Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro review – a watch that has outgrown the sports bracelet

I already said last year that Watch Fit 4 Pro a watch that will meet the needs of 90 % users. The same applies to the new Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro, which for me is more of a transitional watch in the sense that it did not receive groundbreaking upgrades, but only a few that are welcome but do not drastically change the experience of its predecessor.

Advantages	Weaknesses
Excellent 1.92-inch AMOLED with high brightness	Limited set of applications
Sapphire glass and titanium frame	iPhone users have a more limited experience
Good battery	The upgrade is not necessary for Watch Fit 4 Pro owners
Comfortable and lightweight design
Reliable GPS, accurate health measurements
Works with Android and iOS

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro price and specifications

• Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro: €299

Housing	Aluminum alloy
Frame	Titanium alloy
Screen protection	2.5D sapphire glass
Weight	About 30 grams without strap
Screen resolution	480x408
Display density	328ppi
Refreshing	LTPO, 1-60 Hz
Keys	Rotating crown and side button
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, optical heart rate monitor, barometer, temperature sensor, light sensor, ECG sensor, depth sensor
Water resistance	5 ATM, IP6X
Connectivity	Bluetooth 6.0, GPS, NFC
Storage	64GB
Battery	Up to 10 days of light use
Health	heart rate, SpO₂, stress, sleep, temperature, ECG, pulse wave analysis, sleep breathing, menstrual cycle

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro – the shape remains square, but it looks adult

At Fit 5 I've already written that the square shape won't appeal to everyone. I still lean more towards round watches because they're more classic on the wrist, often more elegant, and less obviously copycatting Apple. But with the Watch Fit 5 Pro, I'd hardly say the shape doesn't work. I think Huawei has made good use of the square base.

The large screen is more useful in this form than in a round watch. Notifications are clearer, maps make more sense, training data is laid out more naturally, and menus are also faster to read. With round watches, part of the screen is always a bit of a sacrifice for the shape. This feeling is not there with the Watch Fit 5 Pro.

The case measures 44.5 × 40.8 × 9.5 millimeters, and the weight without the strap is 30 grams. This is still light enough that the watch will not interfere with sleep or exercise.

The materials are the main difference compared to the regular Watch Fit 5. There's 2.5D sapphire glass on the front, a titanium frame around the display, and an aluminum body. The white version also has a special plasma electrolytic oxidation treatment that creates a harder, ceramic-like surface. On paper, this all sounds very premium. On the wrist, the difference isn't as dramatic as Huawei might have wanted, but it's there. The Pro feels more solid, more mature, and less like a sports bracelet.

The straps vary by color. The black and white versions use a fluoroelastomer strap, while the orange version uses a woven AirDry. The rubber or fluoroelastomer strap is the most versatile. It's good for sports, doesn't absorb as much sweat, is easier to clean, and doesn't look too sporty. The woven strap is nicer and more distinctive, but it's not necessarily the best choice if the watch will be wet, sweaty, or on your wrist during every workout.

The screen is one of the best reasons to go for the Pro version

The screen on the Watch Fit 5 Pro is where I quickly understood why Huawei wanted more money. It's a 1.92-inch AMOLED LTPO screen with a refresh rate of 1 to 60 Hz and a brightness of up to 3,000 nits.

I was already very happy with the display on the regular Watch Fit 5. The Pro goes a step further. Not so much because of the colors, which were already great, but because of the combination of brightness, thin bezels, and the feeling that everything is happening right under your finger. The bezels are thin, the display fills a large part of the front, and the square shape really gives you the feeling of having a lot of surface area.

LTPO refresh is welcome, especially for battery reasons. The watch can drop to a very low refresh rate when displaying static images, but remains fluid enough when navigating menus.

With sapphire glass, the story is similar to that of phones with Gorilla Glass Victus. It's nice to have, but you only start to appreciate it after a few months, when regular glass starts to pick up the first micro scratches. Watches are much more exposed than phones. We bump them against doors, tables, the edge of cabinets, weights in the gym, or rocks on a hike.

The system is fast, but still not as smart as Wear OS or others

Huawei uses HarmonyOS and the Huawei Health app. Setup is relatively easy, even if you're using a non-Huawei Android phone. Basic syncing, notifications, and sports data work on the iPhone, but Apple's restrictions make the experience more closed. This isn't a new story, and it's not entirely Huawei's fault, as I mentioned with the Watch Fit 5.

The interface is clear. The top button or crown opens the menu, the bottom button can be used for shortcuts, most often to sports modes. Turning the crown is responsive and pleasant, and the haptics are strong enough to notice. On the watch, you can receive calls via Bluetooth, use the microphone and speaker, set alarms, check the weather, control music, use a voice recorder, compass, flashlight, timer, and a few other small tools.

But let's be honest. This isn't a watch for the user who wants a full smartwatch experience with apps, Google services, independent maps, advanced integrations, a rich store, and LTE connectivity. The AppGallery is there on the watch, but the app selection isn't comparable to the Apple Watch or Wear OS. Some things are useful, like Curve Pay for contactless payments, Petal Maps, or various sports apps, but it feels more limited.

Huawei and sports have always belonged together

Huawei excels in sports features. More than 100 sports modes are almost a cliché these days, because every other watch has them. What's more important is what the watch does in the sports that people actually use. The most interesting ones on the Watch Fit 5 Pro are running, cycling, trail running, golf, swimming/snorkeling, and racket sports.

