Huawei Watch Fit Elegant Review: Fitness band on steroids

 
The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant Edition is reminiscent of a 44mm Apple Watch Series 6, but is taller and narrower. The Huawei watch measures in at 46 x 30 x 10.7 mm, while the Apple Watch measures in at 44 x 38 x 10.7 mm.

The new stainless steel body makes the watch look premium. The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant feels robust, sturdy, and well built, especially considering the price. At the same time, it feels really light and comfortable, with a weight of 27 grams without the strap.

Huawei’s watch has the same curved glass like its predecessor, which improves the fit and feel of the display. Scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass is used here, though we don’t know which exact version of it. The bezels of the screen are not the smallest, but are acceptable.


The Watch Fit Elegant has raise to wake, meaning the watch wakes up with the turn of your wrist, but for me, it was a hit or miss. Another way to turn the watch on is by using the button on the right side. It is also used for accessing the system menu of the watch, as well as for turning off, restarting and resetting the Watch Fit Elegant. A microphone is located right next to the button. According to Huawei, the microphone will be used for a voice assistant that the company is still working on. Right now, the microphone has no functionality.

The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant comes in two colors: silver or gold, with the silver one paired with a black wristband and the gold one using a white wristband out of the box. The band is made out of fluoroelastomer, which is a synthetic rubber material, much like what Apple Watch wristbands are made out of. Unfortunately, the clasping mechanism is still proprietary, so replacement bands aren’t plentiful.

The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant’s body and wristband didn’t show any signs of wear or degradation in the two weeks I’ve been using the device. The watch is also 5ATM water resistant, meaning it can be worn during swimming exercises as it should withstand being up to 50 meters underwater.

Display & Watch Faces

The display of the Huawei Watch Fit Elegant edition is the same as before, an AMOLED 1.64-inch 456 x 280 (326 PPI density) screen. The display has really good resolution, peak brightness and viewing angles, especially considering the price. Text is clear and the colors are poppy. The curved-edge glass surrounding the display is not distracting and helps hide its bezels.

The watch faces of the Watch Fit Elegant are pretty much unchanged. There are a lot of options to choose from and download with the Huawei Health smartphone app and most of them look good. Some watch faces are sport oriented and some are more elegant and classy, so there’s something for everyone.

Software and Performance

The software looks unchanged compared to the regular Huawei Watch Fit. The Watch Fit Elegant uses LiteOS, which is a proprietary OS used in different Huawei gadgets, and a Kirin A1 chipset. The widgets and menu are well designed and easy to use.

But while the interface is fast enough, it is far from smooth with its choppy animations. We have already received one firmware update, but there is no improvement.

The watch uses only Bluetooth to connect with your smartphone. There is no Wi-Fi or Cellular connectivity. You also don’t get NFC for contactless payments, but you do get GPS for precise location tracking.

As far as notifications go, you will have no problems receiving all of them on your Watch Fit Elegant, even those from third-party apps. You can also read all of your notifications, including messages, but note that you can’t reply or control them in any way from the watch. When you get a call, it also appears on the screen of the watch, but there is no option to answer it. You can only hang up from the watch’s screen. The Watch Fit Elegant can also snap a picture remotely on your phone or be your alarm clock.

There is no speaker or a way to store music on the Watch Fit Elegant, even though it has 4GB of storage. You can control your music from the phone with a widget, but for some reason, that only works on Android. When connected to an iPhone, the music option in the Watch Fit Elegant disappears, which is sad.

Health features

The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant supports 96 workout modes and 12 animated fitness courses. All of the modes and courses that we tested worked as intended. The watch also reminds you to be more active when you’ve been resting for too long.

The Huawei Health app has all of the features you would expect, like sleep and heart rate tracking, which we tested and found to be accurate in their measurements. The Watch Fit Elegant also measures SpO2 and stress levels.

The SpO2 tracking measures the oxygen levels in your blood 24/7 and gives you tips on improving. This feature is especially helpful for athletes who want to keep track of their levels during a training session.

The step counter on the Huawei Watch Fit Elegant works as intended. There is also a calories counter that works together with the step counter and exercise detection features to calculate how much you’ve burned.

Battery life

The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant has an excellent battery life. Depending on how much you exercise, the watch lasts at least a week without a recharge. Recharge times are also good with the watch charging from 0 to 80% in about 30 minutes. The device has a 180mAh battery, which is recharged using a proprietary magnetic USB cable found in the box. Note that there is no wireless charging so you’re stuck with the cable.

Price and availability

The Huawei Watch Fit Elegant is available for around $130 depending on the region you’re in. Note that the watch is not available in the US. However, the Watch Fit Elegant is available in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Asia.