I am not easily enthused by smartwatches anymore – they do the same thing with a few cosmetic changes and inexplicably varied price tags – but when Huawei announced their watch, I definitely sat up and noticed. For one, they always seem to be ahead in innovation when compared to their peers. More pertinently, and since these watches can’t really stand on their own but need a constant connection to a mobile device to be truly relevant, I was curious to see how they would bridge that ever-growing chasm with Android.
Well, right out of the box, the build quality of the watch was very impressive. This is a solid piece, 46mm across, 10.7mm thin and only an airy 48gms, one that can slide slick under a suit yet strong enough to be taken for a morning run, ride or trek. And it can straddle both these functions for about a week before the battery starts dipping anywhere close to dangerously low.
The screen is bright, the crown and the button have a reassuring tactile feel about them. It takes some getting used to the functions they control but that’s with most smart wear. The screen touch is also quick on the pick-up and the swipes work sans glitches and flow smoothly.
The watch wears small and sleek, but more importantly, it pairs and settles niftily right in with an Android phone. It isn’t akin to using an Apple watch with an Android phone (or vice versa) where 50% of the functionality feels compromised. The only issue I faced was that every app I had opened had two lengthy screens of caveats and disclaimers which I had to scroll and approve before the watch allowed to me to use them. Thankfully this is a one-time exercise but even then, the number of times one had to do it in the beginning was quite tedious and daunting.
The call feature is quite well handled. There’s no e-Sim, which means, one will need a connected phone at all times but it’s still helpful when you have your hands full or in case you need to work at something while answering a call.
Recording workouts was a cinch, the watch can track almost everything, and it becomes quite clear very early that this watch was designed with a big stress on pushing the workout experience. They do take things further but, as is the case with even the best of these devices, they track better with activities involving constant movement (running, cycling, rowing) and lesser so with strength sets. That said, it is one of the best smart watches for workouts in my usage experience with one big plus – it can transmit HR data to a third-party app so you can see it on a tablet or computer while working out indoor – and one small but significant minus – it still doesn’t sync with Strava. But for those who don’t care about that last bit, you will get enough data and metrics to keep you talking about form, HR, recovery HR, and other such like any other fitness geek.
The sleep tracking is also quite well executed here although I did feel it holds the wearer to a very high standard, which means no matter how relaxed you may feel after waking up, the watch still shows much room for sleep cycle ‘improvement’.
Having a Huawei phone will certainly make the usage experience even richer but the app too helps a fair bit. In the end, for a device that is light, has a tiny footprint, doesn’t instil recharge anxiety, is versatile both in its applications and back-end communication and furthermore, is priced to sound too good to be true…well, don’t wait on it. This is a lovely device to sport on your wrist if you are into (or to dive into) the world of smart wear.
