Huawei Watch GT5 Pro Review: Style & Fitness Personified

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Ranking

Professionals

• Beautiful design
• Premium construct high quality
• Extraordinarily correct GPS
• Lengthy battery life and fast charging
• Complete {golfing} mode

Cons

• No NFC funds within the UK
• Navigation solely works with Petal Maps
• Huawei Well being must be sideloaded

Our Verdict

The Watch GT5 Professional is among the most trendy and premium-feeling wearables I’ve ever had the pleasure of utilizing. It has nice battery life, a stunning display and is extraordinarily well-equipped for well being and health monitoring. In case you’re a golfer, you’re positive to find it irresistible, however sadly, some app problems and a scarcity of UK cost choices will restrict its mainstream enchantment.

Value When Reviewed

Unavailable within the US

Finest Costs Right now: Huawei Watch GT5 Professional

£329.99

Huawei’s GT Professional watches are on a two-year cycle, so whereas we obtained a Watch GT4 final yr, there was no GT4 Professional. Now, the GT5 watches have arrived in each Professional and non-Professional varieties, and there’s a bigger and smaller model of every.

I’ve the bigger Professional mannequin in for testing and it actually seems to be the half, with a titanium alloy casing and all-metal watch band. Huawei is aiming to supply one of the best of each worlds, a modern timepiece for each day put on and a class-leading health tracker multi functional.

The query is, how does it fare in comparison with competitors? Huawei gadgets have a tendency to return with just a little extra baggage than different wearables, you received’t discover the Huawei Well being app within the App Retailer or Play Retailer, for instance.

Is the Watch GT5 Professional ok to be price the additional trouble? I’ve been sporting it for the previous couple of weeks to search out out.

Huawei simply launched six new smartwatches

Design & Construct

• 42 and 46mm choices
• Titanium alloy case and bezel
• Sapphire glass display

The Watch GT5 Professional, in its 46mm titanium end, makes a direct impression. It feels extraordinarily premium, and it seems to be costly.

The one draw back to this premium building is that the system has a little bit of heft. It weighs round 86g with the metallic strap connected (and a few hyperlinks eliminated). I wouldn’t name it heavy, however you realize while you’re sporting it.

This may be what you’re in search of in a premium watch. Tech corporations will be too eager to make gadgets as mild as potential which may end up in them feeling low-cost however that’s actually not the case right here.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The design carries over parts of earlier generations, however the bezel is now flatter and extra angular. It has a novel octagonal form that makes it stand out from a sea of round rivals. The matte end feels extraordinarily hardy and resists fingerprints and smudges effectively, too.

Aesthetically, it may be my favorite smartwatch so far.

There’s a push button and a rotating crown on the fitting facet of the watch, and so they’re offset at a 45-degree angle, which implies you received’t by accident press them when leaning on a desk. The rotating crown is absolutely practical, and it may be used to scroll by way of menus or zoom into maps – take word OnePlus.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The included metallic watch band will be adjusted with out instruments, and there’s a quick-release button for eradicating the strap fully. Fluoroelastomer straps can be found for individuals who need one thing extra sporty, and the usual push-pin mounting system implies that third-party straps ought to be simple sufficient to supply, too.

The show is roofed with a extremely scratch-resistant sapphire glass coating, and there’s a pleasant two-tone blue and pink ceramic inside bezel on the colourway that I’m testing. It’s a small contact, but it surely provides the watch some further character.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

In case you desire a smaller watch, Huawei has you coated with the 42mm GT5 Professional. It retains all the identical options, it simply has a smaller battery, as there’s much less room within the casing. Oddly, the 42mm selection has a drastically totally different design, a lot so, that you just most likely wouldn’t assume the 2 watches are a part of the identical collection at a look.

