Why my favorite 2026 smartwatch isn't a Pixel Watch or Galaxy Watch

When we talk about smartwatches, especially Android-compatible ones, it’s easy to get laser-focused on Samsung and Google. The Pixel Watch has cemented itself as a showcase for Wear OS, while Galaxy Watches are the go-to choice if you have a Samsung phone.

There’s nothing wrong with Google and Samsung’s wearables; the Pixel Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 9 are both extremely good. But neither one is the 2026 smartwatch that’s impressed me the most.

I’ve been wearing the Amazfit Balance Ultra for a couple of months now, and my experience with it has been outstanding. It looks fantastic, has an unkillable battery, and fits my fitness needs perfectly. It’s a smartwatch I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, and it’s made me rethink my relationship with smartwatches from Google and Samsung.

A bold design with so much functionality

Although Amazfit has been in the smartwatch space for a few years now, it’s an easily overlooked brand — especially since it used to focus primarily on budget models. But Amazfit’s been making a more focused push into flagship models lately, and the Balance Ultra is arguably its most serious attempt yet.

That’s immediately apparent in the Balance Ultra’s design. This is a bold and loud piece of hardware, and I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. But two months into wearing the Balance Ultra, I’ve come to really love it.

I certainly don’t think this design is for everyone, but there’s a real intentionality behind the Balance Ultra. With the combination of sharp lines and rounded corners, the various holes throughout the case, and the visible screws above the watch face, Amazfit made a lot of big decisions here. Personally, I think they paid off. The Balance Ultra doesn’t look like any other smartwatch I own, and I think it adapts extremely well, whether I’m working out at the gym or dressing it up for a wedding (which I did a couple of weeks ago).

But what really ties this design together for me is how much functionality Amazfit managed to cram into it. It looks good, yes, but it’s also one of the most practical smartwatch designs I’ve seen in a while. There’s a rotating crown (which is also a button) in the top-right corner, and below it is another button. On the left side of the watch are three more buttons, including a large one near the center and two smaller ones above and below it.

The crown and buttons all feel great to use, and you have ample customization over them. There’s also an LED flashlight above the watch face, and the Grade 5 Titanium body paired with a sapphire crystal display glass means you’ve got ample durability, too. This is what I expect from an “Ultra” smartwatch, and I hope Samsung takes some notes for the inevitable Galaxy Watch Ultra 3.

Truly ridiculous battery life

Even more impressive than the Balance Ultra’s hardware is its battery life. And more than anything, this is the biggest reason why I haven’t been eager to replace the Balance Ultra with a Google or Samsung smartwatch.

The Pixel Watch 5 is excellent, but you still need to charge it about every 1.5 days. The Galaxy Watch 9 also has a lot going for it, but it needs to be charged every night. These are both powerful and capable watches in their own right, but because of their chipsets and demanding Wear OS software, regular charging is just a reality you can’t escape.

The Amazfit Balance Ultra, meanwhile, is a battery life monster. As I sit here writing, the watch has 65% battery remaining and was last charged four days ago. During that time, I’ve used the watch for three outdoor running and walking workouts (using GPS for all of them), worn it to bed every night for sleep tracking, and kept the always-on display enabled.

With how I’ve used the Balance Ultra over the last couple of months, it consistently lasts 10+ days per charge. With a couple of tweaks (such as disabling the always-on display), I could easily get it to last even longer.

It’s worth acknowledging that Amazfit’s Zepp OS software powering the Balance Ultra is less capable than Wear OS — including much more limited third-party app support, no Gemini integration, no music downloads from Spotify or YouTube Music, and more. If you like wearing smartwatches for their smarts rather than their workout and health features, the Balance Ultra is probably a non-starter.

But for someone like me who’s on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, the Balance Ultra is perfect. It delivers all the fitness features I want in a smartwatch while also making battery anxiety a thing of the past. It’s a really fantastic combination, and after living with it for this long, I’m not sure if I can ever go back to charging a watch every day or every other day.

Excellent fitness features backed by surprisingly good software

Speaking of those fitness features, the Balance Ultra has basically everything I could ask for. As an avid runner, running with the Balance Ultra has been wonderful. Its GPS accuracy is great, the heart-rate sensor is very good, and having all those buttons to use while running, rather than messing with touchscreen controls, is a godsend.

I’ve also gotten into strength training this summer, and the Balance Ultra does a great job here, too. Strength training workouts support reps and rests, allowing me to log my weight and lifting intervals as I go. The Balance Ultra even provides feedback on factors like stability, rhythm, and speed decay throughout the workout.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Balance Ultra gives me a HybridCharge number every morning when I wake up, indicating how charged up my body is for the day ahead, and that number decreases based on various factors such as physical and mental exertion. There’s also sleep tracking, heart rate variability, skin temperature sensing, blood oxygen (SpO2) tracking, and more.

If what I’ve just described sounds a lot like what you’d get with a Garmin smartwatch, you’re completely right. I’ve used multiple Garmin watches over the years, and while they’re a great choice for a lot of people, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Garmin’s software — be it the Garmin Connect companion app or Garmin’s smartwatch software. To me, it feels clunky and dated, especially as someone who’s spent a lot of time with Wear OS.

And this is where I think Amazfit has the edge. Zepp OS on the Balance Ultra is fast and responsive, and it feels like a much more natural transition from Wear OS than Garmin’s watch software. I also greatly prefer the Zepp companion app from Amazfit, which I find much easier to navigate and digest than Garmin Connect. Getting that combination of solid software/UX on a watch with long battery life and robust health features is easier said than done, but Amazfit did it with the Balance Ultra.

Google and Samsung watches are great, but not for me

I’ve spent a lot of time with Google and Samsung watches on my wrist over the last few years, and I’ve generally enjoyed the experience. As a Pixel smartphone user, there are so many benefits to wearing a Pixel Watch. I love Samsung’s recent hardware decisions with its Galaxy Watch lineup over the last couple of years. There are good things happening on the Wear OS front from the two biggest players.

But for my personal smartwatch needs, the Amazfit Balance Ultra has made me realize that Google and Samsung watches — as good as they may be — just aren’t for me. If I’m dedicating space on my wrist to a watch, I want it to have a design I truly love. I want it to last at least a week in between charges. I want it to deliver health tracking features and an overall software experience I enjoy using. Right now, a watch like the Balance Ultra checks those boxes better than a Pixel Watch 5 or Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

Does that mean the Balance Ultra is perfect? Certainly not. While I find it very comfortable for daily wear, the large case size can be a nuisance at times. The Zepp app gets a lot of things right, but it can also feel like information overload without much guidance on what my data means. There’s plenty of room for Samsung or Google to swoop in with a new wearable to draw me back in, and I’m curious whether Google will do precisely that with the recently announced Fitbit Edge.

Still, when I look back at 2026 smartwatches and think about what’s stood out to me the most, the Balance Ultra is right at the top. It’s a fantastic piece of hardware that made me rethink my priorities in a wearable. Unless the Fitbit Edge somehow steals me back to Team Google, I’ll happily keep the Balance Ultra on my wrist for a while to come.