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Rumours continue to swirl around Intel's upcoming Nova Lake launch. The latest of these comes from noted leaker Jaykihn, who has hinted towards some exciting highlights among the desktop lineup. On X, the leaker wrote , "Nova Lake-H has a 12 Xe segment, and Nova Lake-S has a 12 Xe SKU. These are Xe3p."

Basically, this leak suggests there will be both a next-generation Nova Lake mobile CPU rocking 12 Xe cores as well as a desktop variant also sporting the same number of Intel graphics cores (though if that's true, I should probably be calling it an 'APU').

A high-performance iGPU was something sorely missing from the previous Arrow Lake generation of desktop chips, and having heard from our Dave what a 14 Xe core chip can do in the new MSI Claw handheld , it's exciting to think what a slightly upgraded version of Intel's GPU silicon could do in a wee little desktop chassis.

Anyway, drilling down a little more, the Xe 3P core is an upcoming iteration of Intel's microarchitecture. The discrete GPU tech was codenamed 'Celestial' for a time and was even meant to make its debut alongside Panther Lake. However, that chip went with what was essentially Xe2 'Plus Plus' , and Jaykihn also claims what was Celestial ' was canned long ago '.

In other words, Xe 3P has been cooking for a minute. When it finally arrives in the form of the expected Crescent Island GPUs later this year, it'll be primarily geared towards handling AI inference by leveraging LPDDR5X memory, rather than the pricier data centre du jour HBM. It's entirely possible a powerful bit of kit like that could also turn its hand to gaming, but it's unlikely Intel would bring that chip to any gaming-focused cards.

Yes. Nova Lake -H has a 12 Xe segment, and Nova Lake -S has a 12 Xe SKU.These are Xe3p. April 24, 2026

As for a possible mobile APU, Nick recently wrote that a Nova Lake mobile chip with a beefy iGPU would be great news for handhelds, but that it would likely be destined for edge computing only .

But decent integrated graphics? In my desktop processor? That's exciting for sure, but how likely is it? Well, let's look at the leaker in question. Jaykihn claimed back in January the B70 Pro would arrive 'soon' and it did . Then in April, they leaked details about Intel's Core 300 laptop chips that also appeared to mostly bear out . Sure, a broken clock can be right twice a day, but this leaker is noted for having a pretty good track record as these things go.

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The U.S. Embassy in Jordan on Thursday warned Americans about “missiles, drones, or rockets …in Jordanian airspace.” The warning came as the U.S. and Iran reportedly exchanged fire amid resumed hostilities that have entered a third day. This latest round of fighting was touched off Tuesday when Iran attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz. On Wednesday, President Donald Trump and Iranian officials declared that the shaky ceasefire agreed to on April 8 was over.

“Seek overhead cover and shelter in place immediately,” the U.S. Embassy in Jordan cautioned this morning. “Remain indoors and pay attention to local announcements and alerts. The U.S. Embassy in Jordan will continue to review the situation and provide additional information as needed.”

Security Alert: U.S. Embassy Jordan – July 9, 2026

Location: Jordan, countrywide

Event: Reports indicate missiles, drones, or rockets are in Jordanian airspace. Seek overhead cover and shelter in place immediately. Remain indoors and pay attention to local announcements and… pic.twitter.com/QOpNpKLXTA

— U.S. Embassy Amman (@USEmbassyJordan) July 9, 2026

The Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) General Command said the country’s air defense systems “intercepted and shot down eight missiles launched from Iran toward Jordanian territory on Thursday. The interception operations resulted in the fall of missile debris, but no casualties or property damage were reported.”

“JAF is closely monitoring regional developments and remains at the highest level of operational readiness to safeguard the Kingdom’s airspace and defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the command added. “JAF will not allow any party to violate Jordanian airspace under any circumstances.”

Armed Forces Intercept, Shoot Down 8 Iranian Missiles Bound for Jordan https://t.co/eNiTJMTBLL pic.twitter.com/KEGuwl6P6w

— Jordan News Agency (Petra)-English News (@PetranewsEN) July 9, 2026

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-connected Tasnim media outlet claimed “that multiple explosions occurred at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan,” and that “Iranian forces also targeted American ships stationed off the coast of Bahrain with cruise missiles.” However, no visual proof of that has emerged. U.S. Central Command declined to provide any new operational details.

