Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: The Watch That Made Me Actually Want to Work Out

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is one of two smartwatches Huawei announced recently. It is the more powerful of the two, as the other one is the base Watch Fit 5, even though they’re not all that different. This smartwatch is, as its name says, focused on fitness, but it’s also a very nice watch overall. Huawei did further improve its design this time around, as it looks better than ever.

As is usually the case, some improvements have been made in the fitness department as well, which is the bread and butter of this watch series. If you’re into square watches and are looking for something that is not in the Apple ecosystem, this one is more than worth considering, that’s for sure. Let’s see what exactly it has to offer. I’ve been wearing it for a while now, way before it was announced, so… I do have some thoughts. I also reviewed the Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro, which I have in fond memory, which gave me some perspective on things.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro

Rating

star

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Sleek design, outstanding battery life, and a fitness feature so charming it got a couch potato off the couch.

Pros

Great design, premium feel
Thin and rather light for what it is
Great display
Tactile buttons, solid rotating crown feedback
Plenty of sports modes
FItness tracking works well
‘Mini-workouts’ feature is immensely useful
Rather fast charging
Outstanding battery life
Smooth performance

Cons

Sleep tracking could be better
Limited app availability

Huawei supplied us with a review unit of the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro, but didn’t have a say in our opinion, nor did they see this review before you. We’ve been using the device for about two weeks before forming an opinion.

Specs

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Specs

Display Size	1.92 inches
Display Resolution	480 x 408
Refresh Rate	60hz
Dimensions	44.5 x 40.8 x 9.5mm
Weight	30.4 grams
Chipset	N/A
RAM	N/A
Storage	N/A
Battery	471mAh
Charging	Full charge in less than an hour
OS	HarmonyOS
Network and Connectivity	GPS, NFC, Bluetooth 6.0
Water Resistance	IP6X, 5 ATM
Colors	Black, White, Orange

View Device Specs

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Design

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is very similar to its predecessor design-wise. The placement of buttons, and even the finish on the rotating crown remain unchanged. What did change is the thickness of the watch; it’s even thinner now, without any sacrifices in the battery department. On top of that, the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro has thinner bezels around the display than the Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro. People loved the Watch Fit 4 Pro design, so Huawei apparently decided not to mess with it too much.

Huawei opted to use a titanium alloy frame in combination with a micro-arc oxidation ceramic finish here. That does give the watch a premium build, but it also feels premium. 2.5D sapphire glass is used on the front to protect the display. The only two buttons are placed on the right-hand side of the watch. The top button is a rotating crown button, which also serves as a regular button. That one serves as a menu button.

One of the buttons is customizable

The other button is below it, and it’s a customizable key. Part of the phone’s body is placed between those two buttons, and they’re very easy to differentiate. Not only do they have a different shape entirely, but a different finish too. The watch band hooks on the watch itself, and unfortunately, it’s not universal. This watch band is made especially for this watch, and you’ll need to get a proprietary replacement if you need it or if you want a different color. Replacing it is simple, as there is a quick swap button at the bottom of the watch.

Speaking of the bottom of the device, you’ll spot the heart rate sensor there. The bottom is protruding a bit, as is on other watches. In terms of comfort, this watch is very comfortable. It’s actually quite light, and the silicone band that I got with my review unit is very comfortable. You can easily set a proper length, as there are plenty of holes punched into the band, and they’re not far apart.

All in all, I really don’t have any complaints when it comes to this design, other than the fact that Huawei opted for a proprietary watch band once again. Most of its other watches enjoy a standard system, but the Watch Fit series does not.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: What’s in the Box

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro comes with a charging cradle in the box, but not the charging brick. You’ll need to plug in that charging puck into a USB Type-A port to get going. You don’t need a specialized charging brick or anything, though. Do note that the watch magnetizes to this charging puck; there are no POGO pins involved. Other than that, there’s really nothing in the box other than some paperwork.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Display

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro has a square display, which measures 1.92 inches. Its resolution is 480 x 408 pixels, and the screen-to-body ratio here is 83%. It has a higher screen-to-body ratio than its predecessor. The peak brightness the display can reach is 3,000 nits; in other words, it does get plenty bright when you need it to. When it comes to screen protection, Huawei opted for 2.5D sapphire glass.

