Technologies

The Amazfit Active Max Is Built For the Long Run (Literally)

It’s listed at half the price of an Apple Watch or Garmin, with a battery that can last almost a month. So, what’s the trade-off?

Amazfit is supercharging its sports watch lineup with the Active Max, a new smartwatch that promises nearly a month of battery life and sports-watch level fitness chops. Launched ahead of CES 2026 as part of the wave of Consumer Electronics Show announcements, the Active Max builds on Amazfit’s existing Active line with a larger, brighter display and a bigger battery along with training and recovery tools typically reserved for far more expensive watches.

At $169, it’s at least $100 cheaper than comparable sport watches from Apple, Google, Samsung and Garmin, though it doesn’t quite match the steal-level value of the $80 Amazfit Bip 6, our favorite budget smartwatch of 2025.

Amazfit has built a reputation for making competitive smartwatches with many of the same core health and fitness features as big-name flagships but at a fraction of the price. Because Amazfit runs its own Zepp OS, pairing isn’t as seamless as watches tied to their phones’ operating systems, but the payoff is cross-platform compatibility with both Android and iPhone.

Bright screen and big battery

The Active Max has a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. It’s framed in an aluminum-and-plastic case, weighs 35.3 grams, and is water-resistant up to 5 ATM.

But its standout feature is its 658 mAh battery, which Amazfit says can last up to 25 days on a charge, or up to 10 days with the always-on display enabled. If those estimates hold up in real-world testing, the Active Max would outlast most mainstream smartwatches, competing at the dedicated sport watch level (some of which don’t even have a touchscreen).

Health and fitness features

The other major focus is fitness. The Active Max has more than 160 different workout options to choose from, including automatic strength training detection that can help you count reps, and even has its own AI-powered coach in the Zepp app.

It also debuted a new metric called BioCharge, which tracks energy levels based on output and recovery. It continuously updates based on activity, workouts and stress levels throughout the day to help you optimize training time, similar to Fitbit’s Readiness score and Garmin’s Body Battery.

The watch includes continuous background health tracking, measuring heart rate, sleep quality, blood oxygen levels and stress, with alerts for abnormally high or low readings. The watch supports Bluetooth calling, onboard music storage, offline maps and route navigation, including maps for more than 2,000 ski resorts.

How does it stack up?

At $169, the Active Max isn’t exactly budget smartwatch territory, but it’s a strong value in the sport watch category. It’s a worthy option for anyone prioritizing battery life and cross-platform compatibility without having to spend flagship-level money.

As with most CES-season announcements, real-world testing will ultimately determine how well it delivers on its promises, but on paper the Active Max continues Amazfit’s push to offer feature-rich wearables at lower prices than its big-name rivals. Amazfit says the Active Max will be available starting December 30.

For more announcements ahead of CES 2026, check out CNET’s full CES coverage.

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Technologies

Verum Messenger: Don’t follow the future. Define it

In a world where information defines influence, Verum Messenger is building a new architecture of digital communication — intelligent, secure, and ready for tomorrow. Here, technology serves not limitations, but possibilities.

Not being part of change. Leading it. Verum Messenger — the future that speaks first.

Technologies

Verum Finance: Stop Spending Months Opening a Bank Account

Stop spending months trying to open a bank account.

Document submissions.
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And all of that — just for a regular card.

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🚀 Verum Messenger + Verum Finance
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✔ A virtual card
✔ Instant transfers between users
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❌ No piles of documents

Open it — and use it.

The future of finance and communication is already here.
Verum — when freedom matters more than banking rules.

Technologies

Google races to put Gemini at the center of Android before Apple’s AI reboot

Google is using its latest Android rollout to position Gemini as the AI layer across phones, Chrome, laptops and cars.

Google is using its latest Android rollout to make Gemini less of a chatbot and more of an operating layer across the phone, browser, car and laptop, just weeks before Apple is expected to show its own Gemini-powered Apple Intelligence reboot at WWDC.
Ahead of its Google I/O developer conference next week, the company previewed a number of Android updates, including AI-powered app automation, a smarter version of Chrome on Android, new tools for creators, a redesigned Android Auto experience, and a sweeping set of new security features.
Alphabet is counting on Gemini to help Google compete directly with OpenAI and Anthropic in the market for artificial intelligence models and services, while also serving as the AI backbone across its expansive portfolio of products, including Android. Meanwhile, Gemini is powering part of Apple’s new AI strategy, giving Google a role in the iPhone maker’s reset even as it races to prove its own version of personal AI on the phone is further along.
Sameer Samat, who oversees Google’s Android ecosystem, told CNBC that Google is rebuilding parts of Android around Gemini Intelligence to help users complete everyday tasks more easily.
“We’re transitioning from an operating system to an intelligence system,” he said.
As part of Tuesday’s announcements. Google said Gemini Intelligence will be able to move across apps, understand what’s on the screen and complete tasks that would normally require a user to jump between multiple services. That means Android is moving beyond the traditional assistant model, where users ask a question and get an answer, and acting more like an agent.
For instance, Google says Gemini can pull relevant information from Gmail, build shopping carts and book reservations. Samat gave the example of asking Gemini to look at the guest list for a barbecue, build a menu, add ingredients to an Instacart list and return for approval before checkout.
A big concern surrounding agentic AI involves software taking action on a user’s behalf without permissions. Samat said Gemini will come back to the user before completing a transaction, adding, “the human is always in the loop.”
Four months after announcing its Gemini deal with Google, Apple is under pressure to show a more capable version of Apple Intelligence, which has been a relative laggard on the market. Apple has long framed privacy, hardware integration and control of the user experience as its advantages.
Google’s Android push is designed to show it can bring AI deeper into the device experience while still giving users control over what Gemini can see, where it can act and when it needs confirmation.
The app automation features will roll out in waves, starting with the latest Samsung Galaxy and Google Pixel phones this summer, before expanding across more Android devices, including watches, cars, glasses and laptops later this year.
The company is also redesigning Android Auto around Gemini, turning the car into another major surface for its assistant. Android Auto is in more than 250 million cars, and Google says the new release includes its biggest maps update in a decade and Gemini-powered help with tasks like ordering dinner while driving.
Alphabet’s AI strategy has been embraced by Wall Street, which has pushed the company’s stock price up more than 140% in the past year, compared to Apple’s roughly 40% gain. Investors now want to see how Gemini can become more central to the products people use every day.
WATCH: Alphabet briefly tops Nvidia after report of $200 billion Anthropic cloud deal