Today we will discuss the second generation smartwatches from Huawei — Watch GT 2. Every manufacturer today strives
Design
46mm version of the Huawei Watch GT2,which I have been using for the past ten days is best for large wrists. The accessory features an incredibly clear 1.39-inch circular AMOLED display that is very bright but may still perform better in direct sunlight. The watch has a fairly thick bezel with characters engraved on the front panel.
On the right side there are also twobuttons that can be twisted or directly pressed. In terms of functionality, the top button opens the main menu, the bottom button defaults to workout mode, although you can reconfigure it in the settings to whatever you like if you're not a fitness freak.
The bottom of the smartwatch is covered with cheapa plastic panel that includes a heart rate monitor, speaker and a small microphone. In addition, depending on the version you purchase, it comes with a silicone, metal or leather strap.
The manufacturer also offers a 42 mm version of the watchfor those who are not a fan of the traditional watch look or are simply looking for something smaller. There is no thick bezel and the display is noticeably smaller — up to 1.2 inches. Huawei also made this version about 1mm thicker and used 3D curved glass on the front.
Interface and dials
The Watch GT is powered byHuawei operating system — Lite OS — which minimizes the impact on the battery, but also limits the number of available functions. The user interface, which is not paired with a dedicated app store, is extremely easy to navigate, but sometimes it also fails due to the weak processor that does the backup. The only thing I found was that during testing I noticed a strong slowdown when swiping to the left to go back to a previous action.
Huawei smart watches show by defaultthe watch dial when you turn on the screen, although with a simple scrolling to the side, various useful information will appear, such as your heart rate, weather and personal fitness goals. On the dial, users can also swipe up to access messages, and swipe down to view the quick settings menu, which displays the date, percentage of battery and some useful settings.
If you are not using the preinstalleddefault watch face, you can easily change it by pressing and holding, then just scroll and select the one you want. The Watch GT 2 comes with a pre-installed set of non-customizable watch faces, and some others can be downloaded through the Huawei Health app. Unfortunately, although there are 25 options available, they are all very similar.
Fitness monitoring and other features
Most features of wearable devices are hidden inthe main menu, which can be accessed by pressing the top button. Users can monitor sleep status, check notifications, view call logs and view contacts. Speaking of calls, the sound quality was surprisingly good. The speaker is loud enough, and the microphone is clean enough, which allows you to easily communicate with someone while performing your daily tasks.
Some of the most intriguing optionsinclude short breathing exercises that try to lower your heart rate, and a stress test. The latter must be enabled from the Huawei Health app and must first be calibrated.
Other features include the ability to add alarms, use a timer, turn the watch into a flashlight, or use it as a compass.
Another useful feature — "Find myphone" which I was forced to use this week. Your smartphone starts ringing immediately, but if the ringer volume is muted, it is quite difficult to hear it.
Completing the list of Watch GT 2 features — Thistraining mode, accessed using the bottom button. It supports a range of GPS-enabled exercise activities, including 13 built-in running modes, multiple walking modes, cycling, walking, rowing, triathlon and swimming.
During testing, the Huawei watch seemed toeverything was tracked more or less accurately. Once you're done, you can view everything from duration and calories burned to average heart rate, intensity, and recovery time. All collected information can be checked in more detail using the Huawei Health app, but perhaps a better option for some — it's the ability to share everything with other apps, including MyFitnessPal and Google Fit.
Battery
Like the first generation, battery lifeThe performance of the Huawei Watch GT 2 is really excellent. Huawei claims that the watch can run for up to 2 weeks without recharging thanks to its energy-saving algorithms and a special Kirin A1 chip. Eight days after I last charged them, my watch still had 30%.
If you want to not charge your watch every day,Huawei says you should not rely on activities supported by GPS for more than 90 minutes a week, and calls and music playback should not exceed 30 minutes.
In addition to this, make sure that forcontinuous heart rate monitoring set to Smart Mode. In addition, the automatic stress test function must be disabled. I made a mistake by turning on the stress test function as soon as I got the watch, and as a result, my battery barely worked all day.
If you are one of those who are planning to buy Watch GT 2for fitness, Huawei says the battery can last up to 30 hours if constantly operated with GPS turned on. To charge, all you have to do is place them on the included magnetic charger. The latter has a USB-C port and can be connected to a standard phone charger.
It would be much easier if SmartWatch supported wireless charging, but Huawei missed this feature here.
Is it worth buying?
Huawei Watch GT 2 does not compete with Apple WatchSeries 5 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, they are in a different segment with a lower price policy. Their price is 239 euros in Europe, in Russia from 13,990 rubles. But at this price, the smartwatch becomes a direct competitor to the 2017 Apple Watch Series 3, which costs slightly less and offers a much more advanced operating system combined with most fitness and health features.
So if you are an Android user.and are looking for a device that is capable of tracking your workouts but is also a little smarter than your average fitness tracker, this could be a good buy.
But if you're an iOS user looking for a smartwatch but are against the Apple Watch's poor battery life, the Huawei Watch GT 2 will solve that problem for you.