Amazfit just pushed a feature to a $169.99 watch that people normally pay a training platform subscription to get. The Active Max can now break a HYROX race down station by station, and there's a catch attached to it.
The release is firmware 3.25.0.1, published on Amazfit's product update pages under the October 2026 update banner and rolling out through the Zepp app now. It follows 3.20.0.1, which brought Zepp training courses and HYROX Virtual Pace to the same watch.
Here's what actually changed, and what you need plugged in for it to work.
HYROX analysis needs the Helio Strap Pro
This is the headline feature and the most conditional one. The Active Max can now record performance across all eight HYROX stations and show you, after the race, how you moved through each one.
What it captures per station:
- Rep counts for the strength movements
- Average pace and how it changed across the race
- Heart rate trends, station by station
- Post-race training suggestions built from that data
The station detail only records if you're wearing a Helio Strap Pro and running a real HYROX race or a simulation on the watch. Amazfit's own FAQ is unusually blunt about this: without the strap, no station analysis. That's an extra purchase on top of the watch if you don't already own one, so it's worth checking before you get excited about the feature list.
For anyone actually training HYROX, though, this is the kind of breakdown that usually lives behind a subscription on rival platforms. Getting per-station pace and heart rate trends out of your own race, in the Zepp app, for free, is a genuinely useful addition to a sub-$200 watch.
Trainer pairing finally shows up
Indoor cycling now connects to FTMS-compatible bike trainers and spin bikes. Once paired, the Active Max displays the trainer's power, cadence, speed and distance, so an indoor session is measured by the trainer rather than guessed at by the watch.
FTMS is the standard protocol here, so this is broad compatibility rather than a short whitelist: if your trainer speaks FTMS, it should connect. The distance calibration page also now switches between metric and imperial, which sounds minor until you own a trainer that reports in the other one.
Cycle tracking got rebuilt
Cycle tracking has been replaced rather than tweaked:
- A refreshed interface with a proper calendar view
- An improved period prediction algorithm
- A new Check-in feature for logging symptoms, moods and lifestyle habits
- Richer daily history, so the predictions have something better to learn from
If you've been using a third-party app for this alongside Zepp, the gap is narrower than it was.
Helio straps now pair themselves
The Helio Strap and Helio Strap Pro now pair automatically with the strap linked to your Zepp account, so both devices come online together with no setup step. Status and controls for the screenless strap are also now shown on the watch face side, which was an obvious missing piece if you wear one alongside the watch.
Navigation comes to the training library
Navigation used to be for activities you started manually. It now extends to the Training Library, covering training templates, third-party training plans, Zepp coach plans and interval training. If a plan tells you to run 8 km, you can follow the route instead of memorizing it.
Map rendering and zooming got refined too, with clearer terrain and road styling, better data layering and new route elevation visuals.
Elsewhere: music and playlists can now be organised in the Zepp app under Device > Device Application Settings > Music, rather than through menus on the watch.
Is your watch getting it?
This one is specific to the Active Max. It doesn't roll to the Balance series, the T-Rex line or the Cheetah models, and the Balance watches got their own separate October update with on-watch route planning that we covered when it landed. Active Max owners should open the Zepp app and check for the update directly, since Amazfit rolls these out in phases.
Worth remembering what the Active Max is: a 1.5-inch AMOLED watch with up to 25 days of battery, 4 GB of storage for offline maps and podcasts, and Zepp OS 6 underneath. It reached Zepp OS 6 back in August as the last watch in the current lineup to get it, which we wrote up at the time. If you want the same software platform in a tougher case, the T-Rex Dual Solar is the other route, and the helio strap is the accessory this update assumes you own.
The watch itself is one of the better values in the segment right now, and it's widely available around $169.99.
Bottom line
Amazfit's October update to the Active Max is heavier than the average maintenance release. Station-level HYROX analysis and FTMS trainer support both change how the watch gets used, and neither came with a price increase.
The caveat is that the best feature is bundled to a second product. If you're chasing HYROX and you don't own a Helio Strap Pro, the station analysis isn't the feature, it's the upsell. Everyone else gets a better cycle tracker, a smarter indoor cycling setup and navigation that follows whatever plan they're running.
Sources: Amazfit's official October 2026 product update pages for the Active Max on the US and UK sites, which are the primary documents for firmware 3.25.0.1 including the feature list and the HYROX Analysis FAQ (published October 19, 2026); Amazfit's store listing for the Active Max for pricing and hardware specification; and Notebookcheck's coverage of the 3.25.0.1 rollout. No second independent write-up of this specific release exists yet, so every feature detail above is drawn from the manufacturer's own release notes.
