Particularly prolific in spring 2024, Huawei is renewing its connected watch offering with the Watch Fit 3, a model that has no shortage of assets to seduce, particularly with its design clearly inspired by the Apple Watch.
Most of Huawei’s consumer activities in Europe, and particularly in France, today focus on four areas: laptops, tablets, headphones and finally connected watches. Even if the Chinese company is returning smoothly to the smartphone market with its Pura70, the American sanctions to which it must still comply have forced it to place more emphasis on areas rather considered secondary among other manufacturers.
Also, in its catalog of connected watches, Huawei scans quite widely. It offers dressy and high-performance models like the Watch Ultimate, more classic watches like the GT 4 or even models designed for sport. This is the case of this new Watch Fit 3 at a more affordable price than its big sisters but which retains the spirit and know-how of the brand to compete with market leaders like Xiaomi, Samsung and of course, Apple . We were able to test this Watch Fit 3 for several weeks. Here is our verdict.
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Huawei Watch Fit 3: a design clearly inspired by the Apple Watch
Apple designers have inspired a number of tech devices (or not, for that matter) for several years. The look of its MacBook laptops has been taken and revisited many times by numerous PC manufacturers. And the design of its Apple Watch also seems to show the aesthetic path to follow in the face of ever-tougher competition in the sector. This is evidenced by the style adopted by Huawei’s new Watch Fit 3. The Chinese here abandons the rectangular shape adopted for the previous model in favor of a square model. The similarities with the Apple Watch do not stop here since the right edge includes, in addition to a microphone, a rotating crown and a rectangular button. So much so that at first glance, with the screen off, it is easily confused with a model from the Cupertino labs. With the screen on, however, and the black surround around the panel, it is no longer possible to mistake it.
The Watch Fit 3 stands out in other ways. First of all, the thickness. The Watch Fit 3 has a wasp size of only 9.9 mm compared to 10.7 mm for the smallest Apple Watch (the SE) for a 43 mm case. The result is a watch that can be discreet even under a shirt. Note that the edges of the case are flat, which is not unpleasant to the eye.
On the weight side then, we salute Huawei’s efforts. The Watch Fit 3 weighs only 23g (without the strap) with its aluminum case. It is therefore quickly forgotten once on the wrist. For the bracelets, the firm offers three possibilities for the choice of material: fluoroelastomer, nylon or leather. Unfortunately, the attachment system is proprietary. You will therefore not be able to reuse a bracelet that you already have even though its width is fairly standard (20 mm).
Overall, the Watch Fit 3 has nice finishes. It has a water resistance of 5 ATM (approximately 50 m). You can therefore keep it on your wrist for nautical activities in fresh water. Even if the similarities with the Apple Watch are undeniable, Huawei has managed to deviate just enough from this design to turn it to its advantage.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: a bright but capricious screen
For the display, Huawei relies on a 1.82-inch Amoled screen offering a definition of 408 x 408 pixels for a resolution of 347 ppi. An appreciable finesse especially since the brightness is also there. Huawei thus announces a peak at 1500 nits, a value that is generally encountered on much more expensive models. The display therefore remains perfectly readable in all situations.
The responsiveness is also there. The touch screen is comfortable to use except when your fingers are wet. However, few connected watches know how to handle this phenomenon. We still notice a fault with the light sensor. If it shows a certain enthusiasm for boosting the light on the panel when the sun hits it, it remains blocked afterwards. When going into the shadows, or even complete darkness with the screen still on, the light remains at its maximum. A slight rotation of the wrist, however, resolves this annoying problem which can have an impact on battery life.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: a neat interface but lacking third-party apps
Obviously there is no question of taking advantage of WearOS, Google’s mobile OS, on the Watch Fit 3. Huawei’s new watch is powered by Harmony OS, an in-house system, present here in version 4.0. This system is very pleasant to use. It does not reinvent the wheel with its cards that you scroll on the screen to reveal sports exercises, the weather, overall health, etc. We even find some similarities with Apple’s WatchOS in the presentation of the widgets. We did not notice any latency when using the interface.
The Huawei Health companion app (used in a new version still in beta for this test) remains quite easy to handle with its menus and different sections. It offers downloading a large number of dials to vary the pleasures on the watch screen.
On the other hand, we deplore a rather poor store for applications to download. We counted seven in total (all free). However, distrust. The calendar, for example (compatible with that of Google), requires the installation of another app on the smartphone, this time paying. Same observation with the navigation tool offered for download which must be associated with a secondary app on the smartphone, also paying. Damage.
We also regret that you must have a smartphone running at least EMUI 10.1 (i.e. a Huawei smartphone) to be able to use the voice assistant present in the watch, AI Voice. He is the only one to answer the call. Impossible to use Amazon Alexa and obviously even less Google Assistant or Siri (Apple).
Huawei Watch Fit 3: precise sports tracking
With the term “Fit” (for fitness) in its name, the Huawei watch clearly sets the tone. Even if the firm also has activity bracelets (Huawei Band) in its catalog, the Watch Fit is intended to be a more complete device for athletes. It includes traditional sensors to measure heart rate, blood oxygen level (incidentally, Huawei points out that the Apple Watch Series 9 is deprived of these in the United States) as well as a complete GPS (bi-directional GNSS). band: GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and QZSS). Everything is supported by an on-board sports coach to motivate you according to the defined objectives. Also on the program, around a hundred training modes to support you in your various activities.
During our sessions, we noticed that the GPS is quite reliable. Compared for this test to an Apple Watch Ultra, the measurements taken by the Huawei watch revealed only a very small difference in the distance traveled readings (around twenty meters) over a 5 km course. Not bad.
In terms of heart rate, the findings are also appreciable. Less than 5 bpm difference between the Apple Watch Ultra and the Watch Fit 3.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: excellent battery life
If there is one point on which the Watch Fit 3 stands out from the Apple Watch, it is autonomy. During our test, the watch proved to be very durable. Fully charged on Monday morning, it still had 15% left at midday on Saturday. On the program for the week, daily wear for 14 hours with the Always On screen activated, a daily outdoor activity of at least one hour requiring GPS tracking, notification management (SMS, WhatsApp and various apps). In short, the Watch Fit 3 did not disappoint us on this point.
For charging, Huawei provides a wireless connector with, at the other end, a USB-A socket. Strange in 2024. It takes about an hour to replenish the 400 mAh battery from 0 to 100%.
Huawei Watch Fit 3: should you go for Huawei’s affordable watch?
Offered at 159 euros at the official price for its lacing, Huawei’s Watch Fit 3 manages to convince. It adopts a look that we know well having encountered it on numerous occasions but manages to differentiate itself, in particular with its red rotating crown on our example which gives it a little character. Its very bright screen makes it a good ally for outdoor sports sessions and especially in direct sunlight. Especially since the activity tracking is well up to what one would expect from a watch in this category. Our main regret is the weakness of the catalog of apps offered to further diversify the uses of the watch. While for several years Huawei has been forced to work in its own corner to develop its own system, the available app store is far too meager. However, this Watch Fit 3 already provides everything you need to stay in shape with an autonomy that can make Apple Watch owners very jealous.