Gary SteelHuawei Watch Fit REVIEW
Summary
Huawei Watch Fit REVIEW
PAT PILCHER tries hard to find something he doesn’t like about a fitness watch that’s affordable, waterproof and really lasts the distance.
$229
It’s that time of the year again. Huawei is launching their latest wearable, the Huawei Watch Fit. It’s a cool looking piece of kit, resembling the love child of a fitness tracker and the Apple Watch. Huawei has a good pedigree when it comes to smart wearables. Their Watch GT line has a sizeable following thanks to its fitness tracking capabilities and a battery life that most other wearable makers can only dream of.
With The Watch Fit, Huawei looks to be taking on both Fitbit and Garmin. There are pros and cons compared to both. Still, the Fit’s big points of difference are that it packs a colourful AMOLED display into a slim, wrist-friendly design and it runs for an impressive 10-days between charges.
Design-wise, the Watch Fit looks a lot like someone took an Apple watch and stretched it. This gives its display a tall aspect ratio. In use, it proved to be handy, allowing the Fit Watch to display a decent screen full of information. This made reading notifications/reminders easier. At just 10.7mm thick and weighing in at 21g, I barely noticed it on my wrist. Because it was so comfortable, wearing it day and night and only taking it off for the few times it needed charging was never a problem.
The Fit’s controls are simple. They consist of a single flat button on its right-hand side and a touch-sensitive face covered in curved glass. All told, it is an attractive design that exudes a premium look.
The Watch Fit’s display uses a 1.64-inch colour AMOLED panel which sports a 280 x 456 resolution. There are bezels, but they’re barely noticeable. Given the Fit Watch’s reasonable $229 sticker price, the display is a step up from what you’d normally get at this price point. Aside from its single button, driving the Watch Fit requires you tap and swipe the touch-sensitive display. The interface will be instantly familiar to anyone who has owned a Watch GT. It is sufficiently intuitive that no RTFM (reading the fucking manual) is required. In use, the display was bright enough that it was readable under direct sunlight. Vivid colours, OLED-level contrast and a crisp resolution meant that the bundled Watch faces looked great on its screen.
There’s also GPS baked in, plus a heart rate monitor, music storage, SpO2 tracking and a pile of workout modes. The optical heart rate and SpO2 sensors are on the bottom of the Watch’s chassis. It is rated for 5ATM water-resistance so it can handle a dunking in water at depths of up to 50 metres. The review unit I tested was Graphite Black, but it can be had in Sakura Pink or Mint Green too.
If there is a downside, it’s that the Fit doesn’t take standard 21mm watch straps. This is a real shame, as you’re reliant on Huawei should you want a replacement. Silicon straps irritate my skin, so I usually like to move to leather or steel.
The most significant selling point for sporty folk with the Watch Fit is the improbably large numbers of fitness and health capabilities baked in. It’ll track everything from walking, running, cycling through to more exotic fitness chores such as belly dancing, and even dart-throwing! Sadly, pint lifting was MIA. Heart rates are monitored in real-time, and the Fit shows your target heart rate zone as you work out. Its built-in GPS will map outdoor runs/walks too. There are an astounding 90+ workout modes on the Watch Fit. If that wasn’t enough, Huawei also added 12 fitness courses which have animations to guide you through the workout. There are also quick fat-burning workouts which are handy for when you find yourself with a few spare minutes.
The Watch Fit can monitor blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), which again, isn’t something I’d expect for $229. With COVID back and doing the rounds, SpO2 monitoring could prove to be very handy indeed. SpO2 is tracked at intervals throughout the day and is also measured during workouts or you can get a reading manually.
If you’re a statistics fan, you’ll probably find the info cranked out by the Watch Fit useful. Using GPS data, heart rate information as well as SpO2 measurements, it can give you a pile of data. This ranges from VO2max, target heart rate zones for workouts/warm-ups etc. That said, serious runners will still probably want the statistics heavy options from the likes of Garmin. But given the Watch Fit’s price, it is a good fitness companion for beginners.
While its smartwatch features are limited, you get vibrating alerts, weather, sleep tracking and so on from a paired smartphone. It also has 4GB for storing and playing music. One feature I liked was the smart alarm. It will vibrate the Fit Watch to wake you at an optimal part of your sleep cycle that is as close to the alarm as possible.
Most fitness trackers priced at the $229 mark are pretty basic. They track steps, tell the time, and have an alarm. The Huawei Watch Fit offers a tonne of premium features and a premium spec. Affordability is great, but It’s got to be comfortable, waterproof, and not need charging every 10 minutes. The Watch fit ticks all these boxes and is ideal for most users. That said, serious runners may find a watch designed specifically for runners a better choice.
