Huawei Watch Fit 2 review

Here we have an in-depth review of the Huawei Watch Fit 2: Huawei’s best-selling wearable.

Huawei Watch Fit 3 styles on a dark background

Following the success of the Huawei Watch Fit, which was a fitness tracker/smartwatch hybrid, Huawei released the Watch Fit 2.

It offers smartwatch features like a built-in audio player, Bluetooth calling, and long battery life (which comes from the Watch GT Runner).

Huawei Watch Fit 2 versus rivals – Price comparison

The price of the Huawei Watch Fit 2 is £130/$149. It’s not clear when or where the product will be available in the United States, nor is there any official pricing or release date yet. However, we anticipate it will emerge on Amazon in the near future.

The Fitbit Charge 5 is around $149/£129 (and is a device we love). It is one we consider to be a direct competitor.

But what about the style, performance, and features of the Huawei Watch Fit 2?

For comparison, the Huawei Watch GT 3 costs £209/$288 – which is a lot more expensive and compromises a few capabilities – while the Pebble wristwatch costs $199.

Huawei Watch Fit 2 – Design and Display

In addition to the Active and Elegant variants of the initial Fit, Huawei has now released a third model.

With the addition of the Classic Edition, the Watch Fit 2 is now available in Active, Elegant, and Classic styles. However, the main changes between them are in the total weight of the front cover materials and a single sensor.

The Elegant and Classic variants are somewhat heavier, although the Active version we tested was only a few grams lighter. Aluminum front casings are used instead of polymer ones in these special variants. Huawei’s new tap-to-transfer photo capability is available on both the Elegant and Classic models. (Thanks to the inclusion of NFC in both of those models).

With a 1.74-inch, 336 x 480 resolution AMOLED touchscreen display and one physical button on the case’s side, each edition’s 46mm-sized casings are 10.8mm thick and have the same AMOLED touchscreen display. Compared to the Watch Fit, this one is thicker but not significantly heavier. The primary difference is how it looks from the front and how it feels in your hand.

The Fit 2 has a much more squared-off appearance than the first Fit, which was longer and narrower. The Fit 2 has moved closer to a typical smartwatch in the hybrid scale.

Display

Huawei has packed more information onto the screen by squaring the Watch Fit’s display. (Which we really enjoyed because it’s slimmer). However, if it evolves anymore, it’ll resemble what we think of as a “true” smartwatch.

It’s been easy to wear because of the silicone strap, and our only complaint is that the groove in the second clasp might be deeper because it swung about a lot when swimming.

Now that Huawei has made it a lot easier to remove the straps, you can also snap in extra leather and Milanese-style straps.

There is an always-on display setting, and the raise-to-wake gesture support has been usually great during the day and when exercising. The screen is bright, vibrant, and snappy.

You may keep it on in the shower and use it in shallow water for pool and ocean swims because Huawei hasn’t changed the 5ATM certification.

Health and fitness tracking

Tracking one’s health on the first day Although the fit was decent, there were some concerns, notably with accuracy.

Among the new features of the Watch Fit 2, is the ability to measure sleep and heart rate as well as stress, blood oxygen levels, and menstrual cycles.

Huawei’s Health Living clover comes with it, which includes reminders to drink water, smile, and track your steps.

In general, the exercise and health tracking features work well. There are animations on the screen to remind you to move around if you have been idle for an extended period of time, similar to Garmin’s step tracking.

Using the Huawei Health app, you can see how many steps you’ve taken and how many calories you’ve burned using an easy-to-read watch widget.

Sleep

During the night, a special watch menu displays data from the previous night’s slumber and additional data and analysis from the accompanying phone app. Here you’ll find a breakdown of sleep stages, a sleep score, explanations of what that score represents, and information on breathing rate.

Compared to our benchmark, the Oura Ring 3, we found that sleep data, in general, was similar, particularly in terms of sleep duration and phases. Overall, the Fit 2 performed well, with no evenings where the data seemed out of whack.

Huawei Watch Fit 2 health and fitness features

Temperature

The Fit 2 app also collects information on the user’s skin temperature. But this is only lip service to body temperature tracking because no established baselines are used. It doesn’t appear to be integrated into any other wellness or health aspects.

Heart rate

Another improvement is a higher degree of reliability in the continuous heart rate data. Compared to the original Fit, which provides resting heart rate data similar to Garmin and Oura.

Aside from the power drain, the SpO2 values on the spot were also adequate.

Heart rate variability measures can help you track your stress levels throughout the day, letting you know when your stress levels are low, medium, or high.

The Watch Fit 2 is obviously more of a fitness tracker than a health tracker. However, it is more trustworthy than the original Fit. It’s a step in the right direction, but the experience on the watch is better without it.

With the Watch Fit 2, Huawei has made perhaps the most significant alterations in this area.

Features from the GT series watches are both included, and some debuted on the Watch Fit have been adopted and improved upon.

A total of 97 different workout options are at your disposal. Including everything from jogging, cycling, and swimming (both inside and out) to sports like rowing and using a cross-trainer in the gym. There is also automated exercise identification for a tiny percentage of the 97 training modes.

Best for runners

The primary new features appear to be most beneficial to runners. In addition to running plans and courses, you can now construct your own training programs and running sessions.

All the running-focused training information you need is available in the GT Runner app. You can build up running interval training sessions and configure the data fields to suit your needs.

Our heart rate data was accurate, and so were the insights it generated. We were satisfied with the overall accuracy of that data and its insights.

