Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra: the endurance watch that goes as far as I can

Amazfit’s Cheetah 2 Ultra smartwatch is a leftfield choice for trail runners – and built to last the most brutal ultra races.

The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is designed for the type of person whose idea of going for a run involves stunning views, unpredictable terrain and possibly walking poles to help with steep vertical ascents. Aimed at those who tend to go off the beaten track, it can also track everything from indoor rows to training for your next Hyrox race. Built for the most rugged environments, it also has the battery reserves to last the length of a 100-mile race. So does that put it up there with the best fitness watches?

With military-grade toughness and features to make sure you’re training smarter, the Cheetah 2 Ultra wants to channel your inner endurance animal and do it for less money than the competition. If a Garmin Fenix or Apple Ultra smartwatch feels pricey, at $599 / £599, this could be the watch to strap on instead.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra: design

When you whip it out of the box you’ll find a watch with a hardy yet light grade 5 titanium case, a choice of silicone or nylon watch straps and a level of water resistance that means it’s safe to take for an open water swim. It’s built for the outdoors, but it has the feel of wearing a regular sports watch.

The colour touchscreen can go as bright as an Apple Watch Ultra 3 and protects that display with sapphire glass for best in class defence against scratches. There’s an array of buttons dotted around the case, which was ideal when I needed to use them with gloves on. You’ve also got an immensely bright flashlight that shines a white or red light, making it handy for running into the night or into the early hours of the morning.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra: features

You can take your pick from more than 170 sports modes, with the core modes focused on dishing out detailed stats about runs, rides and swims. It remains one of the few smartwatches with dedicated modes to track Hyrox racing, training and conducting a fitness test to see what kind of shape you’re in.

It does mainly want to be on the wrists of trail runners. The kind that live for routes that really put those legs and lungs to the test. It’s why the Cheetah 2 Ultra packs features to help you adjust running pace based on climbs and descents. You can also glance down at a screen that displays colour coded elevation changes. Red signals big climbs and green means you can pick up that running pace again.

It also wants to make sure you stay on the right path. You can view detailed maps and use the touchscreen to zoom in and out or scan around from your current location. You can also quickly create your own routes to follow and will be buzzed when you’ve veered off course. A handy re-route feature can adjust our course in real-time if conditions have changed on the current one.

When you’re not seeking out climbs, it can also be a watch that mirrors notifications from your phone, lets you pay your way without touching your bank cards and even load up some music. It just won’t let you grab that audio from services like Spotify or Apple Music.

If you’re wedded to Strava or use TrainingPeaks, it’s a watch that plays nice with those popular apps. That means you can share workout and training data so you don’t have to leave those other apps behind. You can also pair up power, cadence and heart rate sensors to boost tracking accuracy and make sure you have the most complete data to power your performance and training insights.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra: performance

As well as tackling my own local routes, I got the chance to use the Cheetah 2 Ultra for some hiking and running in North Wales with Snowdown as my stunning backdrop. The weather was volatile and the ground beneath me seemed to change almost constantly. I also took the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro along with me to see how this cheaper Amazfit smartwatch matched up with one of the best and most expensive watches. It certainly wasn’t out of its depth.

Whether that was delivering reliable GPS data, putting me back on the right path, preparing me for those big climbs or showing me the impact of my efforts the day after, the Cheetah 2 Ultra had everything in its locker to deliver. I did find navigating the watch menus and the app can feel a bit busy, but as far as putting the features that matter at your fingertips, it does do that.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra: battery life

It can also back that up with strong battery life. This is a watch that’s designed to last an entire month. When you also factor in tracking long trail adventures, it can cover you for 33 hours of off-road time. Three hours of tackling the rocky and leg battering route in North Wales did hit the battery, but not severely as I expected. It survived to keep running for a good while after.

What you have in the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is a smartwatch that has all the tools to make it a fitting trail running companion minus the hulking look of most other outdoor watches. It is the most expensive Amazfit smartwatch you can buy now, but compared to the competition, it feels like a bargain. 

It’s not as slick an operator as an Apple Watch, but it does give you a whole lot more battery. Its training analysis doesn’t quite match up to a top range Garmin either, but there’s enough that can help you make better decisions about when to hit the gym or spend hours on the trails. The Cheetah 2 Ultra strikes a good balance between performance and features and does it for considerably less than its closest competition.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra technical specs