Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm Review – Fashionably Fabulous Fitness Wearable

The fitness oriented Huawei Watch GT 3 is their latest smart wearable that blends a design that resembles an actual mechanical timepiece at first blush with exceptional fitness functionality. Having tested it over the course of several weeks, we’ve managed to delve into its capabilities. Here’s our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm review where we share if it’s really worth your money.

Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm Review – Build and Design

At launch, the Huawei Watch GT3 comes with both 46mm and 42mm variants with our Huawei Watch GT 3 review sample being the former. Barring the difference in display size, the 46mm variant also has a larger battery with a rated 14 days of battery life while the smaller 42mm variant is rated for 7 days of usage.

As mentioned earlier, the Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm has a design that resembles an actual timepiece at first blush. You have a steel case with matching lugs along with a non-rotatable dial and a flat 1.46-inch AMOLED display up front. 

The Huawei Watch GT3 46mm is surprisingly sturdy as smart watches go with a 5 ATM rating for water and depth resistance which makes it easily able to survive a swim in a pool of fresh water up to 50 metres deep.

The right side of the watch features a rotatable and clickable crown to navigate the new ‘Chessboard’ style menus along with a secondary button that acts as a shortcut to the Huawei Watch GT3’s fitness tracking modes and as a back button. Getting about the menus is via the rounded touch AMOLED display, the crown and the button which makes for a simple yet effective set of controls.

Perhaps the only part of the watch that’s made of polycarbonate is the underside that features a host of sensors including an automatic Sp02 sensor, an all-day heart rate monitor and skin temperature sensor to track all the usual health and activity tracking variables including heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen and the like.

Complementing the posh look of our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm review sample is a calf leather strap with white stitching though the watch itself is able to accept third party 22mm wide straps if you’re not particularly keen on using the provided strap.

Overall build quality for our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm review sample is excellent with its steel swim proof case, posh strap and premium build quality. When used with the right virtual watch face, it’s easily able to pass off as an actual watch from a distance though its true nature is apparent when you’re a few paces from it. 

Other than the watch itself and the strap, Huawei has only issued a USB-A charger with a mount that latches on to the underside of the phone for charging duties. You can also charge the watch wirelessly from other compatible Huawei devices like the new P50 Pro as well as smartphones from other brands too including other Android smartphones and Apple’s iPhones.

Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm Review – Specifications

On paper, our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm review sample has the following specifications.

Price	RM1,099
Displau	1.43-inch AMOLED, 466 x 466 pixels
OS	Harmony OS 2
Memory	32MB RAM/ 4GB storage
Battery	455mAh, 14 days (quoted)
Size/Weight	46mm x 11mm / 42.6g (without strap)

The smaller 42mm version is otherwise functionally identical to the 46mm with the same microphone, speaker and 4GB of storage to store and listen to music as well as make and take calls but with the trade-off of a smaller battery and a smaller display.

Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm Review – Performance

Getting the watch up and running is a relatively straightforward task though you’ll need to install the Huawei Health app via an APK file displayed as a QR code on display on initial startup for Android phones in order to get the latest version while the app itself is available on the Apple app store for free download without the need for such rigmarole. 

Once you’ve got all the formalities and pairing sorted out with your phone, the Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm is able to accept notifications from the phone and both make and take calls via Bluetooth. The watch also has an impressive 100 plus indoor and outdoor workouts to follow ranging from mundane things like walking and running all the way to more exotic ones like snowboarding and trail running.

It also has a ‘Personal AI Running Coach’ mode that lets you create a training plan to help achieve a fitness goal based on your age, health, weight and other parameters. One quibble here though is that this feature only works with outdoor runs and doesn’t factor in other forms of exercise which is unfortunate.

Our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm review sample also features a generous – by smartwatch standards – 4GB of onboard storage that lets you save your music in MP3, AAC, FLAC, WAV and M4A formats directly onto the watch itself for playback. 

The watch even has a built-in speaker that lets you listen to music without the need for a pair of wireless earbuds.  It also includes a microphone for making and taking phone calls via the watch assuming your paired smartphone is within Bluetooth range. 

Navigating the menus on the Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm is via a novel yet effective ‘Chessboard’ style user interface with installed apps and settings accessible via a grid that resembles the aforementioned chessboard. In combination with the touch screen and rotating dial, you’re able to zoom in and out of the grid and select apps you require at will.

When worn for several weeks, our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm review sample drew approving stares and inquiries wondering just what timepiece it was. When paired with the Huawei Health app on an Android phone, the watch was able to offer excellent trackable data on all the usual parameters. 

The paired Huawei Health app was able to offer all this fitness minutiae in an easily digestible format with colour coded charts to track sleep quality or lack thereof, step count, heart rate, constant blood oxygen (Sp02) measurement and more.

When tested with walking sessions across daily errands and the odd sprint or two around the block over the course of several weeks including sleep , heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring, our Galaxy Watch GT 3 46mm review sample did not disappoint with consistent, accurate results.

While the user interface of the Watch GT 3 46mm is effective and easy to navigate, it does suffer from a lack of customisability. Beyond the usual watch faces, it doesn’t have many third party apps to choose from at present though this will likely improve in the future. 

Battery life with our Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm was good and while it wasn’t able to get close to its 14 days of quoted battery life, it was able to eke out 10 days of usage under more casual usage settings that don’t involve most of its bells and whistles such as its blood oxygen, heart rate and the like enabled.

Should you buy the Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm?

The Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm proves to be a fashionable and effective smartwatch that is pleasantly platform agnostic, playing well with both Apple’ iPhones and other Android devices without issue. 

With good battery life and excellent build quality combined with accurate activity and fitness tracking, the Huawei Watch GT 3 46mm proves to be a sound choice for the majority of users save for the most ardent fitness enthusiasts who would typically require more specialised gear.

For those with slimmer wrists, the 42mm version may be a better fit with no loss in functionality though this comes with the trade-off of a smaller battery and smaller display.

Huawei Watch GT 3 review unit courtesy of Huawei Malaysia. Available online at https://consumer.huawei.com/my/wearables/watch-gt3/buy/