Huawei Watch GT 5 review: a great health and fitness watch alternative
The Huawei Watch GT 5 is the latest mainstream iteration in Huawei's lineup of smartwatches, replacing the GT 4 with subtle yet welcome improvements. It counts on a flashy, stylish design and a heavy emphasis on sports and fitness tracking to win customers over, while areas such as third-party apps support continue to suffer, due to the US trade ban.
What’s New:
- TruSense System - Improved heart rate monitor accuracy in dynamic workouts, darker skin tones, and more.
- Sunflower Positioning System - Enhanced, dual-frequency GPS positioning for more accurate location tracking.
- Redesigned case - Slightly slimmer body and a more pronounced octagonal design for the 46mm model.
- New running and cycling metrics - More in-depth analysis of running form and cycling activity.
- Screenshot and keyboard support - Full QWERTY keyboard for typing out replies and ability to take screenshots via two-button press.
Huawei Watch GT 5 Specs, Models, and Prices
The Huawei Watch GT 5 is available in two sizes: a masculine 46mm and feminine 41mm. I really like that instead of just one unisex design in two sizes, a la Apple Watch, Huawei has created two distinct, but equally attractive designs for men and women. There’s no LTE version for the GT 5, but both models come with the same core features, save for the difference in dimensions, display size and battery life. For this review, I’m testing the 46mm Watch GT 5.
| Huawei Watch GT 5 | Specs |
|---|---|
| Display | 1.43" AMOLED | 466x466px (46mm) 1.32" AMOLED | 466x466px (41mm) |
| Battery Life | 14 days max | 9 days typical | 5 days with AoD (46mm) 7 days max | 5 days typical | 3 days with AoD (41mm) |
| Water Resistance | 5 ATM / IP69K |
| GPS | Dual-frequency Sunflower GPS |
| Operating System | Harmony OS |
The Huawei Watch GT 5 costs £230 / €250 (around $300), which is a pretty aggressive price compared to Apple’s and Samsung’s offerings. For example, the Apple Watch Series 10 starts at $399 / £399 / €450, and the Galaxy Watch 7 starts at $300 / £289 / €319 for the most basic models.
Huawei Watch GT 5 Design, Sizes, and Bands
The Watch GT 5 brings a slightly slimmer case compared to the GT 4 while retaining the edgy, yet comfortable style. The octagonal bezel design has been refined with sharper edges for more character. The Watch GT 5 is made of durable 316L stainless steel, but it lacks the scratch-resistant sapphire glass found in the Pro version. The stainless steel case absolutely feels substantial, but the watch as a whole is pleasantly lightweight and isn’t distracting during activities or everyday use. This is remarkable, considering the sizable display it’s equipped with.
The 1.43-inch AMOLED display on the 46mm model remains unchanged, which is great news because it’s generally excellent, offering vibrant colors and deep blacks. The screen won’t burn your retinas with excessive brightness, but I didn’t have any issues reading it outdoors. What I particularly like is the almost complete lack of black bezel around it. This makes the Huawei Watch GT 5 look modern and allows a wider variety of watchfaces to fit seamlessly with the watch’s design.
The Watch GT 5 can come in three different band flairs: black silicone, brown leather, and a new blue option which is a fusion of silicone and nylon. The latter looks awesome in person. That said, the device uses a standard 22mm band size, so you can very easily swap out the band for whatever model you like.
Huawei Watch GT 5 Software & Features
Running Huawei’s own HarmonyOS, the Watch GT 5 is compatible with both Android and iPhone, though there are limitations for iOS users. For example, you can’t install apps to the watch and you generally can’t reply to messages or other notifications. The former is not a big loss, in my opinion, considering the app store for the Watch GT seems pretty barren at this point.
Aside from that, new to the Huawei Watch GT 5 is a full QWERTY keyboard for typing out quick replies, as well as screenshot support, which works by pressing both physical buttons at the same time. Unfortunately, contactless payments with the watch are still only available via Huawei Wallet, which is supported in a handful of countries.
Workout tracking
The Watch GT 5 comes with a very wide variety of workouts, from running and swimming to hiking, cycling, rowing and more. And, from the Custom section of the workouts screen, you can add even more workout types like strength training, crossfit, and even some exotics such as eSports.
