Review of the Huawei Band 3 Pro bracelet: advantages and disadvantages

The Huawei Band 3 Pro bracelet is an interesting novelty in the fall of 2018, which has good functionality. This is an attempt to bring the fitness tracker closer to a smart watch, while maintaining a compact size. This review will tell you what to look for and how to avoid mistakes when choosing a new fitness bracelet.

Equipment

The bracelet comes in a white box, interestingly packaged on a special stand. In addition to it, the kit includes:

• charger with magnetic adapter;
• USB charger cable - micro USB;
• description in Russian "Quick start";
• warranty card.

Design

The body of the tracker is metal, waterproof. It is attached to a silicone strap with a good buckle. The clasp mechanism is the same as on a regular watch. It is more reliable than newfangled types of fastening.There are a lot of holes, their pitch is small. The bracelet will fit any hand size. The strap is attached to the bracelet tightly and securely. If necessary, it can be unfastened without resorting to special tools.

The maximum case thickness is only 11 mm. This is small, so when taking off and putting on clothes, it will not cling to it, as is often the case with other gadgets. The bracelet is quite stylish and looks good on the hand. Moreover, despite the considerable size, the tracker looks good on both men's and women's wrists. The gold version is especially suitable for women.

The tracker is comfortable to wear, it does not rub, nothing interferes anywhere. It's also comfortable in the water. Indeed, with this bracelet you can dive under water, it can withstand pressure up to 5 atmospheres, immersion depth up to 50 m.

There are three color options available:

• black;
• blue;
• gold with a flesh-colored strap.

Specifications

Here are the main characteristics of Band 3 Pro:

• Screen - 0.95 inches, AMOLED, resolution 240 × 120 pixels;
• Communication – Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz, GPS;
• Battery – 100 mAh;
• Charging time - 1 hour 40 minutes;
• Dimensions - 45 × 19 × 11 mm;
• Weight - 20 g.

Screen and controls

Band 3 Pro has a bright color Amoled display with a good resolution of 120x240 pixels, which is better than the previous Band 2 Pro model. There, the resolution was only 32 by 128 pixels. The screen has rich colors and excellent viewing angles. The information on the screen is clear, visible even under water. This is either text or pictograms on a black contrasting background. The display is covered with a good protective glass.

You can choose from three brightness levels.And in most cases, everything is clearly visible even at the weakest level. The maximum level can be useful when using the tracker in the sun. You can choose to automatically dim the brightness at night in the settings. You can also change the dial, three options are available.

Tracker control is very convenient. The display is touch sensitive and the screens are easy to scroll through. Swipes only work vertically here. To simplify management, the developers deliberately abandoned the horizontal ones. At the bottom is a special touch button, when pressed, you return to the main screen. Pressing this button during a workout will stop logging. But if it is wet, it does not respond well to pressing.

Functional

This device can be used both for training and in everyday life. The device has a six-axis accelerometer and a cardiotachometer. The heart rate monitor works very accurately in quiet mode, but with a long load, its readings begin to deviate from measurements using professional equipment. The difference in measurements is insignificant and quite acceptable for amateur sports.

It has sleep monitoring, GPS, smart notification for calls and messages, and a smart alarm clock. The smartphone transmits all messages to the tracker, which clearly and conveniently displays them. At the same time, it vibrates, so that messages will not be missed, even if the smartphone is in silent mode. If there is an incoming call, then directly using the bracelet you can reject it. It is very comfortable. You can configure which notifications will be sent to the tracker and which will remain only in the phone.

In addition to the standard counting of steps, distances and calories, the fitness bracelet can save routes using the built-in GPS tracker. The pedometer is very sensitive and accurate.

The main screen shows the time, battery level and the current weather - temperature and a cloud pattern. The weather broadcast can be turned off.

The main menu includes the following items:

• access to phone messages;
• heart rate monitor;
• sleep statistics;
• choice of training mode;
• settings;
• step information.

