A big selling point for the Huawei Band wearable series has always been it’s water resistance and the ability to track users’ swimming workouts. Unveiled during the Xperience HUAWEI global event in late August, the Huawei Band 7 is the latest drop from the Chinese tech manufacturer, and in this review, we bring you results from our own ‘hands-on testing’, which looked into whether it could withstand intense water pressure or not.
ISO water compliance
Like its predecessor, the Band 7 complies with the 5 ATM-rated resistance level (under the ISO 22810:2010 standard), meaning it can withstand up to 50-meter penetration of water.
Upon receiving the device, we immediately put Huawei’s water resistance claims to the test. So, the next day after my daily jog, I took a quick walk to an outdoor bubbling water foundation in our residential estate and dipped my hand (with my Band 7 watch on) into the pond with static water for about 10 seconds, and then ran it through powerful splashes of water – with strong enough pressure to try approximate the conditions and see how much water pressure it can withstand (this in addition to the 50 meters rating, which means it’s fine for swimming and splashing around, but not prolonged submersions).
How did the watch perform? Take a look at the embedded tweet and video below to find out.
Disclaimer
While this experiment is not a true scientific test, it’s meant to demonstrate how the Huawei Band 7 water resistance might hold up in the real world.
However, users should refrain from submerging it in water too many times, especially warm waters as the watch’s ability to withstand water pressure diminish each time.
Huawei Band 7: top useful fitness features
Huawei has always been a beast when it comes to producing great quality products at an affordable price. And their latest fitness tracker, the Huawei Band 7, is no exception.
This budget fitness band offers a wealth of impressive health and fitness features, such as heart rate tracking and the new workout status feature and can even detect your menstrual cycle – all these with a bargain price (R1 699) – it is available at retailers and online, as well as on the Huawei online store.
Huawei Band 7 is essentially a great fitness tracker that offers a lot, top among them is the ‘training load’ feature, which boasts 96 workout modes, and sadly is something missing from its more expensive sibling, the Watch Fit 2.
With each one you choose – be it including running, cycling, swimming, rope skipping, roller skating – your training load then gets recorded, which comes handy when looking to maximise the moment each time.
All about training smarter, the feature takes into account things like your heart rate, how long you workout and the intensity of your workout; which will be a pain to reflect on at the end of your training week if you didn’t do so well, specifically if you’re starting out in your fitness journey.
Not only this, users can get basic information about their running workouts, including their V02 max (for outside running), which indicates the amount of oxygen your body can utilize during exercise – all thanks to a newly added ‘workout status’ feature, which supports ‘TruSports’ analytics.
However, those who require more accurate running analytics, they would need to shell out more to purchase Huawei’s high-end Watch GT3 Pro for R10 999.
Noticeably thinner, yet powerful
The Band 7 is noticeably smaller than the Watch Fit 2, with a seriously stunning 1.47-inch AMOLED display (with 194 x 368 pixels on the front) and weighs in at just under 16g.
The health features are pretty much the same as the Watch Fit 2 – such include the TruSeen SpO2 monitoring, TruSleep sleep tracking, and TruRelax stress monitoring.
While Huawei tauts it as the thinnest fitness tracker it ever made – with a thickness of only 9.99mm – some people, like myself, will be put off by the size of the Band 7 and its lack of GPS, and instead may opt for its more expensive sibling, the Watch Fit 2 – though it comes with a heftier price tag, almost double the price.
Available in four different colour variants of Graphite Black, Nebula Pink, Wilderness Green and Flame Red, the band allows users to take photos, send quick messages, and check the weather, and luckily it supports various social apps, including Facebook and Twitter.
Longer battery life
From our personal experience, we had 6 to 7 days of medium to intense workout (four max); not 14 days as Huawei insists – with notifications on, and always-on display enabled.
There is no doubt, however, that if you only use it as a watch, the Huawei Band 7 may last a full 14 days as claimed.
Footnote: On a more positive note, the Huawei Band 7 is compatible with both iOS (iPhones) and Android smartphones and tablets, including of course with the recently released Huawei MateBook X Pro and MateBook D 16.
I’m using it along with my Samsung Z Flip 3, which I successfully paired by installing Huawei Health App from Huawei AppGallery – instead of Google Play Store.
