Huawei Watch GT review

Huawei Watch GT review

Australian readers may be interested to know that Huawei are giving away their Huawei Watch GT with purchases of their superb Mate20 Pro mobile phones. I have been putting the smartwatch through its paces.

I’ve been wearing the same digital watch for years. It has the scars from caving in New Zealand, tripping over in Uluru and digging holes in the sand on Cronulla Beach.

Wearing the larger, but lighter Huawei Watch GT with its rubberised strap as opposed to a clunky metal one took some getting used to. But, it’s a hundred times more stylish than my trusty old watch. An “adult” watch, according to my wife. The strap (which can easily be changed), has a faux brown leather look. The watch face, itself is a 1.39” AMOLED screen with a ceramic bezel encased in a stainless-steel chassis.

It’s a very nice-looking watch. The underside of the watch, however, is plastic, with a raised circular area housing the optical heart-rate sensor array. Similarly, whilst my PR blurb refers to the strap as being a saddle brown leather strap, it’s not at all. Whilst the watch is water-resistant to 50m, a tiny asterisk advised that the “synthetic leather strip is not suitable for swimming”.

Huawei Watch GT review
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The smartwatch functions interface with your Android or Apple mobile phone via Huawei’s Health app. You’ll need, at least, Android 4.4 or iOS 9.0. Huawei’s own Mate20 Pro runs Android 9 out of the box, so you’ll have no problems there.

The watch is very much aimed at the more health conscious user as opposed to someone wanting to extend the control of their phone to their wrist.  I couldn’t, for instance, change songs on Spotify using the watch. The Watch GT can display notification of new emails and Tweets, as well as temperature and weather reports.

There are apps installed on the watch for Workouts, a Barometer, Compass, Heart Rate, a torch and even an app to find your phone. There are thirteen watch faces available at the moment. Many of the watch faces also display your steps and heart rate. There are a few less “in your face” faces for more formal occasions.

The watch does a good job of tracking an analysing exercise programmes like running, cycling and swimming (don’t forget to change the strap, though). I found the watch’s sleep analysis function particularly interesting, if only to view the Huawei’s heath app’s increased disappointment in me, now it also knows my appalling sleep habits on top of the data it’s been gathering for the last few months on my destructive lifestyle.

Huawei Watch GT review

This Huawei Watch GT promotion is included as part of Mate20 Pro post-paid plans available with the follow Huawei carrier partners:

Optus customers will receive 30GB of data for $74 per month for 24 months, available until 31 March.  Vodafone customers will receive 30GB of data and handset for $64.91 per month for 36 months. JB HiFi is selling the Mate20 Pro for $1399 (save $200 from RRP $1599) as part of the promotional offer, available until 28 February.

The watch has certainly grown on me. A recent update added a Chinese New Year watch face, the first on many updates and enhancements for the watch. The opportunity to get the watch for free with the Huawei’s excellent Mate20 Pro is worth taking up if you are in the market for new top tier mobile phone.

The Huawei Watch GT is not available for separate purchase in Australia. The gift promotion is available from the following retailers: Optus, Vodafone, JB Hi-Fi, Kogan and Mobileciti. The promotional offer is available until 28 February 2019. The Huawei Watch GT can be claimed through www.huaweipromotions.com.au until 24 March 2019.