Skilled’s Score
Execs
- Pretty display screen
- Good mixture of health and smartwatch options
- Good battery life
- Fast charging
Cons
- Clunky presentation of some knowledge
- May cut back some options
Our Verdict
The Huawei Watch Match 3 is an inexpensive smartwatch that appears like an Apple Watch and whereas it may’t match Apple for efficiency, is likely one of the greatest low-cost smartwatches you should purchase.
The Huawei Watch Match 3 sees Huawei take its health tracker and smartwatch hybrid and make it extra smartwatch.
Together with a revamped design and an even bigger display screen, the Watch Match 3 will get new watch faces, richer sleep monitoring, an improved coronary heart charge sensor and now provides extra sports activities modes.
Crucially, it doesn’t budge from its very affordable price ticket that gained’t see it measured up in opposition to the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch or the Google Pixel Watch. Assume extra Xiaomi, Honor, Amazfit and CMF smartwatches.
On paper, the Watch Match 3 guarantees an entire lot for not a variety of your cash and with no single smartwatch maker totally nailing issues on the inexpensive finish of the market, it’s there for Huawei to seize that greatest low-cost smartwatch crown.
Take a look at our chart of the perfect smartwatches to see alternate options.
Design & Construct
- New sq. design
- Out there in six colors
- 5ATM waterproofing
Huawei has basically ripped up the script for the design Match 3. Whereas the Match and Match 2 appeared like health trackers with barely wider, Fitbit Cost-like formed screens, that look goes out the window.
Instead is a squarer design that immediately make the Match 3 seem like an everyday smartwatch.
Many smartwatches are accused of being Apple Watch clones however that actually does apply right here with the Match 3. The 43.2mm sized watch incorporates a matte, aluminium alloy case with two bodily buttons on the precise hand facet, and it’s these buttons that scream Apple. The underside one is a flat type that offers you fast entry to the Match 3’s exercise monitoring display screen.
The highest button is a purple watch crown that merely doesn’t really feel as elegant or pristine as Apple’s crown and barely detracts from what is essentially a pleasant smartwatch to take a look at.
The crown is helpful a minimum of, primarily for scrolling by menu screens and can also be used successfully in eventualities like navigating the app launcher, the place a twist of the crown can rapidly reveal the labels beneath app icons to assist establish what they do. You can too double faucet it to get into your most just lately used apps.
Mike Sawh
There’s an excellent vary of colors you may decide the Watch Match 3 up in. Take your decide of Gold, Silver, Pink and Tarnish case shades and there’s additionally the choice of fluroelastomer, nylon and leather-based straps. There are buttons on the case again you may press to clip away the lugs to make it fairly simple to change up straps. These further straps will price you £30.
Huawei sticks to the identical stage of waterproofing because the Match 2, so that you’re getting a 5ATM-rated design, which does imply you may take it swimming and submerge it in water as much as 50 metres depth.
Display & Audio
- 1.82-inch AMOLED display screen
- Helps always-on mode
- Consists of microphone and speaker
As talked about, the display screen on the most recent Match is larger than the one on the Match 2, leaping from a 1.74-inch AMOLED to a 1.82-inch one with a 480 x 408 pixel decision. Huawei has planted nice screens on its pricier smartwatches and it’s good to see that even the Watch Match 3 will get an excellent one too.
In comparison with different screens on smartwatches at this worth, the Match 3 is likely one of the greatest
Mike Sawh
In comparison with different screens on smartwatches at this worth, the Match 3 is likely one of the greatest. It’s sharp, colors are correct and with a 1,500 max nits brightness, it goes very brilliant too. Once I’ve left it on almost prime brightness at night time waking up the display screen appears like turning on a smartphone torch.
There may be some bezel across the show, although Huawei does an excellent job of masking it with the person interface and its assortment of watch faces. It’s a display screen that’s properly responsive to the touch and is all the pieces you’d anticipate finding on a smartwatch that prices far more than the Match 3.
It’s a show that may be set to remain always-on, on the expense of the utmost battery life you’ll get pleasure from in between expenses. If you happen to can stay with no 24/7 display screen, the raise-to-wake gesture help right here is excellent.
Huawei has additionally discovered room for a speaker and microphone and that does imply you may take calls when paired to your Android or iPhone over Bluetooth. It additionally means you may play music from the watch sans headphones. It’s a surprisingly good performer, providing loads of quantity and good readability that makes it very usable for dealing with calls out of your wrist.
