You know it's about time for a new smartwatch. For quite some time now, Huawei has been bringing some of the most power-efficient and accurate smartwatches to the wearable tech space in the form of the GT range.

And after nine years of R&D into smartwatches and smartbands, the Huawei watch GT4 is here. So the question you might have is, what has Huawei improved this time? And What new features will you get if you get one or upgrade from the GT3?

Well, those are questions that you'll find the answers to right here. Let me kick this off by saying that the battery life has an interesting upgrade, and it's probably not what you think. So stick around.

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Design

Let's start with the design. Two models are available, the 46mm and the 41mm, and the styles are very different. In this video, I will focus more on the larger 46mm version because that's the one I have here & it's the one I've been testing.

For the first time, Huawei has given the main body of the watch case a new angular octagonal shape. Which differentiates the look from the more commonly seen circular & rectangular smart watch styles. They call this new approach to design the 'watchmaker perspective'.

And the fusion of style & tech is what Huawei is going for. And this is the best-looking sports-oriented circular display smartwatch today. This new shape gives it a more modern look. And the Huawei GT4 appears to be thinner on this stainless steel model due to the contrast of steel and black ceramic.

The display on the larger model is a 1.43" AMOLED with 466 by 466 resolution & 326ppi. The smaller version also has the exact resolution but with 352 ppi due to the smaller display size at 1.32". And they both look sharp and vibrant. By today's standards, no one would be disappointed with the clarity here.

Huawei Watch GT4 review black rubber.jpg

Four versions of the 46mm available are available: Black Rubber / brown leather / stainless steel/rainforest Green GMT. The base black rubber strap model comes in at £249, with the other designs slightly more expensive. Affiliate links will be in the description if you want to check the latest deals and pricing.

And it's not just the pricing and straps that are different. There are some subtle design changes between them all.

For example, the black rubber version has a raised bezel to prevent abrasions on the hardened glass. On the more formal versions, the bezel sits flush with the glass surface, giving it a more sleek and business-like look.

The green GMT variant has the addition of a secondary bezel for keeping track of the time in different time zones. Using the classic GMT method, you can adjust the outer dial according to how far east or west from England you are.

The strap on the GMT model is of the more rugged variety, and parts of it are fabricated from Recycled nylon. And I am a fan of this particular strap. And something worth noting about the watch straps on all the versions of the watch is.

The first-party Huawei watch straps have been purpose-built for the new watches… you can see what I mean by this, particularly on the stainless steel strap.

Huawei Watch GT4 review rainforest strap.jpg

You can change them for any watch strap if the watch pins are the correct size. Which I'm told are 22mm on the 46mm watch and 18mm on the smaller version.

And Huawei has sent me the Stainless steel version & you can see it has a quick-release system & quick-release catches to lengthen or shorten the bracelet. There are additional links in the box.

And also, Huawei kindly sent me the rubber strap, so I can show you how easy it is to transform this kind of business-looking bracelet watch into something more suitable for the gym.

The body is stainless steel & sealed up to meet the 5ATM standard with IP68 ingress protection. The display protection is what Huawei calls 3D hardened glass.

The sensor array layout is Identical to the previous version. Still, with noteworthy upgrades to the software, which I'll return to in a moment, you notice the speaker grill and mic grill discreetly hidden on the ceramic underside of the watch.

The magnetic Qi wireless charger is in the box & yes, you can charge on any wireless charging mat.

The smaller version of the GT4 is now smaller than the GT3 by 1mm at 41 mm. The design is best described as elegant, and Huawei has gone for a pendant-style look. The bezel round is skinny, giving it a seamless look. Overall the 41mm is quite similar in style to previous versions. But there are some new colour options available .

A special edition is available, which Huawei calls the two-tone piano key colour. It's two-tone gold and silver. It looks classy very fashionable . There is also white leather and Milanese.

Usability & Software Upgrades

The button placements on both models are the same as before with the two-button layout. The lower button is a shortcut to your activity tracking presets. You can customise this menu

The larger crown has double functionality with a button push to take you to your main home screen, and you can also use the crown to scroll around and navigate the UI.

Like before, there are over 100 fitness tracking modes with the new addition of Soccer and paddle. Soccer, aka football, is only the most popular sport in the world...It's good to see Huawei has added this.

Also, some of my other favourites are still here.

There are 18 pro training modes available & more medals are up for grabs than before if you need that extra motivation. There's also an improved stay-fit goal calendar. You can set your goals, and the purpose-designed watch face will help you set reminders for eating, sleeping, drinking water and exercising.

With nine years of investment into R&D, Huawei has managed to make the GT4 health monitoring between 97% and 99% accurate compared to professional medical-grade equipment. And that's pretty impressive.

Also, you can connect the watch to other fitness-tracking accessories.

The GPS is notably better than before, thanks to the watch's new dual-band GNSS chip and improved antennas. The GT4 uses the new Sunflower GPS tracking system.

To explain it, even when the watch face is not pointed up at the sky, it can still establish a solid connection to the satellite systems no matter which way the watch is facing.

This means more accurate positional tracking metrics & it'll be much less likely to lose GPS even in built-up city areas with lots of hi rise buildings

This is beneficial not just for the Huawei health app but also for 3rd party apps such as Strava / komoot / runtastic and Huawei's own petal maps for general navigation.

The sensor software leveled up to TruSeen 5.5+, which improves data accuracy even in harsh weather conditions…( Ideal for the UK ). The sleep tracking has been enhanced to version 3.0 with an all-new sleep breathing awareness feature added. This also allows for continuous heart rate & sp02 tracking at night without impacting the battery dramatically.

There's also a new smart cycle calendar for the ladies and an improved health community feature which allows you to share fitness data with friends, family and training partners.

And like before, you do have activity rings, but now you have more control over the goals that you want to achieve each day. And if losing weight is a priority, the stay fit scientific calorie tracker which could be worth its weight in gold.

The UI has also been subtly upgraded. The GT4 is running on the latest version of the launcher, version 2.0, With the grid menu animations and smoothness all improved. You can have up to seven tiles active, and these new widgets are now more customisable than before. So you can have quicker access to the data that's important to you and create shortcuts to apps on the watch.

There are more UI improvements in the form of improved quick replies, video call notifications and improved Bluetooth calling from the watch. Also, the always-on display is now more customizable than before. Huawei says 20% more customizable elements are now available to be precise. This is specific to the official Huawei watch faces, of which there are now 12 pre-loaded, with 10,000 more available on the Huawei health app, some of which are official Huawei designs. Something new is having floating windows on top of your regular watch face, which can sometimes be handy.

Battery Life & New Features In Development

Now, let's talk about batteries. The GT4 still has the legendary 14-day battery life on the 46mm and 7 days on the 41mm…but now you can have more tracking data on the always-on display, and get this: you can use reverse wireless charging. This means you can use the back of the GT4 to give your phone or earbuds a couple of extra percent. The battery capacity is 500mAh but a couple of percent could be enough to allow you to make an emergency call if you find yourself stranded in a desert or something.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

And some features to keep an eye out for is the High-altitude blood saturation monitoring & Body glucose awareness

So If you are looking for a watch that works around the clock. With 24Hr heart rate monitoring, 24HR blood oxygen monitoring, sleep analyses, stress management, and health reminders. And an incredible sports tracking modes & battery power. The Huawei GT4 should be a front runner for you.

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