Whether you find them useful or not, smartwatches have now become the new go-to accessory in addition to the smartphone. While most of us are content with using an ordinary analogue or digital watch, there is no denying that a smartwatch does make daily tasks a lot easier to manage.
This doesn’t just include the device-free way of checking our notifications but also in how we can track our overall well-being with just the smartwatch.
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The Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro is the latest in the Chinese tech giant’s range of smart wearables and is their most premium flagship smartwatch, primarily made for Android users. Among the key upgrades for the smartwatch are the heart rate and blood oxygen measure sensors, and professional sport tracking modes.
For this review though, I’ll be reviewing the smartwatch from the point-of-view of an Apple user — not the most ideal, but perhaps worth considering if you currently own an iPhone. There are a couple of limitations which I experienced from the get-go, namely, not being able to install third-party apps or answer text messages from my watch. Nonetheless, I tried my best to keep an open mind, spending two weeks with the Huawei smartwatch to test out its latest features. Here’s my honest review of the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro.
DESIGN & DISPLAY
Despite its simple-looking black look, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro gives off a rather sleek feel with its wear-resistant sapphire watch dial that is paired with the titanium frame and silicone bands.
Its slightly larger watch dial might create some concern for the overall weight of the watch, but I was surprised to find that it felt lightweight on my wrist the entire time I was wearing it. Together with the skin-friendly ceramic back, I was able to wear the watch comfortably throughout the day without that sticky feeling around my wrist.
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The watch comes with a 1.39-inch OLED touchscreen display which does not have a fixed always-on display. As I did not require my watch display to be on the entire time, I left this feature off, relying on other forms of waking the display up such as raising my wrist.
While it did work most of the time when I raised my wrist, I felt that the display wasn’t as reactive to the gesture, occasionally missing the cues. Instead of being able to tap the display to wake it, I felt that it became a lot more of a hassle to wake the display as I had to press one of the side buttons to wake the display instead. This isn’t much of a dealbreaker though I had hoped that the smartwatch was a little more intuitive.
There is, of course, a quick workaround to the display issue and that is to have the Always-On Display switched on — it easily fixes the problem but can be potentially battery draining.
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The GT 2 Pro features about 200 watch faces which you can personalise with, though this seems likely to be a bonus feature reserved for Android users. iOS users are able to personalise their watch faces too through the Huawei Health App but the available selection is just a handful.
With that said, the ability to choose my watch face seems like a rather new feature to the Huawei Health app which I noticed only after a recent update. Although it isn’t much of a selection for now, it definitely beats having only 13 options from the watch itself.
PERFORMANCE & BATTERY LIFE
As features are limited when paired with an iOS device, I mostly used the GT 2 Pro as a basic smartwatch. Aside from telling me the time, I used it to monitor my heart rate, steps and as a reminder me to move when I’ve been sitting for too long.
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While the watch did have several basic workout features, I didn’t feel inclined to use it for my brisk walks as I was not able to utilise the music app on the watch — which was reserved for Android users only.
There wasn’t even a way to bypass the use of the music app with Spotify as the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro does not support the installation of third-party apps for iOS users. This also means that the watch will not allow you to sync your fitness data with any of the usual apps that you are currently using.
The lack of music sources on the watch ended up becoming too much of a hassle for me that I opted to go without the watch during my evening workout and had my phone with me instead since I was able to not only listen to my playlist but also record my activity data and tell the time.
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Despite the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro coming off as a smartwatch with limited functionality, I do have to say that I was very impressed with the long-lasting battery life of the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro.
While I had been sceptical of their claims of long battery life, I was surprised to find that Huawei was not kidding about that. On a full single charge, I was able to get at least two weeks’ worth of battery power without having to limit my uses or switch off my notifications to retain battery life.
It should be noted that while I used the watch with its features and notifications, I did have my Always-On Display switched off; which would probably have accounted for the extended battery life. So, if you prefer your display to be switched on at all times, your battery life may not last as long.
THE HUAWEI WATCH GT 2 PRO WORKS AS A BASIC SMARTWATCH FOR IOS USERS
Even though I had initially thought that the limitations might not affect my usage of the Huawei smartwatch after two weeks, I couldn’t help comparing the way I was using the GT 2 Pro to how my parents were using their Apple Watch. While they were able to treat their smartwatch like a wrist version of their smartphone, I realised that the lack of features available had created a tendency for me to treat the GT 2 Pro as just a basic smartwatch.
So, if you are an iOS user like me that is in the market for a smartwatch, I would suggest that an Apple Watch would be better suited, in terms of features and compatibility, than the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro — especially if you are looking for a smartwatch that can give you more bang for your buck.
Retailing at $398, which is just slightly cheaper than the latest Apple Watch SE (from $419), the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro is likely a better investment for Android users than iOS users. However, if you are willing to see past the current limitations, the Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro does make a considerably good option for a basic smartwatch as Huawei seems to be making a conscious effort to constantly update their app to create more features for iOS users.
The Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro retails at $398 and is available for purchase online through the official. Huawei stores on Lazada and Shopee.
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