Huawei Watch Fit 2 Review & What's New

Huawei is coming out swinging with their Watch Fit 2. The new smartwatch from the mobile tech giant comes on the heels of the Watch Fit and is currently available in European markets (possible global release for the fall). When you look at the Watch Fit 2 in detail, several features make it a huge improvement from its predecessor, including Bluetooth functions, a compass, a remote camera shutter feature, the Watch Fit 2’s stretching guide, and better GPS features.

And all of this comes on a bigger and brighter display. The two Huawei smartwatches do share some similarities, as they both offer heart rate monitoring, SPO2 monitoring, and women’s health tracking.

These and other reasons, which we’ll get into, make the Watch Fit 2 an appealing option, but one feature makes it stand out: the Watch Fit 2 is supported by both Android and iOS phones. The same cannot be said about the Apple Watch Series or older Samsung models.

HUAWEI Watch Fit 2 Active Black

Design

Watch Fit 2 General Design Features

You have three overall design c h oices in your Watch Fit 2: an Active (wrist size at 130-210mm), Classic (at 140-210mm), and Elegant edition (120-200mm). And while these different editions offer a choice in wrist size, they all have a 46mm case size. And smaller does not equal lighter in this situation, as the Active edition is by far the most lightweight model at 26g versus the Classic at 30g.

Huawei offers a great variety in terms of personalizing the look of your Fit 2.

Watch Fit 2 Screen: bigger and better

The Huawei Watch Fit 2 screen comes in at a whopping 18.6% larger than on the first Watch Fit. The Fit 2’s 1.74” AMOLED color screen allows for touch controls and remains bright under different lighting conditions: underwater during a swim or under the bright sun during a run, for example. The Fit 2 and its bright display are due to a combination of that large screen, an ultra-narrow bezel, and the 336PPI resolution rating.

In terms of customizing your screen, the Watch Fit 2 enables you to use free or for-purchase watch faces and photos from your smartphone.

Battery Life

Huawei divides their battery usage statistics between “Typical” and “Heavy” usage; from each, they claim you can get ten or seven days of battery life, respectively. The biggest factors in battery life estimation for the Watch Fit 2 include how much Bluetooth calling you do, how often you track workouts, and how often your screen lights up. The seven and 10-day estimates from Huawei are based on lab testing, so it is safe to say that with regular everyday use, nightly sleep tracking, and working out a few times a week, you’ll want to expect to charge your Fit 2 once to twice a week.

If you workout every day, make calls and frequently track outdoor workouts with GPS, you can expect to charge your watch three to four times a week.

Smart Features

Connectivity

All three Watch Fit 2 editions-Classic, Active, and Elegant-come with Bluetooth Calling. So, while your Fit 2 smartwatch isn’t connected to an LTE network, it will connect to your phone via Bluetooth. Ensure both your smartwatch and smartphone Bluetooth settings are turned on and that your smartphone is nearby for this to work!

In addition to the speaker and Bluetooth connectivity, you can also use quick replies to help you communicate hands-free.

Limitations

There are a few slight software limitations to Huawei’s smart notifications: for instance, you can only use the SMS quick-replies function if your phone runs on Android 7.0 or later (sorry, Apple users!). There is a similar Apple limitation to the music features on your Watch Fit 2. The Music Sync Feature allows you to store up to 5000 songs on your wrist via a smartphone sync. However, it is not supported by iOS.

Health & Fitness Monitoring

Sleep Tracking

Sleep is a huge part of our overall health, and with the Watch Fit 2, you can see detailed scientific insights on your phone after a night’s rest. The sleep tracking data is relatively accurate, too, with color-coded graphs to help you easily digest the information. This data is on par with other major brands, like Fitbit and Garmin, and tells you when you were in Deep, Light, and REM sleep. Unlike Garmin and Fitbit, it doesn’t identify “Awake” times during your sleep. Regardless, the sleep cycle information, and the sleep score you receive based on that info, can tell you: if you need to get sleep, if you’re not getting enough deep sleep, or if you need to adjust your bed/wake times to improve your health.

Other health monitoring features that make the Watch Fit 2 a worthy purchase include automatic SPO2 monitoring, the Healthy Living Shamrock (similar to Apple’s Activity Rings but divided into three colorful and rounded shapes) to help you reach three different health or fitness goals, all at once, and women’s health monitoring.

Women’s Health Monitoring

Not all smartwatch cycle tracking features are great. I am a female, and I’ve tried a couple. When I say they aren’t great, I simply mean the phone apps are better. But Huawei may have changed that fact with the Watch Fit 2’s female health and cycle function. With Garmin, for example, your watch will not display your cycle information. It helps to track that data, but you’ll need your phone to see the calendar. Huawei’s cycle tracking is more comparable to Apple OS8 tracking functions in terms of what you can do from your smartwatch.

Fitness Tracking

The Watch Fit 2 comes loaded with an impressive 97 workout modes. Equally as impressive is the fact these workouts can use audio cues to help guide you along. However, this is not much of an improvement if you want to compare these offerings to the Watch Fit, which has 96 workout modes.

More enhancements you can expect include guided warm-up stretches for Huawei’s “standard” workout modes: running, cycling, swimming, and jump rope, with some workouts also having animated guides. This helps the Watch Fit 2’s workout features earn a “training assistant” label, as these animations can be truly helpful in improving your performance (especially with running!).

GPS Tracking on Watch Fit 2

Huawei sought to improve on its satellite offerings with the Fit 2. The smartwatch now comes with multi-satellite GPS, a considerable improvement on their original Watch Fit, which is a single satellite GPS. This gives you a vast improvement in accuracy when it comes to run or cycle tracking. You can now also load some recommended routes from your phone or share the workout routes you created yourself with friends.

Is the Huawei Watch Fit 2 right for you?

First, you may want to read our overview of some Huawei smartwatches and fitness trackers!

Overall, the Huawei Watch Fit 2 is an incredible deal when you look at features versus price and is a worthy competitor to more established smartwatch and tech brands. Especially after the brand learned from the older model, the Watch Fit, which does not boast as much accuracy, reliability, or features as the new Watch Fit 2.

The current price is around €150, about $160USD, about $200CND, and about ₹12300. There is no guarantee that those will be the North American or Indian market prices, but it shows you what you could expect to spend on a new Huawei Watch Fit 2.