The Watch GT 3 is the latest in a long line of watches from Huawei that is packed with features in an attractive yet practical titanium case.
The Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro has a quality titanium case with a standard 22mm strap that feels elegant and looks great. Although not as light as the Huawei GT Runner (38.5g), the GT 3 Pro does not feel heavy at 54g (without the strap). There are three straps to choose from when you buy the GT 3 Pro; black fluoroelastomer, gray leather and titanium.
The price difference between the cheapest (black) and most expensive (titanium) straps is not trivial at €150. I received the standard black strap with my review unit and while it doesn’t look as good as the titanium strap, it is more practical. I also find that metal bands with links tend to pull the hairs on my wrist so I avoid them. Of course, it’s a matter of personal taste and preference.
The GT 3 Pro runs Harmony OS 2.0 and has many new features including support for Wi-Fi connectivity and NFC. Currently, the latter does not work with any contactless payment systems in Ireland.
I’ve been wearing the watch 24/7 for the past month or so and can attest to the toughness of the titanium case and bezel, which uses sapphire crystal. It has stood up to a lot of daily use and abuse without so much as a scratch.
On the right side of the watch is the rotatable titanium crown and a long button used in the operating system to activate tasks as well as a contact point to hold your finger against for EKG and arterial stiffness measurements. The ECG feature isn’t enabled in Ireland yet, but Huawei has told me it’s coming next year.
The watch also has a built-in speaker and microphone that can be used to answer calls directly from your phone.
The case is 46.6 mm and has a stunning 1.43-inch circular AMOLED screen. There is a substantial bezel but it’s not something I’ve noticed in daily use. The screen can get bright and reading it outdoors was never a problem. Colors are vibrant and text is sharp and large enough to read easily.
The GT 3 Pro has over 100 training modes, GPS tracking, sleep tracking, skin temperature and a barometer sensor. It also has all-day heart and SpO2 tracking as well as monitoring your skin temperature.
The new arterial stiffness feature does not appear on the iPhone version of the Huawei Health app. It works perfectly on Android phones but for some reason you need an active SIM card installed to activate it. Every time I check it it comes up as “slightly stiff” but it let me know that my results are within the acceptable range for my age. To improve the results, the advice is to exercise more and not to drink or smoke.
I had no problem wearing the watch while swimming as it is water resistant up to 5ATM. It can track your swimming activities and not only shows length, calories and heart rate, but it can also give you a complete overview of your swimming style, stroke rate and much more.
The GPS is also excellent and I used it a lot during bike rides. As far as I could see, it was extremely accurate and could follow my every move as it mapped out my route as it tracked my duration, speed, calories burned, elevation, heart rate, aerobic exercise stress and recovery time.
There’s a map built into tracking mode, so if you get lost after a long walk or run, you can use the watch to navigate home. It will only show you the same route home and not a new one that might be faster.
There is also a new free diving option as well as apnea test and apnea training options.
The watch displays dive data in real time, including speed, depth and duration of the dive. It has airtight safety reminders, such as automatic reminders if you dive too deep or for a long time. This is hardly a feature most people will use, but I can imagine how useful it would be for those who do.
For golfers, the watch can collect professional swing statistics, including swing speed, swing tempo, backswing time and downswing time. It also has a driving range mode that accurately tracks your swing and offers helpful demonstrations and advice to help you improve.
A wireless magnetic 10W charger for the GT 3 Pro is included in the box. It can still be charged with any standard Qi wireless charger, which I found to be a lifesaver if you lose it or forget to bring it. Charging time is approximately three hours from 0 to 100%.
Actual battery life is as long as two weeks but you have to turn off many features to achieve this result. With everything turned on, I found I could get a full week and less with a lot of GPS tracking.
Harmony OS is constantly improving, but annoyingly you can still only reply with pre-written messages. Using the watch feels quick without loading apps or swiping through the interface. One niggle would be that it can take several tries to get a reading when using the arterial stiffness and SpO2 functions to get readings.
The app gallery has a few more apps now but it’s still very limited. What you get is lots of watch faces. There are all styles of dials from simple to complex, analogue to digital, free or paid and the quality is excellent.
Overall, the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro offers a compelling set of features combined with a sleek and premium design, class-leading battery life and performance that’s hard to beat. The Watch GT 2 Pro, which costs less and only has a few fewer features, is its main rival.
The Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro is available from Harvey Norman, DID, Soundstore, Euronics, Eir, Mint+ and Tecca and costs from RRP €349 (46mm) and €499 (43mm).
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