The 42mm GT5 Professional is created from ceramic and is available in lighter colors (white or ceramic) with gold and silver accents. It’s a extra female design, but it surely’s equally hanging. I feel Huawei has nailed the styling on each of those choices.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Display screen & Audio

• 1.43-inch AMOLED
• 466×466 decision, 326ppi
• Constructed-in speaker

The 46mm Watch GT5 Professional has a vibrant and spacious 1.43-inch AMOLED panel with a 466×466 decision. In case you go for the smaller 42mm watch, you’ll get the very same decision, simply with a barely smaller 1.32-inch panel.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The spec sheet doesn’t checklist an actual brightness output, but it surely exceeds the vary of my mild meter, so it’s someplace above 1200 nits. It’s greater than vibrant sufficient to see on sunny days, and it seems to be vibrant and sharp in all circumstances.

The touchscreen is extremely responsive, and a lightweight spattering of rainwater didn’t appear to alter that both. 

There’s a speaker constructed into the fitting facet of the watch. It’s primarily used for voice calls and audible exercise notifications, however you may as well use it for listening to music, just like the Apple Watch Sequence 10, in case you fancy. It will get louder than I anticipated and the standard could be very respectable, by watch requirements.

Software program & Options

• HarmonyOS
• Color maps and topography
• There’s a keyboard now

The GT5 Professional runs on Huawei’s proprietary HarmonyOS software program and it pairs with the Huawei Well being app in your smartphone.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The app works with Android, iOS and Huawei’s EMUI gadgets alike, however because of US sanctions, you’ll solely discover it in Huawei’s App Gallery, and it’ll must be sideloaded on different gadgets. It’s no large deal for tech-savvy customers, but it surely’s quite a bit much less seamless than the competitors.

As soon as put in, arrange could be very easy, and with the required permissions given (there are numerous them) the watch delivered calls and notifications to my wrist promptly and reliably.

Huawei has caught some flack in earlier years for missing primary options offered by competing smartwatches, however issues are getting higher. With this era, there’s now a keyboard for fast replies and you may lastly take screenshots, too.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Extra excitingly, now you can use the look ahead to navigation, with full-colour maps and topography from Petal Maps. It really works very equally to Google Maps on a Put on OS system, you begin navigation on the telephone app and it’ll beam instructions over to the watch.

Petal Maps wouldn’t be my first selection of navigation service, but it surely works effectively sufficient. No less than that’s the expertise on Android, this characteristic is at present unsupported on iOS. 

The Huawei Well being app is full of fitness-related options, together with exercise plans, calorie monitoring and well being insights. It additionally encompasses a watch face retailer, with loads of free and paid choices to alter up the look of your watch, in addition to an app retailer to spice up the performance. Sadly, the app retailer is fairly spartan, and I couldn’t discover something price putting in.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

The Watch GT5 Professional helps contactless funds by way of Huawei Pockets, however this characteristic isn’t supported within the UK or the US. It may be the only greatest draw back to this system, because it’s one thing you are able to do with each equally priced competitor.

Health & Monitoring

• Over 100 exercise modes
• Superior {golfing} options
• TruSense system

The Watch GT5 Professional is among the first wearables to hold Huawei’s new ‘TruSense’ branding.

It’s a advertising time period to explain a sure set of requirements for the sensor stack and, in essence, it means the array of sensors work collectively in a quicker, extra cohesive method that’s much less susceptible to environmental interference.

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

Luke Baker

It’s onerous to check further how a lot of a distinction this new system makes, however for what it’s price, my step rely and coronary heart charge readings had been about the identical as what I’m used to seeing from gadgets like my OnePlus Watch 2 and TicWatch Professional 5.

Comparatively, this watch takes issues additional with pores and skin temperature monitoring, anytime correct ECG assortment and sleep apnea detection.

What actually impressed me, although, is the GPS accuracy. When taking a look at my routes after a stroll or a motorbike trip, the watch was so correct that it even accurately mapped which facet of the highway I used to be on. That is due to the brand new ‘Sunflower Antenna’, which Huawei says improves route accuracy by 40% and distance accuracy by 30%, in comparison with earlier generations.

The checklist of exercises obtainable for monitoring is significantly complete, and I used to be happy to search out that each one of my traditional actions are included, even barely extra area of interest actions like skating. The checklist goes as far as to incorporate issues like parachuting, parkour, motorsport and eSports. So, it doesn’t matter what you’re into, the GT5 Professional can doubtless monitor it.

