Huawei has taken its Watch Fit back to the drawing board with the third model. This time around, the company has delivered a square-shaped wearable that looks a lot more premium for being a midrange gadget.
Watch Our Huawei Watch Fit 3 Review Below
Of course, it is difficult to speak about the Huawei Watch Fit 3 without comparing it to the Apple Watch. That device has boasted its square design for almost ten years now and there’s no sign of change coming soon. But that’s okay. It works and even though the Watch Fit 3 looks familiar the square design is a lot more approachable than its previous elongated rectangular shape.
You can walk around a mall and pinpoint Apple Watch owners, Huawei GT owners and Huawei Watch Fit 2 owners. Now, however, the lines are about to be blurred.
One thing the Huawei Watch Fit 3 has going for it is its affordable price tag. For R2,999, this wearable is a lot cheaper. And I say “a lot” here because it is well, a lot. You can buy four Huawei Watch Fit 3 devices for the price of a 44mm Apple Watch Series 9.
To make things even more attractive for new owners, Huawei actually boasts its cross-platform support on this product. So iPhone and Android users can pick this up and it will fully integrate into their operating system as much as possible. Of course, terms and conditions apply on the iPhone side because of app limitations across the two devices.
But for R2,999, there has to be some corners cut here, right? Well, in this review I dive into the Huawei Watch Fit 3 and put it to the test.
The Huawei Watch Fit 3 comes in a familiar white box. When you pick it up, you’ll get the watch itself, some product manuals and a USB charger. The said charger is still USB A at least. Given that Huawei hasn’t moved to USB-C power adapters yet, this decision makes sense.
The watch itself features a familiar square design. For the first time, Huawei has also included a rotating crown on the device which further adds to its familiarity. The device’s display is a 1.82-inch AMOLED with a peak brightness of 1500 nits.
There’s a 77.43% screen-to-body ratio on the watch face with a resolution of 480 x 408, an aspect ratio of 1.18:1 with a PPI of 374. This is actually quite high for where the Huawei Watch Fit 3 sits in the competition.
Inside the Huawei Watch Fit 3, there’s a 400mAh battery that promises up to 10 days of battery life. It also packs a single-band antenna with support for GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo and QZSS. It comes with Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and BlueTooth 5.2. As for the sensors, the device includes an HR monitor and blood oxygen reader.
The watch design is, of course, the biggest change this year. Huawei didn’t do much “new” when it comes to the functionality. The watch body weighs only 26 grams and the unit is only 9.9mm thick. In short, this is an incredibly lightweight and thin wearable.
Huawei gave me the Midnight Black model to play with. But the Watch Fit 3 comes in some cool colours. There’s Nebula Pink, Green, White and Space Gray. The Space Gray model is the only one that comes with a nylon strap and costs R3,499. That colour and the “White” model are also the only two that boast the red rotating crown. However, all models have the Huawei Watch Fit 3 text etched into the crown.
There’s also a leather white option that comes with a white leather strap. The Watch Fit 3 body is gold though and not white. All the models are made of aluminium, however. You can also easily swap straps around if you manage to find others for sale. Give it a few months and I am sure the market will be flooded with third-party straps.
Charging the Huawei Watch Fit 3 is similar to previous models. It uses a magnetic pin connector and can take a few tries to perfect. The pins need to be perfectly aligned to get it to charge. A flat Watch Fit 3 took me just over an hour to charge to full. That charge then lasted me typically five days.
I do like the design of the Huawei Watch Fit 3. Sure, some people may criticize the product’s square design and blame it on copying someone’s homework but it looks incredibly sophisticated and stylish. It is a safe shape. The Huawei Watch Fit 3 text on the crown is also a nice finish.
Setting up the Huawei Watch Fit 3 was simple. I had to download the Huawei Health App which is available on both iOS and Android. The watch itself runs Harmony OS version 4.2.0 and getting around is seamless. The Health App let me browse various settings and watch faces. There are thousands of watch faces available to download to the device. To add, the general usability of the app should be easy enough for even non-techie people to understand.
Operating the watch is all about touching the screen and rotating the crown. Swiping up on the home screen loads the notification centre. Swiping down opens up the quick settings menu. Swiping left opens the smart assistant and swiping right loads a selection of customizable tiles that you can create.
Rotating the crown then takes you back to the home menu and back to the home screen. The other button on the Watch Fit 3 is then customizable. You can assign shortcuts to it and even force it to open a certain app.
The main reason why you’ll pick this up is for its health features. Huawei has included TrueSeen, TruSport and TruSleep on the Watch Fit 3 and each app comes with so-called “improved performance and readings”. You’ll need to sit and compare the latest app versions with its older versions to see whether or not there have been any real reading improvements here but Huawei says they are more precise.
TruSleep 4.0 tracks your sleep structure, quality and general sleep health. It combines with the other sensors to display heart rate, breathing rate and blood oxygen during your sleeping.
The fitness tracking aspect of the Huawei Watch Fit 3 is found in TruSport. There are new modes available on the app. This includes football, basketball, padel and esports (yes, a fitness tracker for playing video games). But the app has always boasted a robust selection of sports. Over a hundred to be precise.
A new app on the Huawei Watch Fit 3 is the Stay Fit App. It lets you monitor your weight. You can log your weight, add meals and track the number of calories you consume during the day. It then automatically calculates the calories you burn after a workout.
This all adds to the Activity Ring Tracker which once again, tracks various stats you choose. Be it standing, walking, sleeping, eating or exercising. It essentially gives you a quick glimpse at the daily goals you set.
The Huawei Watch Fit 3 doesn’t disappoint when it comes to tracking and sensors. There are countless fitness goals to set and various ways to close your rings. It is incredibly customizable and that alone provides a unique way for every user to approach this device. It simply isn’t only about burning calories and standing up. There’s a lot more going on here.
The general performance of the watch was also surprising. It packs around 1.5GB of free storage which is great for music. Keep in mind music storage is limited on iOS. The GPS tracking is also quick and precise.
When making and receiving calls, the device was reliable. The microphone was clear the volume was high and clear enough to hear everything. Phone calls also provide a strong vibration so you’ll never miss a call thanks to the haptic feedback.
In all in all, the Huawei Watch 3 has a lot to enjoy. For R3000, you’re getting a wearable that essentially ticks all the important boxes. Calls work, tracking works, the screen is impressive for the price and the design, while being familiar, is sleek. Most importantly for me, I was surprised at how fast the OS is. It seldom lagged out and froze. Every touch was detected even though gloves and its general experience felt like a high-end processor was powering the unit.
Sure, if you’re nitpicking I could complain about the lack of cellular options and some apps don’t work on iOS. But again, if you want the full iOS experience, there’s the Apple Watch. You’re getting a wearable that costs a fraction of the price here and is a great entry point for new users.
This Huawei Watch Fit 3 review is based on a unit provided by Huawei. The device is now available in South Africa starting at R2,999. Find it on the official Huawei Store here.
Huawei Watch Fit 3
Summary
The Huawei Watch Fit 3 is undeniably one of the best wearables on the market. From its refreshing redesign to its snappy performance. It is hard to believe it costs R2,999.