Muwaffaq Salti, as we have previously reported , has come under attack numerous times. The air base has long been a major regional hub for U.S. operations, and is being very actively utilized in the current conflict. It hosts the greatest concentration of U.S. tactical aircraft in the region, and thus is an extremely important target, where even one ballistic missile landing on an apron could destroy multiple prized fighter aircraft and take the lives of U.S. service members.

Scenes from IRGC Navy and Aerospace retaliatory strikes on Thursday answering the American terrorist army's aggression and disloyalty. pic.twitter.com/qwKo0SkLE2

— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) July 9, 2026

Iranian officials also claimed the U.S. carried out new strikes in southern Iran, including on the perimeter of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

“According to the deputy governor of Bushehr Province, a U.S. projectile hit the perimeter area of the facility, which had already been hit several times during the current conflict prior to the April 8 ceasefire,” the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday .

Iranian state media: A U.S. projectile struck the vicinity of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. pic.twitter.com/lPRClSNFz7

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) July 9, 2026

Iran reports that a few minutes ago, additional explosions were heard near the Bushehr nuclear power plant. https://t.co/zVJczmOpb5

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 9, 2026

Today’s attacks follow a series of strikes carried out on Wednesday by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM). The U.S. attacked scores of targets across Iran after President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that “we’ll probably hit them hard again tonight.”

“U.S. forces struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities, and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline,” the command said in a statement on X. “The latest strikes follow successful execution of offensive strikes in Iran the night before.”

CENTCOM RELEASES THE HIGHLIGHT REEL

U.S. Central Command says American forces completed another round of strikes against Iran on July 8, hitting approximately 90 Iranian military targets along the coastline.

Targets included air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets,… pic.twitter.com/y2HiEMNWdy

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) July 9, 2026

Iran, however, claims the attacks took place further inland, including on a railway bridge for a line linking the cities of Tehran and Mashhad, where former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is scheduled to be laid to rest. He was killed on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran. The official Iranian IRIB media outlet claimed on X that the bridge attack interrupted rail service.

Passengers on the Tehran-Mashhad train, stranded due to the U.S. striking the railway, are chanting: "Iranians do not accept humiliation, even at the cost of their own lives."

pic.twitter.com/9NhlUQqidr

— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) July 9, 2026

There were also unconfirmed reports from official Iranian media , an independent media outlet and eyewitnesses that another bridge in that region was attacked. The Agh Tekeh Khan Bridge in Iran’s northern Golestan province is a key link in a railway line running to Central Asia and ultimately Russia and China. The line has reportedly been an important means of trade between Iran, China and Russia during the now paused U.S. naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Eyewitness video shows damage to the Aq Taqeh Khan railway bridge in Iran’s northern Golestan province following overnight US strikes. The bridge is a key trade link connecting Tehran with its strategic partners, China and Russia. #US #Iran pic.twitter.com/0k5y50w79V

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) July 9, 2026

More pictures of destroyed Aq Tekeh Khan Bridge on Iran-Turkmenistan Railway Line. pic.twitter.com/02XKyCR4vG

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) July 9, 2026

According to local reports, several enemy projectiles have struck the "Aq-Tekeh Khan" bridge on the railway line in the western area of Aq Qala, Golestan province. pic.twitter.com/eMO5todo2i

— IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) (@iribnews_irib) July 8, 2026

Where all this leaves the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran remains unclear. As we have frequently noted , the two sides signed a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on June 17. The MoU provided a 60-day extension of the ceasefire to iron out an agreement to end fighting throughout the region, including Lebanon, prevent Iran from seeking nuclear weapons, end U.S. sanctions and resume the flow of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz among other points.

Control over the Strait has proven to be the biggest flashpoint, as evidenced by the aforementioned flare-up of fighting sparked by Iranian attacks on shipping there.

As we mentioned earlier in this story, both sides have declared the ceasefire over.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One yesterday after departing the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump claimed Iran still wants a peaceful solution.

“They called a little while ago,” the president proclaimed. “They want to make a deal so badly — I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal. That’s the problem.”

. @POTUS on Iran: "They called a little while ago. They want to make a deal so badly — I just don't know if they're worthy of making a deal. I don't know that they're going to honor the deal. That's the problem." pic.twitter.com/jQTENvyRGM

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 9, 2026

Given all this, the future of diplomacy is an open question.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

The post Renewed Attacks Between U.S. And Iran Stretch Into Third Day appeared first on TWZ .

