I like what Huawei is doing with its wearable strategy; the brand See last 2 It’s the best high-end smartwatch and I prefer it to the Galaxy Watch Ultra because of the battery life that lasts for weeks. The Watch GT 6 Pro is a great all-around smartwatch and Huawei’s latest Watch Fit 5 Pro is aimed at fitness.
The Watch Fit 5 Pro is aimed at a younger audience, and that becomes immediately evident when you look at the choice of colors and style of straps. He The smartwatch costs £249 ($335) at Amazon UKand is available in most countries where Huawei has a presence. I’ve been using it as my daily driver for just over a month and here’s why I think it’s a better option than the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch 8.
The Watch Fit 5 Pro has an elegant design
Huawei has an orange color on the Watch Fit 5 Pro that stands out considerably, as I discovered while wearing it in Thailand ahead of the launch event. This is a smartwatch designed to attract attention, but it’s not ostentatious.
You can also get it in black and white, but the orange is the most distinctive by far. The nylon strap feels good to wear and is extremely lightweight, and the case itself has a gold tone, with orange accents contrasting it quite well.
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The case has subtle curves around the edges that add elegance and make the Watch Fit 5 Pro less utilitarian – it looks just as good as other mainstream models.
The build quality is excellent; The smartwatch is made of aluminum and the bezel has a titanium alloy to give it greater durability. I also like that it has a physical button on the right to start workouts and a rotating bezel to navigate the interface.
This is the best screen on a fitness smartwatch
The Watch Fit 5 Pro easily has one of the best displays you’ll find today. The 1.92-inch OLED panel is larger than last year’s and now clocks in at 3,000 nits. What’s also good to see is that it has a 60Hz refresh rate and like the best phones, the smartwatch uses LTPO technology to good effect, dropping to 1Hz to increase efficiency.
Another positive is that the bezels are uniform on all sides and are noticeably thinner than those on most smartwatches. That’s one of the reasons Huawei was able to fit a larger panel into a similarly sized chassis.
With a brightness of 3000 nits, viewing outdoors is not a problem at all. I tested it in the intense summer of Bangkok and on a particularly hot day in Hyderabad, India, where the temperature was over 105 degrees (41 degrees Celsius), and I had no problems using the Watch Fit 5 Pro. The colors are vibrant and the interface is easy to navigate.
The Watch Fit 5 Pro lets you track everything with ease
One of the best things about the Watch Fit 5 Pro is the mini workouts. The idea is that instead of sitting at your desk all day, you take short breaks of five to ten minutes to do short workouts wherever you are. These low-intensity guided workouts are easy to do and have adorable panda animations.
But the real reason you’ll want the Watch Fit 5 Pro is how good it is at regular workouts. I used it at the gym and while cycling, and it is one of the best options in this category. It provided consistent metrics with my Apple Watch and comes with the ability to sync data with other fitness platforms, including FIIT and Strava.
Huawei equipped the Watch Fit 5 Pro with a new TruSense sensor system and provides more accurate measurements across the board, including heart rate, blood oxygen monitoring, sleep information, and activity data.
You get dual-band GPS, cycling information including power and other metrics. Running, city and trail running are also covered. The smartwatch has IP68 and IP69 water resistance and covers more than 100 training activities.
Don’t miss the basics
While the custom interface Huawei uses isn’t as extensible as watchOS or Wear OS, Huawei provides all the basics and I didn’t feel like the Watch Fit 5 Pro was missing out on the software side. I had no problems taking calls on my wrist or seeing notifications, and the built-in vibration motor is pretty decent.
Huawei doesn’t use Google Pay, but the brand is turning to Curve Pay to enable NFC payments globally. I wasn’t able to use the feature in India, but it is available in the UK and other countries where Curve Pay has a presence.
The battery life is incredible.
I don’t like charging smartwatches daily and that’s one of the main reasons I like the Watch Fit 5 Pro. Thanks to a larger 471mAh battery, the smartwatch lasts seven days between charges. It’s this battery life that gives it a clear advantage over Wear OS and other Android smartwatches.
Honestly, the design tweaks and improved battery life make the Watch Fit 5 Pro a great alternative if you want a smartwatch that’s not made by Apple or Samsung. The design is much sleeker this year, the new TruSense system is better for fitness and health monitoring, and while there isn’t much third-party integration, the essentials are covered. I didn’t think I’d like the Watch Fit 5 Pro as much as I do, and it’s a good option to consider if you’re in a country where Huawei sells it.
