Or is it just yet another watch with abandoned features?
After using it for quite some time, it is safe to say that the Watch GT 2 stays evident to its previous generation. It has some amazing features with a dedicated focus of refinement that gives a heavy competition, to even some of the big boys like the Apple Watch Series.
We have the 46mm watch in for review. Although it looks very similar to its counterpart, it’s the hardware that has received a massive upgrade. To kick start the review, let’s first talk about the specifications.
Specifications
- Display: 46mm: 1.3” AMOLED 454×454 HD; 42mm: 1.2” AMOLED 390×390 HD; both features touch gestures and slide
- Body: 46mm: 45.9 x 45.9 x 10.7 mm; 42mm 41.8 x 41.8 x 9.4 mm
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, BT5.1, BLE/BR/EDR
- Sensors: Capacitive, Air Pressure, Ambient Light, Optical Heart Rate, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, and Geomagnetic Sensor
- OS: Huawei lite OS
- Battery: 46mm: 455mAh (14 days use); 215 mAH (7 days use)
- Memory: 4 GB Storage – not user accessible
- Other Features: 5 ATM water resistance, Stainless steel frame, ceramic back, GPS+GLONASS
Design and Display
Huawei offers the Watch GT 2 in two variants the 42mm and the 46mm. The smaller one has a plain casing while the bigger variant has round-bezels, giving it a somewhat sportier look. The design of the watch is a certain step compares to the rest of the competition like the Apple Watch and the Galaxy Watch Active.
Huawei engraved its 46mm watch with a 24-hour scale, so it’s a kind of new we’ve seen in a smartwatch. The watch features 2 buttons on the right side, with one giving you instant access to the menu and the other one is programmable. Meaning that you can choose your own custom option and set intervals on this button.
Surprisingly enough, even though both watches have a different screen size, the color quality and texture details are the same – especially in outdoor conditions. The watch has a 326ppi screen brightness which is more than enough for such a small device. For both models, Huawei has adopted a 3D glass screen with a bezel-less style curved display. It’s an attractive design that looks very sporty and shines if you’re wearing it.
It just looks good if you’re using it outside. Speaking of outside, the company also offers Elite or Classical edition leather or steel straps that you can buy separately.
Performance and Features
The Watch GT 2 features Huawei’s Kirin A1 Chipset with power-saving technology. It offers 2GB Ram and 4GB Storage, upon which 2.2 GB is free. The watch has enough storage to store around 500 songs and other user-related data.
In terms of connectivity, we have Bluetooth 5.0 and GPS for fast and accurate precision tracking. Sadly, there’s no Wi-Fi, LTE, and NFC support. So, you’re pretty much relied on your phone’s Bluetooth to make it all work.
Overall, the performance is great and we didn’t feel any hiccups or delays in the OS gestures. But it’s worth mentioning here that if you pair it side by side with the Apple Watch, you will feel a slight delay in the UI. It’s just something we tested and wanted to let you know.
Software and User Interface
The Watch GT 2 isn’t just designed to tell the time, it is a full-featured smart band with all the sports-related features. Here you’ll get Huawei’s own Lite OS with a custom UI interface. Out of the box, you can instantly tell that it’s not as feature-oriented as the Apple WatchOS, FitbitOS, or Google’s WearOS.
Since Huawei doesn’t have an app store, there’s no third-party support for the Watch GT series. So, the limited features and options make it more like a fitness tracker with GPS, rather than a smartwatch.
For the most part, all you can do is check your heart rate, temperate, fitness tools, stress level, cycle through watch faces, and listen to some music.
Battery Life
We wanted to make a separate point for this because this is where the Watch GT 2 will exceed your expectation. The Kirin A1 chipset is super power-efficient. The 46mm watch features a 455mAh battery that can live up to 2 weeks.
While it is impossible to measure the numbers accurately, upon our testing, we never felt like we had to change it for more than 2 weeks. In terms of charging, you will get the good old fashion charging dock with the pogo pins on the back. Sadly, there’s no Wireless support on Watch GT 2.
Huawei Health
So this leaves us to the proprietary Huawei Health app, the only software that lets you control your Watch G2 experience. The app is easy to work with and offers plenty of features you can play around with.
For starters, it has some amazing set of watch faces you can download. Then there’s a dedicated Health section where you get all your fitness-related data like Steps, heart rate, exercise record, sleep, and calories.
One thing we like about Huawei’s Health app is that it gives you a lot of different tasks. If you complete the challenges, the app is a fun way to get you in shape.
Final Verdict
The Huawei Watch GT 2 is a good-looking smartwatch with an attractive design and amazing battery life. It offers all the fitness tracking features with precision with a strong case and convenient performance. It sits, on your wrist, brings you notifications, and makes an impression that you’re wearing a premium device.