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If a Martian observed American politics in the 21st century, they’d be forgiven for assuming that the nation’s “two-party system” is codified somewhere in the Constitution. But the Martian would be wrong. The founders, as Dan Carlin notes in this interview, never said a word about the necessity for a constant battle between two parties — nothing about Democrats and Republicans, nothing about the need for any particular number of political factions. That was “not part of the design.”

Carlin often calls himself a “political Martian.” That’s one way of saying that the former reporter and current podcast host tries not to view political issues through the lens of a particular party or tribal affiliation. Instead, he aims for a more objective, long-term view — maybe no surprise if you’ve listened to his podcast Hardcore History , which he launched in 2006 when “podcast” wasn’t yet a household term. Now, everyone has a podcast, but that term still doesn’t quite capture Hardcore History , where Carlin covers momentous historical figures and events through unscripted storytelling in episodes that often break the four-hour mark.

He also takes an unscripted approach in his podcast Common Sense , which for two decades has served as his platform for thinking out loud about American political life — borrowing both its title and a measure of skepticism from Thomas Paine. It’s where he tries to be pragmatic about what American politics has become and how it got there.

Carlin is quick to note he’s no professional historian, but he is one of the nation’s most listened-to storytellers of history, one who’s built a career opting out of both mainstream media and political partisanship. And so we spoke to Carlin about the decades-long expansion of executive power, the two-party system, and the record-high number of Americans who identify as political independents.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kmele Foster: We’re on the cusp of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and I think many people are wondering, is America coming or going? What is the state of this great experiment we set in motion? On an institutional level, Congress today doesn’t really legislate as it has historically. They barely even pass budgets anymore.

The three branches were designed to work together, or at least be counterbalancing forces. But the legislature isn’t doing nearly as much as it used to or was expected to, the executive branch is doing a heck of a lot more, and the courts are, it seems, still playing their traditional role — trying to adjudicate disputes over what can and can’t be done under the law by the legislative and executive branches. But it’s unclear whether the courts will continue to be able to play that role.

I’m curious about your thoughts on the extent to which this moment is unprecedented or a trend we’ve been on for a while, particularly regarding how executive power is being wielded.

Dan Carlin: What the current president is doing is not breaking down walls. He’s breaking down walls we pretended existed but didn’t — or haven’t for a long time. And this is what we were screaming about on our Common Sense show for years: If you don’t use these powers — for example, Congress’s authority to declare war — at what point do they go away?

I remember seeing it during the second Bush administration. They went to Congress for an authorization for the war in Iraq, but they would say, “We’re coming to you for this authorization, but we are saying explicitly that we don’t think we have to come to you for this authorization.” And Congress was cool with pretending they still needed to do this, but that’s a big fig leaf. Now, when the current president says, “I’m not even going to play that fake game,” and everybody’s in an uproar, what we’re doing is defending the fig leaf of protocol.

The thing to remember about executive power is that it’s tempting to exploit, not just for the executive, but for everyone who wants the same things as the executive. And it’s been a problem on both sides. When you’ve had a trend for decades and decades — some would say going back to Andrew Jackson — that’s going to be a bipartisan thing.

“The founders disliked ‘factions,’ which would have been their word for parties. The system we have now is not part of the design.”

Dan Carlin

To me, the biggest issue is that not enough people pay attention to the fact that the Constitution’s number one goal is not efficient legislating — it is preventing tyranny. We pay a huge price in this country for the inefficiencies in our constitutional design because it’s trying to keep those powers separate and prevent too much power from ending up in any one branch.

Now, the truth of the matter is, if you want to make progress on any number of issues, we’d be better off throwing that out the window. That tyranny-prevention stuff causes us all kinds of headaches, but you see how much it matters when we come close to really needing it.

The Trump administration, for example, would like to pass an agenda that people at the Heritage Foundation have, in one form or another, been pushing for 40 years. The last thing that they want to hear is that Congress needs to interfere more and reestablish guardrails. Liberals would have felt the same way during FDR’s administration when he was trying to pull people out of the Depression, but in ways that increase the tyranny potential, right?

