Huawei's new operating system has officially landed on the market and we got to try the first product that already comes with HarmonyOS installed. We are talking about Huawei Watch 3. It is not "just another smartwatch" but the smartwatch that marks a well-defined boundary. It marks the new era of Huawei and the transition to a proprietary ecosystem to challenge Apple, Samsung and others again.
There was a lot of curiosity about the new OS, above all because the hardware starting point was certainly excellent. Huawei GT2 and GT2 Pro were in fact two products that we really appreciated. So let's stop talking and let's get to the bottom of the new Huawei Watch 3 in this review.
Huawei Watch 3 review
The first impact with the Watch 3 was certainly very positive. The soft lines make it one of the most beautiful smartwatches on the market, while also recalling the classicism of a mechanical watch. The 46mm stainless steel case catches a few too many fingerprints, while the ceramic back feels very smooth and comfortable against the skin. There is only one size, so for slimmer wrists it could be a bit oversized.
In general, the construction is very accurate and despite speakers and microphones we can easily dive up to 50 meters or 5 atmospheres.
In use, the 1.43-inch display, with a 466×466 pixel resolution AMOLED screen, makes navigation within Harmony OS very practical. The merit is also of the crown placed on the right profile which transforms the passage from one menu to another into a very fluid experience. On the same side there is also a customizable button.
The brightness reaches a maximum of 1000 nits: translated this means that in all light conditions we will have good visibility of the display.
A discordant note is the Always-On Display functionality, the reason is obvious: the battery life is greatly reduced. With this feature you can get up to almost three days of basic use. We are probably facing a small software problem, which we hope will be resolved with some updates. But at present the suggestion is to use at least the function of activating the display with the rotation of the wrist.
A lot of technology in an elegant body
Huawei Watch 3 is equipped with a HiSilicon Hi6262 chip, 2GB of Ram and 16GB of internal memory. A configuration that allows for smooth use of the smartwatch. Furthermore, we find Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity for association with a smartphone, Wi-Fi, GPS, NFC and also the possibility of using an eSIM capable of exploiting 4G LTE for calls and internet connection. In essence, nothing is missing, just a pity that at the moment there are no options to take advantage of the NFC module for payments.
On the hardware side, we also find a long list of sensors as expected from a top-of-the-range smartwatch. We find those useful for outdoor activities such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and altimeter, but also a heart rate monitor that also detects SpO2 blood oxygenation and a new thermometer for skin temperature. Useful, but it doesn't mean measuring body temperature.
As already anticipated on Watch 3 there are speakers and microphone that allow us to use the watch to make calls but also to interact with Huawei Assistant. The audio quality is quite good, both incoming and outgoing, as confirmed by the interlocutors with whom we spoke during the test.
How's the Huawei Watch 3
The potential of this smartwatch is really high, but there is certainly some optimization to be done. We have already spoiled you that the battery suffers a lot from the Always-On Display, a very important feature for these devices. It must be said, however, that all the technology available to Huawei Watch 3 requires a lot of energy and the fact that it is always fluid and fast testifies to the goodness of the product. Having to charge it every two days can be a limitation, but it's not a big deal either.
Speaking of recharging, the supplied base is equipped with a very firm magnetic connection and recharges the watch at 10W. Too bad, however, that the USB cable is not removable, as it was possible to do on Watch GT 2 and GT 2 Pro. Too bad.
The first step to start using the new Watch 3 is obviously to connect it to a compatible smartphone, therefore with Android from version 6.0 onwards or iOS from version 9 onwards. It goes without saying that as soon as HarmonyOS is available on a smartphone that will be the perfect environment for Watch 3. If, however, no particular difficulties are noticed with Android, especially after some updates received during the review, the limitations on iOS are still many. There are some functions that seem incomplete, others that don't work. It is clear that this is an adaptation to an OS designed in a completely different way, but we would have expected greater compatibility.
Huawei Watch 3 review: HarmonyOS
But let's get to the heart of this new Watch 3, the HarmonyOS operating system. If the graphic setting does not offer a radical change – the icons and other elements are in fact very similar to the previous smartwatches – what changes is the display of the list of the various apps. In fact, we can choose a grid mode, zoomable and in which to navigate both directly from the touch display and with the crown.
The real novelty is in the use and fluidity of passing from one app to another. All of this has also been embellished with animations and transparencies that make the experience truly enjoyable. Furthermore, with a double click on the crown, we can quickly access the view of all open apps, switch from one to another quickly or simply close them so as not to consume too much battery with background operations.
Speaking of apps, we have also integrated the AppGallery, specially redesigned for smartwatches. At the moment there is not much choice of apps, but we will certainly see new things in the catalog in a short time. The presence of the AppGallery, in addition to searching for new apps, obviously allows us to update the ones we have without necessarily having to switch from a connected smartphone.
Punctual and precise notifications that we decide to activate, even if the fact remains that it is not possible, for example, to reply to SMS or messages from any other app installed on the phone. A limit if we compare this smartwatch to the AppleWatch.
As for sports-related features, Watch 3 confirms the good things Huawei has done in the past. There are over 100 preset training modes, tracking of constant body temperature as well as blood oxygenation, stress and of course heart rate. There is also the excellent sleep control function.
All the data collected can be viewed both from the smartwatch and through the Huawei Health app.
The voice assistant is also on board, which can be activated with a simple "Hey, Celia" but which still needs to be improved compared to Siri or Google. We can activate alarm clocks, start workouts, ask about the weather and little else.
If at the beginning of this Huawei Watch 3 review there were some obvious bugs, in particular on the management of notifications and the microphone, with the updates received the situation has definitely changed. A proof of how this operating system is still to be perfected but already constantly improving.
Conclusions
Huawei Watch 3 is potentially among the best smartwatches on the market, it's beautiful and elegant – especially with the leather strap – but it's just as sure that it's equipped with an immature operating system. There are small aspects that we are sure will be improved but, despite this, the experience with HarmonyOS has been overall positive.
In our opinion, the biggest limitation lies in the autonomy, but perhaps the PRO version, which has an almost double capacity, could already be the answer to this problem. It must also be said that we are dealing with a smartwatch that is not very cheap so the difference in cost between the basic and PRO versions could affect the choice. The Huawei Watch 3 that we tested is on sale on Amazon for €369, but if purchased on the Chinese company's official store there are also some nice gifts.
HUAWEI WATCH 3 - 4G AMOLED Smartwatch 1.43 inches, AP52,...345,42 EURBuy on AmazonRead also: Huawei and the charging speed: super-fast wireless charging coming soon? TagsHarmonyOS Huawei huawei watch 3 smartwatch