Huawei Watch Fit 2 Review – Tackling the bounds of impossible

Tags: Review | Huawei | Smart

23.6.2022 | 8 MIN | 12x comment

Impossible is just a word – that is what the new Huawei Watch Fit 2, which pushes the boundaries of the smart watch experience to a completely different level, wants us to know. I even dare to say that this will become one of the best smart watches in the 'up to two hundred euros' category. If not the best.

On paper, this smartwatch outwits all its competitors. There is probably no cheaper watch that could contend with them, and on the contrary, more expensive watches have big problems standing up to this little guy.

What is packed inside?

• Three model variants - Active, Classic and Elegant
• New 1.74 "AMOLED display with an Always-on support
• Battery life: 10 days in normal and 7 days in heavy use
• Possibility of telephoning within Bluetooth range
• Built-in music player
• Countless sports functions and tailor-made running trainings
• Animated exercises
• Curve navigation

Excited yet? No? No way. Let's take an in-depth look at it and you undoubtedly will be.

Growing up and gaining on elegance

We all grow and modify somehow. Even with this model, Huawei did not muck about and added – besides the Active and Elegant variants – the Classic model with a leather strap. To navigate between the variants a bit better, the Active version is available with a silicone band, Classic with a leather strap, and Elegant sits on a bracelet made of metal. The Classic and Elegant variants also have an aluminum case and additionally an NFC chip, otherwise the watches are identical.

Let's check out the case now. The Watch Fit 2 has the same height of 46 mm as its forerunner. And just like we all start growing in width at some point, the Watch Fit 2 has also gained 33.5 millimeters in diameter (the older generation was 30mm). The thickness is 10.8 mm. Overall, the watch fits pretty much every wrist. It is comfortable to wear on a day-to-day basis, and even to sleep in. The weight of 26 g in the Active version and 30 g in the Classic and Elegant versions is, therefore, a good prop in this sense. However, this weight is without a strap or bracelet.

It is also interesting that the Classic and Elegant versions have a different strap clamping system than the Active version. We have a Huawei-like system for the "basic" Active version and then we have a Quick Release for the two "higher" variants. It's a pity they didn't put the pretty much standardized Quick Release even in the basic model... Oh, also to save some weight (and finances), the buckle on the silicone strap is made out of plastic.

Furthermore, visually-wise, they remained just as minimalistic and so the only distracting element is the button on the right side of the case. Besides that, though, the case of even the basic model looks like metal, which I'm sure can sway some people's judgement.

The standard Huawei display

The bracelet / watch has a display size of 1.74 "and a resolution of 336 x 480 pixels. The high fineness of the 336 PPI display is another of the company's pleasant standards – so you get no tetris on the screen. The glass is a classic - Gorilla Glass.

For me personally, the size of the display is absolutely ideal, and I think that if we assign this watch into the bracelet watches category, it has the largest display within it. A lot of reviewers speculate how to classify this model, but I believe the word "watch" in the title of the watch itself gives us a pretty clear hint.

There is only one small drawback to these displays, but maybe it's just that I'm too spoiled. Gestures (such as turning off the display) only work on the home screen. Nowhere else are you able to place your palm on the screen and put it to sleep.

GPS – yes, Gyroskop – yes, Kompas – yes

Now, it may seems like a mild sci-fi, but the watch is equipped with almost all the sensors that we normally find in the higher ranks of wrist smart devices. Namely there is an accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, pulse oximeter, heart rate sensor and also GPS. Quite decent equipment for such a puny thing ...

GPS in an open space, top notch. Red Garmin Fenix 7X, black Huawei Watch Fit 2

I am very glad that Watch Fit 2 did not disappoint, and the accuracy of the sensors is pretty amazing – including the heart rate and GPS. I took them to my training at Fatra, among the rocks and they did really well. They had a bit of a rough time in the forest, but there were only minimal deviations so I was pleasantly surprised.

They did surprisingly well in the built-up area. Red - Fenix 7X, black -⁠ Watch Fit 2

When climbing up Stoh through the coniferous forest, Watch Fit 2 struggled a bit. Red Garmin Fenix 7X, black Huawei Watch Fit 2

The old Watch Fits had issues with speed

It is true that the last generation was not /that/ fast when it came to the operating system. And I suspect that Huawei was aware of that and that's why they worked on it. The flow in the menu is excellent and I'm not afraid to say that the watch will match even more expensive models from Huawei, such as the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro. If we swipe right and left across the screen, we will come across all the important things such as weather, music, calls, step-by-step reports and so on. Everything is, of course, adjustable.