In my view, the problem we have as a country is our inability to understand that we have a two-party system that has developed in a country whose founding documents didn’t design that at all. There’s nothing in the Constitution about Democrats. There’s nothing in there about Republicans. There’s nothing about Whigs. Nothing about Federalists.

The founders disliked “factions,” which would have been their word for parties. What we have now — and what has developed organically over 250 years — is not part of the design.

When you get on the radio and start talking about wanting third-party members or independents to run more, boy, you get a lesson in how hard that is because, over 250 years, the two parties have managed to give themselves something akin to an automatic berth in a basketball tournament. The Democrat and Republican automatically get in — somebody else has to really, really be extraordinary to make it in there.

And that’s wrong. We can’t get better anymore because if you don’t like the Trump administration, then your only alternative is to push the Chuck Schumer side of things.

Foster: What do you think the two-party system selects for?

Carlin: There was a book by Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig called Republic, Lost. What Lessig tries to point out is that both of our parties have, over time, become embedded in this system where what gets you promoted up political parties is fundraising.

The people who get to the top positions of power — these are not people who demonstrated fantastic leadership skills. They didn’t demonstrate the ability to work across the aisle. They didn’t demonstrate the ability to come up with really unique, groundbreaking, and interesting legislation. They were fundraisers.

So, when you look at the leadership now, and you say, “Well, why aren’t they pushing harder against the executive branch?” — most of them aren’t those kinds of people. They weren’t picked for those reasons. Those are not their strong points. They may have certain objectives, but they aren’t ideologues. You can see it because they often give up the opportunities to really push what they say they believe in for other things.

If these people really cared about the institution of Congress, or guardrails, or the Constitution, then you would never see the president able to go to war without Congress screaming and yelling. The fact that they don’t is a sign that they don’t want to, right? And they don’t want to because they’ve realized there’s no advantage for them.

“No one’s going to want the guardrails back up when their guy’s in power because it’s counterintuitive.”

Dan Carlin

The founders believed that the various ambitions of people in these different branches of government would counterbalance one another. My pride would counterbalance your pride. But somewhere down the road, people figured out, “I can have all of the perks that matter to me in this job without any of the things that are a pain in the rear for me in this job.” And when that happens, I think you start getting different people [running for office].

I can remember eras in legislative history where competent, experienced legislators left their jobs, saying, “I can’t operate in this environment anymore,” or “Congress has become too divided,” or “Fundraising is too much a part of my job.” Then you end up with people who aren’t leaving because it doesn’t bother them as much as it bothered their predecessor.

Foster: Do you see any realistic path to fixing that problem of incentives or restoring constitutional guardrails?

Carlin: Unless you’re somebody who says, “Elect me, and I’m going to put the guardrails back up,” I don’t know how we fix the fig-leaf-of-protocol problem. No one’s going to want the guardrails back up when their guy’s in power because it’s counterintuitive. If you say, “Elect me, and I’m going to give up some presidential power back to Congress, which may be run by the opposite party, by the way,” who’s going to elect you?

That’s what we get down this road. Can we make things better, or are things going to get worse? We’re required to do some pretty counterintuitive things as an electorate to make things better. Are we capable of doing that?

I don’t want to pretend that multi-party systems are an answer to the question. I think one reason Netanyahu in Israel is so extreme right now is because of the influence of minor parties. So there’s no panacea when it comes to multiple parties. But our duopoly in this country right now is messing with what my stepdad always said was part of the genius of America: We get better through competition. But we’ve got Hertz and Avis here, and there’s no incentive for anyone to be more than 1% better than the next guy. I think that maybe helps explain our political decline as a system.

Foster: Gallup recently found that a record high of 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents, yet political division only seems to be getting sharper. In terms of restoring constitutional guardrails or generally easing political polarization, do you see any solutions coming from outside the two-party setup?

Carlin: We’ve gone partisan crazy. The only advantage I can see in multiple parties is it would be harder to fall into one of these two camps.

You mentioned the rise in the number of people who call themselves political independents. I do believe that this is the highest number of political independents we’ve ever had in this country, at least registered, but we have no power. There is no political independent party, and we’re not united on anything. Whereas Democrats may argue amongst themselves, there’s enough agreement so that they’re in the same party. Same for Republicans. Independents span the spectrum from Libertarians to Greens.

