The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is a premium GPS fitness watch that showcases the very best of what Amazfit has to offer.
Built with trail runners and ultrarunners in mind, the Amazefit Cheetah 2 Ultra GPS watch offers something for just about everyone. Whether you’re an ultrarunner, trail runner, road runner, hiker, or simply someone who enjoys digging into training data, this elite, rugged, and strong watch is packed with an enormous range of features.
It offers detailed performance metrics, route planning and offline mapping, smart watch functions, health tracking, AI-powered tools, and battery life that ranks among the best in the category. The value at this price point is hard to beat.
This impressive watch is built to last, using titanium construction in the frame and sapphire crystal in the display. Prepare to love the bright AMOLED screen, advanced training tools, detailed navigation features, and incredibly long battery life.
If you’re a data-driven runner who likes keeping a close eye on training and recovery metrics, the Cheetah 2 Ultra gives you plenty to explore.
Who Is It Good For?
- Novice Runners: Yes. Runners who are just getting started should have no trouble finding and using the watch’s basic features. The interface makes it easy to focus on core metrics, while still offering the option to explore more advanced data and analysis as experience grows.
- Current Apple Watch or Garmin Users: Yes. If you’re comfortable with the interface of an Apple watch or Garmin GPS watch, you’ll have no issues getting familiar with the basics of how to use this watch.
- Daily Usage: Yes. The watch tracks your daily health and sleep data, and when connected to your phone, it can display calls, texts, and other notifications throughout the day.
- Value For Price: Yes. If you want a high-performance GPS fitness watch without paying quite the same prices often associated with other premium brands, the Cheetah 2 Ultra is worth a serious look.
Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra Specifications
- Size: 48 mm
- Weight: 52 g
- Satellite Connection: 6 satellite positioning systems
- Waterproof Rating: 5 ATM
- Navigation: Turn by Turn, Point to Point Navigation
- Touchscreen: Yes, with AMOLED screen
- Battery: Up to 30 days typical battery use, up to 60 hours with accurate GPS use
- More than 180 built-in sports, now including quick workouts
- 1 color available
- Available from us.amazfit.com for $599.99
Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra GPS Watch Overview
The Cheetah 2 Ultra’s extremely long battery life should impress pretty much anyone. This watch boasts a 780mAh battery, a significant upgrade over the Cheetah 2 Pro’s 540mAh.
Amazfit claims you can get 30 days of typical use from a single charge on the Cheetah 2 Ultra, or 60 hours in standard dual-frequency GPS mode. Beyond that, you get 33 hours in full trail running mode.
I was able to get almost two weeks of fairly heavy use out of one single charge.
Although I’m not an ultrarunner myself, I can appreciate how attractive the long battery life would be to someone out on the trails or on the road for hours and hours straight.
The watch charges quickly using a magnetic puck that snaps onto the underside of the watch face. The puck then connects to any standard USB-C charge cord.
Amazfit did a great job with the design of this GPS watch, and if anything is going to break down during a run, it will be my body, not the watch. It feels solid, durable, and undeniably premium. Grade 5 titanium is used in the frame, and sapphire crystal composes the watch face.
Two 22mm wristband options come in the box: nylon and classic silicone. Both options were easy enough to swap out from the main watch frame. Both felt good, but overall, I preferred running with the nylon band. The nylon strap is comfortable, lightweight, and is easy to adjust quickly.
The Cheetah 2 Ultra is impossible not to spot on a runner’s wrist. It has a substantial build and looks rugged and solid. The watch frame is 47.4mm wide and is 15.6mm thick (including the heart rate monitor). It weighs 52g without the nylon strap attached. However, I didn’t find it to be noticeably heavier at all during a workout than my other Garmin watches or the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro.
Although it isn’t the lightest watch on paper, it wore extremely comfortably and truly felt lightweight to me. Once I started running, the watch basically disappeared on my wrist. I never really thought about it again.
The touchscreen is quick and responsive, and I found the overall interface fairly straightforward to learn. Most menus are laid out logically, and after a while, moving around the watch felt fairly natural.
That being said, there is a lot packed into this watch, and it can be daunting to use at first. Not because it’s difficult to use, but because there are so many features, settings, and customization options available.
I spent a surprising amount of time simply poking around the menus to see what was there. If you want to take full advantage of everything the Cheetah 2 Ultra offers, expect to spend some time getting familiar with it.
The good news is that basic workout tracking and everyday data are easy to access right away. The deeper features are there when you’re ready to go looking for them.
Quick Take
Pros
- Outstanding battery life
- Tons of storage space
- Premium quality build materials
- Large, easy-to-read, AMOLED screen
- Extensive training and recovery metrics
- Strong dual-band GPS accuracy
- Strong value for a premium running watch
- Downloadable offline maps
- Pre-programmed and customizable workout plans
- Comfortable, fairly lightweight, and comes with two wristband options
Cons:
- There can be a bit of a learning curve due to the sheer number of features available
- Zepp app can feel overwhelming at first
- Offline maps could be a bit easier to read and use
- Zepp Flow AI assistant is not always smooth, needed, or super helpful
- Some smartwatch functions are more restricted on iOS than on Android
- Users with really small wrists may find it feels too large or bulky
Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra Features
Let’s dive into more of the details around different features and what I found in testing.
