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Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro review: Details
|
Element |
Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro |
|
Price |
£249.99 |
|
Size |
44.5 x 40.8 x 9.5mm |
|
Weight |
30.4g without strap |
|
Case/bezel |
Titanium |
|
Show |
1.92-inch AMOLED, 489 x 408px |
|
GPS |
Dual-band L1 + L5, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS |
|
Battery life |
Up to 10 days |
|
Communication |
Bluetooth |
|
Water resistance |
Yes, 5ATM |
Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro: One minute review
The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro looks exactly like the Apple Watch Ultra 3, only thinner, and I get the feeling that that’s the idea. A similar raised bump on the titanium shell protects the digital crown, and houses an additional side button. It’s the same shape as the Ultra 3, the screen is bright and colorful, and as you can see in the TikTok video embedded below where I compare the two, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s an Apple Watch at first.
However, just because Huawei is stealing Apple’s lunch a bit in the design stakes, that doesn’t mean it’s just cheap. Huawei has been making quality wearables with accurate metrics for years now, and the Fit 5 Pro is another absolute success in my book.
It is light and comfortable to wear, with a wide screen and a slim design that ensures it stays smooth and close to the wrist, like the Garmin Venu X1, making it suitable for comfortable workouts, and not heavy or cumbersome to wear during sleep tracking. The tough ‘aerospace-grade’ titanium-alloy shell is the best available at this price, with Apple’s closest priced product, the Apple Watch SE 3, using aluminium, plastic and nylon. The whole aerospace thing is a bit of a gimmick, but the titanium makes the whole package feel premium and stylish, and it looks as good as it sounds.
The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro’s battery is said to last up to 10 days in smartwatch mode, but with close wear, lots of GPS use, and an always-on display, I got about six days during my testing. The LTPO AMOLED display is powerful, and about two inches wide with a variable 1-60hz refresh rate. In layman’s terms, it’s bright, sleek and powerful, and for such a thin smartwatch it’s a really impressive battery. Still, six days is still three times the use I get from the Apple Watch Ultra 3 on a single charge, even though the latter is three times the price.
Like Apple, Huawei relies on its walled garden system, due to being a Chinese company and working behind the ‘firewall of China’, preventing its integration with applications such as Google Maps, Spotify and others from major US technology companies, although it supports other selected integrations such as Strava and Komoot with the Huawei Health application. The AppGallery must be accessed from your phone’s web browser and apps downloaded from there, without the integration of the Google Play Store or the App Store.
Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro uses Chinese apps for its main functions, such as Petal Maps for navigation instead of Google or Apple Maps, so to sync with your phone you will also need to use Petal as your main map app. Recently, Huawei has been using a UK-based digital wallet – this is good news, as it’s a feature that hasn’t been seen on Huawei watches outside of China for a long time.
However, if you’re an Android or Apple user, your Google and Apple wallets don’t automatically work with your watch, although this is less of a dealbreaker, since Garmin uses a proprietary wallet system. WhatsApp can only be contacted through notifications, not a dedicated WhatsApp interface. These pain points aren’t necessarily dealbreakers for everyone, but they make the Fit 5 Pro’s odds against the best Apple watches or the best Android watches a little harder to swallow.
There are a number of interesting health features on the watch. A lot has been done since the launch of the ‘mini workout’ feature, and there are 30 in total, following the cute panda avatar in workouts or simple exercises that take a few minutes, most of which you can do at your desk. These are targeted at specific body parts, used to correct posture or stretch your neck, spine, legs, or even face.
The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is designed for fitness tracking, and it’s strong in this field. On a 5K test route around Paris, the Fit 5 Pro came close to the top-tier Garmin Fenix 8 Pro in terms of distance, speed and heart rate measurements, with just 1bpm between the different ‘average heart rate’ measurements. After testing the Fenix 8 Pro against the Polar H10 heart rate monitor and being satisfied with its accuracy, I feel happy with Huawei’s metrics here compared to the Fenix 8 Pro, especially for its low price. I also tested it with Google’s new Fitbit Air fitness tracker, which again recorded a 1bpm difference in my heart rate. Unfortunately, my Polar H10 heart rate monitor didn’t work well during testing, but I’ll update this review if there are any differences with the new device.
The Fit 5 Pro packs dual-band L1+L5 GPS, which means it’s more accurate when you’re in the middle of tall buildings. When I tested its GPS credentials against Garmin, there were 30 meters between the measurements of Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro; the Fenix 8 Pro thought I would run 5.04km, while the Huawei calculated 5.01km. A total of 30/5000+ meters to me is a statistically significant difference, as it is less than 1% margin of error, and very good for most untrained athletes. Huawei’s TruSleep sleep tracking and TruSense heart rate tracking are the industry standard, and there are more sports modes to choose from than you might need. A strong choice for fitness tracking.
The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro offers great battery life, accurate tracking, and lots of great features – and those looking for the beauty and performance of the Apple Watch Ultra at a budget price will love it. But if you’re looking for a smartwatch that can handle apps, calls, notifications, directions and other useful features, be prepared to jump through a few more hoops thanks to Huawei’s walled garden.
Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro review: Price and availability
- £249.99 in the UK
- AU$249.99 in Australia
- Not available in the US
The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro costs £249.99 in the UK and AU$299 in Australia. It is not available in the US due to the ongoing ban on Huawei consumer electronics.
It’s very well priced considering it’s full of features and packs a durable, premium build, as watches with titanium bezels and sapphire glass tend to sell for a lot more.
If that’s still too much for you, the Huawei Watch Fit 5 (also known as the non-Pro version) starts at £159.99 in the UK from Huawei’s website, and around AU$225 in Australia from third-party stores. Instead of titanium alloy, its case is made of recycled soft aluminum, and its design is more like Apple Watch SE than Ultra series.
Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro review: Scorecard
|
Section |
Comment |
The result |
|
Price |
Really good price for this watch. |
5/5 |
|
Design |
It’s a great looking and sounding watch, and the Huawei HarmonyOS software is user friendly. |
4.5/5 |
|
Features |
The lack of third-party app support is always a bummer, but lots of games and (finally!) a digital wallet. |
3/5 |
|
Working |
Fast, accurate tracking compared to the top flight Fenix 8 Pro. Great battery life and easy all-day wear. |
4.5/5 |
| Row 5 – Cell 0 | Row 5 – Cell 1 | Row 5 – Cell 2 |
Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro review: Should I buy?
Buy if…
Don’t buy if…
Think again…
How did I check?
I’ve been wearing the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro for about a week, taking out the battery, sleeping with it on, and using it for exercise. I tested the mini-exercise feature, used the Emotional Wellbeing tools, and took a swim, walk and run watch. To check its performance metrics I compared it with the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro smartwatch, the Google Fitbit Air fitness tracker and the Polar H10 heart rate monitor, which is worn by many devices when running.