We’re inherently divided from the get-go. So independents decide elections now, which I find fascinating, but we have no candidates. Do you see how crazy that is? What does a Trump or whoever’s running for the Democrats — what do they do? Do they appeal to their base, which they have to do, right? What did Nixon say? You run to the right for the primaries, and then you run back to the center for the generals. The Democrats run left for the primaries, then run to the center.

“We’re now at the brittle stage, where solving the problem could destroy the system.”

Dan Carlin

But why are they running to the center at all? Well, they’re running to the center to get people like me. But the radicalness of the times should reflect the level of the problems.

I always use a termite example. If you have somebody come and inspect your house, and they say you have termites, but you just got them, you have a lot of different options — it can cost you just a few bucks if you catch it early. If, however, you find out you’ve had them for 40 years, and they’ve screwed up the structure of your house, then your termite problem requires a radical solution.

By kicking the can down the road for generations like we have — whether we’re talking about race or economics or constitutional guardrails — you’re ignoring the termite problem. The solution that fixes the termite problem is going to have to be more and more structural as we go down the road. If we wanted to solve this problem back in the post-Nixon era, it would have been an easier solve. We’re now at the brittle stage, where solving the problem could be so radical that it could break and destroy the system we’re trying to solve.

We’re unable to figure out what the hell we do. And I think that’s where we see the dearth in leadership here, because we don’t have people running for office promising a solution, right?

Foster: They’re merely promising to keep you from the other guy.

Carlin: Yeah. You have to ask yourself, “Have we created something that breaks our system?” And the answer to that question is unknown. I feel like an observer more than an advocate. I used to know where things were going. I could talk about that intelligently. I feel like I’m just along for the ride now, like all of us are.

This article Dan Carlin: The two-party system was never the plan is featured on Big Think .

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Amazfit Active 3 Premium: One minute review

Amazfit has been a company I’ve been keeping an eye on since their Bip 3 ‘budget’ smartwatch blew through all my expectations (and then some), followed by a slew of other watches across a range of price points, aiming to undercut the likes of Garmin — but most notably the $99 / £99 Amazfit Active 2, which earned five stars in our review . So when they put the word “Premium” on a product, it piques my curiosity.

Not only does the Amazfit Active 3 Premium have a bunch of excellent features that rival some of the biggest in the business, like excellent sleep and fitness tracking, but it’s also a fantastic-looking smartwatch.

The ‘Premium’ moniker signifies the addition of the super-tough sapphire glass coating, and the inclusion of the NFC payment feature. This was the distinction that the Amazfit Active 2 Premium used to separate itself from the base Active 2: however, there is no base Active 3, so even though this watch uses the ‘Premium’ model distinction, it’s the only watch in its range.

Despite this, it’s not an expensive buy. Sure, it’s pricier than the older Active 2, but it’s still undercutting the cheapest Apple and Garmin watches while delivering performance that belies its price. Another excellent example of a fitness tracker from Amazfit, a company which has by now shown itself to be a serious contender in the fitness tech space.

Amazfit Active 3 Premium: Specifications

Component

Amazfit Active 3 Premium

Price

$169 / £169 / AU$239

Weight

54.6g

Case/bezel

Metal and plastic hybrid

Display

1.32-inch AMOLED display

GPS

Dual-frequency GPS

Battery life

Up to 12 days

Connection

Bluetooth

Water resistant?

5 ATM

Amazfit Active 3 Premium: Price and availability

(Image credit: Amazfit) Starts at $169 / £169 / AU$239

Not Amazfit’s cheapest, but still cheaper than many rivals

Available in three color options

It’s hard not to look at the Amazfit Active 3 Premium and not feel as though there’s a catch somewhere when it comes to its price, but it really is a sub-$170 / £170 / AU$250 fitness watch with the kinds of features and accuracy you’d have spent double that for not long ago. Our review unit is the Atlas Blue model, but it’s also available in Apex Silver and Aero White.

Value score: 5/5

Amazfit Active 3 Premium review: Design

(Image credit: Future) Heavier than some alternatives

AMOLED display

Regardless of your color choice, the Amazfit Active 3 Premium is a looker. It has a circular body with a metallic finish, with the underside color-matched to the bands for Atlas Blue and Aero White (Apex Silver would be my pick, but the whole body is silver with a black strap).