The display here is great. For a smartwatch display, it’s the best you can ask for, essentially. There is no mention of its refresh rate anywhere, so we’ll guess this is a 60Hz display, but it doesn’t really matter. Everything you end up doing on it is smooth, and that difference would hardly even be noticeable on such a small panel. The colors are vivid, and the viewing angles are great too. The touch response this watch offers is also on a high level, so I didn’t have an issue in that area either. It’s also plenty sharp.

There is really nothing to complain about as far as this watch’s display is concerned. It does everything it’s supposed to, and then some. It’s bright, vivid, has good viewing angles, good touch response, and so on. The same was the case with the display on its predecessor, though. Huawei usually does a great job with smartwatch displays, and this one is no different.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Performance

When someone mentions the word performance in relation to smartwatches, the only thing that comes to mind is day-to-day fluidity. We’ll talk about fitness and health in another section, of course, so let’s focus on general performance. We’re not sure what processor Huawei is using here. It’s not mentioned anywhere, not even in the official specs Huawei sent. We’ll guess it’s one of Huawei’s Kirin chips for wearables, though.

What does matter, however, is that the watch offers great performance. I was unable to get it to slow down in around two weeks that I’ve been using it. Everything has been very responsive and basically instant. Yes, skipped frames are a part of the experience as on literally any other device, but there’s no lag or anything like that. It just feels great to use, and Huawei also did a very nice job with animations, which are not over the top.

You can also find some games for the watch in Huawei’s app store, and I did try a few, just for the sake of it. I managed to find a Snake game port that was rather fun to get into, and several others. Those are not exactly demanding games, so it’s not surprising that everything worked as it should. The watch works, and it works well, and that’s all you need to know, basically.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Battery Life

The Huawei Watch 5 Pro is equipped with a 471mAh battery. The company says that the battery density has been improved by 14% compared to the previous model, and battery capacity by 18%. Furthermore, Huawei states that you can use this watch for 10 days of light use, 7 days of typical use, and 4 days of heavy use. On top of that, it’s supposed to be able to provide 25 hours of use for trail running.

That sounds about right, actually. I used the watch with every feature turned on, basically, and was really testing it at full throttle for about a week. The watch lasted that week, but only barely. When I toned down on the features that I don’t generally use (second week), the battery life was much better. Realistically, none of you will use everything this watch has to offer. A week has passed since then, and the battery life sits at 37%, comfortably. I bet I can get it to go over 10 days of my typical use. So, it all depends on your use scenario, of course. The point is, the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro has excellent battery life.

The watch comes with a charging puck, which is attached to a USB Type-A cable. So you need to have a Type-A port in order to charge this thing. POGO pins are luckily not a part of the experience. This watch supports proper wireless charging, and it easily magnetizes to the charging puck in any direction. I placed the watch on a charger when it was at 1% charge, and it fully charged in slightly less than an hour. That’s not bad at all, especially considering that most of you will get over a week of use from it, easily.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Software

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro comes with Huawei’s proprietary OS, HarmonyOS. It does not include Wear OS or anything like that. It’s a completely proprietary OS that is compatible with both Android and iOS. That has been the case for Huawei watches for a long time now, so it should not be a surprise. With that being said, HarmonyOS matured quite a bit on Huawei’s wearables and is a big part of why these watches are so popular on a global scale. It is different than Wear OS in a number of ways, but general navigation and everything like that is quite similar.

You do get your home screen, with quite a few different watch faces on offer here, including animated ones. You can get a bunch more via the Huawei Health app, if you need them, both free and paid. Swiping from top-down, a really nice, quick toggles screen appears, while swiping from bottom-up gets you to your notifications. The left screen is your ‘Smart Assistance’ screen, which is customizable, and on the right, you have a ton of additional space for widgets. It’s a familiar setup that works well.

Huawei uses light animation in HarmonyOS, which is the way to go when it comes to smartwatches, in my humble opinion. Everything looks nice, and it’s smooth across the board. There are a ton of options included here. You can double-tap the home key to enter multitasking, while tapping the home key and the button below it will make the watch take a screenshot. Huawei also included a remote shutter option here, along with Find my Phone, calculator, and many more.

