Introduction
Huawei’s Watch Fit wearables always felt a little too close to its more basic fitness bands. Once the firm started going super-high end with its circular smartwatches, that gulf only got bigger. That looks set to change for 2024. The Huawei Watch Fit 3 swaps a rectangular screen for a square one, and sharpens up its styling everywhere else in the process.
A bigger battery and more advanced fitness tracking look to raise its profile from humble fitness tracker to fully-fledged smartwatch, aimed at those who like the modern look over a more traditional timepiece. Yet pricing has barely changed, starting at £139/€159 in the UK and Europe. Does that take it from a Fitbit rival to a true Apple Watch alternative?
I spent some time with one on my wrist ahead of the launch event in order to find out.
Design & build: flat packed
It’s thinner and lighter than either a Fitbit Versa 4 or an Apple Watch SE 2, at just 26g for the watch body and only 9.9mm at its thickest point. That made the Huawei Watch Fit 3 look especially svelte on my wrist, but not to the point it looked ridiculous. I maintain Google should’ve sold the Pixel Watch 2 in multiple sizes in order to appease those with wrists like mine, but the single 43x36mm casing option used here looks spot on.
The Watch Fit 3 gets a matte aluminium body, with straight sides and softly curved corners. It gives me real iPhone vibes, at a time Apple is still all-in on bulbous proportions for its non-Ultra watches. The whole thing is 5ATM waterproof, so can be worn in the swimming pool as well as the shower.
There are a bunch of case colour options to choose from; I spend most time with the black and silver versions, but pink and gold finishes are also available if you like your tech to make a statement. Each has a rotating crown, in either red or silver, and a side button for quickly activating fitness tracking. The crown is as satisfying to twist as all smartwatch crowns are, with a continuous motion rather than distinct ratcheted notches. It works brilliantly for scrolling through app screens.
Huawei has gone for proprietary strap connectors here, with release mechanisms built into the body of the watch. There’ll be an accessory to use standard watch straps if you prefer those, but it’s unclear if it’ll be released at the same time as the watch itself. In the meantime, there are four fluoroelastomer plastic colours, a traditional leather strap, and a nylon band to pick from. The mechanism just takes a push to unlock each strap – no tools required – and holds the bands in place firmly.
Screen: sharp looking
The move to a square screen was, I think, a smart one. The outgoing Watch Fit 2’s rectangular display could look a little out of proportion on smaller wrists, but the 1.82in AMOLED used here will suit all sizes. It’s shorter yet wider, and with skinnier screen bezels that embarrass the Google Pixel Watch.
The 2.5D glass is beyond subtle, curving into the metal frame but otherwise feeling like a flat panel. The frame hopefully puts enough distance between it and anything you might bash the watch into to prevent (or at least minimise) any damage.
I thought the 60Hz AMOLED panel looked sharp, bright and colourful during my demo, though I had no way of testing how accurate Huawei’s claim of a peak 1500nits brightness is. On paper that’s more than enough oomph to see clearly outdoors. I tried the next best thing (holding it up against the window of the demo area, during a brief few minutes of sunshine) and had no issues with legibility.
There’s an always-on display mode, which the watch warns you could slice battery life in half if you enable it.
Software experience: in perfect harmony
Huawei has overhauled the Watch Fit interface into a square-ified version of the HarmonyOS software found on its other watches. It’s simpler, with more colour and a card-based layout that’ll feel familiar to WearOS and Apple Watch owners. You swipe sideways for different cards, up for unread notifications, and down for the quick settings screen.
It’ll pair with iOS and Android devices, though the latter is limited by Huawei’s banishment from the Play store. You’ll have to sideload it, either directly from the firm’s website or its AppGallery. The Health App is coming to Samsung’s Galaxy Store, at least, which will make it easier for Galaxy owners to get on board.
