[REVIEW] Huawei GT6: Great battery, but is it an Apple Watch killer?

Huawei’s latest Watch GT 6 Pro is a solid, all-around smartwatch that promises deep health and sports tracking, along with very strong battery life.

When it comes to watches, battery life has always been a significant drawback for most smartwatches, especially those by Apple.

While Apple’s Ultra 3 looks fairly impressive, with a larger display and 42-hour battery life, it has been muted by the Huawei Watch GT6 series smartwatches, offering twelve times the battery life of the Apple Watch Ultra 3.

Wearables

Even after years of perfecting wearable designs, most smartwatch brands still struggle to get you through more than a few days without needing a recharge.

Huawei, on the other hand, has built a reputation for crafting smartwatches that last a bit longer than your average, and now the brand has pushed that even further with up to 21 days of battery life.

Battery

Users who prefer not to charge every day tend to opt for Huawei or Garmin. Huawei has been able to deliver significantly better battery life than most Apple/Samsung watches, especially when not using all features at maximum.

This is essential when it comes to sleep tracking and Pulse wave arrhythmia analysis, which uses a high-precision sensor to screen for abnormal heartbeat rhythms.

Huawei promises up to 21 days of battery life on a single charge, which is approximately three times longer than that of most mainstream competitors. By comparison, the flagship Google Pixel Watch and Apple Watch typically last 24 to 36 hours, while Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 8 line tends to last closer to 40 hours.

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Tracking

The Huawei Watch GT6 Pro is actually comfortable to wear, allowing the soft brown woven and rubber strap that came with it to form naturally to my wrist.

It can track a wide variety of data points to help you achieve your fitness goals or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle.

For me, the heart rate and step counters, SpO2, skin temperature, and a CE-certified pulse-wave arrhythmia analysis function were a great source of information to say, “Hey, take a break.”

The GT 6 Pro features new cycling tracking capabilities, including real-time gradient tracking and a virtual power metric, which Huawei announced at the launch is the first time such a feature has been integrated into a smartwatch.

Verdict

While the Huawei Watch GT6 boasts impressive battery life, which Apple, Samsung, and other brands lack, it falls behind in some other areas. 

Huawei’s watches also often have fewer available third‑party apps and fewer integrations (e.g. payments, voice assistants) than Apple or Samsung, which South Africans have been waiting for.

Features like LTE connectivity, contactless payments, and local voice assistants are more polished in Apple and Samsung, while Huawei sometimes lags behind in these areas, depending on the region.

Overall, the Huawei Watch GT6 is a good smartwatch, but it lacks features that may be important to some users.

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