MobileManDan
INTRO
I have covered a lot of Honor smartphones over the years, and more recently two of their new laptops, so when I had the chance to give their latest pro wearable a test for a few weeks I was interested in how it would perform.
I must admit that at first glance I thought the watch was one of the more traditional smart watches like we have seen from Huawei among many other manufacturers out there, however on using it is more of a fitness band with a large screen.
The device was loaned to me by Honor UK and I had use for a two week period, no offer of a device was given and no money offered to cover this, and when I was finished the watch was returned back to them for others to cover.
HARDWARE
The Watch GS Pro was built to look like a traditional watch with its thick body and circular screen, they do make a more rectangle version called the ES which works the same way and I hope to get in to review soon to compare.
The screen is a large 1.39 inch display which works great outdoors even in bright sunlight which is good considering most of the time you will be tracking your steps outside or when going for a run etc.
Whilst it was a thick design, it did not feel too heavy on the wrist and after a few days just felt natural like wearing any other watch but with the added benefit of fitness tracking.
The sensors are located under the watch so sit against your wrist, this is also where the microphone is located but thankfully does not make much difference to audio quality and is decent enough for the odd call, although a Bluetooth headset will help if you plan to use long term.
Charging is via a wireless charging pad which grips on to the bottom tightly when needing to charge, although if the watch was to fall off the surface it was charging on it may disconnect so be careful.
My version came with a silicon strap which was decent enough to use but I can imagine some people would like to change thankfully this is easily changeable using a quick pin release and there are multiple straps you can purchase off sites such as Amazon to customise it to your personality
As with most smart watches a quick release of the pin releases the strap and you can simply just put the new one in and collect the pin into place for ease of use it also means you can change it within seconds if you like to switch up your straps in a hurry.
There are two buttons on the right hand side, the first is to bring up all the built in applications and settings, with the bottom button able to customise and set to something of your choice for quick access.
Unfortunately the lack of any NFC means you won’t be able to use this watch for contactless payments which was a shame as would have been a really handy addition to the feature set.
The Watch GS Pro is very sturdy and also backed up by some impressive specs with 50 meter water resistance being one of the stand out ones from the bunch and one many will want to use whilst swimming.
PERFORMANCE
Performance was good on the watch thanks to the custom OS used instead of something like Wear OS which seems to slow even the best hardware down, this is because as I mentioned at the start, the Watch GS Pro is more of a fitness support than a so called smart watch so does not need super fast internals to be able to do what it was designed for.
Because of the light OS used with only limited apps built in there was no need for hefty processing power which also drains battery normally, and so I was able to go days without needing to charge including wearing it all night and through the day.
The battery life was really impressive with no worry looking to find a charger every night and this also allowed me to get accurate stats on sleeping, steps and heart rate as I didn’t need to take of off to charge like some smart watches out there which need a nightly charge.
Honor state a 25 day battery life which I can believe and would have gone that far should I have had the device longer than two weeks for review when using as a normal watch, switching on the GPS tracking and playing music will of course drop this figure down.
You get internal memory which will store up to 500 songs so even if you are away from your phone, you still have access to play music via a Bluetooth headset and sync your data back to the phone when you have it again.
SOFTWARE
A quick disclaimer at the start about the software, it looks like the device I was sent was running pre production software because there were a few things I noticed during my time with the device.
First of all the box stated Watch XX Pro instead of the model number that is the final name going on sale, this is normally the first indication of having a pre production device with non final software.
Then there was the fact when I tried turning it off instead of Power Off it said Sluk which when researching is the Danish translation for Power Off.
Finally the last software oddity I noticed was the occasional temperature showing at 127C for some strange reason, then it would just change to the actual temperature.
Those were the only bugs I noticed but again this was a pre release version of both hardware and software and should not be happen in final software for you watch you are able to purchase
Ignoring all the points above when it came to a fitness tracker I was very impressed with the list of options and settings available for me to use.
It was great being able to track my Steps on a daily basis plus somebody who is on blood pressure medication it was handy to be able to keep an eye on my heart rate in case I got any irregular readings I should be worried about.
There are 100 different workout modes available to you so no matter if you are swimming or mountain climbing there will be a mode to track your stats and keep fully updated on the move.
One mode that is being talked about a lot at the moment is the blood oxygen sensor, Apple have recently added this to their Series 6 watch, but the GS Pro has this option too and will show your blood oxygen level if you want to keep a look out on that for health reasons
Whilst there are no options to install additional applications in the GS Watch, you are able to receive calls on it thanks to the built in microphone so can leave your phone in your pocket and use the watch to talk if you do wish, handy in quieter conditions of course but nice to be able to do.
There are plenty of watch faces to pick from too so you will find one that appeals to you even if you were not able to install additional ones or use a photo of your own, again as mentioned before this is a health fitness tracker and not a smart watch in the normal sense.
CONCLUSION
In my two week period I enjoyed my time with the watch, originally I thought it was going to be more of a typical smart watch like the Huawei GT2 or many of the Wear OS devices, once I learned more about who the device was aimed at I was able to judge my time based on that instead.
I have recently got into doing more walking and being more health conscious so like to track my steps throughout the day in an attempt to hit 10,000 a day to improve my health.
Using the watch I was able to do this with ease especially helped with the app you can install on your phone to sync all the data over which helped
For anyone looking for a smart watch for apps or communication then this won’t be the one for you, especially considering the lack of even a messaging app to text people back on.
However if you are looking for a fitness tool to be able to track your steps, heart rate and other health stats then this will be a great choice with plenty of options available in a design that looks like a normal traditional watch.
Right now the Watch Pro can be picked up for £249.00 from Honor store
Many thanks to Honor who sent over a sample device for me to be able to test and do this review.
