Huawei has been busy over the past year churning out several updates to its Watch GT.
The latest, the GT 2 Pro, adds some nice new features, edging it further up the list of the better smartwatches out there in the market.
DESIGN
In the looks department, the Watch GT2 Pro ticks many boxes.
For starters it has a classic round timepiece design, with a chunky metal titanium frame and ceramic back.
At 52g it feels heavy to hold but when it is on your wrist it doesn't feel overly cumbersome.
It comes in just large size though, and those with thinner wrists may feel it is too big for them.
The face is covered in sapphire glass giving it a tough and reasonably scratch resistant finish.
On the right side are two buttons – one for power and for taking you to apps, and the other can be customised for different functions.
There are two different colours available – nebula gray and night black.
Two buckled straps are also on offer also, one leather and one silicone.
The GT2 Pro has a 1.39inch AMOLED touch screen with a resolution of 454x454 HD.
It is bright, clear and responsive to the touch, performing well in most lighting conditions.
PERFORMANCE
The watch is driven by a Kirin A1+ processor couple with 32MB of RAM.
That sounds like very little memory but due some clever technical work, you don’t really notice it.
Things all run pretty smoothly most of the time.
There’s a good reason for such a low power combo though.
It allows Huawei to maximise the battery life of the device and the results are pretty astonishing.
The spec promises 14 days typical use and in testing we got every bit of that and some more.
That kind of battery performance simply isn’t available on most other premium smartwatches and it gives the GT2 Pro an edge in that department at least.
Charging is via wireless magnetic connector and is fast.
There is 4GB of storage on board which is enough for most people’s needs.
The device runs on Huawei’s own Lite OS and the user interface is reasonably well thought out and easy to use via a combination of swipes and button presses.
There is a big down side though to this rigid ecosystem and the push for low power/high battery life.
Third party apps are not supported by the GT2 Pro – so if you are heavily dependent on any made by other developers, you will likely be disappointed.
FEATURES
Like most premium smartwatches, fitness tracking is core to the experience.
There is an optical heart rate sensor which some users will find useful.
It also supports oxygen saturation and stress level monitoring and tracks your workouts.
There are more than 100 different workouts that can be tracked and most needs are catered for.
With accurate GPS you can track your physical progress too.
Hikers will enjoy the altimeter and compass and for weather watchers there is a barometer too.
The watch is also water resistant to a depth of 50 metres.
One new feature that is particularly welcome is the improved integration with iOS.
Before now, on the earlier versions of the watch, it was very poor.
But the GT2 Pro changes all that and as well as being able to control settings on an iPhone, you can also sync key fitness and health data to your handset.
Finally, phone calls are supported too and the call quality is very clear.
CONCLUSION
The Huawei Watch GT2 Pro has many endearing attributes.
It has one of the most attractive designs on the market, stellar battery life and has a full suite of fitness features.
But its size and weight won't be appealing to everyone and the lack of third party app support is a big drawback.
At €299, its reasonably priced in comparison to the Apple Watch Series 6 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.
And in many respects it is up there with them in terms of appeal.
Much depends on what it is you want and what you value.
