashlight, while the T-Rex 3 Pro is larger and more rugged. I've praised watch makers for the dedicated LED flashlight, and it is now such an essential feature that I always wear a watch with one and use it daily - finding tees on the golf course, rebuilding a toilet, and taking out my aging dog with the red light at night. Amazfit has improved the LED flashlight's functionality, allowing it to switch between white and red light modes, and you can customize it for each workout type in the Safety Light setting.
The watch is easy to navigate thanks to its four large physical buttons and responsive touchscreen. You can also use the Zepp Flow offline voice control to quickly open apps, switch modes, or start a workout. The Zepp Coach feature sets up a personalized running or cardio plan that adapts as the watch measures your daily activity metrics. Runners will appreciate the long battery life, support for TrainingPeaks and Runna, a vivid display, and the lightweight 43mm size. Dual-band, multi-frequency GPS is very accurate, and turn-by-turn offline navigation ensures you won't get lost. Quick access to key data is important to me - some watch faces display multiple complications that are actionable by simply tapping them, which beats swiping endlessly around a watch face.
Some features in Zepp Aura require a subscription costing $70/year, though it often goes on sale. Weekly sleep reports, a sleep health assessment, advanced performance analysis, and premium relaxation content are included. The Zepp smartphone app is very capable but can also be overwhelming, with extensive data and customization options. Due to the size, elegant form factor, and long battery life, the Amazfit Balance 2 was my preferred Amazfit watch until now. With a dedicated LED flashlight, longer battery life, and premium titanium and sapphire glass, the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro is my new daily driver. I'll be back running soon and can't wait to see what this new watch can do to help me train for my next half-marathon - assuming my hip cooperates.