Amazfit Beats Garmin on iOS Notifications and Raises Prices in 2026

Amazfit just pulled off something Garmin hasn't managed yet: confirmed iOS Notification Forwarding arriving in June 2026 for EU users across three watches. That's a big deal for triathletes and runners who have been locked out of full iPhone connectivity on non-Apple wearables. The regulatory door was opened by Brussels, but Amazfit walked through it first.

iOS Notification Forwarding: What It Actually Means

Amazfit's published Q3 2026 roadmap lists the feature for three specific models, EU region only, landing in June. Garmin has issued no firmware schedule or equivalent date as of this writing. For an athlete using a Garmin Forerunner 970 or Fenix 8 with an iPhone, that gap stings. You're still relying on a stripped-down notification experience while Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra owners get the full feed from their wrists. Worth checking our [Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra GPS and heart rate accuracy breakdown](/en/articles/amazfit-cheetah-2-ultra-gps-and-heart-rate-accuracy-real-numbers-2026-06-18) if you're weighing that switch.

The caveat: EU only means US and UK athletes are still waiting for a separate regulatory path. And "three watches" isn't the full Amazfit lineup. Expect the rollout to be patchy at first, with bugs to iron out. Garmin has historically been slow to move on Apple ecosystem features, but when it does, the implementation tends to be stable. Amazfit moving faster is meaningful pressure.

Amazfit's Price Hikes: Closing the Gap With Garmin

Amazfit's average selling prices rose more than 20 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026. All seven 2026 launches are holding at MSRP with zero discounting so far. That's a sharp shift from the brand's traditional position as the budget-smart alternative to Garmin and Coros. The Cheetah 2 Ultra is now sitting at the same GBP price point as the Garmin Forerunner 970. Two years ago that comparison would have been laughable.

For context, Coros Pace 4 still comes in well under 300 USD and offers solid GPS accuracy with a best-in-class battery life of up to 40 hours in GPS mode. Whoop 5.0 runs on a subscription model and skips GPS entirely. Polar Vantage V3 sits around 500 USD. Amazfit creeping toward and past that 500 USD mark changes the value proposition dramatically. You're no longer saving money by choosing Amazfit over Garmin. You're making a feature and ecosystem bet instead.

The sensor stack on the Cheetah 2 Ultra is competitive. Wrist-based optical PPG heart rate, dual-frequency GPS with L1 and L5, barometric altimeter for elevation via air pressure readings, and SpO2 via optical sensors. The hardware specs read like a Garmin Forerunner 970 spec sheet. The question has always been software maturity and data accuracy over time, not specs on paper.

What This Means for Endurance Athletes

Runners doing interval sessions care about real-time heart rate lag. The optical PPG sensor on the Cheetah 2 Ultra handles steady-state efforts well. During hard 400m reps, wrist optical sensors on any brand struggle to keep up with rapid heart rate changes, same story on the Forerunner 970. For that, a chest strap measuring electrical cardiac impulses via ECG remains the gold standard. The Amazfit Helio Strap 2 is on the horizon for H2 2026 and could change that equation for Amazfit users specifically, check our [Helio Strap 2 preview](/en/articles/amazfit-helio-strap-2-what-we-know-for-h2-2026-2026-06-18) for the latest.

Cyclists and triathletes running Wahoo head units will want to note that both ecosystems are dealing with bugs right now. Our [June 2026 bug tracker for Garmin and Wahoo](/en/articles/garmin-and-wahoo-bugs-june-2026-six-issues-tracked-2026-06-18) covers six active issues. Amazfit's Zepp OS is not immune to its own glitches either, especially after major firmware pushes like the iOS notification rollout will require.

The price ceiling concern is real. Amazfit built its user base on aggressive pricing. At 500 USD plus, it needs to deliver reliability over 12 to 18 months of daily triathlon training, open-water swimming, and recovery tracking that matches what Garmin and Polar have refined over years. That track record doesn't yet exist at this price tier for Amazfit.

What's missing is depth. Garmin's Training Readiness, Body Battery, and running dynamics ecosystem has years of athlete data behind it. Coros's EvoLab VO2max and training load models are validated and trusted by coaches. Amazfit's equivalent metrics are improving but still feel less mature. Third-party app integration, power meter support for cyclists, and long-term data export options also lag behind Garmin Connect.

Bottom line: if you're an EU-based iPhone user who wants full notification access now and you can live with a less mature training analytics platform, the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra at Forerunner 970 prices is a genuine option. For data-obsessed triathletes or anyone outside the EU waiting on iOS notifications, Garmin still holds the edge in ecosystem depth. Coros remains the better value pick if budget discipline matters.