Amazfit is stepping further into serious running-watch territory with the Cheetah 2 Ultra, a new $599.99 smartwatch built for trail running, ultra-distance training, and long days outdoors.
This is not really the kind of watch you buy just to count steps, glance at notifications, and track the occasional gym session. The Cheetah 2 Ultra is aimed more at runners who care about GPS accuracy, elevation, battery life, recovery data, and having maps on their wrist when the route gets more complicated.
That also puts it in a more competitive part of the market. At $599.99, the Cheetah 2 Ultra is priced right alongside watches like the Garmin Forerunner 965, which has become a familiar choice for runners who want a lightweight AMOLED watch with mapping and deeper training tools.
So, the big question is fairly simple: what is Amazfit offering that makes this watch stand out?
The hardware is the first clue. The Cheetah 2 Ultra has a 47.4mm case with a Grade 5 titanium bezel, frame, and back cover. The display is protected by sapphire glass, and the watch weighs 52 grams without the strap. That is not tiny, but for a larger outdoor-focused watch with a metal build, it is still in a wearable range.
Amazfit has also included four physical buttons, which is a smart move for this kind of product. Touchscreens are fine when you are standing still, but buttons are usually easier to use when your hands are sweaty, you are wearing gloves, or you are trying to check a route while moving.
The watch also includes a red and white flashlight, a microphone, a speaker, and 64GB of onboard storage. That last part is worth noting because 64GB gives the watch room for maps, music, and other offline data without feeling cramped.
The front is built around a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with a 480 x 480 resolution and peak brightness of up to 3,000 nits. On a regular smartwatch, that might just sound like another nice screen spec. On a trail-running watch, it matters more. Outdoor watches need to stay readable in bright sun, under tree cover, at dawn, and during late finishes. A brighter display can make maps, pacing data, and navigation prompts easier to see when you do not want to stop and squint at your wrist.
Battery life is another major part of the story. Amazfit rates the Cheetah 2 Ultra for up to 30 days of typical use, up to 60 hours in its accuracy GPS mode, up to 33 hours in Trail Running mode, and up to 228 hours in maximum GPS battery mode.
As always, real-world battery life will depend on how you use the watch. Always-on display, GPS settings, maps, sensors, music, and notifications can all change the final number. Still, the ratings make it clear who Amazfit is targeting here: runners who want to train and race without constantly planning around a charger.
For trail use, the most interesting features are not just the battery claims. The Cheetah 2 Ultra supports full-color contour maps, offline navigation, automatic rerouting, turn-by-turn directions, route planning, and points-of-interest search. It also uses dual-band positioning across six satellite systems, which should help in more difficult GPS environments, such as forests, mountains, canyons, and dense urban areas.
Amazfit is also trying to make the watch feel more specific to trail running, rather than simply adding a “trail” label to a standard running profile. The upgraded Trail Running mode can account for gradient, terrain resistance, and vertical gain. There is also a color-coded elevation overview that shows slope difficulty across a route, which should make it easier to understand what is coming before your legs find out the hard way.
That could be useful for pacing. A mile on flat pavement is very different from a mile that includes a steep climb, loose ground, and a technical descent. The more a watch understands that difference, the more useful its training and race data can become.
Amazfit is also packing in a long list of training and fitness tools, including:
Recovery tracking is handled through Amazfit’s BioCharge and RestoreIQ features. These use data such as sleep, HRV, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, training load, fatigue level, and other metrics to give users a clearer picture of how ready they are to train.
That kind of score can be helpful, especially if you are juggling hard workouts, poor sleep, stress, and long runs. But it is still worth treating any recovery score as guidance rather than a strict instruction. Your body does not always follow an app perfectly, and no wrist-based sensor sees the full picture.
The Garmin Forerunner 965 is the obvious comparison here because it also sells for $599. It has a 47mm case, a titanium bezel, a 1.4-inch AMOLED display, built-in maps, up to 31 hours of GPS battery life, and up to 23 days in smartwatch mode.
On paper, the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra has a few clear advantages. It offers a larger 1.5-inch display, longer claimed typical battery life, more onboard storage, and a built-in flashlight. It also leans heavily into trail-running features, especially around elevation, terrain, battery modes, and offline navigation.
The Garmin Forerunner 965, though, still has a major strength: the Garmin ecosystem. Garmin Connect, training readiness, race tools, mapping, Garmin Pay, music support, and broad accessory support are already familiar to many runners. Garmin has also built up years of trust with endurance athletes, which matters when a watch is being used for training decisions, race pacing, and recovery planning.
A simple way to think about it:
That makes the Cheetah 2 Ultra an interesting move for Amazfit. The company is not just trying to offer a cheaper alternative this time. At $599.99, it has to compete on hardware, mapping, training features, durability, and day-to-day reliability.
For casual runners, the Cheetah 2 Ultra may be more watch than necessary. For trail runners, ultra-distance athletes, and people who mix endurance training with strength work, it gives Amazfit a much more serious option in a category where Garmin has long been the default name.
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