There are some new advanced metrics for runners: they’ll benefit from ground contact time, vertical oscillation and balance, while cyclists can use their phone as a bike computer, thanks to the GT 5’s real-time data crunching.
Heart rate tracking on the Watch GT 5 has been improved further, thanks to the so-called TruSense system, with a more advanced sensor positioning and improved components for better readings. I tested the Huawei Watch GT 5 with outdoor running and strength training and found it to be mostly accurate – certainly good enough for the needs of most consumers. Meanwhile, the dual-frequency GPS provides very accurate mapping of your running or cycling routes. I didn’t experience issues or delays with establishing GPS location.
Sleep Tracking
The watch supports comprehensive sleep tracking, delivering some useful context around most of the important metrics. It also has automatic sleep mode engagement, which I found to work reliably. Sleep tracking itself also felt sufficiently accurate in my testing. The watch also supports Huawei’s new Sleep Breathing Awareness feature, which helps detect potential respiratory issues during sleep. It's goal is to check for interruptions of breathing during sleep and categorize them in 4 categories: normal, low, moderate and high.
Health Features
There is a lot of stuff packed into the Huawei Watch GT 5. In addition to the standard heart rate and SpO2 monitoring, the GT 5 offers stress tracking, skin temperature measurement and female cycle tracking; however, it lacks the ECG and arterial stiffness features of the Pro model.
Via the Huawei Health app, the company is also offering some premium (paid) features, such as fitness courses, meditations, Stay Fit plans and more.
Huawei Watch GT 5 Battery and Charging
The GT 5 offers up to 14 days of battery life on the 46mm model, though heavy usage (with continuous heart rate monitoring and GPS) reduces that to around a week. The watch charges from 0 to 100% in about an hour, using Huawei’s proprietary charging dock.
Meanwhile, the GT 5 41mm model has a maximum battery life of up to 7 days. Typically, Huawei estimates you should be able to get around 5 days of battery life with this model. This reduction in battery life for the feminine model is unfortunate, but there’s probably no way around it for now, due to the smaller size, and thus smaller battery that can fit inside.
Overall, battery life is one of the Watch GT 5’s strongest suits. Such numbers seem outrageous in Apple, Samsung or Google land, where smartwatches tend to last only about 1-2 days.
Overall, battery life is one of the Watch GT 5’s strongest suits. Such numbers seem outrageous in Apple, Samsung or Google land, where smartwatches tend to last only about 1-2 days.
Huawei Watch GT 5 Voice Calls and Haptics
The GT 5 comes with a built-in microphone and speaker, enabling users to take calls directly from the watch when connected to a phone. Call quality is decent enough to get the job done. Users can also store music files on the watch itself and then play that music via Bluetooth straight to their earbuds, allowing for some offline, phone-free workout time.
Haptic feedback is generally well-executed. Notifications and alarms, as well as operating the crown to scroll around the interface all feel great. I’d say the haptics aren’t quite Apple level, but are generally quite good.
Huawei Watch GT 5 Competitors
Two major competitors include the Garmin Vivoactive 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. The Vivoactive 5 offers superior health insights, while the Galaxy Watch 7 has a richer app ecosystem. However, the Watch GT 5 stands out with great battery life, accurate fitness tracking and a more affordable price. It’s also a good, stylish and more affordable alternative to the Apple Watch for iPhone users, provided third-party apps aren’t that important to you.
Should You Buy the Huawei Watch GT 5?
The Huawei Watch GT 5 is a great choice if you’re after a fitness- and health-focused smartwatch with great battery life and don’t need a real app ecosystem or some special smartwatch features like contactless payments. These are big omissions, indeed, which would have been too great if the Watch GT 5 was offered at around the same price as other major watches, like the Apple Watch or the Galaxy Watch, but thankfully, it's considerably cheaper.
Its reasonable price, attractive design, awesome battery life and excellent fitness tracking all make the Watch GT 5 a strong contender in the mid-range smartwatch market. The Watch GT 5 comes with a comprehensive feature set, has a beautiful screen, works quickly and gets the job done. It’s not exactly cheap, but it looks arguably better than most mainstream options out there, is made of quality stainless steel, and has character. And this, I believe, is just enough to make it worth your while.
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