REVIEW: Huawei Watch GT 5 can be the wearable to kickstart your running era
A stylishly handsome smartwatch packed to the brim with compelling features, especially for those getting into running, all at a very affordable price point—is it a yes on all points for the newly launched Huawei Watch GT 5?
The Huawei GT 5 is the newest iteration of the Chinese firm’s popular GT 4, which was released just a year ago. In its September 2024 promotional video, Huawei said the new GT 5 series, which comes in a standard and Pro model, carries a “new level of performance and aesthetics.”
Does the Huawei GT 5 deliver on its touted promises?
I tested the wearable for about two weeks and these are some of my initial impressions, with a particular focus on its running features from the lens of an avid runner.
Looks and function
Out of the box, the watch looks sweet and sexy. The Huawei Watch GT 5 46mm watch body feels just right, not too bulky and imposing on the wrist as some supercharged sports watches sometimes tend to be, and not too small and meek as was the case with some fitness trackers of yore.
The water-resistant watch case weighs 48 grams, excluding the strap, and is made of stainless steel, with a curved display. (The higher-end GT 5 Pro line, on the other hand, packs a more premium titanium build.) It feels sturdy enough as a fitness buddy, though my only quibble is that the stock rubber strap seems too slim to what I’m used to, as sports watches usually have more rugged and reinforced straps. This may be a matter of personal preference, but the good thing is that there are many strap options to choose from, whether through Huawei’s own product line, or other third-party providers.
Similar to its previous iterations, the watch has two main buttons on the right side, the rotating crown home button, and the side shortcut button below. Both buttons are intuitive to use and help users navigate through the various preloaded apps and features on the phone. There are also several watch faces to choose from, from the sporty to the classic, all the way to the cutesy, which has a chubby little panda bouncing around the screen. The colorful activity rings feature also tracks your stated daily goal in terms of your total steps, exercise, and stand time.
One thing I especially liked about the GT 5 is its crisp 1.43-inch AMOLED display. The vibrant colors are highly visible even in broad daylight, but the watch stood out when I used it on a night run, as the display panel popped out in bright detail. In particularly dark sections of my usual running route, the GT 5 could even serve as a useful flashlight, even lighting up my path and serving as a warning beacon for motorists on top of my reflectorized vest and headlamp.
Huawei said that the battery life of the Huawei GT 5 can last up to 14 days on a single use. True enough, in my case, I only needed to charge it once throughout my two-week test after the battery dipped to about 30%.
Running features
The GT 5 fitness tracker, in tandem with the Huawei Health app on the phone, can be used for many multisport options such as cycling, swimming, running, walking, and according to Huawei, over 100 other sporting activities.
The Pro edition, meanwhile, offers more tracking options for sports such as freediving, trail running, and golf, even providing “in-depth guidance” to improve one’s game, according to the company.
The GT 5 provides all the basic features that are enough for any kind of runner, such as heart rate monitoring, pacing speed, and GPS. I did notice a variability concerning its heart rate monitoring compared to the flagship sports watch I currently use from another brand. When I tried a side-by-side test on a track workout, with the Huawei GT 5 on the right wrist and my other much older watch on the left wrist, my assumptions were confirmed as the former registered a much higher average heart rate (plus 14) than the latter.
The variance, which could or could not be a fluke, may be due to a difference in proprietary technology or a host of other reasons. Huawei said the performance of heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring on the GT 5 has improved due to a new algorithm “developed through AI model training and the new multi-channel fusion blood oxygen algorithm.” The company stated that the improvements “jointly ensure the speed, accuracy, and all-roundedness of health data monitoring.”
The watch also has several very interesting running features such as the “Track Return,” which helps the user track back to the starting point of a route, and the “Route Draw,” which enables a user to plot his route and share it with others.
There is even a “Running Form Analysis,” which analyzes a user’s running form and suggests adjustments to improve performance and reduce the risk of injuries.
For those already looped in the Strava app, the Huawei Health app could be easily synced as well to the networking app in just a few steps.
Bottomline
If you are someone looking for a stylish smartwatch that could be your everyday fitness buddy, the Huawei GT 5 could just be a compelling option. This could be the fitting smartwatch for someone who is just embarking on a running era and is looking to have a more structured and guided training regimen while having a lifestyle watch that can have a bit of spunk and attitude.
And with a current discounted rate of P11,999 for online and in-store purchases at Huawei stores, it may be harder to find a more bang-for-the-buck mid-range option for this looker of a watch.