Activity Tracking
The Cheetah 2 Ultra and its companion app, Zepp, include a wide range of activity-tracking features. Not to be outdone by the Cheetah 2 Pro, which can track more than 170 activities, the Cheetah 2 Ultra can track more than 180 activities.
While this watch is focused on running and trail running, it can track all types of pursuits. I admit, I only tried out running and hiking, but if you love monitoring how you pass your time, this watch has you covered. Name it, this watch can probably track it. Some activities include running, hiking, fishing, cycling, strength training, jump roping, ski mountaineering, Hyrox racing, stand up paddleboarding, chess, disc golf, and even dog walking.
If you’re a swimmer, note that this watch has a 5 ATM rating, which means it’s perfect for all swimming and open-water workouts but not suitable for diving or activities at deep-water pressure.
Display & Usability
I absolutely loved the large 1.5-inch AMOLED display screen on the Cheetah 2 Ultra. It boasts an incredibly bright 3,000 nits, so you can see everything clearly even in bright sunlight.
The resolution is at 480×480 pixels. The flat watch face means that the entire width of the screen is actually usable. The Cheetah 2 Pro has rounded/curved edges, which eat away a bit at the actual viewable area on the screen. The active Cheetah 2 Ultra display feels significantly larger when compared to the active Cheetah 2 Pro display.
The large watch face makes it easier to read stats during a workout or follow along on a map than on a smaller device. This watch has four physical buttons, two on each side. The buttons are slightly raised and are easy to feel when searching for them.
Performance Metrics
Beyond tracking the basics like pace, distance, time, and heart rate, the Cheetah 2 Ultra provides a deeper look at performance through advanced running metrics and real-time workout data.
The watch recognizes that not all miles are created equal.
Whether you’re climbing steep hills, running on rocky trails, or dealing with higher elevations, pace alone doesn’t always reflect effort. The Cheetah 2 Ultra factors these conditions into its training load calculations and helps provide a more complete picture of each workout. Amazfit claims that in trail running mode, the watch accounts for elevation gain, terrain resistance, and grade when measuring effort, which can help training load better reflect the demands of the run.
A color-coded elevation profile on the watch and in the app (in red, pink, green, light blue, and dark blue) also shows the relative difficulty of each section of the route to help you prepare for what’s ahead.
After every run, the Cheetah 2 Ultra provided me with its ideal recovery time recommendations. (I admit, I wasn’t always great about following the offered advice!) The watch even suggested workouts for me based on my recent training and overall fatigue level.
The watch tracks metrics such as lactate threshold, VO2 max trends, and finish-time predictions, helping you monitor changes in your fitness and estimate how those improvements might translate to race-day performance.
GPS Tracking & Accuracy
The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra delivers some of the most accurate GPS tracking you’ll find on any fitness watch on the market. It uses dual-band GPS tracking and can connect to six different satellite systems.
Although more than half of my watch-testing miles were within city limits, the GPS signal stayed locked onto my position even when I ventured out for trail running under heavy tree cover or hiked remote trails along the Oregon coastline. My watch was always able to quickly secure a GPS signal, allowing me to start my activities without waiting around for a long time.
Storage
The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra GPS watch comes with 64 GB of storage, twice the amount of already impressive storage on the Cheetah 2 Pro. So feel free to download plenty of apps, lots of saved running routes, offline maps for navigation, or mp3 files for music.
This watch doesn’t download music directly from streaming services like Spotify or Amazon Music, so if you want music stored on your watch itself, your only option is to use downloaded mp3 files.
Mapping & Navigation
Using the mapping and navigation features on the Cheetah 2 Ultra was interesting and fun. Maps are downloaded inside the Zepp app—they don’t come preloaded onto the watch—but once transferred to the Cheetah 2 Ultra, the maps loaded quickly and were ready to use.
However, I do feel like the maps may have slightly less detail than the maps on my Garmin.
You can create routes directly on the watch, in the app, or load a saved route from somewhere else. I frequently create running routes in Footpath, and they are simple to save and transfer to the watch.
Downloaded routes from Strava were also easy to save and use. Alternatively, you can have the watch create a round-trip running route for you, in whatever direction you tell it to go, up to a total distance of 30 miles.
The watch can also help you find nearby points of interest like restrooms, coffee shops, convenience stores, and parks, then provide directions to get there. It’s a handy feature if your plans change or you need to make an unexpected stop while you’re out on a run.
The detailed offline maps are a powerful and useful tool. However, I didn’t always love using the turn-by-turn navigation. The offline maps were definitely helpful when I was on trails or running somewhere unfamiliar, but I found the map display a little difficult and clunky to use while actually running. I wish my current location had been shown a bit larger by default: the arrows and words were too small, and I didn’t enjoy trying to zoom in and out in the middle of a run just to check where I was going.