The UI felt instantly familiar, with the same icons I’ve seen on other Huawei watches. The feature list is similar, too, with Bluetooth calling via your phone, SMS and third-party chat app replies from your wrist using canned responses, and an extensive selection of custom watch faces. There’s even a flashlight app that can cycle between different colours – apparently it’s one to bring out at nightclubs and music festivals.
Naturally it’s fitness where things are most comprehensive, with over 100 different sports and activities available for tracking using Huawei’s TruSeen 5.5 sensor. This can track SpO2 and heart rate, as well as sleep tracking and womens’ cycle tracking. New additions include contextual suggestions, such as “it’s hot, maybe exercise inside today” or “you’re falling behind, maybe lower your intensity”, and an AI running plan. This has an in-run pace setter, predicts times for various disciplines based on your prior performance, and even has a precision track lane mode for accurate splits when on a purpose-built surface. Guided fitness animations also now show you how to perform warm up stretches across seven different workouts, and the watch can broadcast your heart rate to supported fitness equipment.
Naturally I couldn’t test any of that during my hands-on; how it stacks up to the current crop of fitness trackers and running watches will have to wait for a full review. But there’s no denying this is comprehensive when it comes to working out.
Performance & battery life: week-long warriro
Huawei doesn’t make a big song and dance about the chipset, memory and storage of its wearables. I can soft-of understand the first two; as long as the UI feels responsive and you’re not left waiting for apps to open, it shouldn’t matter whether there’s own-brand silicon or an off-the-shelf CPU inside. The firm’s knack for battery life that’s five times longer than the average WearOS watch is a big clue it’s doing things its own way, rather than tapping up Qualcomm for anything from the Snapdragon Wear line-up.
Keeping storage a secret makes less sense when one of this watch’s selling points is local music playback through a pair of Bluetooth earphones. There’s no clue to be found in the Settings screen, and unless Huawei has updated its companion app since I last tested one of its watches, you’ll basically be waiting for the watch to tell you it’s full as you copy MP3 files to it.
At least the interface was responsive during my hands-on session, opening apps at a decent lick, and reacting quickly to swipes and taps. Which is pretty much all you can ask from a fitness watch on the performance front.
Battery life is what separates the Watch Fit 2 from other smartwatches. The 400mAh cell inside is apparently good for up to 10 days of ‘typical’ use, or seven days if you’re a ‘heavy’ user. If you think nothing of a daily 10k, with location and heart-rate tracking, you’ll probably need to plug in sooner than a once-a-week gym visitor. Still, that’s a league ahead of either the latest Apple Watch SE or almost any WearOS watch.
The charging cable uses a proprietary connector with magnetic pins, but name me a wearable not made by Apple or Samsung that isn’t these days. Huawei says a 10 minute refuel is enough for a full day of use, too.
Huawei Watch Fit 3 initial verdict
Previous Huawei Watch Fits were unmistakably value-focused fitness trackers. They could track plenty of sports, lasted a long stretch between charges, and had sharp screens – but the sizes didn’t suit all wrists, and the materials quality was a step behind the firm’s more traditionally styled smartwatches. The Watch Fit 3 addresses that, at least on first inspection.
It looks and feels like a more expensive model, even though pricing hasn’t actually gone up compared to the previous generation. Any square-faced smartwatch risks inevitable comparisons to the Apple Watch, but Huawei has sidestepped that neatly with flat glass and an angular body.
I still have reservations about the companion app, which remains a faff to get running on Android phones, and the proprietary strap mechanism is an extra step for anyone who likes to regularly change their bands. But there’s otherwise enough sporting pedigree that square-faced smartwatch fans should definitely give it a sniff.
Huawei Watch Fit 3 technical specifications
Screen | 1.82in AMOLED |
Sensors | Accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor |
Connectivity | GPS, Bluetooth |
Software | HarmonyOS |
Battery | 400mAh |
Durability | 5ATM waterproof |
Dimensions | 9.9mm thick, 26g (watch body only) |