Huawei Watch GT-2 review: Excellent form factor, packs impressive hardware

The Huawei Watch GT-2 is a good looker and offers an array of wellness features that almost make up for its lack of serious smartwatch functionality.
Huawei Watch GT-2 review: Excellent form factor, packs impressive hardware
Huawei Watch GT-2 review: Excellent form factor, packs impressive hardware

The battle for your wrist continues to intensify as smartwatch manufacturers continue to ramp up their presence. While the Apple Watch might be a no-brainer for iPhone users who don’t mind the premium pricing, the space for Android devices is more open with everyone from Samsung’s Watch Active 2 to Fitbit Versa 2 in the running. Huawei’s Watch GT-2 aims to carve a slice of this market and also make a pitch to iOS loyalists with a smartwatch that’s high on style and won’t break the bank.

Form is clearly the GT-2’s biggest ace. This is a smartwatch that looks every inch premium and will spark attention whether you’re at the gym with a silicon band or switch to a leather strap for a client meeting. The GT-2 allows you to swap conventional watch straps with minimum fuss. The 46mm version with a silicon strap was my primary wearable for over a week and it felt surprisingly light despite its large 1.39-inch OLED (454 x 454 pixels) screen. Huawei opts for a 3D curved design with a bezel-less watch face that offers excellent visibility. The GT-2 is pre-loaded with 20 watch faces - some that are very stylish, but you can’t add more from an external App Store. That’s a win over the GT-2 for competitors like the Fitbit Versa 2 with its bottomless watch face store. 

In terms of smartwatch stuff, the GT-2 offers weather updates, call and text alerts. You can also answer calls from your wrist – there’s no LTE or Wi-Fi though. The loudspeaker is very clear in case you want to play Dick Tracy; callers had no issues hearing me too. But that’s where the smartwatch capabilities of the GT-2 end; there are hardly any apps that allow you to get stuff done without pulling your phone out of your pocket. 

The GT-2 makes up with its stellar hardware. It’s powered by the Kirin A1 chipset, that was designed specifically for wearables. It doesn’t just keep things running smoothly but also impacts battery life. Our tests validated Huawei’s impressive two-week battery life claim. And then there’s 2GB of internal memory that allows you to move songs to your wrist (via USB transfer).

Wellness is another big win for the GT-2. This is a watch that you can swim with, thanks to its 5ATM water-resistance. You can track multiple indoor and outdoor workouts, there’s also VO2max consumption monitoring that reflects cardiorespiratory fitness and endurance capacity in exercise performance. But keep a ear out for the loud Voice Assistant that can embarrass you at your gym or even if you activate this voice inadvertently in a busy room full of strangers. I did it at least twice. Navigation is quite simple, at least once you work your way around the two physical buttons on the right spine. Setting up the watch (I used it with an iPhone 11 Pro) is super easy too. The Huawei Watch GT-2 is a good looker, packs impressive hardware including a stellar battery, and also offers an array of wellness features that almost make up for its lack of serious smartwatch functionality.  

The Huawei Watch GT-2 is available in three options - a leather sport variant at Rs 17,990, a Titanium Grey variant at Rs 21,990 and the Black Sport variant at Rs 15,990.

Ashwin Rajagopalan writes extensively on Gadgets & Trends, Travel & Lifestyle and Food & Drink. He owns and manages Brand Stories, a creative Content outfit and www.bytesize.in, a premier lifestyle blog with a focus on short-format content. Instagram: ‘ashwinpowers’) 

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