Software program & Options
- Runs on Concord OS
- Works with Android and iOS
- Some options work solely with Android or Huawei telephones
Huawei employs model 4.20 of its personal Concord OS working system, in order that’s the identical software program working on its Watch 4 and Watch GT 4 collection smartwatches.
Meaning you get one thing which is suitable with Android smartphones and iPhones. Most options can be found throughout these platforms with some exceptions. You may’t sync music for example when utilizing it with an iPhone, whilst you’ll must have an iPhone or a Huawei smartphone to make use of the distant digital camera shutter function.
Mike Sawh
Every part is about up within the Huawei Well being app, which is a bit busy and is value spending a little bit of time in to work out what’s truly going to be helpful every day.
The watch software program itself is a minimum of fairly simple to familiarize yourself with as compared. Swipe left and proper to see your display screen widgets, swipe all the way down to see the settings menu and as much as see your notifications. I don’t have many complaints with how issues run on the watch and it runs good and easy as nicely.
There’s a pleasant array of smartwatch options. It affords strong notification help, well-optimised music playback controls, a pleasant bunch of pre-loaded watch faces and a pleasant climate widget.
There may be NFC contactless cost help by Huawei Pay, although in contrast to Huawei’s different smartwatches doesn’t supply entry to the AppGallery storefront. If you happen to’re searching for the fundamentals and people fundamentals to work in a reasonably slick method, the Match 3 delivers on that.
Health & Monitoring
- Upgraded coronary heart charge sensor
- Constructed-in GPS
- Calorie monitoring mode
Match is within the title so it’s no shock to seek out that Huawei guarantees to trace so much on the well being and health entrance.
It has the important thing sensors you’d anticipate finding together with ones to trace coronary heart charge and blood oxygen ranges. It additionally consists of built-in GPS, which is at all times a bonus to seek out on an affordable smartwatch.
If you happen to’re not the sporty kind and primarily trying to make use of the Match 3 to trace your steps, sleep and possibly pay a bit extra consideration to emphasize ranges and day by day coronary heart charge, the Match 3 performs nicely as a health tracker.
The improved Exercise Ring widget is now extra glanceable and interesting than it was on the Match 2. Accuracy-wise, day by day step counts have been typically inside 300-500 steps of two different health trackers I wore alongside it. It helps inactivity alerts and Huawei has gone large with awarding you digital badges for hitting main milestones, so get used to these showing every time you launch the Huawei Well being app.
Huawei allows you to change between viewing your exercise rings and its wholesome clover, that are designed to mark while you’ve accomplished wholesome habits throughout your day. It’s an instance, nevertheless, the place Huawei tries to do so much, and the wealth of options will get somewhat overwhelming.
When it’s time for mattress, Huawei consists of model 4.0 of its TruSleep sleep monitoring system, capturing insights like sleep period, sleep levels, sleep scores together with providing some sleep evaluation and suggestions to enhance your slumber time.
Taking it to mattress with the Oura Ring Gen 3, I discovered sleep period and the time I fell asleep on most nights have been fairly related. It additionally did a pleasant job of capturing the additional naps I’d recorded when unwell throughout testing. The sleep evaluation and suggestions aren’t something groundbreaking, providing suggestions like telling me to air out the room earlier than sleeping or to strive a scorching foot tub or stretch earlier than mattress.
Mike Sawh
Huawei’s added some health-centric options it’s already rolled out to its different smartwatches and that features its scientific calorie counter which is able to immediate you to log meals all through the day within the app after which use your exercise monitoring knowledge with the concept of working in direction of a calorie deficit to drop pounds.
Sadly, the idea of manually monitoring meals minus a database of meals to lean on makes it a little bit of a chore of a function to make use of.
It’s additionally introduced in a TruSeen 5.5 coronary heart charge monitoring setup to vow a lift in coronary heart charge accuracy, and the pace with which you’ll take SpO2 readings as nicely. For on-the-spot coronary heart charge readings, the Watch Match 3 felt fairly dependable on the entire and matched as much as two different health trackers I wore on the similar time.
It was an identical story for common resting coronary heart charge readings, although I discover the presentation of the info within the app not tremendous intuitive and a bit clunky general.
As a sports activities watch, you’ve obtained your decide over nicely over 100 sports activities modes, with core modes together with working, biking and swimming each within the pool and open water. Huawei has added profiles for soccer, padel and e-sports, and now additionally features a new monitor working mode.
