Computer Shopper - UK (2019-12)

ISSUE 382|COMPUTER SHOPPER|DECEMBER 2019 45

SPECIFICATIONS

THEHUAWEIBAND3Pro has nearly
everything you could plausibly want in a
fitness band, including GPS,aheart-rate
monitor andavibrant AMOLED screen.
More importantly,itd oes this ataprice where
you’d get change from three £20 notes.
There are no physical buttons on this
otherwise conventionally designed wearable.
The closest thing isasingle touch-sensitive
button under the main screen. Although we
like the clean, symmetrical look, we also
wouldn’t have minded one or two extra
buttons on the side.Touchscreen controls
can get trickytou se when sweating,
swimming or just out in the rain.

STRAPARTIST
Even so,using the Band3Pro as aneveryday
fitness tracker is an understated pleasure.
Your wrist will occasionally buzz with
notifications, if they’re enabled, but
otherwise it’s seen and not heard, only
springing intolifeify ou move your wrist
sharply.The 0.9in AMOLED screen is sharp
and easily readable,too.
Its one drawback is the lackof automatic
brightness adjustment, which can be
bothersome if you’re wearing it while trying
to sleep.There is an optionto reduce
brightness at night, buried in the settings –
bafflingly not enabledby default –but it’s
not aperfect solution.
The onboard software is alsofairly
bare bones, with just three
faces to choose from, and
there are no widgetsfor
weather or water
consumed. Instead,
you just have pages
forsteps, heart rate,
sleep,workout and
messages. There’s
no supportfor
music –even just
as aremote
controlforyour
phone –and no
guided breathing
exercises or the
like,asy ou get on
some rivals.
The biggest
issue,however,
is with distance
accuracy.Att he end
of a5km run, the Band 3
Pro had measured us as

HUAWEI Band3Pro

★★★★★

£55•From http://www.amazon.co.uk

VERDICT

Thisfitnessbandisn’tthemostaccurateat
tracking,butforthelowpriceit’sstillagoodbuy

FITNESSTRACKER

having travelled only 4.56km. Some heavy

tree cover might have interfered here,

but that’s notavery reassuring excuse.

Another run, this timefor3.75km, only

registered as 3.41km–again, falling

short by about 10%.

Conversely,heart-rat etracking is

pretty reliable.Some peaks can bealittle

on the low side,but averages are accurate

and there are no odd jumps or dips when

reviewing post-workout data.

The Huawei Band3Pro falls int othe

same trap as all slim fitness bands: there

just isn’t enough space on the screento

show all the keyrunning metrics ataglance.

Instead, six data fields are shown across

three screens, which can be cycled through

with atap.Suffice to say, this isn’t idealfor

serious runners, especially as you can’t

change the order in which theyappear.

Fortunately,the design isn’ttoobad here,

as the touch buttonforstopping and starting

is sufficientlyfarremoved from the main

panel that you won’t end up accidentally

ending your run early.And even if you do

tap it by accident, you needto hold it for

the durationof athree-second countdown

foranythingto happen.

LONG-DISTANCE RUN

One area where the Band3Pro really excels

is battery life. Despitehaving atiny 100mAh

cell, Huawei reckons it will last upto three

weeks onasingle charge or

around seven hoursof GPS

tracking.From our

experience this seems

optimistic, but not

hugely so.Aftera

week of normal

use with some

GPS tracking

occasionally

thrown in, we still

had plentyof

charge left.

It’s also worth

noting that the

Band 3Pro is

both cheaper

and more fully

featured than the

Fitbit Inspire HR

(Shopper377).

However,the

latter has the

benefitof both the Fitbit

app and community,which doamuch better

job of making fitness fun.

The Huawei Band3Pro makes you use

Huawei Health, which isn’t an entirely bad

app but lacksaweb interface,asimilarly

enthusiastic userbaseto Fitbit’s and

supportforinterfacing with third-party apps.

There’s no optionto export datato Strava,

Runkeeper,Endomondo or anything else.

This alone might beadeal-breakerto

some,although if you just wantto track

things by yourself,itd oes the trick, letting you

easily keep tabs on your steps, exercise and

sleep from the main menu.Tapping onarun,

forexample,offers youagranular breakdown

of your heart rate, pace and cadenceover the

duration, with insights about how your fitness

compares with your gender and age peers.

BATTLE OFTHEBANDS

This kindof simple buteffective usability

goes along wa ytowards making the Band

3Pro anice little fitness band, in spiteof

our concerns about its GPS accuracy.

It’s particularly goodvalue,too.Ultimately

the Inspire HR isafar better device in most

regards, but then it isalot more expensive,

at £90. Huawei’s wearable is therefore a

good-value alternative.

AlanMartin

PEDOME TERYes•HEART-RATEMONITORYes•

DISPLAYSIZE0.9in•RESOLUTION240x120•OS

SUPP ORTAndroi d,iOS•BATTERYLIFEThreeweeks•

WARRANTYOneyearRTB•DETAILSconsum er.hua wei.com

• PARTCO DE^55023002