Huawei Watch Fit 3 review: A cheaper Apple Watch alternative
Huawei Watch Fit 3: One-minute review
The Huawei Watch Fit 3 is an excellent mid-range smartwatch aimed specifically at fitness enthusiasts. Over 100 different sport modes take center stage and allow for a range of activity tracking, including running, walking, cycling and swimming.
All activities can be tracked via GPS, but you will need a GPS-enabled phone to exercise. If this is a limitation, you’d be better off with a more advanced fitness tracker. Although the Fit 3 is designed for exercise, it’s very much in the spirit of wider smartwatch functionality. It remains to be seen whether the Watch Fit 3 will make its way to our market best smartwatch guide, but with great fitness features and well-implemented smartwatch features, it may have a place.
Smartwatch features include notification support, a weather widget, and many different watch faces. Every component is carefully designed and works seamlessly with the rest of the watch. I especially enjoy receiving navigation instructions while biking. This saves me from having to mount my phone to the bike, which is what I usually do.
Priced at AU$222 / £139.99 (UK), the Watch Fit 3 is one of the more affordable in the smartwatch and fitness tracker market. If you’re looking for a reasonable fitness tracker that mirrors some of your phone’s capabilities, this is one of the best options out there.
| Element | Huawei Watch Fit 3 |
| price | AU$222/£139.99 (UK) |
| aspect | 43.2×36.3×9.9 mm |
| weight | Approximately 26 grams (excluding strap) |
| Case/bezel | Aluminum alloy |
| exhibit | 1.82-inch AMOLED 480×408 pixels, PPI 347 |
| GPS | not applicable |
| battery life | 10 days |
| connect | 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.2, supports BR and BLE |
| water resistance | 5 atmospheres |
Huawei Watch Fit 3: price and availability
- AU$222/£139.99 (UK)
- Huawei extended warranty for just £28.00
The Huawei Watch Fit 3 is available now, priced at AU$222 / £139.99 (UK). There are a variety of strap colors to choose from, including black, pink, green, moonlight white, gray, and pearl gray. A USB-C charging cable is also included in the box.
If you want to enjoy free repairs for longer, then you can buy a Huawei Extended Warranty for £28.00.
If you want something more advanced then you can upgrade to apple watch The SE costs $249/£219 and includes additional features such as onboard GPS.
Unfortunately, the Huawei Watch Fit 3 is not available in the United States.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: Design
- Very similar to Apple Watch design
- Bright AMOLED screen
- Comfortable nylon strap
Watch Fit 3 is Huawei’s first watch that breaks the traditional watch design. Instead of a circular design, they followed the design ethos of the Apple Watch and opted for a rectangular surface with curved corners. The result is an eye-pleasing design that looks great but won’t draw anyone’s attention.
I particularly like the crown scroll button located on the right side of the watch, which on my test sample was bright red and contrasted nicely with the aluminum strip. It’s easy to use, rotates freely, and provides excellent functionality for many of the watch’s functions. The tactile feedback it provides has the added benefit of helping enhance the user experience. The wheel can also be used to wake up the watch if the motion detector fails.
The 1.82-inch AMOLED display offers 480 × 408 pixels and 347 PPI, all of which makes the screen not only large enough to easily display a range of health and fitness metrics, but bright enough to display clearly even outdoors. A bright day. AMOLED displays consume less power and provide more vivid images than LCD displays.
In terms of waterproofing, Huawei has maintained the same 5ATM rating as the Fit 2. Not that most people will take advantage of it, but this rating makes it water-resistant to a depth of 50 meters (for 10 minutes).
The nylon strap is also comfortable to wear 24 hours a day and can be wiped clean if there are any marks on it. Personally, I’m not a big fan of this type of strap because getting the Velcro into the right position every morning requires some trial and error.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: Features
- Runs on Hongmeng operating system
- Compatible with Android and iOS
Watch Fit 3 runs Huawei’s latest operating systemHongmeng OS 4.2. It’s a very capable operating system, and you’ll also find it running on the Watch 4 series of smartwatches. This operating system is compatible with Google Android and Apple’s iPhone, so it doesn’t matter what phone you have or if you need to switch platforms at any time.
First and foremost, this is a watch aimed at fitness enthusiasts. Over 100 different exercise modes enable tracking of a variety of activities, including running, walking, cycling, swimming and more.
Another feature I really like is the “warm-up” feature where the watch helps you with each specific exercise type. Depending on the activity, there are different warm-up exercises, each with a different duration. The watch will speak to you as you warm up, but unfortunately, the sound is quite loud and annoying. This sound also occurs during activity, which is tolerable if you’re working out alone, but not if you’re working out in a gym.