The heart rate monitor can be used in two modes - on command from the bracelet and in continuous monitoring mode. In the second case, the sensors on the back of the tracker flash green. In this mode, the gadget can give a signal if the pulse exceeds the set parameters.

A lot of attention in the bracelet is given to everything related to sleep. The gadget closely monitors and analyzes all phases of sleep. Based on this analysis, the action of the smart alarm clock is based, which works clearly and accurately.

The alarm clock will wake you up at the specified time when you enter REM sleep. This allows you to gently and comfortably wake up from a pleasant vibration on your hand. It is strange that the tracker cannot determine that a person is not sleeping if he woke up earlier. The alarm clock in such cases is not turned off, probably reinsured. Instead of a smart one, you can use a regular alarm clock.

The tracker has the following training modes:

• outdoor running;
• running on a treadmill;
• walking on the street;
• bike;
• exercise bike;
• swimming in the pool;
• swimming in open water;
• free workout.

Depending on the selected mode, the method for calculating physical activity changes. But almost everywhere the following parameters are recorded: heart rate, calories burned, speed and distance. The gadget is trying to calculate the last indicator even on a treadmill by hand movement.

If a goal is set, the tracker will let you know about its achievement. This could be the duration of the workout, the distance covered, or the number of calories burned. If classes take place outside the gym, the built-in GPS tracker turns on, and then the route is displayed on the map.

If you select "Swimming in the pool", the device will request an additional length of the track. It is important here to push off from the sides when turning. Then the gadget will accurately determine that the track has been completed to the end, and will not respond to less pronounced hand movements during the swim.

When you select open water mode, you can simply enter the target distance.

In the "Free Workout" mode, you can specify the total duration of the session, as well as set individual time intervals.

You can also turn on the option to remind you to warm up when you sit in one place for a long time. There is a useful phone search function. Moreover, the smartphone responds loudly even if it is in silent mode.

Application

The proprietary application recommended by the manufacturer is called Huawei Health. Available for both Android and iOS. All statistics from the tracker are collected and analyzed here. And you can connect several devices at once. For example, with the help of Huawei scales, you can also control the weight. The manufacturer is trying to create a whole ecosystem of health.

The application has a user-friendly interface. All collected information is well grouped and clearly presented. Hints and various useful tips regarding health and training regimens are constantly given.

The application maintains a curious and useful scoring system for assessing the quality of sleep. Moreover, all phases of sleep are carefully analyzed. Statistics can be viewed for different periods of time.Based on it, valuable recommendations are issued to improve the quality of sleep. Sleep mode is also taken into account, i.e. the time of falling asleep and waking up, and even the quality of breathing is analyzed.

With a lack of night sleep, the application recommends sleeping during the day, but no more than 45 minutes and up to 13 hours. The tracker itself will be able to control its recommendations.

Also, using the application, you can manage various settings of the gadget. For example, you can set the screen to turn on when you raise your hand or scroll through the menu by turning your wrist.

autonomy

The battery here is capacious for this type of device - 100 mAh. The manufacturer claims that it will last two weeks without charging. This is true if you turn off active sleep tracking, continuous heart rate monitoring and Bluetooth communication. If you use all the features of the device, then the batteries will last for a week, which is also not bad.

It has a convenient charging system. The charger is magnetically attached to the tracker and powered using a standard micro USB cable.

Results: advantages and disadvantages of Huawei Band 3 Pro

• excellent color Amoled display;
• ease of use;
• many different training modes;
• with a bracelet you can dive to a depth of 50 meters;
• convenient mobile application;
• capacious battery.

• relatively high cost.

Huawei Band 3 Pro at the beginning of 2019 is sold at the official price of 4990 rubles and has very good functionality. This fitness bracelet has no direct competitors. Cheaper trackers do not have such rich features and measurement accuracy. And those devices that are superior in characteristics to the one under consideration are much more expensive.This novelty has already received good reviews from both specialists and ordinary buyers. So, Band 3 Pro is a good choice for the declared price.