Although Huawei initially introduced animated workouts on the Fit, the function is still available to help you warm up before a run and stretch after a run. Every one of the suggested warm-up and stretching routines is a tried-and-true way for runners to prepare for their run.

men running on road using men's running watches

Accuracy

You can now use Huawei’s enhanced outside tracking and the addition of dual-band, five-system GNSS support to boost accuracy.

Compared to the Garmin Epix 2 accurate multi-band tracking, we sometimes found it to be a little shaky. Though as we know, Garmin is exceptional.

Navigation

Distance tracking seemed to lag behind the Garmin Epix’s good tracking, although it wasn’t perfect.

In general, however, core running metrics appeared to be similar, especially on shorter routes of 10k or less.

During steady-paced workouts, heart rate accuracy was typically good, but it was no surprise that it struggled to keep up with rapid spikes and decreases in heart rate during high-intensity use. However, the maximum HR in the sample above lacked a chest strap reading, but the average data for the session was spot on. In terms of recuperation and training insights, this is more than enough.

You can’t use an external heart rate monitor to increase the accuracy of this watch, unlike Huawei’s newest GT series watches.

Basic navigation and route importation come with the Fit 2. Transmitting your workouts is as simple as opening the Huawei Health app and selecting one of the many available routes.

We discovered that although it was simple, the navigation system performed nicely. Although the watch doesn’t have a full-fledged map display, it’s still a useful tool when you’re out exploring or need to get home securely.

Swimproof

During our non-running time with the Watch Fit 2, it performed admirably on all fronts. We put it through its paces in the water and found it to be just as accurate as Garmin’s swim tracking assistance.

Indoor rowing has a similar story to it. While certain features, such as animated exercises, were not available to us, the ones that were did provide a satisfying tracking experience.

It’s possible to connect your metrics from Huawei Health with other applications if you’re interested in doing so. Despite Huawei’s lack of official support, you may use the Health Sync app from the Google Play Store to share your metrics with applications like Strava.

swimming closeup - smartwatch sports modes

Huawei Watch Fit 2: Smartwatch functions

From a smartwatch features point of view, the Fit 2 has nearly all of the capabilities of the original Watch Fit, plus Bluetooth calling, a built-in audio player, and access to Huawei’s AppGallery.

Even whether you’re using a Huawei smartphone with an iPhone or an Android phone, there is still some variation in the available capabilities.

Huawei’s Watch Fit 2 doesn’t provide an option for iPhone users to store music on the device or send short SMS responses while utilizing Bluetooth calling.

A new watch face function allows users to transmit photographs to the watch through NFC, but only if the watch is attached to a Huawei smartphone. You’ll also need a Huawei phone to use the onboard smart assistant.

We tested the Watch Fit 2 with an Android phone and found it to be a satisfactory smartwatch experience. Even if you can’t reply to the alerts on your AMOLED screen, they’re well-optimized for the device’s display.

Even while you can use the watch’s audio controls to play music and connect Bluetooth headphones to listen without a smartphone, this only works with purchased music because streaming services like Spotify and Deezer do not support this method of listening.

You can set alerts and add up to 10 of your most often contacted friends and family to your watch’s contact list. Calls were clear and loud enough to be taken outside, with the Bluetooth calling capability working well.

Watch faces

Additionally, Huawei has a wide variety of watch faces to choose from and additional options available through the Huawei Health app. As if that weren’t ridiculous enough, certain faces may cost as much as $5/£4. We’ve already installed a good selection, which we believe will please most of our customers.

Then there’s Huawei’s AppGallery, but it’s a truncated version at this point. A calculator and Huawei’s Petal Maps navigation software were among the six we were given to try out during our time with the smartphone.

If you don’t already have the AppGallery phone app, you’ll need it to set up Petal Maps and other apps that use it. However, despite the fact that it’s a little shop, the fact that Huawei’s full-fat smartwatches have the same level of access is a good thing to see.

More smartwatch features are on the way, including some that caught us off guard. You’ll get the most out of these new features if you have an Android or Huawei phone.

Battery life of the Huawei Fit 2

When Huawei first introduced the Huawei Watch Fit, it guaranteed battery life of 10 days under “average use” and 7 days with “intensive use.” Continuous heart rate monitoring and enhanced sleep tracking or 30 minutes of Bluetooth calling are examples of high usage. The Fit 2 has the same statistics and performs identically to the original.

In heavy use, you should expect to get a week’s worth of use out of the battery, and we’d say that’s based on regular GPS use, bright screen, and more power-hungry health and wellness functions. Based on our own experience, you can surely lengthen your hair, and there’s no need to be concerned about daily hair loss.

We observed that utilizing the GPS for an hour or more resulted in a 10% battery drain. That generally equates to about 10 hours of battery life, which Huawei does not disclose. If you’re looking for a dedicated sports watch at this price point, you’ll get a couple more hours out of it.

It’s common for the Watch Fit 2 to last a week, but you may extend that time by sacrificing key functions. You also get a day’s worth of battery life from just five minutes of charging, which is a nice perk.

Huawei Watch Fit 2 different watch straps

Conclusion

The Huawei Watch Fit 2 has a lot going for it. The design is stunning, the software is faultless, and Huawei has successfully stuffed a lot into one device for a very reasonable cost.

Additionally, it is capable of delivering a good performance along with its extensive feature set, and it has improved upon some of the original Watch Fit’s functions. The Fitbit Charge 5 is the obvious comparison here, but Huawei, in our opinion, has the best performance and hardware.

There is a little advantage for Fitbit when it comes to software, but this is Huawei’s outstanding wearable and a formidable competitor for the Charge 5.