Huawei Watch GT 4 review

For the most recent iteration of the Watch GT line, Huawei has launched two sizes: a chunkier 46mm one for bigger wrists, and 41mm one for smaller wearers equivalent to myself. That is the wearable I’ve been testing, and apart from a shorter battery life and never as spectacular GPS capabilities, this watch has all the identical options as its massive brother.

Each wearables put model on the forefront, with traditional spherical watch faces and a variety of straps to select from. In the event you’re contemplating getting the Huawei Watch GT 4 as your subsequent smartwatch, here’s what you have to know.  

Design & Construct 

• 46- and 41mm builds 
• Rubber, leather-based and steel strap choices 
• 5ATM water resistance 

I’ll admit it, the Huawei Watch GT 4 has my favorite design of any smartwatch I’ve examined to this point. Slightly than being one other Apple Watch clone, it has a ‘floating’ spherical face that might simply be mistaken for the standard premium watch.  

In the event you go for the 46mm model, the design is extra much like earlier GT watches, with linked lugs and a extra rugged and masculine look general. In the meantime, the 41mm is extra delicate and female.

There are three strap choices for the 41mm machine: gentle gold milanese, silver stainless-steel and white leather-based. I examined the latter, which is comfy to put on over lengthy intervals of time and doesn’t choose up sweat marks as simply as silicone straps do. It additionally completely compliments the gold stainless-steel case.

My unit weighs simply 37g with out the strap, which suggests I can put on it for lengthy intervals (together with in a single day) with out it feeling heavy or uncomfortable. This has been an ongoing difficulty with different Huawei wearables such because the Watch 4 Professional and Watch Buds, so I’m glad to see the Chinese language model catering to customers with smaller frames.  

The machine comes with 5ATM water resistance. I used it simply tremendous throughout pool swimming, although the display wasn’t fairly as responsive earlier than being totally dried.  

Display screen & Audio

• AMOLED show 
• Speaker and microphone included 

The 1.32in AMOLED show on the 41mm model could also be 0.1in smaller than its massive brother, nevertheless it’s nonetheless massive, shiny and daring. It has a decision of 466 x 466, and 352ppi (that is 326ppi on the 46mm).  

In testing, I used to be simply in a position to see the watch beneath shiny daylight. You may allow the display to gentle up once you increase your wrist. This characteristic additionally works when swimming if you need a fast look at your coronary heart charge or distance travelled.

Like different Huawei gadgets, swipes and faucets are swift and responsive. I didn’t encounter any lagging or stuttering throughout my testing.

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

The Watch GT 4 has each a microphone and speaker built-in into the machine. You may play music on it, although I can’t see many individuals making use of this characteristic. You’ll more than likely use it for calls, and fortunately the microphone is sweet and clear. In quiet areas, I may hear my accomplice simply tremendous, however in busier environments, I wouldn’t advocate utilizing it.

Voice logs after every exercise are enabled routinely, so for those who’re in a zen yoga class I like to recommend disabling this. If enabled, the Watch GT 4 additionally has a voice coach throughout runs that gives ideas all through. I discovered this annoying, and need it wouldn’t come enabled as commonplace.

Software program & Options 

• Concord OS
• No eSIM slot 

The Huawei Watch GT 4 runs on the most recent model of Concord OS, Huawei’s personal software program not Google’s Put on OS. You may obtain the app on iOS and Android telephones, although you’ll have to do it immediately through Huawei’s web site slightly than the Google Play Retailer or Apple App Retailer.  

Huawei has made some tweaks to the house display, enabling customized playing cards which lets you shortly entry options with one swipe, slightly than scrolling by means of the principle grid or listing, relying in your most well-liked format.  

Because it doesn’t run on Put on OS, you received’t have the ability to get sure apps equivalent to Spotify or Google Maps. Huawei’s personal model, Petal Maps, has improved over time as has navigation throughout some exercises.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

There are a number of each day use apps, together with a stopwatch, a calendar, an alarm and extra. There are settings to allow notifications to your apps (SMS and Google Calendar are enabled by default), however my cellphone, a Xiaomi 13, restricted including any extra notifications from the likes of WhatsApp. I’ve used earlier Huawei wearables with out this difficulty, so one thing might have modified with the app or with my cellphone.  

This wearable doesn’t have an eSIM slot, so that you’ll nonetheless want your cellphone available for navigation and for taking calls. Bluetooth and NFC assist is included, however for those who’re within the UK you received’t make use of this as Huawei Pockets doesn’t but assist credit score/debit playing cards on this nation. 

Health & Monitoring 

• Over 100 totally different exercises 
• New modes for sleep respiratory and calorie counting 
• Huawei Well being app woes proceed 

Like different smartwatches from Huawei, the Watch GT 4 helps over 100 totally different exercise modes. These embody your commonplace choices equivalent to strolling, working, biking and swimming, to extra obscure choices equivalent to pilates, fencing and plaza dancing (often known as sq. dancing in China – I discovered one thing immediately).  

The Watch GT 4 gives a complete breakdown of exercises. All classes have sections for coronary heart charge zones and the energy burnt, whereas sure sports activities have extra granular information equivalent to my common pace and elevation acquire throughout biking. The swimming logs additionally precisely logged my laps and swimming stroke accurately, one thing that rivals equivalent to Amazfit have struggled with.  