Notifications work a bit differently than you may be used to

One thing to note is that notifications work a bit differently than on WearOS. Here, when you dismiss/read a notification, it will not be dismissed on your phone. That’s how I prefer it to work, in all honesty, as I often forget to reply to it later. On Wear OS, as many of you know, it syncs notifications in two directions, so dismissing them from your watch will remove them from your phone’s notification shade as well. You can reply to notifications from the watch, either with pre-existing replies or via a keyboard. Notifications were also instant to arrive, and I didn’t have any issues with app icons this time around, which was an issue in the past on Huawei watches.

All in all, the software is very capable, but you do not get access to a ton of apps here, and things do work a bit differently than on Wear OS. If you need separate watch apps for a ton of your phone applications, then this is not a watch for you. I do not, and I can use this thing without a problem. In fact, I prefer how Huawei’s watches handle notifications. You may not, however, and may prefer other options.

Another thing to note is that the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro does not exactly support Google Wallet. Its payment service is still limited to some regions, so you may have issues setting this up for in-store payment, just an FYI.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Health & Fitness

This is a fitness smartwatch; needless to say, it’s in its name. Huawei did bring a handful of improvements in the fitness and health section to this watch. The company introduced the so-called ‘Mini-workouts’ to the watch. Their goal is to get you to work out even if you don’t have time, and you’re not exactly in a place to conduct workouts. They will provide you with 30 guided movements accompanied by playful panda animations. Rewards are included to keep you motivated. I actually found this feature to be quite useful. I haven’t worked out in a while, and this got me moving, I have to admit. Those panda animations were also useful. This is actually the most meaningful feature that has been added, in my opinion.

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is also offers improved cycling features and metrics. Virtual power, virtual cadence, fall detection, and workout team-up are now all supported. I did take several bike rides while wearing the watch, and it did a very good job tracking everything, as far as I can tell. GPS worked very well, and so did everything else. Trail running also got upgraded, thanks ot the upgrade Sunflower positioning for greater accuracy, and so on. I did not test this one out, as I’m not really into trail running, but I’ve talked to a colleague from the industry, and he claims that Huawei’s improvements are noticeable. So, there you have it.

Huawei has also added 17,000 golf courses from all around the world to the watch, including detailed vector maps. If you’re into golfing, you’ll love this watch. I haven’t really played golf in my life, so that feature is definitely not for me.

There are plenty of other fitness and health features that are included on the watch, which have been there before. That goes for a ton of workout modes. Regardless of whether you’re into indoor cycling, swimming, diving, or hiking, this watch has you covered. Those are only some examples; of course, tons of modes are at your disposal. In addition to cycling, I tried out swimming and light jogging around the neighborhood, and the watch did a fine job. Then again, the Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro did the same, so… I didn’t really notice a massive improvement here, other than the fact that the GPS is a bit more accurate.

On the health front, TruSense System is here, including ECG analysis and arterial stiffness detection. The Diabetes Risk Study feature is included, and the same goes for CE-certified pulse wave analysis. Emotional wellbeing tracking is on board, and so on. All the standard sensors are here too, including a heart rate sensor. Menstrual Cycle Tracking is on board too, as is the Fall Detection feature. Sleep tracking is on board as well, and it worked really well. I did notice the same issue as on any other watch when it comes to sleep tracking, though. I have a tendency to wake up, grab my phone from the nightstand, and scroll through the news. Watches always think I’m asleep while I’m doing that, and the same goes for this one. I really wish companies would fix that somehow.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Audio

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro does include a speaker, while there’s also a microphone on board. The speaker is alright, but keep in mind that it’s a watch speaker. Don’t expect miracles out of it. The sound is nowhere near what a phone can provide. You can use it for calls without a problem, presuming you’re not in a loud environment. The microphone worked well, but the people I talked to said that they could easily notice a difference between me talking on a phone vs on a watch. That’s not surprising either. All in all, the speaker is fine, and so is the microphone, but manage your expectations.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro Review: Should you buy it?

I’ve realized that Huawei watches are rather easy to recommend to the vast majority of people. There are some people who are nitpicky about some stuff, and those will gravitate more towards other solutions. Regular people, who just want a watch that will do a good job overall, and don’t really care about how many apps are available, nor whether Wear OS is running on the watch, will be quite happy with the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro. It is an improvement over last year’s model, and that is not difficult to notice. The Mini-workouts feature addition is a game-changer in my humble opinion. This watch is a complete package, you have everything you need, and then some.