Garmin vívoactive 6 vs Amazfit Active 3 Premium
The Garmin vívoactive 6 lists for about $130 more than the Amazfit Active 3 Premium. With the screen always on, their makers quote 5 days for the Garmin vívoactive 6 and 4 days for the Amazfit Active 3 Premium. For a GPS workout the figures are 24 h and 21 h. Every other published figure for both is in the table, with the rows where they differ tinted.
Garmin
Garmin vívoactive 6
~$300
Garmin's April 2025 health-and-fitness watch keeps the price low while carrying music storage, Garmin Pay and an AMOLED screen Garmin calls brighter than before.
Best for: A gym-goer or casual runner who wants music, payments and sleep tracking at the lowest Garmin price with both
Amazfit
Amazfit Active 3 Premium
~$170
Amazfit pitches Active 3 Premium at newer runners, with a stainless steel frame, sapphire glass and a 1.32-inch AMOLED screen that reaches 3,000 nits, up from 2,000 on Active 2.
Best for: Beginner and mid-mileage runners who want a small, bright watch with routing for well under the price of a Forerunner.
| Specification | Garmin vívoactive 6 | Amazfit Active 3 Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Approx. price | ~$300 (vívoactive 6, $299.99 list on garmin.com/en-US/p/1555457) | ~$170 (Apex Silver, regular price $169.99 on us.amazfit.com (on sale at $139.99 on 2026-10-06)) |
| Type | Fitness | Fitness |
| Platform | Garmin | Zepp OS |
| Case sizes | 42.2 mm | 45 mm |
| Weight | 42.2 mm: 23 g (Garmin spec: '23 g (36 g with included band)') | 45 mm: 38 g (without strap) |
| Battery, smartwatch mode | 11 days (Garmin: 'Smartwatch mode: Up to 11 days') | 12 days (Amazfit: "Typical Use Battery Life: Up to 12 days" (heavy use up to 7 days)) |
| Battery, always-on display | 5 days (Garmin: '(5 days display always-on)') | 4 days (Amazfit: "AOD Mode Battery Life: Up to 4 days" (heavy-use scenario with smart always-on display)) |
| Always-on keeps | 45% of the headline figure | 33% of the headline figure |
| Battery, GPS workout | 21 h (Garmin: 'GPS-Only GNSS mode: Up to 21 hours'; 'All-Systems GNSS mode: Up to 17 hours') | 24 h (Amazfit: "Continuous GPS Usage: Up to 24 hours" (5 satellite systems, heart rate on)) |
| Battery note | Garmin: 'Battery Saver Smartwatch mode: Up to 21 days'; no multi-band mode | Amazfit: up to 10 hours of GPS with music playing from the watch; up to 76 hours in GPS power saving mode with background services and screen off. |
| Works with | Android; iPhone with limits | Android; iPhone with limits |
| iPhone | Yes, with limits | Yes, with limits |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Phone limits | Garmin's spec table marks text replies and reject-call-with-text as Android only; iPhone owners get notifications but cannot reply from the watch | Amazfit lists Call Quick Reply as Android only, so iPhone owners cannot send quick replies from the watch; phone camera control is iOS only. |
| Paid tier | Garmin Connect+, $69.99/year | Zepp Aura, $69.99/year |
| What the paid tier gates | No watch feature requires it: Garmin's chart keeps activity details, health stats, performance metrics, Garmin Coach plans, courses and LiveTrack in the free app. Connect+ adds Active Intelligence AI insights, nutrition logging, a desktop performance dashboard, live activity on the phone, 3D maps and offline Garmin Trails downloads | No watch feature requires it; Amazfit sells workout and recovery data in the Zepp App with no subscription. Zepp Aura adds unlimited AI sleep-assistant chats (free users get one message a day), detailed weekly and monthly sleep reports, and the full sleep and meditation music library. |
| Update years | Not published by the maker | Not published by the maker |
| Cleared health features | None the maker cites | None the maker cites |
| Display | AMOLED | AMOLED |
| Always-on display | Yes | Yes |
| Dual-band GPS | No | No |
| Maps | No maps (Garmin lists Back to start only; no courses or maps) | Downloadable maps, no topo (Amazfit: "Downloadable Offline Maps, Turn-by-Turn Directions, POI Search, Round-Trip Route Planning & Auto Rerouting" (contour detail is listed for Active Max, not this model)) |
| Music on the watch | Yes | Yes |
| LTE | No LTE version | No LTE version |
| Contactless pay | Yes | No |
| Flashlight | No | No |
| Water rating | Swim, 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
| Case | fiber-reinforced polymer | stainless steel frame |
| Released | 2025 | 2026 |
Garmin vívoactive 6: what it gives up
- No barometric altimeter, so floors and elevation gain come from GPS only
- No ECG app, flashlight or calls; the Venu 4 has all three
- No courses or maps
Amazfit Active 3 Premium: what it gives up
- Half the battery of Active Max for the same list price
- Single-band GPS only, unlike the Balance and Cheetah lines
- Maps lack the contour detail Active Max gets
- No flashlight and no contactless payments
Full pages: Garmin vívoactive 6 · Amazfit Active 3 Premium