Huawei Watch Review

In an era of feature-packed smartwatches that go to great lengths to be much more than just simple time tracking tools, Huawei has decided to make their watch a bit simpler by turning it into an affordable fitness-tracking device.

This gadget’s primary aim is to accompany you in your exercise sessions, but it can also provide a decent accessory during formal and informal social activities.

In this article, we will explore if getting a Huawei GT is a worthy investment and examine how this smartwatch compares to other smartwatches on the market.

Huawei Watch GT Overview

Most of the complaints about smartwatches stem from the fact that they are packed with unnecessary features and have notably short battery life. The Huawei Watch aims to solve this problem with just a few built-in features and a battery that can last for weeks.

The watch uses Huawei Light OS with a neat user interface, but the system doesn’t support some of the most popular fitness apps. The design is neat, simple, and elegant.

You should keep in mind that the Huawei Watch isn’t really a fully-featured smartwatch. It doesn’t have its own storage or internet connection, nor does it support most apps. So, if you like to customize and modify a lot, this watch might not cut it for you. But if you’re looking for a convenient fitness watch, keep reading.

Design

If you compare the Huawei GT watch with most of its counterparts, you’ll see that this one actually looks like a proper watch. You’ll be able to wear it both on a running track and formal meetings without worrying if people are giving you weird looks.

The watch has a regular circular shape with a 1.8’ radius and is made of stainless steel. The coating can be either metal or dark, and both design choices keep the watch discrete. If you want to make the watch more easily noticeable, Huawei offers a Fluorescent Green silicone strap. If that’s too much, you can pick between Graphite Black, Glacier Grey, and Saddle Brown designs.

On the plastic rear of the watch, you’ll find the heart rate monitor and the two pins for charging. The rear side also contains the two buttons which are the main form of interaction with the watch. The other major interaction point is the AMOLED touchscreen.

Thanks to the plastic rear, it is notably lightweight and the fit is very comfortable. You won’t even notice it around your wrist during physical activities.

Hardware

When it comes to hardware, the first thing you will notice is an extremely smooth 1.39 AMOLED display. With a resolution of 454×454 pixels (326ppi), the icons and text appear clear and readable. The maximum brightness is extremely high and you won’t have trouble reading the display in heavy sunlight.

Beneath the surface, you’ll find all the sensors required for a good fitness watch. There’s an optical heart rate monitor, barometer sensors, magnetometer, gyroscope, accelerometer, and ambient light.

It also has a 5 ATM water resistance rating, which allows you to wear it as deep as 160 feet under water. If your physical exercise includes swimming and scuba diving, this fact might make you happy.

On the downside, you can’t turn off the screen by covering it with your hand, and you can’t wake it up by tapping it. Since the screen can occasionally light up at inappropriate moments, you can only turn on the ’do not disturb’ mode.

Features

When it comes to the user interface, you’ll quickly notice the smoothness of Huawei’s custom Lite OS. You can swipe horizontally through heart rate screen, activity goal dashboard, and weather display. Other than these three, you can also navigate to messages, app list, quick settings, and preset activity launcher. This makes the UI extremely user-friendly, but perhaps too simple for some.

If you swipe from the top down on the main screen, you’ll arrive at the quick settings menu. Here, you’ll find options such as ’do not disturb’, find phone, settings, show time, and also the date and battery status. When you swipe up from the main screen, you’ll go to the message notification screen.

The watch doesn’t come with any significant local storage, which means that you won’t be able to store any maps, music, or other data locally. You can’t reply to the messages and you’ll only see a portion of them.

One of the major downsides of the device is that it doesn’t support some of the most popular tracking apps such as Strava. However, Huawei Health is a decent substitute that provides all the required features. Additionally, you can also connect the device with Google Fit and Jawbone, among others.

With a built-in GPS, Galileo, and GLONASS, this watch should offer great location and tracking services. The GPS connects quickly and the distance tracking is accurate and reliable.

Battery Life

If you use all the features constantly, the watch will last for two days tops. This means that your GPS is always on, the screen is frequently bright, and you’re always swiping it and using all the tools.

If you use the watch only for your fitness sessions and for occasional check, it could last for up to two weeks. Using it for reading messages and calls only may keep it alive for a whole month, but that’s not the purpose of the watch.

Compared to most other smartwatches that can’t last a day or two without charging, the Huawei Watch has an admirable endurance.

A Reliable Fitness Watch

Although it may be more tempting to get a smartwatch that supports a wide range of apps and features, the Huawei GT does exactly what a fitness watch should. It’s a reliable and affordable watch with a good battery life that will accurately track your fitness progress.

It supports all the basic features of a smartwatch, but it isn’t pretending to be what it’s not. While you can’t read messages or listen to music on it, you can use it for tracking your fitness routine. So, if this is your reason for getting a smartwatch, you’ll hardly get a better one.

Are you planning on getting a smartwatch yourself? If so, would you go for a more feature-packed model or is what the Huawei GT offers enough for you? Share your thoughts in the comments below.