The base edition of the latest Watch GT line promises great value, but there are still major missing pieces
The Huawei Watch GT 5 may not boast the titanium design of its more premium sibling or niche exclusive features, but the core experience and very reasonable price tag ensure it remains a strong option for iOS and Android users. The design remains stylish and slim, the battery life is plentiful, and Huawei's latest underlying hardware upgrades have enboldened the fitness tracking. The major downside of Huawei's smartwatches continues to be the barebones smart experience, and we also think there's room for more personalized feedback in health tracking, but the GT 5 is still a difficult package to argue with.
Pros
- Slim and stylish case design
- Super fitness tracking accuracy
- Neat features for runners and cyclists
Cons
- Lacking apps and payments
- Health insights remain pretty basic
- Battery life remains unchanged
After debuting visual changes with the previous iteration of its affordable mid-range GT smartwatch, Huawei is back with updates to its key sensors for the GT 5.
The look has been refined and continues to outdo its asking price (£229.99), yet the difference-making changes for the 2024 iteration come through the just-announced TruSense System and update to the Sunflower Positioning System (heart sensing and GPS tracking, to you and me).
The standard GT 5 doesn’t get all the bells and whistles of its pricier Pro sibling – there’s no detailed golf tracking or trail running mode, titanium case, or sapphire glass display – but the core experience remains very much the same.
Ultimately, Huawei’s wearables are still very much held back – both in smarts and availability – by the ongoing US ban. Yet, the hardware and accuracy performance ensure they remain compelling alternatives for both iOS and Android users.
We’ve been testing the Huawei Watch GT 5 for the last couple of weeks – here’s our full review.
Design and display
As we’ve come to expect from the GT range, Huawei is delivering two different versions of the GT 5 here: a feminine-focused 41mm edition and a more masculine 46mm model (our test unit).
While some brands opt to keep things unisex, this is quite the opposite: there’s a distinct style choice on offer here, and it’s also present in the GT 5 Pro devices. These two models also share much of the same basic specs, such as the stainless steel case, though, naturally, the battery life and screen sizes make it quite a different overall experience.
The octagonal bezel has been retained on the 46mm edition, only this time it comes with sharper edges than the Huawei Watch GT 4 the design debuted on. It’s a change we like, and we also appreciated the noticeably slimmer case compared to the GT 5 Pro. This goes some way to offset the added weight from a steel case (versus the GT 5 Pro’s titanium alloy), and we were surprised with how little we noticed it on the wrist during runs and rides.
It’s also durable enough – at least in our short-term, relatively unscientific tests of daily wear over the last couple of weeks. It’s yet to pick up any scratches on the display, though the lack of a scratch-resistant sapphire glass covering is reason to be cautious over the long term.
We should also say it’s not quite as cut out for deep-sea excursions as the GT 5 Pro, too, though it does still offer the usual 5ATM water resistance rating, which is enough to withstand both pool and open water swims. As with almost all modern wearables, testing during pool sessions has produced no issues for us.
Navigation also remains the same here. The functional crown and quick shortcut button below it are relatively inobtrusive and keep the outer case looking sleek, but we wouldn’t have minded a third button to take some pressure away from screen swipes.
We’re also still stuck with the same 1.43-inch, 466 x 466 AMOLED panel present on the previous two GT generations. This isn’t unexpected, really, given that the brand will want to maintain some separation between the GT 5 Series and the pricier Watch 4, Watch 4 Pro, and Watch Ultimate, but it’s a definite compromise to be aware of when weighing up all the differences.
Smart features and software
Huawei has been forced to press on with its own HarmonyOS since the US sales and import ban, with no possibility of leaning on Google services like other vendors, but, regardless, the Watch GT lineup isn’t typically where we see the biggest jump in software innovations.
That’s true again with the GT 5. Yet, there are still a couple of new additions: a keyboard for quick replies and screenshot support. Both are things that we’re pretty baffled took this long to implement, and, let’s be honest, aren’t exactly device-selling features – but they are still welcome.
On iOS at least, we’ve yet to be able to take advantage of the keyboard feature on the pre-release software (it should be compatible with WhatsApp, Instagram, and the like), and can’t think of anything compelling to screenshot with a simultaneous push of the crown and button.
We’ve been more encouraged by the UX changes, which now deliver subtle visual cues to your current fitness status and group activity types with the same colors, while transitions in the likes of post-workout screens feel a bit cleaner than on the GT 4.
Again, it’s minor stuff – and, mostly, it just remains a shame that Huawei isn’t able to back up the fluffier parts of its smart offering with widely supported contactless payments, household-name apps, or any strong use case for 4G/LTE connectivity (not that this is a feature available with the GT 5 range).
One positive Huawei holds over most modern smartwatches is phone compatibility support with Android and iOS, helping broaden the GT 5 as an alternative to the top Wear OS watches or the Apple Watch lineup. Yet, as with any Huawei smartwatch, the smarts on offer with the GT 5 just aren’t the strong point – that’s still reserved for tracking.
Activity tracking
The real meat of this latest iteration is in the tracking hardware. Huawei gave everybody a preview of its overhauled sensor system – TruSense – a few weeks prior to this release, and the GT 5 models are the first to harness the improvements.
It’s all pretty technical stuff, but, essentially, Huawei has overhauled the positioning of sensors, the number of LEDs being used, and even the glass surrounding the sensor on the rear of the case to try and combat common inaccuracy issues such as darker skin tones, individual blood vessel layouts, colder climates, and movement on the wrist during activity.
