When it comes to choosing a luxury wristwatch, there is a myriad of things to consider ranging from different brands to complications and watch sizes, but the choice for a smartwatch is somewhat simpler. If you are an iPhone user, you probably want to opt for an Apple Watch while Andriod users have more scope and manufacturers to opt from. The decision is easier when you decide what your priorities are – for instance, outdoor enthusiasts doing a lot of hiking and mountain biking can look at a Garmin Epix smartwatch, while those looking for the smartwatch with the most style, luxury timepiece feel in hand, and excellent battery life can consider Huawei’s Watch GT 3 Pro.
Measuring in at 46.6 x 46.6 x 10.9 mm and tipping the smartwatch scales at around 54 g (sans strap), there is a classy built-like-a-tank heft to it. It is an eye-catching piece of industrial design that will be noticed at work, at the gym, and as the final piece rounding off your black-tie look for that formal function. The case size is a nice 46.6 mm while the Watch GT 3 Pro caters to wrist sizes ranging between 140 and 210 mm (you get extra wrist strap lugs in the retail package).
The strap lock mechanism is quite clever as it stays hidden under the strap when you wear the smartwatch. The Titanium rotatable crown works well and looks really good too. Those who like to swim or who reside in a city that gets lots of rain will appreciate this smartwatch’s IP68, 5ATM, Dive water resistance that enables you to swim to a depth of up to 30 meters, so tracking your laps in the gym/home pool should be quite easy and worry-free.
The display of the Watch GT3 Pro Titanium measures in at 1.43-inches and it delivers great colours and details thanks to being an AMOLED screen at 466 x 466 resolution. Moreover, this display can also get pretty bright under direct sunlight, making it still readable outdoors. The AMOLED touchscreen, which is protected by sapphire that is very hard to scratch, also supports slide and touch gestures that can be used in combination with the rotatable crown to navigate Harmony OS.
Thanks to the latter, there are a ton of free and paid for watch faces available through the Health app allowing you to easily find one suitable for you – or even one for each day of the week. In addition, there are more than 100 workouts onboard which include golf driving range mode, running, walking, mountain climbing, hiking, cycling, open water swimming, triathlon, skiing, free training, elliptical machines etc. While the automatic workout detection functionality works well, you may want to manually start your workouts since there is a little delay before the smartwatch picks up that you have started to work out.
When it comes to health features, Huawei also has those basis covered thanks to the likes of an all-day SpO2 monitoring feature. Future-proofing this watch is its full ECG analysis via the electrode on the side (but this feature is not available in SA as yet).
Harmony OS allows you to install third-party apps, but there is not the world’s biggest app selection, especially compared to Apple’s watch app ecosystem or those for Wear OS. The OS is also feature-rich in other departments as well including the ability to use the watch for navigation, to make or answer calls, send messages using predefined text, or pairing it to a Bluetooth headset to listen to music while you run or work out or for Bluetooth calling that works a treat.
It is worth noting though that this smartwatch was pretty seamless to setup and pair with our other HUAWEI review unit for the month, namely the HUAWEI nova 10 SE, but not so much when trying on our OPPO Reno 8 Pro 5G, as the version of the HUAWEI Health on Google Play was outdated and we had to use APK file.
Last, but most definitely not least is the trump card of the Watch GT 3 Pro and that is its battery life. You get around two weeks for a typical user like ourselves while power users that regularly workout, gym or hike will get over a week worth of battery life from a single charge.
Ultimately, Huawei’s Watch GT 3 Pro will be a great choice for fans of stylish watches, those averse to charging their smartwatches daily or even every other day, and even the fitness and healthy-minded among us. It goes for a recommended retail price of R10999 but you can also opt for the non-Titanium version of the Watch GT 3 Pro which goes for R7299.
