Huawei took all the style cues from its excellent Watch Fit sports watch, stripped out the GPS and added a slightly smaller OLED. It then dropped the price of the Huawei Band 6 making it almost unbeatable value for the every gym-goer. By which we mean it tracks all the important workout metrics perfectly, but without GPS it won’t measure distances walked, run or cycled. The Band 6 that gives you all the connected notifications and controls you expect from a smartwatch, enough class and style to complement any workday outfit, and it recognises 96 different workout modes.
All day SpO2, stress and heart rate monitoring shows results right on the watch, or you can view your health trends and extensive sleep metrics through the greatly improved Huawei Health app – that is compatible with all Android and iPhones, even syncing with Google Fit and Apple Health.
Serious fitness fanatics will miss the GPS tracking, but the optical heart rate sensor is very accurate across a range of skin tones and through a wide variety of movements. On the smartwatch side the Band 6 will deliver notifications, but there are no smart replies or any way to take action other than read it. If you don’t clear the notification from the phone it will repeat on the device, which can be annoying. That shouldn’t detract from the overall quality on offer here, though.
It’s the same level of functionality you could expect from a fitness tracker that costs double the price.
Step/heart/sleep monitoring, 1,47″ colour screen, 5 ATM water-resistant (swim-proof), Bluetooth 5.0, 18g, R1700
