The Huawei Band 7 seems to be to be the corporate’s direct competitor to the likes of the Fitbit Encourage 2, and packs lots of tech into a really small, and really reasonably priced product.
It’s top-of-the-line health trackers round proper now, due to a mix of things that belie its £49.99/$59.99 price ticket (availability within the U.S. is thru third-party sellers). It’s skinny and lightweight, however provides a vibrant, colourful OLED show that different cheaper bands merely can’t match. It is easy to learn, presents metrics in a satisfying approach, and simply feels extra helpful in direct daylight than different choices.
SPECS
-Two week battery life
-No GPS
-5ATM waterproof
-1.47-inch AMOLED show
-Weight: 16g with out strap
There are drawbacks, in fact — there’s no GPS, and since it piggybacks off of iOS and Android, it doesn’t have any third-party app connections. There’s additionally no method to retailer music on the system for listening to playlists whereas understanding.
And but, in the event you don’t thoughts carrying your telephone with you on a run or to the gymnasium, the Huawei Band 7 may knock the Match Encourage 2 off of its perch for anybody searching for a health tracker that received’t price rather a lot, however doesn’t sacrifice options.
Worth and launch date
The Huawei Band 7 launched in Could 2022 and is out there at £49.99 or AUS$159. Sadly, availability is proscribed within the U.S., however we’ve seen some sellers provide it for $59.99.
Design and show
The Huawei Band 7 is out there in Graphite Black, Nebula Pink, Flame Pink, or Wilderness Inexperienced (our assessment unit is the latter).
Its design is a bit of squarer than the Fitbit Encourage 2, with a extra rectangular face that comes with some slimline bezels which can be subtly hidden by the predominantly black show. And what a show it’s too, with an AMOLED making colours ‘pop’ in each aspect of the UI and the blacks remaining deep all through.
There are a collection of watch faces accessible, with every in a position to be tweaked in small methods. It’s not fairly the identical as you’d discover on one thing like an Apple Watch, however we discovered ourselves swapping faces relying on the event.
Straps are swappable, with the system itself weighing simply 16g with out them. In contrast to the Encourage 2’s capacitive ‘button’, the Huawei Band 7 provides a bodily button which we most popular for being extra dependable — significantly with sweaty arms. Nonetheless, it’s value remembering that this might theoretically enhance the probabilities of getting sweat contained in the system and subsequently restrict its long-time usability.
Options
To start with the dangerous information, the Huawei Band 7 lacks any GPS performance. It is a disgrace, and maybe not too sudden given the worth level, however that does imply it’ll lean on a related smartphone to do the entire heavy lifting with regard to location. Nonetheless, in the event you want to go for a run and take your telephone with you anyway, it’ll be no biggie.
This could even be good as a result of there’s no onboard storage for queuing songs or podcasts on your exercise. It’s one thing even Fitbit has shied away from in recent times, so once more, it’s not that shocking.
What’s shocking, in a great way, is the variety of sensors on provide right here. There’s an accelerometer and gyroscope, however there’s additionally what Huawei refers to as TruSeen 4.0. The 2-pronged tech assesses blood oxygen and coronary heart fee on the similar time, and the 2 run continuously in the event you select – that means no stopping to take an Sp02 studying. Contemplating blood oxygen monitoring was solely launched to Apple Watch Collection 6, which prices significantly extra, its presence right here is a large boon for the Huawei Band 7.
The Band 7 additionally does a terrific job with sleep monitoring, with TruSleep 2.0 serving to observe length and sleep states in additional element than you’d anticipate for such an inexpensive tracker.
The whole lot is offered properly on the Huawei Match app, which works virtually solely the identical as Fitbit’s — it’s a dashboard that customers can dive deeper into with a faucet.
Efficiency
All through testing, we ran the Huawei Band 7 on one wrist with an Apple Watch Collection 7 on the opposite with the intention to examine the step monitoring. Throughout the board, from operating to strolling, from a pool swim to a cycle, the Band 7 didn’t skip a beat and matched the inner GPS of the Apple Watch whereas piggybacking off the iPhone’s GPS.
In reality, the one subject was the variety of exercise sorts accessible — your cardio staples are lined, in addition to the choice to tweak them additional and create your personal, however we’d have appreciated extra choices. In the event you’re a dancer, into fight sports activities, or one thing else that’s not lined right here, you might be a bit of upset.
One space that exceeds expectation is the Huawei Band 7’s battery life. The Band 7 will final for an unimaginable two weeks, that means it’s ideally suited for excessive exercises over the course of longer intervals. Charging might be fiddly, although, and lacks the benefit of the Fitbit vary’s magnetic connectors.
Verdict
For a health tracker newcomer, the Huawei Band 7 is a simple buy. It lacks the extra guided exercises of the Fitbit and the highly effective third-party connections of one thing like an Apple Watch, however if you wish to observe your steps, learn how far you’ll be able to run, stroll, or cycle, and observe your coronary heart fee or blood oxygen stage with no need to cost for 2 weeks, it’s ideally suited.
If this is not for you
For extra options (and a shade display screen), the Luxe provides the following step up within the Fitbit vary, whereas the Versa 3 provides extra sensors and expands extra into smartwatch territory.
We’re hesitant to recommend the Apple Watch provided that the Collection 3 appears primed for the chop quickly and there’s nothing Apple makes for iOS customers at this worth vary, both.