There’s automated train recognition for a few of these modes whereas Huawei has promised a brand new sensible solutions mode that recommends exercises primarily based in your exercise historical past and calorie consumption. These didn’t seem in any respect throughout my testing.
Mike Sawh
For a few of these core modes, Huawei retains its helpful warm-up and cool-down animations, although it seems to have dropped the power to import routes like you possibly can on the Watch Match 2.
There’s a single-band positioning setup right here versus the newer and extra correct dual-band one which seems on its different watches. When it comes to GPS accuracy, I discovered that on some runs, metrics like distance tracked and common tempo have been properly according to a devoted working watch I wore on my different wrist.
On different runs, the Match 3 barely over-reported distance, however it wasn’t a horror present. Coronary heart charge monitoring accuracy for exercises at a straightforward to average tempo was typically strong, helped by the great match I obtained with the nylon strap that’s obtainable for the Match 3.
There’s an array of coaching and evaluation obtainable on the watch and off it. You may observe structured working classes or create your personal and observe a spread of coaching plans that may be synced from the Huawei Well being app. You may view your working capacity index and coaching load and see your beneficial restoration time after you’ve tracked a exercise.
General, it affords so much in comparison with rivals and the core monitoring expertise is strong.
Battery Life & Charging
- As much as 10 days battery life
- As much as 7 days in heavy use
- As much as 4 days with display screen always-on
Huawei’s smartwatches usually put in a very sturdy efficiency right here and it’s no totally different with the Watch Match 3.
For the Watch Match 2, Huawei claimed as much as 10 days in typical utilization and seven days in heavy utilization. It’s quoting the exact same numbers for the Match 3, which packs in a 400mAh capability battery. It now moreover states what you may anticipate when the display screen is on 24/7, with that quantity dropping to 4 days.
I’d say that these numbers ring true as soon as once more. I discovered that the battery lasted roughly per week, although with extra common exercise monitoring, that fell slightly below. General, although the exhibiting has been excellent, and whereas it hasn’t improved on the Match 2, it actually has carried out worse, even with an even bigger display screen in place.
There’s a quick-charge mode to provide you a day’s play from a 10-minute cost and it may get from 0-100% in simply an hour, which is spectacular.
Mattias Inghe
When utilizing GPS, I discovered that an hour of monitoring noticed the battery drop by slightly below 10%. That’s precisely the form of numbers I noticed with related monitoring on the Match 2.
If you do get low, you’re grabbing a proprietary charging cable to get it powered again up once more. There’s a quick-charge mode to provide you a day’s play from a 10-minute cost and it may get from 0-100% in simply an hour, which is spectacular.
Value & Availability
The Huawei Watch Match 3 is on sale for £139.99 within the UK and €159, immediately from the Huawei web site. You can too get it from the likes of Argos, Boots, Currys and Amazon.
If you happen to’re within the US and need the Watch Match 3, then sadly issues haven’t modified on that entrance. This hasn’t formally gone on sale Stateside, very similar to Huawei’s different smartwatches and health trackers.
To place the Watch Match 3 pricing in perspective, it’s firmly sitting in that inexpensive smartwatch class, going up in opposition to the likes of the Honor Watch 4, CMF Watch Professional and the Xiaomi Watch S3, with the Watch S3 providing a spherical case design in comparison with the squarer appears of the Honor and Huawei watches.
Take a look at our checklist of the perfect smartwatches for the highest choices.
Do you have to purchase the Huawei Watch Match 3?
The Huawei Watch Match 3 is now very a lot a smartwatch and a really likeable one obtainable at a very good worth.
There are some design components that work and a few that don’t for my part, with software program and efficiency that feels very a lot according to different smartwatches in and across the similar worth.
It actually appears like a extra polished inexpensive smartwatch than one thing just like the Honor Watch 4 and the Redmi Watch 4, whereas its health and smartwatch options really feel higher executed than they’re on the Xiaomi Watch S3.
Backside line, If you happen to’re searching for an affordable smartwatch with an amazing display screen and you’ll stay with the fairly blatant Apple Watch-aping look, some fairly slick software program with some considerate touches, then that is nicely value a glance.
Specs
- 1.82-inch, AMOLED always-on show
- 5 ATM water resistance ranking
- Constructed-in speaker
- Single-band, built-in GPS
- 400mAh capability battery
- As much as 10 days battery life
- Coronary heart charge sensor
- Blood oxygen sensor
- Bluetooth calls
- Sleep monitoring
- Stress monitoring
- 26g (with out strap)