Computer Shopper - UK (2020-05)

ISSUE387|COMPUTER SHOPPER|MAY2020 85

THEHUAWEIBAND3Prohasnearly
everythingyoucouldplausiblywantina
fitnessband,includingintegratedGPS,a
heart-ratemonitorandavibrantAMOLED
screen.Moreimportantly,ithasallthisata
pricewhereyou’llgetchangefromthree
£20 notes.
Likesmartphones,fitnessbandsareall
beginningto followthesamedesigncues.
Arubberbandencasesasmallunitwitha
touchscreenonthefront,withaheart-rate
sensorandchargingportsontheback.

THE QUIETTYPE
Therearenophysicalbuttonsonthis
otherwiseconventionallydesignedwearable.
Theclosestthingisasingletouch-sensitive
buttonunderthemainscreen;whilewelike
theclean,symmetricallook,wealsowouldn’t
havemindedoneortwoextrabuttonsonthe
side.Touchscreencontrolscangettrickyto
usewhensweating,swimmingorjustoutin
therain,soaprotrudingbuttonwouldhave
beenareassuringbackupoptionevenifit
woulddisrupttheband’ssymmetry.
AswiththeHonorBand5,thestrapsare
replaceablebutdon’tcomeoff withouta
fight –theplugsholdingtheminplaceare
secureto afault.
Evenwiththesewobbles,however,using
theBand3Proasaneverydayfitnesstracker
isanunderstatedpleasure.Yourwristwill
occasionallybuzzwithnotifications,if
enabled,butotherwiseit’sseenandnot
heard,onlyspringingintolifeifyoumove
yourwristsharply.The0.9inAMOLEDscreen
issharpandeasilyreadable,too.
Itsonedrawbackisthelackof auto
brightnessadjustment,whichcanbe
bothersomeifyou’rewearingitwhiletr
to sleep.Thereisanoptionto reduce
brightnessatnight,buriedinthesettin
bafflinglynotenabledby default–buti
not aperfectsolution.
Theonboardsoftwareisalsofairly
barebones,withjustthreefacesto cho
from,andtherearenowidgetsforwea
waterconsumed.Instead,youjusthave
forsteps,heartrate, sleep,workoutand
messages.There’snosupportformusic
–evenjustasaremotecontrolforyou
phone–andnoguidedbreathingexerc
or thelike,asyougetonsomerivals.
Thebiggestissue,however, isdistan
accuracy.Attheendof a5kmrun,the
Prohadmeasuredusasonlyhavingtra
4.56km.Someheavytreecovermighth
interferedhere,butthat’snotavery
reassuringexcuse.Anotherrun,thistim

HUAWEI Band3Pro

★★★★★

£50•Fromwww.amazon.co.uk

VERDICT

Thefitnessbandisn’tthemostaccurateat
tracking,butforthelowpriceit’sstillagoodbuy

3.75km,onlyregisteredas3.41km–again

fallingshortby about10%.

Conversely,heart-ratetrackingis

prettyreliable.Somepeakscanbea

little onthelowside,butaveragesare

accurateandtherearenooddjumpsor

dipswhenreviewingpost-workoutdata.

SQUASHAND STRETCH

TheHuaweiBand3Profallsintothe

sametrapasallslimfitnessbands:

therejustisn’tenoughspaceonthe

screento showallthekeyrunning

metricsataglance.Instead,sixdata

fieldsareshownacrossthreescreens,

whichcanbecycledthroughwithatap.

Sufficeto say, thisisn’tidealforserious

runners,especiallyasyoucan’tchange

theorderinwhichtheyappear.

Fortunately,thedesignisn’ttoobad

here,asthetouchbuttonforstopping

and startingissufficientlyfarremoved

from themainpanelthatyouwon’tend

inadvertentlyendingyourrunearly.And

ifyoudotapitby accident,youneedto

itforthedurationof athree-second

countdownforanythingto happen.

OneareawheretheBand3Proreally

excelsisbatterylife. Despitehavingatiny

100mAhcell,Huaweiclaimsitwilllastupto

threeweeksonasinglechargeoraround

sevenhoursof GPStracking:fromour

experiencethisseemsoptimistic,butnot

hugelyso.Afteraweekof normalusewith

someGPStrackingthrowninoccasionally,

we stillhadplentyof chargeleft.

It’salsoworthnotingthattheBand3Pro

hasthebenefitof boththeFitbitappand

community,whichdoamuchbetterjobof

makingfitnessfun.

TheHuaweiBand3Promakesyouuse

HuaweiHealth,whichisn’tanentirelybad

app,butitlacksawebinterface,asimilarly

enthusiasticuserbaseto Fitbit’sandsupport

forinterfacingwiththird-partyapps.There’s

nooptionto exportdatato Strava,Runkeeper,

Endomondooranythingelse.

SMALL DATA

ththeHonorBand5,thisalonemight

eal-breakerto somepotentialbuyers,

ughifyoujustwantto trackthingsby

elf,itdoesthetrick,lettingyoueasily

absonyoursteps,exerciseandsleep

themainmenu.Tappingonarun,for

ple,offersyouagranularbreakdown

urheartrate, paceandcadenceover

uration,withinsightsabouthowyour

scompareswithyourgenderand

rouppeers.

iskindof simplebuteffectiveusability

alongwaytowardsmakingtheBand3

nicelittlefitnessband,eveninspiteof

oncernsaboutitsGPSaccuracy.It’s

ularlygoodvalue,too:ultimatelythe

eHRisafarbetterdeviceinmost

ds,butthenitismoreexpensive.

ei’swearableisn’t,of course,as

evablycheapastheHonorBand5or

aomiMiSmartBand4,butit’sfairly

ortablebeingsatinthemiddle.

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