Two-minute review
The Huawei Watch 3 is a good trying smartwatch, and is the primary to make use of Huawei’s personal HarmonyOS. It runs clean as silk, however as you’d anticipate, it’s not fairly totally polished but. There’s solely a handful of additional apps obtainable to download, and assist for third-party providers is proscribed.
Nevertheless, when you’re utilizing an Android handset (or certainly one of Huawei’s personal handsets), the Watch 3 is certainly a smartwatch value your consideration – and it’s prone to get even higher because the ecosystem develops.
The Watch 3 is constructed with health monitoring in thoughts, and it comes with a formidable suite of instruments for monitoring your on a regular basis wellbeing (together with sleep, step counts and SpO2) in addition to exercises. We discovered its coronary heart fee monitoring a bit of inconsistent throughout intense coaching classes, often registering surprising peaks throughout interval classes, however location monitoring proved correct throughout our pre-measured run, as did tempo and cadence.
We can see a whole lot of potential within the Watch 3; the {hardware} could be very spectacular, and its glorious show would lend itself very effectively to on-screen navigation, in addition to guided exercises with animated directions. It’ll simply take time for HarmonyOS to return into its personal, with a wider choice of apps and extra assist for well-liked third-party providers.
Price and availability
- Out now
- No US launch anticipated
- Pro model additionally obtainable
The Huawei Watch 3 was launched in chosen international locations in June 2021, and begins at £279.99. That’s about $390 / AU$530, however no US releases is anticipated, and an Australian launch date has but to be introduced.
We examined the usual Huawei Watch 3, however there’s additionally a premium model – the Huawei Watch 3 Pro – which presents just a few additional options equivalent to dual-band GPS for improved accuracy, plus improved battery life. It additionally has a significantly larger price ticket, beginning at £499.99 (about $690 / AU$940).
Design
- Rotating crown
- Large case
- Bright, crisp AMOLED show
In phrases of design, the Huawei Watch 3 is a giant departure from the chunky Watch 2, as a substitute bearing greater than a passing resemblance to the Watch GT with a big, shiny face, minimal bezels, and glass that curves on the edges to fulfill the case.
Read also: $2 Trillion Question: Can Anthropic Turn AI Growth Into Sustainable Profits?
The Huawei Watch 3 lively version (examined right here) has a 46mm case, and is equipped with a black silicone band, which isn’t fairly as mushy as that of the Apple Watch 6, however nonetheless snug. The band has quick-release pins so you possibly can simply swap it to one thing a bit of extra trendy, and is secured with a standard buckle relatively than the loop-and-tang model fastening that’s changing into more and more well-liked with smartwatches and health trackers.
If you’d favor one thing a bit of extra trendy for on a regular basis and formal ear, there’s additionally a traditional version (with a silver-toned case and both a leather-based or woven nylon strap), and an elite version (with silver-toned case and steel {link} bracelet).
The Watch 3 has simply two bodily controls: a small button the serves to navigate backwards by means of menus or return you to the house display screen, and a crown which you could press to pick out choices and apps, or flip to scroll by means of textual content and menus – a function that was missing on the Huawei Watch 2.
It’s a system that works effectively, and scrolling with the crown is clean and responsive. It’s additionally nearly massive sufficient to make typing possible with the Watch 3’s on-screen keyboard, although it’s nonetheless fairly fiddly – you’ll be pleased about its autocorrect function.
The Watch 3’s standout function is its 1.43in AMOLED show, which is crisp and vibrant, permitting you to see loads of information or textual content on display screen directly. There’s an enormous array of watch faces to select from within the Huawei Health app, a lot of that are animated to actually showcase the show, although it’s value making an allowance for that the majority of those are paid-for, and really significantly in value.
Smartwatch options
- eSim assist
- Good time-saving instruments
- Few additional apps (thus far)
The Huawei Watch 3 is closely fitness-focused (which we’ll talk about in additional element shortly), however it additionally has a very good vary of instruments that make it a sensible on a regular basis smartwatch, significantly you probably have an Android telephone and an Apple Watch is out of the query.
With an eSim put in you can also make and obtain calls, play music, and download apps with out an lively Bluetooth connection to your telephone (ultimate for understanding with out your handset), however even with out that, there’s quite a bit to understand – particularly in the case of time-saving.
For instance, you’ll obtain detailed app notifications on the watch’s face, eliminating the necessity to open the related app in your telephone in lots of instances, and you may settle for or mute calls with hand gestures that make use of the watch’s accelerometer; clench your fist then launch it to just accept the decision, or flip your wrist sideways to mute it.
You also can management calls utilizing Huawei’s voice assistant, Celia (which you'll be able to entry by saying ‘Hey Celia’). This permits you to carry out easy searches too, and management related gadgets. Like the working system itself, it’s not but as developed as Google Assistant, Siri or Amazon Alexa, however there’s actually potential and we stay up for seeing the place Huawei takes it in future.
Another of our favourite options was the power to make fast voice recordings by means of the Notes app, so you can also make a document of something that crosses your thoughts in just a few seconds with out utilizing the watch’s on-screen keyboard.
Read also: Are You A Facebook, Insta, Or Twitter Addict? Recognize The Signs And Find Ways To Deal With It !!