During fitness tracking, the watch can track specific measurements, including heart rate and blood oxygen levels. These statistics and more are visible through the watch and app, allowing users to track their progress over time.
The watch also offers a range of smartwatch features, including notification support, a weather widget, and a number of different watch faces. If you want any particularly fancy watch faces, then you’ll need to pay for one of their customization options. Notification support is well implemented, and I particularly enjoyed receiving navigation instructions while riding. I would like to be able to see photos in messages, but this is not supported.
The watch doesn’t support many third-party apps, but the ones it does support are nicely presented in the dock interface, making it easy and intuitive to navigate.
In order to get the full functional experience, you need to use Huawei Sports Health on your phone. The app offers a clean interface that displays all fitness and health statistics recorded on the watch. I know a lot of people would like to see the app get a major makeover, but I don’t really mind. It does everything I need and finding my way through the menus is very intuitive.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: Performance
The Huawei Watch Fit 3 performed very well in all my tests. The run tracking accurately tracked my distance, pace and heart rate. All statistics are shown on the display. The only problem is that it stays asleep so I have to force the motion sensor to turn it on again. As mentioned earlier, the man’s intrusive delivery of updates also created additional annoyance. This feature can be turned off, which I recommend if you don’t want to be disturbed.
You can cycle through different displays of tracking information. There’s even a readout that shows how fast you should move based on a preset target. It’s a nice feature, but it’s doubtful anyone will use it.
Watch Fit 3 also tries to guess when you’re likely to start exercising. I like this in principle, but in practice, I find that the watch thinks I’m starting a run or bike ride, when in fact I’m just doing some housework. This does beg the question of whether this watch, or any smartwatch, is actually able to correctly identify exercise types and report them accurately.
One of the best things about the Fit 3 is its battery. The advertised maximum battery life of 10 days can satisfy 30 minutes of Bluetooth calls per week, 30 minutes of music playback per week, heart rate monitoring always on, HUAWEI TruSleep™ enabled at night, an average of 90 minutes of exercise per week (GPS enabled), and message notifications on. (50 messages, 6 calls, 3 alarms per day), the device screen is opened 200 times per day. My specific testing of Bluetooth calling and music playback was fairly light, lasting about 14 days. This is such incredible performance that I almost freak out every time the watch needs charging.
Even though the GPS is transmitted through the phone, it seems to be very accurate. It’s possible to do any form of exercise without it, but taking full advantage of the features and tracking requires a GPS connection.
The nylon strap is comfortable to wear even in sweaty or hot weather. I can wear it for days on end without it feeling uncomfortable or making me feel like I need to take it off. I also sprinkled some stuff on it and was pleasantly surprised that I could wash it off easily.
All in all, the Watch Fit 3 is a great smartwatch for its price. It tracks workouts, sends notifications, and consistently outperforms most competitors.
scorecard
| category | Comment | Fraction |
| value | Priced at AU$222 / £139.99 (UK), this is one of the more affordable smartwatches on the market, especially considering its features. | 4/5 |
| design | The rectangular AMOLED screen is bright and responsive, providing a great user experience. | 4/5 |
| feature | It runs Harmony OS and is compatible with Android and iOS, making it a smartwatch that fits into any product ecosystem. | 4/5 |
| Performance | In addition to great fitness tracking features, the 10-day battery life is also a highlight. | 4.5/5 |
Huawei Watch Fit 3: Should I buy it?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
also consider
| Element | Huawei Watch Fit 3 | Pace 3 Chorus | Polar Pacer Pro |
| price | AU$222/£139.99 (UK) | US$229/£219/AU$399 | $299.99 / £259 / AU$495 |
| aspect | 43.2×36.3×9.9 mm | 41.9×41.9×11.7 (mm) | 45×45×15 (mm) |
| weight | Approximately 26 grams (excluding strap) | 32 grams | 40g |
| Case/bezel | Aluminum alloy | fiber reinforced polymer | Aluminum frame, plastic shell |
| exhibit | 1.82-inch AMOLED 480×408 pixels, PPI 347 | 240 x 240 pixels, always-on LCD | 240 x 240 pixel MIP color |
| GPS | not applicable | GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS | GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS |
| battery life | 10 days | 24 days, up to 38 hours GPS | 7 days |
| connect | 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth 5.2 supports BR and BLE | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
| water resistance | 5 atmospheres | 5 atmospheres | WR50 |
