Huawei Watch GT Review: Lots of style and weeks of autonomy

Smartwatches and fitness trackers are the trend, but for many people they don’t have enough battery power. This could be big time for the Huawei Watch GT, as it outlasts any smart watch on the market – and it can do even more.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers are trending and an unmistakable utility, but battery life has been a recurrent problem, especially on devices with larger screens such as smartwatches. This can be the great weapon of the Huawei Watch GT, as it lasts longer than any smart watch on the market – and can do much more than a fitness band.

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Before we start diving into everything the Huawei Watch GT can and cannot do, it’s important to realize that this is a unique product, it should be analyzed by itself and not compared to others, because there is simply no equal.

In this article you will find:

• Cheaper than many smartwatches
• A real watch with a metal body
• Nice and comfortable and with lots of cool features
• Huawei Watch GT can’t do many things
• Many fitness resources
• Huawei Watch GT fast enough.
• Huawei Watch GT works best with a Smartphone
• the hidden power
• I like Huawei Watch GT
• Price and availability

Cheaper than many smartwatches

The Huawei Watch GT costs 199 or 229 euros, depending on which version you choose. The cheapest is the black version with a silicone strap, 30 euros is the price difference for a silver watch with a leather strap.

A real watch with a metal body

The Huawei Watch GT looks like a classic watch and has a round stainless steel case. Two buttons on the right side, and a classic and elegant look, still keeping some versatility that will allow you to use it almost every occasion.

Huawei Watch GT straps are made of silicone or leather. Huawei watch is water resistant to 5 ATM and can also be used for swimming.

The GT Watch is very comfortable on the wrist, as despite being made of metal and having the dimensions of a men’s wristwatch it is very light comfortable on the wrist. The leather strap of our analysis unit is very soft and fits comfortably around the wrist.

Nice and comfortable and with lots of cool features

The Watch GT has an AMOLED display that is 1.39 centimeters tall. For some time AMOLED technology was only used in the luxury class for smartphones, but for smartwatches, the technology is almost ubiquitous – and with good reason. The deep black and extremely high contrast that characterizes a good panel are extremely important for the readability of the watch panel and of course, for power consumption. The resolution is 454 x 454 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of 326 ppi.

I really like the Watch GT screen. Readability is excellent and everything is detailed and sharp. The only thing that would change would be a lower minimum brightness. In the dark, for example, in the bedroom or at the cinema, this is almost like a flashlight on your wrist when the screen is on.

Huawei Watch GT can’t do many things

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room, although I started this review by saying that in order to honestly evaluate this watch we can’t directly compare it to different products, it’s important to get a sense of what it can and can’t do. Huawei chose not to use the Wear OS for the Watch GT, but its own system, the Lite OS. This may seem hard to understand, Lite OS has fewer features and doesn’t even have an Appstore. But Huawei positions the Watch GT less like a smartwatch, but like a sports watch, and with less software requirements. Furthermore, such extended battery life would never be possible.

There are many things the Lite OS cannot do and you should know this before thinking about purchasing the Watch GT. It doesn’t have NFC, so paying with the watch is out of the question, we can’t remotely control music, we can’t talk through the watch, we can read but not respond to messages, we can’t install apps, and we can’t store music for offline listening. Also, we don’t have Always On mode for the screen, which means the screen lights up when we do the time check movement, all other time is off. As you can see, there are some restrictions.

Notifications are one of the most affected by the limitations. To get the most out of Huawei Watch GT you should configure the Huawei Health app on your smartphone, and set which apps you would like to receive notifications from.

Many fitness resources

What’s great about this watch are the classic fitness tracker tasks: step count, heart rate sensor – even with adjustable alarm for permanently high heart rate -, very accurate motion detection. Also, sleep screening is something that I find very interesting. If you want to use it to sleep, remember to set the clock to “Do Not Disturb” at bedtime, otherwise the light display will light up every time you turn over in bed.

With the Watch GT the user can monitor their results in various sports: running (indoor / outdoor), walking, cross-country, cycling (indoor / outdoor), swimming (indoor / outdoor) and free tracking ( Huawei calls it “ free training” ). We can quickly enter the sports list via the bottom of the two buttons. For everything that happens outdoors, the Watch GT looks for a GPS signal, and it usually finds it very quickly and accurately.

Oh yeah, one more thing: Watchfaces. We have exactly eleven options to choose from, due to the absence of an Appstore we can’t install anymore. At least for now.

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The Huawei Watch GT has been with us for almost two weeks and it still has 50% battery life. Amazing

A post shared by BestyGame (@BestyGame) on Nov 20, 2018 at 3:56pm PST

Huawei Watch GT fast enough.

The Watch GT isn’t the fastest, the software is light, but still some operations take 1 more sweat than we would think ideal. It is still reliable and competent. Maybe I’m too demanding.

Huawei Watch GT works best with a Smartphone

The Watch GT only has Bluetooth for wireless communication, it doesn’t have Wi-Fi. T. Without a smartphone in your pocket, the user is quite limited. As for the GPS positioning system, Glonass and Galileo / Beidou are not only supported, but work simultaneously to improve positioning accuracy.

For an athlete, a Huawei TruSee 3.0 heart rate sensor measures the heartbeat, thanks to machine learning, the measurement must be very accurate. Direct comparison is difficult, but the watch measures the pulse consistently and smoothly. Even with exercises like push-ups, where the wrists are bent, the Watch GT always monitor your heart rate correctly.

the hidden power

What sets the Huawei Watch GT apart from most other smartwatches is the battery life. This is extremely long, so the watch can go uncharted for almost a whole month. Anyone who has activated notifications, regular heart rate monitoring and other things can expect a two-week autonomy.

This is absolutely extraordinary compared to other Wear OS Smartwatches that have to be charged every night. Even taking into account that this Huawei Watch GT is more limited than Wearables with Wear OS, it is still an extraordinary autonomy.

Even with permanent monitoring and heart rate notifications activated, the Watch GT lasts for two weeks, this includes sleep tracking. Yes, we have fewer options with Huawei Watch than with a real Smartwatch, but the battery (for me) easily compensates for the vast majority of weaknesses.

Huawei achieves this mega autonomy with not just one, but two MPUs in the SoC on the Watch GT. One is responsible for basic functions and extremely economical, the other does everything else. The chipset is not from Hisilicon, but is an ARM Cortex M4. The battery of the Huawei Watch GT has a capacity of 420 mAh and is powered by the USB charging cradle.

I like Huawei Watch GT

The Huawei Watch GT is comfortable and doesn’t have a lot of features, but it has an extremely strong battery, which ensures that you can use it almost like a normal watch. It often happened that I went out in the morning and noticed that the Smarwtach with Wear OS I have didn’t load, and that’s really annoying. With Huawei Watch this happens no more than every two weeks.

I like the Huawei Watch GT, and for around €200 it’s an excellent accessory.

• ✓Extremely long battery life
• ✓High wearing comfort
• ✓Easy to use

• ✕Lite operating system has few resources
• ✕Without possibility of interacting with the nnotifications

Price and availability

This new smartwatch will be available in 2 colors – Black and Metal. The Classic model will have a recommended price of €249 and the Sport model, €199.