With its origin in the rudimentary Fit that appeared in 2016, Huawei's Watch Fit series has evolved significantly, culminating in the recently released Huawei Watch Fit 3 - a notable leap forward. This latest iteration, while not featuring tap-to-pay, succeeds in nearly every other aspect expected from a smartwatch.

Perhaps most prominently, the design has undergone a significant style overhaul (thanks to a few crib notes taken from the Apple Watch), sporting a sleek new look enhanced with premium metallic accents. At 9.9 mm thick it’s easy to wear and less intrusive on the wrist than other larger smartwatches. 

Perhaps the most notable feature is the Watch Fit 3’s competitive pricing, coming in at a reasonable R3 000. While cheaper alternatives exist, none match the refinement and feature set of this Huawei offering.

Improvements

Other improvements on the Watch Fit 3 include a slightly larger 1.82-inch AMOLED screen boasting 480x480 pixels and a peak brightness of 1500 nits, allowing for clear visibility even in sunlight. The addition of a rotating crown on the right enhances usability, although touchscreen interactions often prove as convenient for navigation.

Bluetooth calling functionality has also been notably enhanced, ensuring clear call reception directly from the watch, which is now more practical than before.

Huawei's foray into wearables intensified following restrictions on Google services for their smartphones and it’s clear the company has taken this seriously, especially when it comes to the smartwatch software side. All the regular health tracking features are really strong, including sleep tracking, exercise and heart rate monitoring. These offer a high-end user experience with a solid amount of info on display, both on the watch and through the Huawei Health app.

Sleep tracking, for example, provides detailed insights including a sleep score, sleep cycle data, analysis and personalised recommendations for better sleep. There’s even white noise and music to help fall asleep too.

Still no NFC

A notable omission from the Watch Fit 3 is NFC payment functionality, which may inconvenience users, such as runners, who prefer mobile payment options directly from their smartwatch.

One thing to remember, and this might be a big thing for some, is that the Huawei Health app is not in the Google Play store. To install this app, you would need to scan the QR code at the side of the Watch Fit 3 box, open the link and do a side install of Huawei Health. Your phone will most probably have the APK installer needed to install the app. From there it’s signing into the app with a Huawei account, and then activating a number of notifications and more on the Android system.

On my side, WhatsApp notifications didn’t go through to the Watch Fit 3 from my Oppo smartphone. (To correct this, I had to go to Settings> Apps> Special app access> Modify system settings, choose Huawei Health> Allow modifying system settings, to get it to work.)

It's clear that getting your Huawei Watch Fit 3 fully functioning on an Android device might be more effort than you’re used to.  

Finally, Despite Huawei's claim of seven days of typical battery life, my usage experience yielded slightly less, with the Fit 3 also impacting my Android phone's battery life by about two hours.

Final thoughts

Having used the Huawei Watch Fit 3 extensively over a month, it has become my preferred Huawei wearable to date, by far. With its Apple-inspired aesthetics, comfortable wearing experience, comprehensive health tracking features and decent battery life, it’s a smartwatch that’s easy to recommend.

Yes, the Watch Fit 3 is not as easy to install on your Android or iOS smartphone, there’s no NFC, and it could be perceived as less elegant than other larger smartwatches, but the Watch Fit 3’s compelling price point of R3 000 is hard to beat. In fact, I believe the Watch Fit 3 could even cannibalise sales of Huawei’s pricier offerings, the likes of the Watch 4, coming in at R7 000.

DISCLOSURE: The Huawei Watch Fit 3 was received from Huawei at the launch event.