Amazfit Balance gets major update: HRV, Running Power, Race Training

The popular Amazfit Balance smartwatch is undergoing a significant transformation with a comprehensive firmware update. The software brings a host of exciting features, including heart rate variability, Running Power, half-marathon and marathon training plans and more.

Launched in September 2023, the Amazfit Balance succeeded the Amazfit GTR 4. This is the most high-spec Amazfit watch to date. Its features include a large circular AMOLED display, comprehensive health tracking, and an impressive battery life of up to 14 days.

Now, the latest firmware update is taking the Balance to new heights.

Features for athletes

The star of the show is arguably the inclusion of heart rate variability (HRV) tracking. This is notable as it marks a first for Amazfit smartwatches. HRV measures fluctuations in the time between heartbeats. It serves as a valuable indicator of overall health, stress levels, and workout recovery.

Athletes will also rejoice at the addition of running power metrics within outdoor and playground running modes. Running power provides a more responsive and comprehensive analysis of running effort compared to traditional pace and heart rate data. You can read more about the metric in our separate piece.

Marathon runners will benefit from the dedicated half-marathon and full marathon training plans now available within the Zepp Sports Coach. These plans provide structured guidance to help you achieve your goals.

Features for winter sports fans & more

Winter sports fans got some love, too. They will appreciate the addition of track navigation and ski maps for snowboarding and skiing. The update even adds bouldering and indoor rock climbing as new trackable sports types. Furthermore, the ‘Zepp Flow’ feature brings new insights, providing data on your physical and mental readiness, sleep, and activity levels.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

That’s not all! This update contains quality-of-life improvements as well. The ability to pause workouts via button clicks and enhanced AGPS location tracking ensure greater accuracy. You’ll even find a softer flashlight setting and optimized weekly activity reports.

Update rollout & installation

The Amazfit Balance OTA 5 firmware update (version 3.19.6.5) started rolling out in the United States and Germany on April 16th, 2024. A wider global release is scheduled for April 24th, 2024.

To install the update, you’ll need the latest Zepp App version (8.8.0) installed on your smartphone.

1. Open the Zepp App.
2. Navigate to the ‘Profile’ tab.
3. Tap on your Amazfit Balance.
4. If an update is available, you will be prompted to install it. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Full change-log

Enjoy a smoother, more optimized Amazfit Balance with this update. Here’s the full change-log:

[What’s New]

• Zepp Sports Coach: Now supports half marathon and full marathon training plans, and has launched a new confidence index and plan completion rate. If there is an ongoing plan, you need to restart the plan to support it. Operation path: Zepp App -> Sports -> Zepp Sports Coach.
• Zepp Flow (Global Version Only): Supports the use of English and German. Users can inquire about their physical and mental readiness, sleep, activity and other health data through Zepp Flow, and can also query Zepp sports coach training plans.
• Heart Rate Variability (HRV): Now supports displaying complete HRV data from last night and weekly trends, providing new data dimensions for optimizing training effectiveness and improving overall health.
• New Sports Types: Added two new sports types: bouldering and indoor rock climbing.
• Running Power Indicators: Outdoor running and playground running now support running power indicators.
• Snowboarding and Skiing: Support track navigation and ski map.
• Landform Map: Now support the display of road name information, making it easy to identify and manage movement routes.
• Pause Operation During Exercise: Can be set to pause by clicking or long pressing the button. Operation path: System Settings -> Exercise -> Pause button setting.
• Route Navigation: Adds an altitude overview page for the route. When the altitude of the route changes greatly, it supports automatic parsing and generation of slope section information.

[Optimizations]

• Flashlight: Adds a softer red light effect, illuminating more softly in low light.
• AGPS Service: Upgraded, extended validity time and increased update frequency.
• Daily Activity Weekly Report: Optimized the calculation logic of the average value.
• Negative Screen Drag and Drop Sorting: Support in button mode.

[API Updates]

• Workout extension (plugin page in Workout Data Page)
• New System Sound & Buzzer Sensor Features
• Temperature sensor (Balance only)
• Button Widget now supports Font Customization
• Animation Widget now supports anim_repeat_func callback
• Vibrate Sensor now supports User Customized Scenes
• New Modal Widget
• Pressure sensor Realtime Data Update
• Underwater pressure sensor for Workout Extensions (T-Rex Ultra only, update planned for May 28th)
• BLE now supports a new method hmBle.mstWriteCharacteristicWithoutResponse(…)

[API Bugfixes]

• Sound Player & Sound Recorder – microphone permission request added

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