Huawei has been focusing more on the smart accessory range in Australia recently launching four new models including the Watch Fit 2. 

The Watch Fit 2 is available in Australia for $299, and comes with a larger screen than its predecessor, a battery life lasting up to 10 days and a new Cheeseboard style menu system. It’s also got all the specs you’d want for your health including all-day heart rate and SpO2 tracking and the Huawei Personal Trainer to guide you. 

While there’s a lot of focus on the higher end models, and their Watch GT 3 is excellent, not everyone needs all the bells and whistles, which is where the Watch Fit 2 fits in, bridging the gap between fitness bands and full smart watch. 

I’ve been using the Huawei Watch Fit 2 for three weeks now, and here’s how it went. 

Hardware and Design

The Huawei Watch Fit 2 is extremely light thanks to the polymer body, and sits extremely comfortably on the wrist. There’s a ‘Classic’ edition, which uses a ‘Moon White’ coloured aluminium body if you want a more premium look, but the sporty polymer case fits me extremely nicely.

Huawei has sent across the Black model, but the active model also comes in Sakura Pink or Isle Blue, both of which have silicone bands to match. There is only one size band in the box, which fits me well, but people with smaller wrists may have a fair bit of band left over.

The bands can be switched out though with a quick-release button on the under-side which is hard to see, but easy to use. Press it down and the band pops off. There’s a range of strap options ranging from the silicone bands, through to leather and Milanese loop options from third parties online including Amazon and eBay so you can customise your look very easily.

The polymer body of the watch is possibly a little more friendly to the skin in colder climates. I’ve found an aluminium body can be a little chilly in the dead of winter, but it’s personal preference. The polymer body also has a nicer feel when you work up some perspiration when working out – at least for me.

Working out and raising a sweat is no issue with the Watch Fit 2 coming with up to 5ATM Water Pressure Resistance – so showering or going for a swim is no issue at all.

For accessing the menu, or waking the The Watch Fit 2 up, there’s a single, large, easy to hit rectangular button on the right hand side. It sits flush with the watch body so there’s no accidental touches when you’re working out.

Of course the big feature is the larger screen which Huawei have increased to 1.74” from the last model. It’s big, bright and easy to read both indoors and out, and it’s touch sensitive. The touches are easily registered and you can easily swipe or scroll as you need.

The Watch Fit 2 also benefits from improved sensors, with 2 PD (Photodetector) Sensors and 6 LEDs for sensing your heart-rate and other aspects of your health. It’s incredibly accurate, and with the all-day monitoring can gather a lot of data across your day. 

Battery Life

There’s a decently sized battery inside the Watch Fit 2, with the watch able to last up to 10 days with typical use, or 7 days with some more intense use. I was able to eke out 11 days of use with some basic use, and was spot on the 7-day estimate when I added in some GPS tracked workouts, music playback and more.

Charging is very easy with a proprietary USB charging cable included in the box. The cable connects to the dual charging pins on the rear magnetically, and it snaps on very easily.

It takes around an hour to fully charge the Watch Fit 2 from flat, or you can get a decent charge with just a few minutes charge – at least enough to track a workout if you’re running low.

Setup and App

To use the Huawei Watch Fit 2, you’ll need the Huawei Health app which is available in the iOS app store for Apple devices, but if you’re on Android you’ll need to grab it from the Huawei App Gallery – their equivalent of the Google Play Store. 

The setup is easy, launch the app and run through the basic setup which includes a Huawei account, and then add the device. 

The app itself is easy to use and well laid out, with all the main features in the main feed. You can edit the layout and what information you want shown by simply tapping the Edit button at the bottom and then dragging and dropping the features where you want them.

Features

The Watch Fit 2 comes complete with watch apps including timers, alarms etc. as well as Petal Maps (their equivalent to Google Maps). There’s a lot of watch faces available on the device, or through the Huawei Health app on your phone, as well as apps and even games for your watch through App Gallery. 

Health

Of course there’s a heap of Health features included by default on the Watch Fit 2 but you won’t be able to use your favourite third-party health app like Strava. Huawei does however provide a lot of their own home-grown Health tracking and improvement features on the watch.

The health app includes support for tracking up to 96 different types of workout, with a personal trainer offering to guide you through warm up exercises for seven different workouts.The personal trainer is actually very easy to follow, with both audible and visual instructions to make sure you’re performing the warm-ups correctly. It’s a neat inclusion to encourage a warm up before you embark on a run or other exercises and certainly prompts me to do the right thing before setting off.

Tracking of your workouts is excellent, with the GPS locking on quickly and step counts accurate as well. The heart-rate and SpO2 monitoring are also excellent, with all-day tracking available

Connectivity

Huawei has brought Bluetooth Calling to the Watch Fit 2, a decent feature that allows you to pair your bluetooth headphones to the watch and take calls and get notifications.

The Watch Fit 2 doesn’t have a cellular connection, so you have to take your phone with you to maintain that connectivity. You can listen to music from the watch (Android only, sorry iOS users) which makes it a great partner for exercising and limits distractions you normally get from notifications on your phone.

I found the process to upload audio files a little cumbersome as I don’t generally keep MP3 files around as I subscribe to YouTube Music. Unfortunately the Watch Fit 2 doesn’t include any support for music streaming services, so if you want music on the go you’ll need to download them to your phone, then use the Huawei Health app to upload the files to your watch.

Notifications from the phone are fairly decent, though some inconsistencies exist including not showing the caller information, instead listing it as unknown caller – despite the contact being known. 

Overall though, the watch maintains a connection very well and the features work seamlessly without much prompting.

Should you buy it?

The Huawei Watch Fit 2 is an excellent mid-point between cheaper and less capable fitness bands, and heading up into the world of fully functional (and more expensive) smart watches.

The large display, excellent battery life, heart-rate and SpO2 monitoring as well as the comfortable and durable case are all winners in my book. 

The $299 price tag is excellent, but it can be found slightly cheaper than the RRP and comes with a $50 voucher for a limited time, making it even more attractive for anyone looking to track their fitness or health.

You can check the Huawei Watch Fit 2 out at JB Hifi and Bing Lee, as well as online through Amazon, Mobile Citi and of course the Huawei Experience Stores – or head to the Huawei Website for more.