Introduction
The Huawei Watch 3 and Watch 3 Pro smartwatches were announced alongside HarmonyOS 2.0 a few weeks ago. We’ve had the Pro edition with us for a review for the past two weeks, and now that we’ve completed all of the tests, we can tell you what went well and what disappointed us.
The Watch 3 series is a true smart wearable that can make calls on its own without the use of a smartphone. The design, build materials, and battery life varies between the vanilla and the Pro, and we have the more powerful version with us.
Design and build
The Huawei Watch 3 Pro comes with a 22mm standard strap and a superior titanium casing. It has a luxurious feel to it and a stunning appearance. Luxury timepieces can be quite heavy, but ours had a beautiful feel to it on the wrist without being too heavy. Without the strap, the entire weight is only 63 grams.
You receive a rubber and a metal strap in the package, so you can quickly personalize the Watch 3 Pro to fit almost any outfit, but if that’s not enough, the standard straps make getting more ones a breeze.
The 1.43″ display and 48mm case, on the other hand, are fairly large and may be too much for tiny wrists. The bezel around the touch screen is divided into 24 pieces (for the 24 hours of the day), however with the majority of watch faces, it is of little use.
The crown button on the side is also titanium, and the small “Huawei watch” inscription on the side is adorable. It functions as both a scroll and a button, although it takes some practice to become used to scrolling with it. The default option for a secondary key is Workout, but it can alternatively be Music, Contacts, or even AppGallery.
Software
The operating system of the Huawei Watch 3 Pro is a significant upgrade over the Watch GT 2 Pro. It now runs HarmonyOS 2.0, which adds to the already extensive set of capabilities. Huawei has kept the design simple, increasing the typeface only to match the larger screen; the icons remain the same.
The voice assistant Celia – Huawei’s answer to Siri and Alexa – is supported thanks to the smartwatch’s integration into the Harmony ecosystem. To work, the Watch 3 Pro must be linked to the internet by Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or the eSIM built inside the device.
Heart Rate, Sleep Tracking, SpO2 readings, and Breathing exercises are among the pre-loaded programs that are familiar to both Huawei and non-Huawei users. The integration with Huawei AppGallery makes a difference; it provides apps that can operate on their own or as a companion to an already loaded app on your phone. Although there aren’t many apps available today, the service is still relatively new, so we expect to see more in the future.
The Watch 3 Pro can function without a SIM card, which is why Huawei included some features from the Huawei Health app (which is required to fully utilize the wearable) inside the watch, one of which is the Alarm. Drain is another unique feature that emits a high-pitched sound to discharge any liquid from the speaker cavity.
Finally, Huawei has decided to let you choose whether your apps are displayed in a grid or a list. The former provides more apps at a glance, while the latter provides a sense of order, however scrolling is required and may be excessive if there are numerous apps loaded.
Battery life
Huawei’s wearables are known for their long battery life, and the Watch 3 Pro can last up to 21 days with a huge charge. The battery life is little over three days when Wi-Fi is turned on, the eSIM is connected, NFC is occasionally turned on, notifications pop up left and right, and the AOD is turned on. The battery’s 790 mAh capacity was completely depleted.
The Huawei Watch 3 Pro comes with a magnetic 10W wireless charger, although it can be charged with almost any Qi charger. The huge battery inside takes nearly three hours to charge from 0 to 100% – charging the watch for three hours every three days isn’t ideal when compared to previous Huawei watches, but it’s really quite good when compared to rival smartwatches.
You also have the option of getting the best of both worlds. The Huawei Watch 3 Pro’s Ultra-long battery life mode turns it into a more traditional Huawei smartwatch, with no independent calls or Wi-Fi but still working Bluetooth and GPS. As a result, depending on your usage, the battery can last between 14 and 21 days (mostly if you do a lot of running and need the GPS frequently).