I tracked skiing with a $99 smartwatch — here’s how it compares to my $450 Garmin

Close-up of the Amazfit Active 2 on a user's wrist while tracking a day of snowboarding.

When the latest Amazfit Active 2 fitness-tracking smartwatch launched earlier this year, the feature I was most excited to test wasn’t offline maps — though, it is a real rarity on devices at this price. Rather, I wanted to try out the new ski and snowboard tracking mode.

While I normally keep tabs on my mountain performance using far pricier smartwatches, like the Garmin Instinct 3 AMOLED ($449) and Polar Vantage M3 ($399), I was curious to see if the Active 2 could serve the same purpose for roughly a quarter the price.