Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro review: Why buy Apple or Samsung?

So… despite the US government’s best efforts, it turns out Huawei is doing quite alright by itself huh?

It is still among the largest smartphone makers in China, and the company is apparently planning for a global comeback as well. With its homemade Kirin chips… served on a delicious bowl of HarmonyOS. And it seems like the perfect time for a comeback ‘cause — as someone who just finished reviewing the incredible Mate 70 Pro+ — I can’t wait to check out more Huawei phones in the future.

Not just that but Huawei also overtook Apple as the world’s largest smartwatch maker last year. And… I’m pretty sure the new Watch GT 5 series had a big hand in that success. So there’s the regular Watch GT 5 that starts at NPR 29,990 here in Nepal, while the Watch GT 5 Pro costs NPR 49,990.

I’ve actually been testing them both for a few weeks at this point and guess what?

Although I couldn’t really switch to the Mate 70 as my primary phone due to the whole “Google apps and services” thing, the Watch GT 5 series has been tempting me to move away from my Apple Watch so. bad. ‘Cause it does pretty much everything I want from a smartwatch. And it does so with excellent battery life. Let me discuss all that in this full review of the Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro.

Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro review: Specifications

Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro review:

Battery life

• Up to 7 / 14 days depending on case size
• 10W wireless charging

Yes… the battery life is one of the best things about wearing a Huawei watch. Like it always has been. I tried so damn hard to kill its battery by turning on literally every single health-tracking feature I could find. I also recorded around half an hour of workout whenever I could and even then, both of them would go on for 7 – 8 days before I needed to fetch the charger. Which takes a little over an hour for a refill.

That week-long battery life is only possible with the larger 46 mm watch, by the way. Which is what I have. But even with the smaller models, I’m sure you’ll be good for at least 4 – 5 days before the battery runs out. Or in other words, the battery on this thing lasts long enough to make anyone with an Apple Watch or a Samsung watch suuuuuuper jealous.

Design and build

• GT 5: 41 / 46 mm, Stainless steel frame
• GT 5 Pro: 42 / 46 mm, Nanocrystal ceramic or titanium alloy frame
• 20 / 22 mm universal strap support
• 5 ATM, IP69K rating (both) + EN13319 (only GT 5 Pro)

Alright.

So as you can see, the Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro kinda look the same with these octagonal frames. While the smaller 41/42 mm timepieces have that traditional circular aesthetics. But although they may look similar, there are a couple of differences you should know about.

Like how the GT 5 Pro has a ceramic case on the 42 mm variant or a more lightweight titanium alloy on the larger one. The Watch GT 5, on the other hand, gets the “stainless steel” treatment for both sizes. So even though this is a pretty big watch, I love how it doesn’t weigh down my wrist at all. The “Pro” guy also has a couple of exclusive health tracking features and its display is covered by a more scratch-resistant, more shatter-resistant sapphire crystal glass as well.

Huawei does say the Watch GT 5 should handle scratches twice as much better than last year’s Watch GT 4, but man. I’ve been begging Huawei to include sapphire glass in all its flagship smartwatches every single year so this is a bit disappointing to see.

Display

• 1.32 / 1.43-inches AMOLED panel
• Sapphire crystal glass (only on GT 5 Pro)

You know what isn’t disappointing to see?

This gorgeous OLED display in itself. I mean… you give me a list of what you want from a flagship smartwatch screen and I’ll bet that the Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro will check off every single item. The texts, the animations… they all look perfectly sharp and readable, its color reproduction is equally impressive, and this is also one of the most responsive displays I’ve seen on a smartwatch.

It wakes up the moment I raise my wrist to check time, turns off the moment I’m done — and of course — the actual touch response itself is fantastic. Whether when I’m just scrolling through different pages or when I’m typing up a message.

Oh yeah. You heard me right.

I can finally type a message on a Huawei watch instead of being restricted to a few pre-programmed quick replies. It doesn’t work with every messaging app, there’s no swipe typing yet, and I also would’ve liked to see some sort of confirmation dialog every time I sent something but I love this anyway.

A few new watch faces

Huawei’s newest smartwatches come with a bunch of new watch faces too. As is tradition. There are 11 of them for the GT 5 — and two more for the GT 5 Pro — although I keep coming back to the one that mimics the famous “Windows blue screen of death” every time I review a Huawei watch. Maybe I am a nerd. I just don’t know it yet.

I really like how Huawei made interacting with this display so fun as well. There are a couple of buttons to help me navigate across the UI, including this neat rotating crown which even has a nice, sharp haptic feedback every time I turn it up and down. How cool is that?!

