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Huawei Watch Fit Review: More Than Just A skinny Apple Watch

Huawei Watch Fit Review

The Huawei Watch Fit was launched a few weeks ago, and after spending some time with it, I am finally ready to drop our thoughts on Huawei’s elongated Apple Watch looking fitness smartwatch. I must say, we’re impressed with how much features are included in a smartwatch that’s only priced at RM499. Before we get into the review, some specs.

Huawei Watch Fit – Specifications

Huawei Watch Fit
ColorGraphite Black, Sakura Pink
Screen1.64 inches AMOLED color screen, 456 x 280 pixels
Dimension46 mm (L) × 30 mm (W) × 10.7 mm (H)
WeightApproximately 21 g (without the strap)
ButtonFull screen touch + side button
Memory4 GB ROM. Microprocessor: DK3.5+ST
OSSupport Android 5.0 or later | iOS 9.0 or later
BatteryCapacity: Typical value at 180 mAh l Type: Secondary Li-ion Battery l Charging time: about 100 minutes (under 25°C ambient temperatures)
MaterialWatch body: Engineering Plastic; Strap: Silicone
Bluetooth Frequency2.4 GHz, BT5.0, BLE
GPSSupported
Sensor6-axis IMU sensor (Accelerometer sensor, Gyroscope sensor), optical heart rate sensor, capacitive sensor, ambient light sensor
Water and Dust Resistance RatingResistance Levels: 5 ATM water-resistant
Charging PortMagnetic charging port

What’s In The Box?

  • HUAWEI WATCH FIT
  • Charging Dock (Not so much a dock, but more like a cable)
  • Charging Cable
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Safety Information
  • Warranty Card

Design

Huawei Watch Fit

The Huawei Watch Fit has a more narrow and elongated metal case design, as compared to the square interface you see on most smartwatches. I actually prefer this design over the square ones because it takes up less space on my wrist, and when I bend my palm, the watch doesn’t cause any pain on my wrist. The bezels are fairly minimal on all sides, and the crystal has a glossy finish to it. There’s also a flat button that’s tapered on the right side of the watch. This button acts as a back/home button, and a button to quickly access all your smartwatch data, workouts, features, and settings.

Huawei Watch Fit

The Huawei Watch Fit has 2.5D curved glass all over and the metal used just gives it a very premium look. The watch sensors are all placed on the bottom of the watch, which has a smooth matte plastic finish to it. As for the watch strap itself is made out of hypoallergenic materials, and the width is just right – it isn’t too thick or thin.

The Huawei Watch Fit is also 5ATM water resistant. This also means you can safely bring it for a swim in the pool or the beach of up to 50m.

Huawei Watch Fit

There are no lugs present on the case of the Watch Fit, but if you want to change your watch straps, you can do so by unlocking the clasps on the bottom of the watch. The watch straps are proprietary, so you won’t be able to use the watch straps you normally find in the market. Also, the clasp is a little hard to pry open and it’s quite small, so be sure to not lose it because it isn’t attached directly to the watch itself.

Huawei Watch Fit

The free loop is also great because it has a small bump on the inside that fits in nicely into the adjustment holes. That way, the free loop wouldn’t move around as much and annoy you. As for the buckle, it has a nice matte finish and is easy to wear.

Comfort

Huawei Watch Fit

When it comes to comfort, the Huawei Watch Fit is one of the most comfortable smartwatch I’ve ever worn. Ever since I’ve put it on, I’ve never thought of wanting to take it off. Except for when I take a shower, because I’d still have to take off the watch and wipe it clean anyways. So, I would be wearing it almost 24/7, even to sleep, and it just disappears as if I’m not wearing it at all.

Even when it comes to doing sports, once you set the workout, you can ignore it and let it do its job. Never once have I felt that it interrupted my workout, except when it reminds me how long I’ve done the workout for and give me quick updates about my workout stats.

Display

Huawei Watch Fit

As mentioned above, the Huawei Watch Fit’s 1.64-inch AMOLED display has a 280 x 456 resolution, a glossy finish on the crystal, and the bezels are quite minimal on all sides. And because it uses an AMOLED panel, battery life can be extended too. Despite the glossy finish, the display is still very clearly visible even under harsh sunlight. At night, it’s even brighter and the colours are super vivid, which I absolutely love. Of course, if it’s too bright for you, you can adjust it right from the watch’s setting itself.

There are a ton of watch faces for you to choose from within the Huawei Health app. Just find whichever you like, download it, and watch it flourish on the Watch Fit’s bright AMOLED display.

When it comes to touch responsiveness, there is a slight delay but it doesn’t disturb the overall navigation experience. Just flick your wrist towards you and it’ll bring up the watch face. You can swipe left and right to scroll through your daily tracking info like heartbeat, stress levels, weather, activity rings, music player, and more. You can always customise what you want to check and rearrange them according to your preference. Swipe up to check your notifications, and swipe down for:

  • Check Date
  • Check Battery Status
  • Check Pairing Status
  • Do Not Disturb Mode
  • Find My Phone
  • Set “Turn Off Display” Time
  • Set Alarms
  • Access Settings Page

Unfortunately, the tracking stats you see on the watch are just quick summaries, where the detailed stats breakdown can only be accessed through the Huawei Health app.

