The Huawei Watch Fit 5 is the cheaper option in Huawei’s latest smartwatch line, offering many of the features found on the more expensive Watch Fit 5 Pro for a considerably lower price of £149.99. The device includes an AMOLED display, dual-band GPS, full offline maps, and Huawei’s new mini-workouts feature, while also keeping an eye on serious heart health conditions without an ECG sensor.
The watch largely sticks to the same design as the previous Watch Fit 4, featuring a 43mm aluminium alloy case that measures 9.5mm thick and weighs just shy of 30g. This compact size and light weight make it very comfortable to wear both during the day and at night. The display is a 1.82-inch, 480 x 408 resolution AMOLED screen with a noticeable black bezel around the edges. Peak brightness has jumped from 2,000 nits to 2,500 nits compared to the Watch Fit 4, delivering sharp, rich colours.
There are two physical buttons accompanying the touchscreen: a watch crown used to wake the display and scroll through screens, and a shortcut button that defaults to the workout tracking screen but can be customised. The Watch Fit 5 is available in five colours, with the green-grey version featuring a nylon strap while the purple, green, white and black versions come with a fluoroelastomer strap. The strap can be released from the body via buttons on the caseback, allowing for swaps.
A key design difference from the Pro model is waterproofing: the Watch Fit 5 carries a 5 ATM rating, suitable for pools, open-water swims, and showers, but not for deep-sea dives. The reviewer notes that while the design is not particularly original, it is a well-put-together smartwatch that will appeal to many people, lacking only the bigger display, tougher materials, and enhanced water protection of the Pro.
The Watch Fit 5 runs on HarmonyOS 6.10, Huawei’s in-house operating system, which the reviewer describes as one of the most user-friendly smartwatch operating systems outside of Apple’s watchOS and Google’s Wear OS. The interface is gesture-centric, allowing swipes from all directions to access features, and the watch crown opens the main app screen. Setup, settings adjustments, and watch face downloads are managed through the Huawei Health app, which the reviewer finds a bit too congested and overwhelming.
Storage has been upgraded from 32GB to 64GB compared to the Watch Fit 4, providing significant extra room for apps, offline maps, and audio files. The watch supports NFC payments through Curve Pay, a feature that has started rolling out across Huawei’s smartwatches, though the setup process can take some time. Users pairing the Watch Fit 5 with an iPhone will miss out on wallet functionality, the ability to respond to messages and calls, and some health features not yet approved in certain countries. Despite these limitations, the reviewer found the day-to-day smartwatch experience still very good on iOS.
The Watch Fit 5 includes Huawei’s upgraded optical sensor designed to improve heart rate tracking accuracy during workouts and power heart rate variability measurements for stress understanding. Dual-band GPS promises accurate positioning tracking for activities like running and cycling, which also benefit from more advanced metrics and the ability to pair with external sensors like power meters. Beyond workouts, the watch tracks sleep, emotional well-being, and features a pulse wave arrhythmia analysis that uses the optical sensor to measure signs of atrial fibrillation, a health feature typically found on more expensive devices.
Among the many features, the mini-workouts stand out, accompanied by a panda watch face, encouraging users to stay active through bite-sized 30-second exercises. GPS performance surprised the reviewer, performing well on outdoor runs for a watch at this price and matching that performance indoors with reliable treadmill tracking. Heart rate readings were largely in line with other devices, though the watch showed some severe drops in heart rate during workouts when compared to a chest strap.
Sleep tracking has improved over the years, with the Watch Fit 5 performing well against an Oura Ring 5, though REM sleep stages were shorter on the Huawei and it could be more generous with sleep scores. The reviewer notes that additional analysis and recommendations are provided but are somewhat baseline, and they would prefer more personalised insights. A recurring irritation is the need to complete a consent agreement for almost all health and fitness features, and the app contains a lot of other less useful information to bypass.
Battery life remains unchanged from the Watch Fit 5 Pro, offering up to 10 days with light usage, 7 days with typical usage, and 4 days with the always-on display enabled. The reviewer found these numbers accurate, with battery dropping 4-5% on lighter days and 10-15% on more intensive days. Charging takes around an hour with the proprietary charger provided.
The reviewer concludes that the Huawei Watch Fit 5 is a fantastic affordable smartwatch that delivers a bright AMOLED screen, strong battery life, reliable GPS, and a surprisingly rich set of health and fitness features for the price. While users will need to accept a slightly cluttered app, some iPhone limitations, and a more restricted app store, the watch is comfortable, capable, and does not cost a fortune, making it the Huawei Watch most people should buy.
Source: Trusted Reviews