The strap itself is the standard polymer-style you’ll have felt on just about any other smartwatch, but the fact that the Amazfit Active 3 Premium uses a pin system like a more traditional watch adds a touch of class (and some minor fiddliness). It’s got a 1.32-inch display, which isn’t large —but it’s the same size as the Amazfit Active 2. I didn’t feel like I was losing much in terms of screen space compared to some of Amazfit’s larger watches, but I was surprised to find it’s slightly heavier than the Coros Nomad I tested recently.

With that said, I’m not sure I’d consider it rugged. I wasn’t prepared to hurl my review unit to the ground to test its durability, despite its sapphire glass and scratch-resistant coating. It might not be the watch you’ll want to take on an ultramarathon, but it’ll stand up to runs, rides and gym workouts with ease.

Design score: 4.5/5

Amazfit Active 3 Premium: Features

(Image credit: Future) Full-color maps

HybridCharge is great

170 sports modes

Ok, so the Amazfit Active 3 Premium is a looker, but does it have the smarts to back it up? Despite the relatively low price, the answer is a resounding yes. You’ll need to use the Zepp app, and while I’ve tested it before and found it to be a little cumbersome, I am pleased to report that (at least in the time I’ve been away), it’s much slicker these days.

You can use it as a dashboard, and there are badges to collect that include step goals, monthly targets, and much more.

Fitbit Premium’s Daily Readiness Score has led the charge to distill a bunch of complex metrics into an easy-to-read number that calculates how hard you can push your workout on any given day, and Amazfit’s version is called “HybridCharge”.

It takes into account sleep, heart rate, activity, and recovery, as well as subjective inputs like stress, health, and more, to help you make a judgment on whether today is a workout day or a rest day, and it does so pretty well.

One day during testing, I’d struggled to sleep and had an early start at work, and the app and watch understood that maybe I needed to take it easy and recover that day. It’s something you used to need a premium subscription for with other manufacturers, but I’m glad to see it’s included in the price of the product here.

PAI is also back, so those looking for a quick look at a glance to see how their natural fitness is holding up can check it out by testing their heart rate zones. The watch supports basic notification features, and of course offers that NFC payment digital wallet feature for convenience. A barnstorming inclusion is full-color maps, offering turn-by-turn navigation. This is a premium feature crammed into a value package, offering turn-by-turn navigation during runs, rides and walks.

Features score: 4.5/5

Amazfit Active 3 Premium: Performance

(Image credit: Amazfit) AMOLED display

12 days of battery life

Excellent accuracy

Performance is uniformly excellent across the board with the Amazfit Active 3 Premium. Fitness tracking offers a deep suite of metrics, including running ones like stride length, ground contact, and just about anything else you could possibly ask for as a runner. And, if you’re just learning what all of these measurements are, fear not: Everything is handily explained within the Zepp app.

When you’re done, the app also does a great job at showcasing your fatigue level, which then feeds into the aforementioned HybridCharge metrics.

I very rarely check my sleep outside of Apple’s Sleep Score number, but the Amazfit Active 3 Premium does make me want to dig deeper — and offers plenty of data to do so. I was surprised at how often I was getting up in the night without realising it, and the Aura section of the Zepp app even includes relaxing music to help you settle back down.

Battery-wise, Amazfit claims you can get 12 days from a single charge. In my experience, it’s been closer to 10 days, but it’s still very respectable given the amount of data it’s collecting day in, day out. The AMOLED display is plenty bright for just about everything, even direct sunlight.

The only minor gripe I have with the Amazfit Active 3 Premium is that it doesn’t automatically offer to track a workout if you start walking/running/doing anything. As someone who still forgets to hit the button before setting out, it’s nice when devices like the Apple Watch give a nudge.

Performance Score: 4.5 / 5

Amazfit Active 3 Premium: Scorecard

Category

Comment

Score

Value

Simply outstanding.

5/5

Design

Iterates on the proven Active 2.

4.5/5

Features

Lots of sports modes, tracking and HybridCharge.

4.5/5

Performance

Bright screen, responsive battery, accurate metrics.

4.5/5

Amazfit Active 3: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

You want a watch that looks good

The Amazfit Active 3 Premium is one of the best-looking and still affordable watches around.

You’re looking for a deep dive into your fitness metrics

The Zepp app has a whole bunch of data, and makes it easy to sift through and spot patterns across weeks or even months of use.

Don't buy it if...