As soon as once more, Huawei has working programs on this machine, with varied paces and lengths to fit your degree of problem. As a infamous hater of working, I discovered the newbie’s possibility an effective way to ease into the game… although I’ve no present plans to proceed till my subsequent wearable overview. 

Coronary heart charge, SpO2 (blood oxygen) ranges and pores and skin temperature monitoring all appeared in keeping with the scores I’ve bought on different gadgets. Nevertheless, I went to allow steady stress monitoring and needed to endure a really bizarre and inappropriate questionnaire within the Huawei app (offered by the Institute of Psychology, Chinese language Academy of Sciences) to ‘calibrate my stress ranges’.  

Having agree/disagree choices on statements equivalent to ‘Generally I really feel I’m ineffective’ could possibly be triggering for some customers, particularly with no warning that intense language equivalent to this will probably be displayed. Huawei ought to contemplate addressing this characteristic and replica.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Sleep monitoring was in keeping with the instances I slept, and there’s now a brand new characteristic for sleep respiratory consciousness, which ought to detect any signs of sleep apnea. The pores and skin temperature sensor can be used for menstrual cycle monitoring.

I solely tried testing auto exercises throughout walks, and the watch was gradual to activate – I used to be round quarter-hour into my stroll earlier than it kicked in. Hopefully, that is one thing that may be patched in a software program replace.

One foremost new characteristic on Concord OS 4 is the meals log part. This works equally to apps equivalent to MyFitnessPal, the place you manually add within the variety of energy you’ve consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You may as well add within the identify of the meal/snack, the variety of servings you had and the burden of the merchandise.  

There’s a photograph possibility, however I used to be not in a position to add or take a picture with this characteristic. That apart, meals monitoring is way an excessive amount of of a faff for me however could also be helpful for anybody who likes granular monitoring and logging.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

As you might have seen, the Huawei Well being App is on no account the very best health monitoring app on the market. There are some bugs (which can be because of it not being out there by means of app shops), and there are many advertisements that take up house. Some options on the watch are additionally buried within the settings, which can be complicated for brand spanking new customers.  

It’s a disgrace, because the health and well being monitoring logs (weird questionnaire apart) are complete and detailed. There are simply a lot smoother and simpler choices on the market. After all, it’s also possible to sync your information to apps equivalent to Strava and Adidas, however you’ll nonetheless want the Huawei Well being App for this.  

Battery Life & Charging 

• Greater watch provides larger battery life 
• Moderately quick charging

In the event you’re flip-flopping between the 2 sizes of the Watch GT 4, then the battery life could also be a deciding issue. The 46mm naturally has room for a much bigger battery, which implies that it has a typical battery lifetime of eight days, which could be prolonged as much as 14 if used conservatively.

The 41mm is half of those numbers, at 4 days for typical utilization and 7 days at a stretch.  

These numbers are nonetheless fairly good contemplating the monitoring options out there on this watch. I used to be in a position to make use of it to trace an hour-long exercise class even when it dropped beneath 10%, placing it steps forward of another gadgets just like the Pixel Watch which is rated for someday.

Charging clever, it took simply over an hour and a half to juice from flat to full. 

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Worth & Availability 

Each sizes of the Huawei GT 4 retail for a base value of £229 – that is for the black silicone model of the 46mm mannequin, or the white leather-based model of the 42mm. On the high finish, the watch will set you again as much as £349 for the stainless-steel silver and gold model.  

You should purchase each watches immediately from Huawei, or from Amazon. Word that the Huawei Watch GT 4 isn’t out there within the US.

In the event you don’t plan on utilizing your smartwatch with an eSIM, then that is a lot better worth than the premium Watch 4 Professional, which I reviewed earlier this 12 months. In any other case, another choices to think about are the Apple Watch SE and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional.

You could find extra choices in our chart of the very best smartwatches.  

Hannah Cowton / Foundry

Do you have to purchase the Huawei Watch GT 4?

The Huawei Watch GT 4 (41mm examined right here) has top-of-the-line designs of any wearable available on the market to this point. It’s gentle, sturdy, and the battery life can be glorious in comparison with some rivals. Handbook monitoring can be strong on this watch.  

Nevertheless, that is one other machine that’s hindered by the accompanying app expertise, which limits some options and makes it not as simple to make use of as others I’ve examined. The dearth of contactless funds and voice assistants implies that it doesn’t fairly match the usual of some rivals at comparable value factors.  

If these items don’t hassle you, then this can be a critically handsome smartwatch. I personally favor the slimmer 41mm model, and would advocate it you probably have a small construct. In the event you favor a extra rugged look, and need that further battery life, then go for the 46mm. 

Specs 

• 1.32in round AMOLED show/1.43in round AMOLED show (41mm/46mm) 
• Leather-based, rubber, stainless-steel, Milanese and composite strap choices 
• Accelerometer 
• Gyroscope 
• Optical coronary heart charge sensor 
• Barometer 
• Temperature Sensor 
• Magnetometer sensor 
• Speaker 
• Microphone 
• 100+ exercise modes 
• 5ATM water resistance 
• Bluetooth 5.2 + BLE 
• NFC 
• GPS 
• Battery: Typical utilization 4/8 days (41mm/46mm) 
• 37/48g with out strap (41mm/46mm) 
• 41.3 × 41.3 × 9.8mm (41mm) 
• 46 × 46 × 10.9mm (46mm) 
• Compatibility: Android 8.0/iOS 13.0 or later