One of many greatest additions to this era is {the golfing} mode, which is unique to the Professional mannequin and never discovered on the common GT5. Sadly, I’m not a golfer, so I couldn’t take full benefit of those new options, however in case you are, it looks like it might be a game-changer.

The golf mode helps 15,000 programs world wide and it’ll provide you with a 3D course preview that you would be able to view in your wrist. Then, when you’re enjoying, it’ll provide you with exact measurements of the gap to the outlet, together with vital information like wind pace and route in addition to elevation modifications.

It’ll additionally monitor your swings, suggest golf equipment, and it’ll even preserve rating. It’s like a digital assistant for golfers, it simply can’t carry your golf equipment.

Battery Life & Charging

• As much as 14 days of battery life
• 9 days of battery life typical utilization
• Speedy 1-hour charging

Huawei advertises as much as 14 days of battery life for the 46mm model and seven days for the 42mm watch. After all, battery life varies dramatically relying on which options you’ve got enabled and what you’re doing between costs.

Personally, I wish to have most issues energetic on a regular basis, I’m comfortable to sacrifice some battery if it means getting probably the most from my watch.

This implies all of the well being monitoring features had been enabled 24/7, and so was the always-on show, for the whole lot of my testing interval. Even nonetheless, I solely wanted to cost the watch about as soon as every week, it’s very spectacular.

When it’s time to cost, you achieve this with a magnetic puck that comes included within the field. It plugs right into a wall adapter or pc with a USB-A cable and costs the watch in a short time.

If it’s absolutely useless, it’ll solely take about an hour to achieve 100% cost.

Value & Availability

The Huawei Watch GT 5 Professional is that can be purchased within the UK and Europe from nineteenth September 2024, ranging from an MSRP of £329.99. As with all different Huawei merchandise, it received’t be launching Stateside, so US readers must import to get their arms on it.

From launch till October 22 2024, patrons on Amazon and the Huawei UK web site will get a free pair of Huawei Freebuds 5i with their buy, which usually retail for round £80.

You’ll additionally get three months of free membership to Huawei Well being+, a premium subscription service just like Fitbit Premium that provides extra options to the Huawei Well being app like extra exercises, guided meditations and respiratory workout routines.

The pricing implies that the Huawei Watch GT5 Professional is barely cheaper than the Pixel Watch 3, but it surely’s barely dearer than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 at MSRP.

If you wish to understand how these fashions examine, try our information to one of the best smartwatches in 2024.

Must you purchase the Huawei Watch GT5 Professional?

The Huawei Watch GT5 Professional has been a pleasure to dwell with and has fetched loads of compliments over the past couple of weeks. I feel it’s one of many best-looking smartwatches in the marketplace, and it feels simply as premium because it seems to be.

Relating to health monitoring, I’ve zero complaints, measurements appear correct and dependable and the GPS positioning is one of the best that I’ve come throughout to this point. In case you’re a golfer, this watch can be much more interesting, because it presents extra instruments to up your sport than another watch.

Battery efficiency is equally glorious, it’s very nice to have the ability to allow all of the options and nonetheless solely cost round as soon as every week.

Sadly, it’s not all excellent. The dearth of cost choices within the UK is an actual draw back, and Petal Maps navigation, whereas good to have, remains to be a good distance behind Google Maps.

For many individuals, these elements might be dealbreakers, but when they’re not, the GT5 Professional is straightforward to suggest.

Specs

• 1.43-inch, AMOLED always-on show
• IP69K rated for water, mud and corrosion resistance
• Constructed-in speaker
• Single-band, built-in GPS
• As much as 14 days battery life on 46mm model
• As much as 7 days battery life on 42mm model
• Coronary heart charge sensor
• Blood oxygen sensor
• Pores and skin temperature sensor
• ECG
• Bluetooth calls
• Sleep monitoring
• Stress monitoring
• 87g together with metallic strap