By swiping down the display you open the shortcuts and by swiping up you open notifications. I have to say that everything makes sense except for one little thing. If you reach the end of the right or left menu, another touch will not take you to the home screen. Unfortunately, nothing at all happens. You either have to use the button or you have to click your way back to the home screen manually. On the main screen, the button takes you to the watch menu, where you will find everything that is located in the watch.

Sport? No problem

Most of the time, it is customary for these lower-class bracelets / smart watches to be good, for example, only in sports, while the smart functions are somewhat... lacking, and vice versa. But this is not the case this time around, this pygmy here excels in both smart functions and sports. And I don't mean those million activities that you will find here, of course.

By that I mean the sophistication of the main sports, such as running, where you will find all the essentials you can think of. Before you even begin, Watch Fit 2 will offer you set of animated warm-up exercises and after your training, the watch will spit out a detailed analysis of the activity. There Huawei did not forget about the state of training, training load and VO₂ Max. I just can't wrap my head around how can all of this fit inside the tiny case. :-)

The testing was fun (and a bit of hard work). :-)

Another highlight, that took our breath away in the editorial, is the navigation. Yep, you heard right. The watch has trail navigation, so you can upload a GPX file and navigate the blind map during your adventures. And if you fall into the water somewhere, you don't have to worry, the watch is also suitable for swimming.

The above standard battery

There must be something wrong with that watch. But it's definitely not its battery. 10 days in smartwatch mode with light use and a week of demanding use is a really decent value, so you can leave the charger in a drawer for a few days.

If you are interested in a detailed, full-on Huawei style description, here is a breakdown of what you can and can't do to achieve such battery life:

• For 10 days: 30 minutes of Bluetooth calls per week, 30 minutes of listening to music per week, sleep and heart rate monitoring on continuously, 30 minutes of exercise per week, notifications on (50 messages, 6 calls and 3 alarms per day) and the screen can light up up to 200 times per day.
• For 7 days: 30 minutes of Bluetooth calls per week, 30 minutes of listening to music per week, sleep and heart rate monitoring on continuously, 60 minutes of exercise per week, notifications on (50 messages, 6 calls and 3 alarms per day) and the screen can wake up up to 500 times per day.

Unfortunately, you won't find anywhere how long the watch lasts with GPS continuously on. When I took them to the mountains for four hours, the watch went from 46% to 16%. So the battery should last for about 10 hours maximum. But I still don't think there's anything to complain about.

Phone calls and music in your watch? No problem

One of the biggest charms of this model is definitely the ability to make phone calls via Bluetooth, and its music storage. If I'm not mistaken, this is one of the cheapest watches that has these features. But if you know of any other models, feel free to leave them in the comments.

You can reply with a preset message options right from your watch, which makes life a whole lot easier. The weather, the "Where's my phone" function, the alarm clock, the stopwatch, the countdown stopwatch and so on can, of course, be also found in the watch. Even the AppGalery store works for Watch Fit 2, there you can find other apps to enrich your watch.

He's breathing. I hear him breathing.

You may know a famous Czech movie 'Pelíšky', where Mr Donutil held his breath. Should you want to get better at it (or you just need a help calming down), you can make use of the breathing exercises and breathe with the guidance of the watch. Besides that, the watch measures all the basics – such as steps, heart rate, calories and, for example, stress levels after you answer a simple questionnaire (where I'm sure you will stifle a laugh once or twice). It also measures sleep and helps you enhance it by recognising various sleep phases (deep, light and REM).

No fault detected

Genuinely. Throughout the entire testing process, I was hoping to find some flaw that'd be a at least a bit more significant ... and I found nothing ... The watch took my breath away, and Huawei created a model that is unique both in terms of price / performance but also in terms of sports / smart features. I don't understand how they conjured up such a model with such a low price tag, that is really filled to the brim with everything you need and still keeps the price below €160.

My colleague, Dominik, commented: "If we're not gonna shovel these watches over the counters, then I seriously don't know, which one would that be." And he's right. Huawei Watch Fit 2 has huge potential for both star athletes and businessmen.

It is very difficult to find a model, that'd be any similar to this one, let alone in a similar price range. Should we stay within the borders of Huawei, I would take a look at the Huawei Watch GT 2, which has very a very similar set of functions and when it's on sale, it's only a little more expensive. Another alternative could be, for example, the Garmin Venu SQ, which cannot do calls, but you can pay with it and it has that famous Garmin quality.

But if you want to invest in your watch a little more, I recommend Apple Watch 7 or Samsung Watch 4.

So what do you think about this tiny watch? Are you impressed just like I am?

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