Huawei Fit in hands-on: fitness watch with pulse sensor

April 16, 2020

Huawei not only introduced two new smartphones this week, but also a fitness watch. We have already looked at the gadget with the appropriate name Huawei Fit. You can see what came out of this in this hands-on ehealth.

ehealth

hardware

At first glance, the Huawei Fit differs from the manufacturer's watch: it looks much sportier. In this case, sporty doesn't mean cheap – the case is made of aluminum. There are also different bracelets made of silicone, for example in blue, orange or black. The case itself is available in black and silver. By the way, the Huawei Fit was the first gadget to receive the TÜV wearable Review mark, which, among other things, verifies chemical, technical and mechanical safety.

On with the hardware: On the front of the 35-gram and almost ten-millimeter-thick case there is a 1.04-inch, reflective LCD, which should still be easy to read even in very bright environments, since the ambient light for illuminating the Panels is used. Backlighting is also available in the dark. The monochrome display resolves 208 x 208 pixels, bringing it to a pixel density of 200 ppi.

The housing is waterproof up to five atmospheres and therefore withstands the water pressure at a depth of 50 meters. Here's the usual warning: Partially higher pressures can also occur on the water surface, for example, if you bang into the water while wakeboarding – and that's it. After the Huawei Fit also supports swimming workouts, you should be able to swim your lanes with it.

service

Operation takes place exclusively via the touchscreen – and is very intuitive. The menu can be swiped from top to bottom, a tap of the finger then finally opens a point, which in some cases always has additional options. Starting from the health home screen, you will find the menu items workout, daily progress, heart rate, training plan, others and notifications. Every single menu item hides other options that can also be wiped away – under workout, these are different disciplines. A swipe from right to left leads the user up one level.

Incidentally, the Huawei Fit not only works with Android devices but version 4.4, but also with Apple devices. This requires iOS at least in version 8.0.

App

The associated app still looks a little rough on Android, but is actually very clearly structured. health home, Discover and Devices can be found in three tabs. Under health home, the user will find current statistics on his last activities and the current course of the day.

Under Discover there is the option to view further statistics or to start a workout. Different goals can be set for the training sessions. I also find it exciting to be able to follow pre-prepared training plans, for example to train for a marathon. Here the user is given a specific training session for each day – this then also shows the Huawei Fit on the wrist. I also find it commendable that the Huawei app allows a connection to other services.

Finally, in the Devices tab, the app shows the currently set up devices and their battery level, in this case that's just the Huawei Fit here. A tap of the finger on the device then brings up various setting options on the display.

Sensors

The Huawei Fit has a six-axis motion sensor on board, with the help of which it detects the movements of the wearer and thus automatically recognizes, for example, running and walking as a sport. As already mentioned, other disciplines can be selected in the workout menu on the watch. The watch also measures the user's sleep and differentiates between different sleep phases.

A GPS sensor is not on board, but a pulse sensor, which according to Huawei – surprise – should work better than the competition. In my experience, the optical pulse sensors are primarily suitable for sports in which the wrists are not overly involved. Running and cycling on the street are usually not a problem, with MMA style workouts with Burpees & Co. or yoga, on the other hand, optical pulse sensors on the wrist usually deliver values ​​that are significantly too low. But I would like to be convinced of the opposite in the Review.

In any case, the integrated pulse sensor allows the user to train in different pulse zones and, for example, focus more on cardiovascular training or fat burning. The user also receives information on his recovery status and – based on the VO2max value – his cardiovascular health.

The battery is said to last up to six days. Last but not least, the Huawei Fit also shows notifications from the smartphone.

outlook

The sports watch is expected to be commercially available in November. The manufacturer sets the price at 150 euros. I find it exciting that Huawei is another player in fitness watches – and to be honest, I am pleasantly surprised by the range of functions when it comes to the fitness features. In any case, I'm looking forward to a detailed Review.

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