It is a curious upgrade to try and judge, though, given that we already found Huawei’s last-gen heart rate monitoring to be mostly aligned with top sensors from the likes of Garmin and Apple.
We say ‘mostly’ because we actually had some glaring early issues with the Watch Ultimate, while the GT 4 was one that slightly struggled when heart rates entered the upper limits. Has that been fixed for the GT 5? Kind of.
We’ve used the watch to cycle, swim, and run, and we think there are fewer instances of the GT 5 struggling to match maximum HR figures (and average HR figures when they’re consistently higher throughout a session). They do still occur – often underreported by 5-7 BPM – and we certainly didn’t ever really get the feeling that the GT 5 was going ‘beat-for-beat’ with Garmin in terms of latency or accuracy as we have with watches like the Galaxy Watch Ultra or Pixel Watch 3.
For what it’s worth, though, we don’t grade this as too big of a deal. The data is generally more than good enough for most users, and you still have the option of pairing an HR monitor chest strap if maximal accuracy is your priority.
Improved positioning accuracy is another headline addition to the GT 5 models, with the dual-frequency tech packed inside getting an improvement that the brand says will boost route accuracy by 40% and distance accuracy by 30%.
Those are big numbers, and, again, it’s a difficult new feature to review when the existing GNSS system was pretty solid. What we can say is that it was within a healthy range of ~200 meters over 20-30-mile riding distances with Garmin’s class-leading, ‘Multi-Band’ positioning tech, and that lock-on was also within 5-10 seconds.
We suspect that the leaps forward would be more noticeable in built-up city environments or forested areas, which is where we found a device like the Huawei Watch 4 to suffer, but that isn’t something we’ve been able to put to the test just yet.
Aside from this, plenty of software tricks debut here for runners and cyclists, building on the introduction of some advanced metrics in the GT 4.
For runners, the data now encompasses grading and feedback on form – including ground contact time and balance – while cyclists get the opportunity to turn their phone into a bonafide bike computer and avoid awkward wrist raises during rides. We wouldn’t say the data is top tier – VO2 max figures continue to be a bit too generous, for example – but, like the GPS and HR data, you’re well within the ballpark with almost all of these metrics.
We also don’t think Huawei Health offers the cleanest integration with the watch, but this is much less of an issue than on the GT 5 Pro, in which trail running maps and advanced golf features like green contours are on offer if you download them from the companion app.
Health and sleep tracking
Fitness tracking has benefitted from the upgraded sensor setup, and so, too, has the accuracy of Huawei’s health features. Those optimized sensors now allow for quicker blood oxygen spot readings and improved respiratory rate detection, while additions such as ‘sleep breathing awareness’ make this the most advanced health tracking we’ve seen in a GT device.
As you would expect, though, you do miss out on a couple of features if you opt for the cheaper of the GT 5 models: ECG and arterial stiffness detection. We wouldn’t personally grade these features as big of a loss as the workout exclusives of the Pro – the trail running, detailed golf course maps, and freediving capabilities – but they’re undoubtedly nice options to have if you’re in the minority of users requiring them on demand.
Either way, the data Huawei serves up through the GT 5 was in line with baselines from our typical test trackers – the Oura Ring Gen 3 and Whoop 4.0 – whether it’s resting heart rate, SpO2, or respiratory estimates.
We wish Huawei did more with the data than simply storing it within the Health app for perusal, though. Skin temperature, for example, is a feature that remains without any context, meaning women who hope to use it to aid cycle tracking have to do so manually (assuming they have prior knowledge of what to even look for).
Generally, there seems to be a lot of stuff here that’s added without much thought given to how it fits into the wider, holistic picture. Typically when we see that from brands, the data matches the effort – but we can at least say the GT 5 is pretty accurate with what it sets out to track.
Things are a little better on the sleep-tracking side, we should also note, with plenty of analysis and recommendations available if you’re looking to make some active changes to your sleep. The traffic light grading system of different aspects of your sleep is easy to digest, while the accuracy of tracking was definitely passable.
Our wake-up and fall-asleep times were always registered within 10 minutes of our other test trackers, which is most of the battle when sleep stage accuracy is so questionable from the wrist, but we did spy that the GT 5 struggled to clock our awake times during the night.
Like most of the watch’s shortcomings, it’s far from the end of the world – but we still wouldn’t put the data or sleep scores on a par with the industry’s best.
Battery life
Considering Huawei managed to shrink the thickness and retain the battery life in last year’s 46mm GT 4, we were half-expecting the leap to be made this year. Sadly, that hasn’t materialized, and we’re stuck with the same 14-day estimation from Huawei for the GT 5.
In isolation, though, the battery performance here is still very good; we enjoyed just shy of a week’s worth of battery life from the GT 5 even with the always-on display enabled and all of the health features set to continuous monitoring.
Like with the GT 5 Pro, we believe the extra week or so quoted is achievable with lighter GPS use, different display settings, and stricter health feature use.
With such a slight set of smart features and a display that’s hardly eyeball-shattering, we’re hoping Huawei continues to push the envelope in battery life in 2025, but the daily use/charging equation is very favorable here.
You can pretty much do anything in a given 2-3 day period and you’re likely to still have plenty of battery spare, and, even if you do need to top it up, going from 0-100 only takes around an hour.
