Stuff - UK (2021-08)

1

TESTED HUAWEI WATCH 3

2

GOOD

MEH

EVIL

Finally,

third-party

apps

Really

slick

interface

Neat

rotating

crown

...and a

limited app

library...

...and

limited

battery life

[^ W

or

ds

A

nd

re

w

W

illi

am

s^ ]

The Chinese tech giant has decided to reset its

wearables business with its first ‘proper’ modern

smartwatch – sporting a completely refreshed UI

Huawei has made wearables for

years, but the Watch 3 is the first

one since 2017 that we can really

call a proper smartwatch – that

is, without following up with a

bunch of apologies about how

you can’t make calls with it or

install third-party apps.

Take a Huawei Watch 2, crash it

into an Apple Watch Series 6 and

you get something resembling the

Watch 3. (Well, that or a couple of

broken wrists.)

We’re not enamoured with

the drop in battery life from two

weeks to two days, or with the

waiting game to see if Huawei’s

ever-expanding HarmonyOS

platform is really worth investing

in; but for a first crack at this tricky

old game, the Huawei Watch 3 is

something of a success.

It has a great party trick too.

This is a watch with two very

distinct personalities – because

with a few swipes you can turn

it into a dedicated fitness watch,

and one that bumps battery life

back up to two weeks again.

from £350 / stuff.tv/HW 3

Where Huawei now?

52

App-solute beginners

In contrast to recent Huawei

efforts, you can download apps

from the company’s AppGallery

right there on the watch (2).

There’s also an eSIM version for

making calls from the wrist, and

even a teeny keyboard for typing

search terms on the screen. It’s

no fun, but you can do it.

Golden ears?

You can talk to Huawei’s Celia

assistant as you would Siri or

Google Assistant... but there

are teething problems. We kept

being asked if we wanted to start

a workout while 10 minutes into

a tracked run; ask “What is the

time?”, meanwhile, and she

doesn’t understand.

The graphing gnome

Celia aside, this is a great exercise

tracker. The vibrant screen ramps

up brightness outdoors (3) and

the heart-rate sensor stacks up

well against chest-strap accuracy.

The Watch 3 can also measure

your blood oxygen saturation

through the day and even log

your skin temperature 24/7.

Let’s not dance

Apple’s and Samsung’s latest

wearables can do ECG readings;

this one can’t. Its rivals also have

better music support, because

Huawei wants you to sign up for

its own streaming service – but

hey, it’s still relatively early in

HarmonyOS’s development as

a wearable platform.

The screen genie

The Huawei Watch 3 has glossy

curved glass holding a gorgeous

screen with slimmer borders

than some (1). The sides are

tough stainless steel and the

back is ceramic. To get close

to this kind of construction

from Apple you’d need to pay

well over £600.

Limited

music

support...

The nixed day

Huawei says the

battery can last 3 days,

but we only got 2 even

without GPS. Apparently

it drops to 1.5 days

with an iPhone.

Ouch!