When running, you get the usual data on pace, heart rate, calories burned, intensity zones, VO2 Max, recovery and other metrics. When trail running, the watch shows incline, elevation, distance, remaining distance estimate, route deviation alerts and map support. In trail mode, the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro lasts up to 25 hours, which is more than enough to complete the entire route.

GPS has been good on previous Huawei watches, but the Watch Fit 5 Pro relies on their Sunflower Positioning System, or more advanced antenna and algorithms. This means fewer of those weird map turns when the watch thinks you ran through a building or across a street where you weren't. Of course, no watch is perfect in urban canyons, forests, and bad weather, but Huawei is among the more reliable here.

Cycling has gotten a lot of attention. The watch can track incline, virtual power, and virtual cadence, and the phone can serve as a larger screen or bike computer. If you have an external power meter, you can also connect to it and track FTP. This is not a replacement for a serious Garmin or Wahoo bike computer for serious cyclists, but it is a very good solution for recreational riders who don't want to buy another device.

The golf features are interesting if you actually use them. Huawei mentions over 17,000 courses, maps, greens display, pin position and scores. For the average user in Slovenia, this won't be the main selling point, as the maps are still lacking.

Short workouts will be useful for some, but not for others.

This is my second attempt at short workouts. Again, the idea is not bad, the execution is also right, but I wonder how useful these short workouts really are.

Huawei has included 30 animated movements for 10 body parts, including the neck, shoulders, and back, all packaged in a more playful format with a panda encouraging you to stretch.

Yes, it's a little childish. And yes, an adult probably doesn't need a panda to get up from his chair. But these little reminders might come in handy for someone. Unfortunately not for me, but maybe they'll encourage someone else to move. Two minutes for the neck, three minutes for the shoulders, a short break between meetings. This won't replace serious exercise, but it might prevent you from standing up like a rusty robot after eight hours of sitting at the computer.

Lots of data, but no doctor on your wrist

Huawei is very aggressive when it comes to health metrics. The Watch Fit 5 Pro measures heart rate, SpO2, stress, temperature fluctuations, HRV, sleep, naps, emotional well-being, menstrual cycle, and offers ECG, arterial stiffness analysis, pulse wave arrhythmia analysis, and sleep breathing monitoring. This is a very rich package for a watch in this price range, and the main reason I said last year that you don't need a more expensive watch.

An ECG is performed by holding your finger on the side electrode for 30 seconds. Pulse wave arrhythmia analysis uses a PPG sensor and can alert you to potential risks associated with atrial fibrillation. All of this sounds very serious, so the most important caveat needs to be added: the watch is not a medical diagnosis. If the watch shows anything unusual, this is a reason to consult a doctor, not a reason to self-diagnose.

Sleep tracking is useful, but I wouldn't take it as absolute truth. Watches can do a good job of estimating sleep time, wake time, and overall trends, but they're less reliable at accurately breaking down sleep stages. Huawei has improved snooze and sleep breathing tracking, which is welcome, but we're still talking about algorithms on the wrist.

Battery is always a strong point for Huawei

Up to 10 days if you're modest, 6 days with daily exercise and all measurements turned on, and 3-4 days if you have the screen always on. All numbers are excellent and mostly ahead of all watches from other manufacturers, where you have to think about charging every other day, but they still lag far behind the autonomy offered by their watches Huawei Watch GT 6.

Charging takes about an hour, which is fast enough. The magnetic charger is a classic solution, but I would like Huawei to standardize charging for a watch like this, or at least make the cable more universal. This is a minor complaint, but I already have too many small magnetic chargers for wearables that are not compatible with each other.

Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro – I'm bothered by little things that can be easily fixed

First, long-term support. Huawei should be more clear about how many years each series will receive new features, payment support, and major upgrades. We're used to concrete promises with phones, but there's still too much ambiguity with watches.

Another thing is the price. $299 isn't unreasonable considering the materials and features, but the Watch Fit 5 Pro is no longer an impulse buy. The regular Watch Fit 5 is more than enough for most people. The Pro makes sense if you really want a better display, sapphire crystal, better materials, more advanced sports features, ECG, and additional health metrics. If you're only going to use the watch for notifications, steps, sleep, and the occasional walk, the Pro is almost too much.

I would put the ecosystem in third place. Huawei Health is a good app, the watch is responsive, there is a lot of data, but when it comes to third-party apps (the situation has improved in recent years), payments and integrations, it quickly becomes clear that Huawei is not Apple, Google or Samsung. Curve Pay is great and saved them after they lost a Polish provider, but I blame them for limiting contactless payment support to this year's and last year's generations. Premium watches from two years ago did not get Curve Pay support.

In short, the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is a very good watch. Perhaps even the most convincing watch in the Watch Fit series so far. It has a great display, very good battery, comfortable case, premium materials, good GPS, lots of sports features, ECG, advanced health measurements and enough smart accessories that you don't feel like you're wearing a bracelet.

I would recommend the Watch Fit 5 Pro to those who are somewhere between a recreational user and a tech enthusiast. Those who don't need a watch for 500-700 euros, but also don't want to wear a plastic bracelet with a small screen anymore.