You’re looking for smartwatch features

Alas, there’s no contactless payment functionality here, nor can you run third-party apps a la an Apple Watch.

You’re going off-trail

The Amazfit Active 3 Premium is unlikely to take a battering as you scamper up rockfaces and the like.

Also consider

Garmin Forerunner 70

Garmin's new budget running watch

Read our full review

Apple Watch SE 3

Apple's cheapest watch is a little more expensive, but still offers great value for iPhone users.

Read our full review

How I tested the Amazfit Active 3 Premium

I’ve been testing the Amazfit Active 3 Premium while walking, hitting the gym for weights and cardio (primarily using the cross trainer), and wearing it for just about everything in life.

I tested the GPS across various areas of London and more remote areas like the countryside where I live, and wore it to bed, too. I tested many of its measurements by pairing it with my Apple Watch Series 11 on the opposite wrist.

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Before landing The Blood of Dawnwalker's lead role as vampire protagonist Coen, actor Will de Renzy-Martin summarizes his prior work in games succinctly: "I walk into a room, I scream 'grenade!', and then I walk out again."

It's a far cry, then, from the demands of playing Coen. In The Blood of Dawnwalker's prologue, we see his quiet village life torn apart. His loved ones are slaughtered and kidnapped following blood tithes to their vampiric overlord, while Coen himself is forcibly turned into a vampire and left to die in the sunlight, surviving only because he's left part-human. Believably portraying that traumatic descent is a tall order, as is the sheer amount of work required for the main character of a 40+ hour game.

The actor is no stranger to games, with recent credits including 007 First Light and Crimson Desert . But the story of The Blood of Dawnwalker , which can play out in many different ways depending on the players' decisions as Coen, offered an unusual treat. "It's been a massive pleasure to spend so much time working on something so specific," Renzy-Martin tells me, suitably, in the booth of a converted crypt. "It's very rare you get to do that."

Reflections

(Image credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment) The old ways

(Image credit: Rebel Wolves) "We miss when genre wasn't a thing," say The Blood of Dawnwalker devs making their dream RPG: "We want to have our own identity"

When Renzy-Martin auditioned to play Coen, he had "fairly limited information" on the character and The Blood of Dawnwalker's wider world. He landed a callback, where he learned the game was being made by Rebel Wolves – a studio co-founded by veterans from The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red. "I probably shouldn't have looked that up before the recall," he admits. "I was slightly too excited! But here we are, so I'm glad it all went my way."

From the four hours I've played , Renzy-Martin convincingly captures Coen with rawness and pain. Equally impressive is how quickly we're made to care for the hero. Playing the prologue, much of my time is spent fetching medicine for Coen's mother and helping his siblings fish – making me all the more empathetic for him when, later, I lose control in dialogue and fatally drink from one of his terrified friends.

Renzy-Martin says the senselessness of Coen's devastation draws him to the character. "The really interesting thing about him is that there's no reason why this has happened to him, his life was hard enough as it was," he says. "He's weak at the start of the game, he's not drawing from these massive reserves of power that are available to a superhero. He's just someone thrust into the spotlight [...] That's a fascinating character to portray, and it's been amazing to see through that journey and find the different [places] where that can end up."

(Image credit: Rebel Wolves) For a long time, the actor admits he had "absolutely no idea" that Coen's story marked the beginning of a saga spanning from 14th-century Europe to the modern day . The silver penny dropped with The Blood of Dawnwalker's announcement trailer, which includes a timeline-style shot dating the RPG's medieval setting. "I was watching it and was like 'Oh, it's from this time, that's exciting,'" he recalls. "I then spent the next few months worrying – is it a saga about Coen?!"

"By the end of recording the game, I could see how it's going to shape up," he continues. "Not what the plan is, but how it will shape into a bigger universe. But it didn't affect [my performance] at all, because it's such a self-contained thing that plays out. The overarching context adds a bit more zhuzh, but that's something that's going to be experienced within the game."

When I parted with Coen he was freshly-turned, setting out to dismantle Vale Sangora's royal vampire court and find his family. It remains to be seen how we'll reach the modern era, but I look forward to seeing how Renzy-Martin carries Coen through the centuries – especially as the scope of Rebel Wolves' ambitious RPG becomes clearer .

From its first hands-on preview to revealing developer interviews, dive into this month's Big Preview for Blood of Dawnwalker