User Experience

Huawei Watch Fit

Taking the Huawei Watch Fit out of the box, it has a simple and straightforward way of getting started. Just wear it, power it up, pair it to your smartphone in the Huawei Health app, and you’re done. From there, you can check detailed tracking records, change watch faces, update firmware, and more.

Using the Huawei Watch Fit on a daily basis, I’ve felt it to be very comfortable. It has never once made me feel uncomfortable, and it’s a very “out of your way” smartwatch where it doesn’t interfere with your daily life at all. When you’re going on about your daily life, on the surface it’s a normal smartwatch that tells you the time and serve you notifications. But in the background, it constantly records your heartbeat and stress levels. When I’ve been sitting too long, it would remind me to get up and move around too. When you’re going into fitness mode, it starts tracking all your activity data. Speaking of fitness tracking…

Fitness Tracking

Huawei Watch Fit

I’ve only managed to check out a few of the workout modes available. There are 96 workout modes within the smartwatch, and if you can’t find it in the list, you can always add it yourself in settings. Tracking is fairly slow, but it is accurate. And, it does get updated in real-time. I’ve tried badminton, open-water swim, table tennis, and they all track data accurately – from heart rate, distance covered, calories burnt, and even my blood oxygen monitor (spO2) levels. The GPS does take a while to kick in, but it still tracks your route nonetheless.

Huawei Watch Fit

Blood oxygen monitoring is something not yet seen on a smartwatch at this price point, so I’m glad the Huawei Watch Fit has it. Together with SpO2, the watch can work with the GPS and heart rate info to estimate your VO2max, training effect, recovery times, target heart rate zones for warm ups, fat burning anaerobic endurance and more.

Apart from the 96 workout modes available on the Watch Fit, there are also 12 fitness courses that come with animated guidance to guide you through each step of the workout. These courses include stretches, quick fat burning workouts, core exercises, and more. Each course will come with a brief explanation of what they are and how they benefit you. The best part is, they can all be completed within 20 minutes or less. So if you want to squeeze a quick workout in between your day, you can do it right from the watch itself.

Huawei Watch Fit

Of all the workouts you could ever do, you’d be surprised, the Huawei Watch Fit might just have it. So there’s no need to worry about your workout activity not being available on the Watch Fit. But, when it comes to more advanced data tracking, you won’t get things like altitude tracking or advanced running metrics.

There are badges you can earn for every target or milestone you achieve, but since there are no social features built in, you can’t really share these badges or compare your progress with friends.

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Huawei Watch Fit Review: More Than Just A skinny Apple Watch 17

Also, there isn’t support for sharing your data to third party apps like Strava, so your data is pretty much only stored in the Huawei Health app. This might be a deal breaker to some, so just stating it here to manage your expectations from a RM499 smartwatch.

Smartwatch Features

Huawei Watch Fit

As for the smartwatch’s features, it’s got all the basic features a smartwatch should have. Push notifications, setting alarm, media controls, watch face customization, and more. There is no support for NFC, so you can’t make payments with it too.

Unfortunately, the Huawei Watch Fit only serves to show you information, it doesn’t show you any further detailed info. For example, if a message comes in, you can only view what’s sent to you, and you can’t reply from your smartwatch. If an image was sent to you, you can’t view it directly on the smartwatch too. That being said, it isn’t entirely a bad thing. Because you can’t reply on your smartwatch, you can live a more free life, one where you’re free from the constraints of your watch or your smartphone. You know a text came in, and you can decide to reply later so there’s no need to whip out your phone just yet.

Battery Life

The battery life on the Huawei Watch Fit almost lives up to Huawei’s claim of a 10-day battery life. On casual use with push notification turned off, vibration set to “soft”, continuous heart rate monitoring, and no workout at all, I could squeeze 10 to 11 days of battery life. With push notification on, vibration set to “strong”, continuous heart rate monitoring, with workouts (GPS inclusive) every two days, I could get about 5 to 6 days’ worth of battery life.

Note that certain workouts would use the GPS, which results in higher battery consumption.

As for charging, a 30-minute charge can give you up to 70% battery life. There is a magnetic charging adapter provided within the box. Unfortunately, that also means that is the only way to charge the device, so you can’t directly plug in a microUSB or USB Type-C cable to charge it. So, be very mindful about where you keep the charging cable. Because once you lose the charging cable, you’ll need to get a replacement to charge it.

Conclusion

Huawei Watch Fit

For RM499, the Huawei Watch Fit is a great smartwatch that is priced aggressively and has a multitude of intermediate fitness tracking feature you need. You should definitely get it if you want a thin and light smartwatch that’s easy to use, and something that doesn’t break the bank.

But, if you want a full-fledged smartwatch with all the bells and whistles, this isn’t for you. Also, if you’re using an iPhone, there seems to be pairing and syncing issues. So, iOS users might want to stay away from the Huawei Watch Fit.

Written By

Chief Content Developer at The AXO

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