Over the years, the design of smartwatches have evolved quite a bit, to the point where the line between a smartwatch and a traditional wristwatch is blurred. This is especially true for the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro; more specifically, the Titanium version you see in this review.
Not only does it have the aesthetics of a sleek, premium wristwatch, the GT 3 Pro is also a reasonably capable smartwatch with long battery life, even if some of its features are limited. Nonetheless, if you’re in a market for a handsome (and large) smartwatch, the GT 3 Pro should be in your shortlist.
What It Is
There are two variants of the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro for the Malaysian market. The one featured in this review is the more affordable 46mm Titanium model for RM1,399. The 43mm Ceramic version, on the other hand, costs RM1,599 (leather strap) or RM2,399 (ceramic strap).
Beyond the different size and material, both versions of the GT 3 Pro share the same hardware. These include a 1.43-inch 466 x 466 circular AMOLED display – which is protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire glass – IP68 water and dust resistance, a 5 ATM rating, and up to 14 days of battery life in typical use, though it goes down to eight days in heavy use.
Aside from that, the GT 3 Pro also runs on HarmonyOS 2.0, and it can even be paired with iOS devices.
The Good Stuff
Let’s start with the design of the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro, which is definitely my favourite aspect of the smartwatch. At a glance, it looks just like a classy traditional wristwatch, thanks to the titanium case and grey leather strap.
Suffice to say the GT 3 Pro feels and looks like a premium smartwatch, and I love the reflection that the sapphire glass gives off, not to mention its beveled edges. Really, there’s no denying that this is one of the most handsome smartwatches in the market now – in my opinion, anyway.
Further complementing the looks of the GT 3 Pro is its bright and vibrant AMOLED screen. The different watchfaces look great on this smartwatch, and even the always on display is legible outdoors.
Naturally, the GT 3 Pro also has robust tracking capabilities. It can track my heart rate, blood oxygen level, stress level – it does so by measuring heart rate fluctuations – sleep quality, and even skin temperature! These are not groundbreaking tracking features by any means, but they are certainly nice to have.
Of course, I enabled all of these tracking capabilities on the GT 3 Pro, and I’m surprised that the smartwatch can still return respectable battery life. On average, it can easily last over a week, which is in line with Huawei’s quoted battery life of eight days with heavy use. It’s neat that I don’t have to charge the watch every day.
The performance of the GT 3 Pro is worth a mention as well. Although Huawei doesn’t mention the processor powering the smartwatch, it can provide a smooth, responsive user experience. Running on HarmonyOS 2.0, the interface of the smartwatch is quite intuitive to navigate around as well.
The Bad Stuff
As much as I like the aesthetic of the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro, it does have a few shortcomings. Compared to other smartwatches – especially Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 – the GT 3 Pro has a very basic notification system. While the watch does get notifications from a paired device seamlessly, I cannot interact with them at all.
In this sense, the GT 3 Pro is no better than, say, a fitness band. Notifications from apps that the smartwatch don’t recognise are also lumped together, which can be a little messy to go through.
Aside from that, the GT 3 Pro can be too bulky for some folks too at 46mm; even the slightly smaller Ceramic model with its 43mm case is still quite sizeable. With that in mind, you may want to check out the smartwatch in person to see if it will suit your wrist.
Last but not least is the asking price of the GT 3 Pro. Starting from RM1,399, it’s certainly not an affordable smartwatch, especially in a market where you can get a pretty capable wearable for half the price.
Is It Worth It?
Although the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro does not come cheap, it is a smartwatch with a premium appeal. It looks sleek, it feels great, it has long battery life, and its tracking capabilities are similar to what other smartwatches offer.
Granted, the GT 3 Pro doesn’t have the most complete notification system, and its bulky nature may be a dealbreaker. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is a good-looking, premium smartwatch – this point alone can be worth its RM1,399 starting price to some folks.