Hands-on review: Huawei GT2 Pro - Huawei creates a winner
Smartwatches and fitness watches are becoming an essential part of the consumer's life. It is now very hard for any smartphone company to establish dominance if it doesn't have a smartwatch to go alongside its phones.
Earlier this year, I had a look at the Huawei Watch Fit, which wasn't impressive. Will the GT2 Pro reach the high standards we expect from Huawei?
Design
The design of a smartwatch is the first thing that anyone looks at, and Huawei did a great job with the GT2 Pro. It is hard to stand out with a watch design these days - from Apple's rectangular shape to Samsung's circle, essentially someone has already done it.
Huawei just kept GT2 Pro simple and elegant. The main body is a circular titanium frame that works perfectly with the leather straps. At first glance, and if you have a neutral watch face, it just looks like a nice watch. Enclosed in the titanium body is a sapphire glass display that gives the watch that extra "pizzaz".
As expected from a smartwatch in 2020, the screen is an OLED display. The touch sensitivity is smooth and feels of high quality, and the screen is more than bright enough to be clear in sunlight.
The right side of the watch has two buttons that look like knobs but sadly are not. One of the buttons can be customised, which is a very nice touch.
Another great design feature is that the watch ships with a leather strap as well as a sports silicon one. This means that users can take advantage of the health features while exercising - without feeling guilty that they are sweating in their leather bands.
Fitness
Fitness features are really important in a smartwatch in 2020. Smart features alone are simply no longer enough. The good news is that the GT2 Pro is teched out with health and fitness features.
The Watch will help users keep tabs on their steps, distance, standing time, Active minutes, Calories, flights of stairs climbed, Sleep, Exercise, Heart Rate, Oxygen level And even Stress levels. This detailed data collection puts the GT2 Pro on the same level as the new Apple Watch 6 and Fitbit Sense.
The watch does a great job collecting the data and even has dedicated faces that will show users all the stats they need in one screen.
While the watch is great at collecting data, the accompanying phone application is still average at best. I honestly feel it's the only downfall of this watch.
The interface is bland and extremely boring when compared to the competition. With that being said, the watch plays nice with other apps and can upload data to accounts like Google Fit, Apple Health and my Fitness Pal. You gotta love it when different companies play nice together for the sake of the consumer!
Smart features
It is no surprise that the GT2 Fit shines in this area. It does everything expected of it. From answering calls to receiving notifications, the watch does it flawlessly. It even has built-in speakers that let you take calls.
The one downside would be the fact that you can't use it to pay for things. As someone who has had an Apple Watch or a Fitbit on the wrist for the past 3 years, I have gotten used to just swiping my wrist at checkouts. I couldn't do that with the GT2 Pro.
Battery life
This is the category where the Huawei GT2 Pro not just wins but dominates. Battery life has been the downfall of Apple Watches since the day they were launched. Fitbit always did better at a maximum of 6-7 day battery life.
The GT2 Pro is registered to last 14 days. A full fortnight on a single charge! That said, I was only able to get 9 days' battery from heavy usage. Even so, those nine days are better than any competitor out there.
Verdict
I was not expecting much of the GT2 Pro but I was pleased with the results. The watch looks great and performs great.
While there a couple of small ifs and buts here and there, the GT2 Pro should definitely be considered by anyone looking to get a smart fitness watch at the end of 2020.
