It’s officially December, the season for eating, erm, I meant giving. Hats off if you’re still giving that last effort to still work out even amidst the bustle of the holidays…or at least make it through the month without gaining too much pounds. if you’re looking for a budget smart band that can help you meet your fitness goals and power through the last month of this decade, then take your pick from Huawei’s newly launched smart wearables—namely the Watch GT 2, Band 4, and Band 4e.
Light and Compact
The Band 4 sports a silicone rubber strap and while I normally do not like rubber straps as a general rule, as I feel like it traps in sweat, the Band 4’s strap feels great even after a tough workout. It sports a 0.96-inch TFT color screen with customizable watch faces and has Huawei’s host of health-monitoring features such as TruSeen 3.5, TruSleep 2.0 which monitor heart rate and sleep, respectively. It also comes with 9 different exercise modes to choose from and is water resistant for up to 5ATM—I’ll talk more about the different workout features in the next section.
Battery-wise, it is said to last for around 7-9 days (depending on the monitors and modes turned on) before needing to be charged but with my actual use, it takes me around 4 days before it needs to be recharged. In my test unit, the battery drops around 25% in more or less 12 hours of use. Its battery could be better, considering that its continuous heart rate and sleep monitor wasn’t turned on. (The Watch GT 2, on the other hand, is Huawei’s premium offering with a killer battery life with a wider range of features—read our Full Review) It is really easy to charge, though, and I really like that you don’t have to use an external charger with it. The strap detaches and can be charged via any USB port. This makes the band 4 extremely convenient to use and can let you easily charge virtually anywhere there’s a USB outlet or just plug it into your power bank and you’re pretty much good to go. Charge time is around 1.5-2 hours.
Work it
In the realm of budget bands, the Huawei Band 4 has got a lot going for it especially if you’re not looking for something all that complicated. Its fitness modes include outdoor and indoor walks, runs, and cycles; cross trainer and the rowing machine; and a free training option. There is no swim mode here, but as mentioned earlier, you can definitely take it out for a splash if you want to. You can set targets such as distance, duration, and calories and also have the band alert you when you hit a certain distances or times while you workout.
Huawei’s TruSeen 3.5 and TruSleep 2.0 tech give accurate results and all of these records plus your activity can be seen at the Huawei Health app. Notification alerts can also be done here, and you can choose which app’s notifications will be displayed. Additionally, you can also customize your watch face here and choose from the different designs offered. (my personal favorite is the one with the panda and the one with the cat—get the Band 4 and you’ll know what I’m talking about *wink*)
P.S
For those avid basketball players or runners, you can check out the Band 4e, which offers almost the same features but is built specifically to measure the height of one’s leaps and hang time when playing ball as well as in-depth run data such as footstrike pattern, landing impact, ground contact time, cadence, and more. It is made as an extension to the Band 4, thus the ‘e’ and can used as a supplement to your band 4. The Band 4e retails a bit cheaper than the Band 4 at P1,390.
Our Opinion:
Huawei’s Band 4 is a good budget smart band to start training and achieving fitness goals with. It is comfortable, easy to use, and does not break the bank. At P1,890, it makes for a good gift—whether that’s for yourself or someone special.
Full Specs:
Display: 0.96 inchTFT colour screen, 80 x 160 pixels resolution
Band Body: 56 mm (entire length without the strap) x 18.5 mm (width) x 12.5 mm (thickness of the band body)
Strap: Strap width: 17 mm, strap length: 85-123 mm, suitable wrist size: 14 – 21 cm
Sensors: 3-axis acceleration sensor, Infrared wear sensor, Optical heart rate sensor
Color: Graphite Black, Sakura Pink
Battery and Charging: 91mAh battery, USB charging port
Water Resistance: Yes, up to 5ATM or 50m
Price: P1,890