If you wish to download extra apps, nevertheless, you’ll discover Huawei’s AppGallery fairly empty. This is not any shock for a watch working a model new working system, and hopefully it’ll quickly be stuffed out with extra instruments for the Watch 3. It would significantly profit from third-party apps from the likes of Spotify for music streaming, and Strava for working and biking.
The pre-installed apps have been rigorously curated although, and embrace some significantly welcome security options. Like many trendy smartwatches, bike computer systems, and different fitness-tracking gadgets, the Huawei Watch 3 can alert an emergency contact if it detects a sudden impression, indicating that you just’ve taken a fall. This will begin a countdown, which you'll be able to dismiss to cancel the alert.
You also can alert the emergency providers mechanically by tapping the crown button 5 instances in succession – a function just like the emergency alert on the Garmin Lily, which helps present peace of thoughts when you’re out alone.
Fitness options
- Activity rings to finish
- Impressive selection of exercise modes
- Accurate GPS monitoring
The Huawei Watch 3’s primary focus is health monitoring. For on a regular basis motivation, there’s a set of Apple Watch model rings that it's best to goal to finish earlier than bedtime. You’ll even be prompted to rise up and transfer periodically with the everyday inactivity alerts (full with a pleasant little animation of a person having a stretch).
For exercises, there’s a complete choice of indoor and outside actions (together with a triathlon mode to trace swimming, biking and working levels in a single go), although there’s no have to scroll by means of your complete every checklist every time, as you possibly can customise the menu to prioritize these you utilize most ceaselessly.
We examined the Huawei Watch 3 for a number of outside runs and indoor spin classes. It took some time for the watch to ascertain a GPS lock earlier than we started working (longer than our Garmin Instinct Solar) however as soon as it did, the Watch 3 recorded our pre-measured course pretty precisely, arising only a few meters in need of the anticipated distance.
We used high-intensity spin classes to check the Watch 3’s coronary heart fee monitor. It responded pretty rapidly to adjustments in coronary heart fee all through a session (not as swiftly as a chest strap monitor, however that’s to be anticipated), however the numbers it recorded had been larger than we’d anticipate from a normal session, with an unexplained peak throughout one warmup the place the watch registered a coronary heart fee of over 170bpm.
You can select to have the watch announce your time, tempo and distance at every mile or kilometer, which it does loudly and clearly. Indeed, with its reliable GPS, clear display screen and strong text-to-speech software program, the Watch 3 appears ideally suited to navigation for working, biking and strolling, however on the time of writing there are not any such instruments obtainable.
Read also: How To Compare Image Models Inside An AI API
Guided exercises on the watch, with animations to reveal correct type, can be one other welcome addition, and one we’re hoping to see sooner or later.
We all the time take calorie burn measurements from wearable gadgets with a grain of salt, however the figures recorded by the Huawei Watch 3 matched a Garmin Instinct Solar. VO2 max figures additionally match Garmin’s, although once more these are solely estimates (precise VO2 max testing requires a whole lot of specialist tools in managed circumstances.
Sleep monitoring appeared pretty correct by way of mapping sleep levels, however after we in contrast the outcomes with these from an Oura ring, we discovered that the Watch 3 recorded all time in mattress as time spent asleep, leading to a sleep rating that was considerably inflated.
Battery life
- Magnetic charger
- Lasts 2-3 days between expenses
The Watch 3 is charged through a magnetic puck, very very like an Apple Watch 6. Unlike Apple’s chargers, nevertheless, Huawei’s has a USB-A connector relatively than USB-C.
Huawei estimates that the watch will final round 14 days in power-saving mode, and three days in smartwatch mode with all options enabled (once more, very like the Apple Watch 6), although in our exams we discovered it got here up a bit of brief, lasting extra like two and a half days when recording a each day exercise along with on a regular basis steps and coronary heart fee.
Companion app
- Compatible with HarmonyOS, iOS and Android
- Lots of well being stats clearly introduced
- Great selection of coaching applications
The watch connects to the Huawei Health app, which is accessible for iOS, Android, and comes preinstalled with HarmonyOS. Connecting the watch is an easy matter of making an account (when you don’t have already got one), coming into a PIN from the watch face for verification, and granting it the mandatory permissions.
We examined the Watch 3 with each a Huawei P40 Pro, and a Fairphone 3 Plus working Android 10. Connecting on the Huawei handset went with out a hitch, however we discovered that the Android app didn’t checklist the brand new smartwatch and couldn’t find it. If this occurs, the corporate advises updating the Huawei well being app in AppGallery out of your telephone to resolve the issue.
The app itself is refreshingly easy to navigate, offering all of your each day and historic well being stats in a single location. Unlike Fitbit’s app, Huawei Health doesn’t lock sure statistics behind a paywall; as a substitute, all information is accessible at a contact of your finger.
There’s additionally a wide selection of coaching applications within the Huawei Health app – one thing else you’d should pay for within the Fitbit app. These embrace introductory classes, plus tempo, HIIT and interval classes to assist combine up your coaching. The app and watch gained’t recommend which coaching plan it's best to attempt primarily based in your previous exercise (although maybe this may develop into doable in a future replace), however the selection is spectacular and on a par with many subscription providers.
Comments
No comments yet — be the first to share your thoughts.