The roots of smartwatches have always been deep in health and fitness. And because of that, the market is saturated with more sporty-looking smartwatches save for a few — and that includes the Huawei Watch GT 4.

For this year, we get a total redesign of its body along with the expected upgraded trackers and monitors. The result is an elegant piece of tech that you wouldn’t expect to be so feature-filled.

For the ‘fit

One of the reasons why I’m often drawn to Huawei’s GT watches is its design. As just mentioned, smartwatches are often on the sporty side. And while I see the practicality of such a design, I personally don’t like that it looks more like a gadget than an accessory on my wrist (unless I’m actually doing sports, of course).

Watches are, in nature, accessories; used to jazz up an outfit or express a certain style or personality.

It’s in this aspect I believe the GT series watches identify themselves. Though originally sportier-looking, the watches’ designs have evolved to mimic the look of the classics – but with a twist of technology.

The Huawei Watch GT 4 is probably the classiest and most classic-looking so far. Whether you choose the 46mm or the 41mm, you’ve got a bit of arm candy that’s begging to be asked about.

With me is the 41mm which comes in a beautifully executed two-toned body. Compared to last year’s model which was already elegant in itself, the Watch GT 4 offers a new Pendant design.

Sitting side by side with the Watch GT 3, you can see how that new Pendant design not only slims the whole look of the watch down but adds an extra layer of elegance and class as well. The Watch GT 4 moves away from that sporty look by opting for metal over plastic and minimizing the body’s overall bulkiness.

But, as I said earlier, a sporty look can be more practical – especially if you’re active. Luckily, you can swap out the straps according to your needs. I’m currently using the white leather strap which looks great for classing up an outfit during events, dates, or nights out with friends.

But if you want to look a smidge fancier, you can cop yourself with the silver two-tone piano key bracelet. I wasn’t able to test it out in the real world but I did get to see the silver bracelet in person and it was gorgeous.

The silver bracelet strap is available for both the 43mm and the 41mm sizes and with it, the similarities to a classic watch are uncanny; a perfect example of modernizing a timeless piece.

And of course, there’s your regular rubber strap that you can use for the more active parts of your day.

Just a quick note though, while the 41mm does allow you to change between all three straps (rubber, leather, and steel) the 46mm can only change between the leather and rubber strap. If you want that silver bracelet, it is integrated into the body and can’t be removed.

Now living in this technology-driven world, we’re able to do a lot of new things that didn’t exist a couple of years back – like changing or customizing your watch face any time you want.

With the Huawei Watch GT 4 you’ll have access to hundreds of free and premium watch faces. More than enough to match all your ‘fits. Depending on the watch face, you can even customize the widgets you see on the screen.

But if you really do want something more unique and truly a match, the Watch GT 4 can generate different watch faces using your outfit. Utilizing the Health app and your smartphone’s camera, you can snap a photo of your outfit and the app will generate different watch face options you can use.

Definitely a fun little feature and a great way to show off and a great way to match your outfit for the day/night.

A delightful smartwatch experience

Having a smartwatch may not be a necessity but it’s become quite the norm for a lot of people, including myself.

I’ve found that including a smartwatch as my daily wearable helps improve the way I go about my tasks. The most obvious convenience is push notifications. Even if I’m away from my phone, I can keep updated with my work chats and updates. Should something be urgent, I can use the Watch GT 4 to call or respond to messages.

The Huawei Watch GT 4 allows you to import your phone’s contacts and call history as well so it’s easier to access and make calls to your most frequent contacts.

With the improved display, it’s much easier too. The body’s bezels are minimized giving breathing room to its 1.32-inch AMOLED display (1.43-inch for the 46MM). Brightness sits at 352ppi making it a tad bit brighter than its 46mm counterpart. Colors remain vibrant and you have the option to opt for a fun grid menu or the regular list.

And a smartwatch isn’t really a smartwatch if it doesn’t have a few health/fitness features onboard. And the Huawei Watch GT4 doesn’t have a few, it has a lot — a full suite even.

You still get round-the-clock monitoring for the essentials: heart rate, sleep, Sp02, and stress. But Huawei does add a few more features to track menstrual cycles, monitor skin temperature, and Pulse Wave arrhythmia analysis.

My experience with Huawei’s health trackers on last year’s Watch GT 3 has been very consistent and problem-free even after using it almost every day for more than a year. This year, Huawei improved its technology even further which only adds confidence to its dependability.

We also have a cornucopia of sports mode – more than you’ll ever need, in my opinion, but good to have should you ever look for anything super specific like Latin dancing or kite flying.

Through the app, you can also pick from different courses, plans, and pre-set workouts.

In addition to these, the Watch GT 4 also comes with a few apps to help you stick to your health goals. Activity Rings provide you with a simple and clear visual of how far or near you are from today’s target goals.

Huawei also brings back Health Clovers which we talked about in this video.

Finally, the Watch GT 4 debuts Stay Fit – a new scientific weight management app that aids in calorie management to help maintain or achieve your goal weight. By setting your current and target weight, the app can guide you with the proper calorie intake so you can healthily achieve your goal.

Now, the common limitation of smartwatches is that they operate best within their native ecosystem. But Huawei is very proud to say that the Huawei Watch GT 4 and all its features and functionalities will be available to all – iOS, Android, or HarmonyOS.

No low-battery anxiety

Whether it’s a phone, a smartwatch, a laptop, or any device — having a long battery life is always a luxury. More so with smartwatches because since it is a device you use daily, you wouldn’t want to charge daily as well, right?

Unsurprisingly, the Huawei Watch GT 4 comes with a long-lasting battery just like its predecessor. With round-the-clock tracking and the always-on display activated, I was still able to get a good full 7 days with the Huawei Watch GT 4. Huawei does claim a 2-week battery and I don’t see this as impossible if you have fewer features activated.

Final thoughts

My time with the Huawei Watch GT 4 hasn’t been long but in that short amount of time, I’ve come to really love the watch.

From how it looks to its functionalities, there is a lot that this watch offers, and is easy enough to introduce into any lifestyle or routine. I’ve yet to test some features like its GPS accuracy and new multi-tasking features but even without it, it’s a modern little timepiece that I’m tempted to pick up for myself.

The Huawei Watch GT 4 is now available in the Philippines with a starting price of PhP 12,999 for the 41mm and 46mm variant. The silver bracelet edition goes for PhP 18,999 for both variants. Price and pre-order details can be found here.