Huawei Watch Fit 3 smartwatch gets key upgrades but there’s a catch

After a two-year break, Huawei is back with a new version of its Watch Fit series, and the budget-friendly Watch Fit 3 arrives with several exciting upgrades.

Huawei has high-end wearables like the Watch 4 Pro and Watch GT 4, but the Watch Fit 3 meets a budget-friendly need, particularly if you like the Apple Watch design but can’t afford one.

But can it take on the Apple Watch SE 2 and rivals such as the Fitbit Sense 2 to be among the best smartwatches? This is what it’s bringing to the fight.

Digital crown

The Watch Fit 2 looked very similar to the Apple Watch but the Fit 3 is even closer in resemblance to its fruit-themed rival.

Its shape is a little more square and more “streamlined”. Huawei has even added a digital crown this time around for improved navigation.

Huawei says the rotating crown has a “sun-pattern” which “represents the confidence and self-assurance of young users, who are focused on their goals – whether its lifestyle habits or health and fitness milestones.”

The device is also lighter than some rivals at 26g and comes in a wide range of colours including Black, Pink, Green, Moon White and Pearl White – the latter includes a leather strap.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

More advanced heart rate monitoring

Huawei’s upgraded TruSeen 5.5 systems should deliver an improved heart rate monitoring experience.. Huawei says the upgraded sensors bring more precise cardio readings and analysis.

The firm includes AI algorithms to enhance data that’s collected from the sensor.

According to the company, it “incorporates a multi-channel signal enhancement algorithm rooted in deep Huawei-exclusive AI learning, ensuring the most accurate heart rate readings possible”.

More in-depth sleep tracking

Sleep tracking is also apparently better than the Watch Fit 2 the Watch Fit 3 thanks to its TruSleep 4.0 system, dubbed ‘Advanced Scientific Sleep Enhancement’.

The system can detect your sleep activity, habits and patterns. From analysing these, it provides you with an overall score (supposedly based on industry-authoritative quality standards), plus suggestions on how to improve your sleep.

It sounds similar to sleep tracking on just about every wearable out there, but it does also include “sleep structure, sleep quality, and sleep health, including newly displayed physiological indicators”, which will hopefully produce more accurate data.

‘Sleep Breathing Awareness’ can help detect sleep apnea, while a nap mode means you go for a nap and the watch will wake you up after it’s detected you’ve slept for 30 minutes.

Anyron Copeman / Foundry

NFC

A piece of hardware missing from the Watch Fit 2 was NFC. This chip is now on the spec sheet for the Watch Fit 3, meaning you can use the device for contactless payments.

However, there’s a problem – Huawei has confirmed to Tech Advisor that “NFC payments on the Watch Fit 3 are not currently available in overseas markets”.

So, you can’t use the Fit 3 to pay for your morning coffee or catch the underground outside China. We hope this functionality is added in the future, but Huawei declined to comment on its plans.

The Huawei Watch Fit 3 is available in the UK and Europe on the Huawei Store from today, with wider availability from retail partners from 22 May.

Here are the prices. As usual, it’s not being sold in the US.