Are smartwatches supposed to look like this? Often they’re more function over form – and proudly so.
Perhaps it’s intentional to impress on passersby that the wearer is a real technophile. The Huawei Watch 5 is a little subtler.
What I tried came in a titanium case with a titanium strap (steel and leather are also available), looking nothing like a “traditional” smartwatch at all, but instead classy and understated.
Of course, it’s still a smartwatch. Beneath the scratch-resistant sapphire glass it’s brimming with life. Within moments of turning it on for the first time it was performing an electrocardiogram on me, measuring my arterial stiffness (for which I was required to cough into the watch, poor thing), and checking the oxygen saturation of my blood. It was a little disconcerting, but happily I’m healthy enough (or I suppose I wouldn’t be writing this).
Within days, the watch and I had got to know each other even better: we went running around South East London, where its bright maps performed well, we hit the gym to test its many workout modes, and it helped me make (crystal-clear) calls just by moving my fingers. This last function is particularly remarkable.
That is all to say, I put it through its paces. Here is what I thought.
Tech specs
(for the 46mm version, there is also a 42mm one):
- Dimension: 46 mm × 46 mm × 11.3 mm
- Weight: 58g (not including strap)
- Display: 1.5 inches AMOLED Colour Screen
- GPS: Dual-band Five-system GNSS
- Battery life: Up to 11 days
Functionality
Thanks to advanced sensors, the Huawei Watch 5 is able to respond to movements you make with your fingers and thumb. It can take or reject calls, tell your phone to take a picture (very handy if you’ve positioned it away from yourself for a selfie) and even turn off your alarm – not all features of this watch are just about relentlessly making you more productive.
Other gestures feel intuitive too. Scrolling through the wealth of apps is a pleasure, while placing your hand over the screen to turn it off is pleasingly tactile – as if you were soothing a little creature on your wrist.
Not all the features work as well as one another. The emotional wellbeing app is an interesting concept – it uses ‘stress’ data (that is, physical stress, as measured by your heart rate variability among other things) to tell you whether you are one of the three: pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant. At one point during the testing, I was feeling particularly stressed, yet the watch told me I was happy as Larry. One to work on, perhaps.
Another slight miss is the torch feature, which illuminates the whole screen with a white light. The brightness isn’t a problem; it’s the fiddliness that makes it less than handy. Compared to, say, Garmin’s double-tap of a physical button, I found it just too tricky to use easily.
These are comparatively small issues, though. As mentioned, it works very well as a sports watch. It has a huge range of options, especially for running (including a feature for running on a track, which is extremely useful). We’re talking, though, about options for skipping, open water swimming, golf, skiing and snowboarding. It’s hard to think of what is not covered. It’s comprehensive, which you would expect at this price. Speaking of price, though it’s cheaper than Apple’s sports watch offering – and down at the non-titanium end of offerings is strong value for money.
The Watch can, of course, track your sleep – and naps too. I enjoyed using this feature and comparing it to my girlfriend’s score (rather sweetly, our two devices often gave us exactly the same score - #couplesgoals). The data is presented in bright, contrasting colours, which is what makes it so enjoyable to use. This is obviously a gamified element, but given that much of the smartwatch industry consists of gamifications of our lives, it’s par for the course.
A final major plus was the Huawei app, which is clear and elegantly presented. In particular, the watch face customisation is incredibly easy to do. On this score, it blows competitors like Garmin out of the water. I found myself changing the watch face all the time, just for the hell of it. It’s great fun, and it gives you a feeling that the watch is a lively, responsive thing that you can make your own very easily.
Overall, it’s a brilliant experience. The Watch 5 is sleek, futuristic, and mightily capable, whatever it is you’re seeking to do.
Verdict
Huawei Watch 5
Are smartwatches supposed to look like this? Often they’re more function over form – and proudly so. Perhaps it’s intentional, so as to impress on passersby that the wearer is a real technophile. The Huawei Watch 5 is a little subtler. What I tried came in a titanium case with a titanium strap (steel and leather are also available), looking nothing like a “traditional” smartwatch at all, but instead classy and understated.
Of course, it’s still a smartwatch. Beneath the scratch-resistant sapphire glass, it’s brimming with life. Within moments of turning it on for the first time, it was performing an electrocardiogram on me, measuring my arterial stiffness (for which I was required to cough into the watch, poor thing), and checking the oxygen saturation of my blood. It was a little disconcerting, but happily I’m healthy enough (or I suppose I wouldn’t be writing this).
Within days, the watch and I had got to know each other even better: we went running around South East London, where its bright maps performed well, we hit the gym to test its many workout modes, and it helped me make (crystal-clear) calls just by moving my fingers.
This last function is particularly remarkable. Thanks to advanced sensors, the watch is able to respond to movements you make with your fingers and thumb. It can take or reject calls, tell your phone to take a picture (very handy if you’ve positioned it away from yourself for a selfie) and even turn off your alarm – not all features of this watch are just about relentlessly making you more productive.
Other gestures feel intuitive too. Scrolling through the wealth of apps (though there are no third-party ones) is a pleasure, while placing your hand over the screen to turn it off is pleasingly tactile – as if you were soothing a little creature on your wrist.
Not all the features work as well as one another. The emotional wellbeing app is an interesting concept – it uses ‘stress’ data (that is, physical stress, as measured by your heart rate variability among other things) to tell you whether you are one of the three: pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant. At one point during the testing, I was feeling particularly stressed, yet the watch told me I was happy as Larry. One to work on, perhaps.
But that shouldn’t detract from what is a brilliant experience. The Watch 5 is sleek, futuristic, and mightily capable, whatever it is you’re seeking to do.
Buy now £499.00, Amazon