Changing the map zoom wasn’t as simple as I’d hoped. It required unlocking the screen by double tapping, navigating through a menu or two, and then using touch gestures. Overall, really not ideal when you’re trying to stay focused on a run.
To be clear, I think the maps and navigation features are genuinely useful, with just a few tweaks that could make it better, but I loved being able to use saved routes and offline maps.
Heart Rate Tracking
I’ve been continuously wearing two watches at the same time for the past handful of weeks, and I’ve found the heart rate tracking from the Cheetah 2 Ultra and my Garmin lined up very closely.
The Cheetah 2 Ultra uses the BioTracker 6.0 PPG biometric sensor (just like in the Cheetah 2 Pro). It uses heart rate data to track fitness metrics such as training zones, recovery, heart rate variability (HRV), stress, sleep, and overall workout performance. The Cheetah 2 Ultra doesn’t have the capability to take ECG readings, but you still get a great deal of useful information from the heart rate data.
This watch can connect to external heart rate monitors, such as chest straps or arm bands, which are considered even more accurate than the watch’s wrist-based heart rate sensor.
App Features & Integration
The Zepp app lets you see how all your workouts fit together. While you can see a lot directly on the watch itself, I often found it much easier to view certain things in the app.
Examples include graphs (like for pace, heart rate, or running power), trends (in training load or recovery), history (for things like VO2 max, activities tracked, and your running routes), workout editing, and route creation. The app also analyzes factors like sleep quality (if you wear your watch while you sleep), HRV, stress, recovery, training load, your body’s BioCharge score (which represents your internal battery), and your overall fitness trends.
Honestly, the app felt a little overwhelming when I first started using it. This has been something we’ve said with every AmazFit watch review!
There are so many menus, charts, metrics, and features that it can take some time to figure out where everything lives. That said, if you enjoy looking through your training data, it’s pretty insightful to see what’s in there.
You can also use the app to view your training calendar, create workouts, and build training plans. There are plenty of pre-made plans and workouts available for different race distances and experience levels, or you can create your own from scratch, which I found pretty easy to do.
If you’d rather have some guidance, Zepp Coach can help you put together a training plan based on your goals and current fitness level. The Zepp app also lets you browse your activity badges and achievements, customize watch faces, adjust settings, and install additional apps.
Miscellaneous Features
Flashlight:
Pressing and holding the top left button down will activate the built-in LED flashlight. The flashlight has four brightness levels in the white flashlight mode, and the watch also has a red flashlight mode. Whether you’re heading out before sunrise or fumbling around in the dark, having a flashlight on your wrist is surprisingly handy.
Night Mode:
The Cheetah 2 Ultra includes a night screen mode that changes the display to red, making it easier to view the screen in low-light conditions. I ended up actually finding this setting to be a pretty cool and useful inclusion.
Camera Remote:
One feature I downloaded for free and love, is the camera remote. It lets you use the watch as a shutter button for your phone, which came in handy anytime I wanted to set my phone down and take a picture, rather than limiting myself to how far I could stretch my arm out for a selfie.
AI Assistant:
The watch includes an AI assistant called Zepp Flow, which is Amazfit’s version of something like Siri on an iPhone, but I didn’t end up using it much. Most of the functions I needed during a run were already easy to access with a button press or a quick swipe, so it was usually faster for me to navigate the watch myself than to activate the assistant.
Zepp Flow can answer questions and control various watch functions, but in my experience, it wasn’t something I found myself relying on regularly.
I can see some people enjoying the convenience of having an AI assistant built into their watch, but for my own use it, felt more like a feature I occasionally experimented with rather than one I depended on.
Notifications:
The Cheetah 2 Ultra displayed incoming texts and other alerts from my phone without any issues.
However, as an iPhone user, I could only read text messages on the watch, but I couldn’t reply directly from it. Android users have a bit more flexibility here and can respond to texts from the watch itself.
I was also able to answer phone calls directly on the watch (the Cheetah 2 Ultra has a built-in speaker and microphone), as long as my phone was nearby and connected via Bluetooth.
Other features:
A few more of the fun offerings on the Cheetah 2 Ultra include the ability to record voice memos, use a stopwatch, locate your phone using the watch, follow guided breathing and meditation sessions, create to-do lists, use a jet lag manager tool, set alarms, and access a built-in compass.
Our Verdict
At the end of the day, the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra packs an impressive amount into a single watch. Between the premium build, bright AMOLED display, accurate GPS, advanced training tools, detailed recovery insights, and outstanding battery life, every runner can find something to love about it.
It takes some time to learn everything that’s available, but once you do, there’s just so much to appreciate. Whether you’re training for your next race, exploring new trails, or simply enjoy diving into your fitness data, the Cheetah 2 Ultra delivers. It’s an incredible watch, and the Cheetah 2 Ultra is easy to recommend.
What to read next?
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- Amazfit vs Garmin: Can You Get a Good GPS Watch for Less?
The post Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra Review | Massive 60-Hour GPS Battery Meets Titanium Toughness appeared first on RunToTheFinish.
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