I guess the GT 5’s brightness number kinda disappoints if you compare it to some of the big boys like Apple’s Watch Series 10 or the Galaxy Watch 7 but trust me. 1,200 nits is plenty bright. More than bright enough to maintain great readability when I suddenly get the urge to go on an outdoor walk on a particularly sunny day.

Software

• HarmonyOS 5.0
• No word on the number of software updates

Okay.

So let me talk about its software next and there’s obviously a lot to love here too. I already fangirled about that “typing” thing a little while ago, whereas Huawei’s new HarmonyOS 5.0 is also so incredibly well-designed and responsive. I know there are still no Google apps or a whole lot of other third-party apps here.

But if that’s something you don’t care about, I’m sure you’re gonna have a great time with the Watch GT 5.

This thing just feels so… smooth and responsive. The animations have gotten a lot snappier as well, the graphical elements feel richer, and Huawei also added one super important feature this time. Offline maps. Yes. I can sorta navigate through places and get my real-time position on the Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro without reaching for my phone, although I should tell you that it only works when I start an outdoor workout. Like walking, running, or cycling.

Health and fitness tracking

• 100+ workout modes
• Heart rate, stress, sleep monitoring
• Huawei TruSense System

That reminds me, the GT 5 duo also has something called “Sunflower Positioning System” for better location tracking… on top of dual-band GPS. And when I took it to the streets of Kathmandu, I gotta say it did a fairly good job of pinpointing my location.

It did struggle a bit when I was walking through some particularly narrow lanes — as expected — but this is impressive stuff. And hey, in case I get lost or forget my way during a workout, I can just use the “route back” feature on the Watch GT 5 to take me back to my starting point. Exactly like on an Apple or Samsung watch.

These things are excellent fitness trackers too. I get to log over 100 different sports modes, I can customize my workout exactly how I want, it can also measure my heart rate recovery rate after I finish a workout, and there are a few features designed especially for runners. Like analyzing your running form and all sorts of running courses with different difficulty levels.

And if you’re serious about golf or underwater sports like freediving, then you might wanna pick up the GT 5 Pro over the standard GT 5. ‘Cause this guy is loaded with a bunch of golfing features and it’s good for free dives up to 40 meters as well. Both of them are fine for swimming — thanks to 5 ATM and IP69K rating — but only the Pro model gets diving-specific perks.

The Watch GT 5 series is just as good at keeping track of my overall health. And I think I’ve said this about practically every Huawei watch I’ve reviewed over the years.

What’s with the redesign?

So when I found out that these two now have completely redesigned health monitoring tech, I was a bit skeptical at first.

Huawei calls it “TruSense”, and what you need to know is that it has a redesigned sensor setup, upgraded algorithms for better accuracy, and faster data readouts to name a few. And yeah, I’ve definitely noticed how fast the GT 5 is at reading my health data. Especially in terms of SpO2 since it can now measure my blood oxygen level in just 15 seconds like on an Apple Watch.

Other than this, everything from heart rate to sleep tracking is perfectly dependable as always on the Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro. I wore it alongside Apple Watch Series 10 (review) to bed one night — and as you can see above — they both got my time to bed, the time I got up, my sleep stages, and my heart rate levels throughout the night almost the same.

Even when I went for a quick outdoor run, I was getting similar readings from them at everything. Be it my heart rate level itself, my pace, or my cadence. Aka the number of steps I take every minute. So yeah… all this is to say that the Watch GT 5 series is great at keeping me informed on my physical health.

Whereas I love how it also takes my emotional wellbeing into account by constantly observing my emotional state all day long. And looking back at the data, I’m honestly quite surprised to see how close the GT 5 got to understanding me emotionally. There’s even a separate watch face with a little baby panda to visualize how I’m feeling. How cute!

Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro review: Conclusion

I guess I’ve gone through everything there is about Huawei’s new Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro by now so… let’s wrap things up. And I’m sure you’ve already figured out that I absolutely love this thing, right? ‘Cause like I said in the very beginning, these two pretty much have everything I’m looking for in a proper flagship smartwatch.

I know its lack of Google apps sucks, and that it might even be a dealbreaker for some.

But if you’re not among that crowd and just want a reliable smartwatch with a glorious design, a top-notch display, fantastic performance, excellent battery life, and some of the best health and fitness tracking on a smartwatch, this is it. I don’t think it gets better than the Watch GT 5 series.

And between the two of them, I find it pretty easy to recommend the regular GT 5 over the GT 5 Pro for its absolute value for money. You’re compromising a little in terms of the build quality and missing out on a few health tracking features but other than that, the Huawei Watch GT 5 brings 99% of what makes the GT 5 Pro awesome at almost 50% the price. So… like Shakira’s hips, the math doesn’t lie either.

• Our video review of Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro is coming pretty soon

Huawei Watch GT 5 and GT 5 Pro review: Pros and Cons