Huawei Watch GT 2 is an incremental upgrade to the Huawei Watch GT 2018. It runs on Huawei’s Lite OS is a trimmed down smartwatch operating system that focuses on simplicity and battery life optimization (I’ll elaborate more on that below).
The GT 2 smartwatch has all the necessary features you may expect. Such as; continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring, stress level monitoring, a step tracker, over a dozen sports activities, etc.
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What’s in the box?
- The Huawei Watch GT 2
- One pair of Fluorine rubber straps
- A strap Adjustment screwdriver
- A Charging cradle
- A USB C charging cable
- A User Guide
- A Strap Adjustment Guide
- A Warranty Card
Huawei Watch GT 2 design and build quality
The Watch GT 2 Titanium Grey is a beautifully crafted smartwatch. Just like last year’s version, its chassis is made of stainless steel accented with plastic and ceramic on the underside. This watch is water-resistant up to five atmospheres (50m of water).
It comes with adjustable metal wrist straps but Huawei has also included a pair of soft Fluorine rubber straps in the box. Those silicone straps will come in handy when you need to take the watch for a swim.
Other colors include; Watch GT2 Black, Brown, Orange, Cyan, Sport Black, and Titanium Grey (Steel). “Titanium Grey” is just a name used to describe this version of the watch because the watch is not actually made of Titanium.
It is officially listed on Huawei UAE’s website as the “Huawei Watch GT 2 Steel”. The black, orange, brown and steel versions have a 46mm diameter. If you prefer a smaller 42mm display size, you’ll have to choose between sport black or sport cyan.
Watch GT 2 Display and watch faces
The Huawei Watch GT 2 has a bright beautiful 1.39 inch AMOLED 454 x 454 HD display. Its gorilla has a chamfered edge and is slightly raised outward. That design makes the display feel larger than the previous model (Huawei Watch GT 2018).
The Colors pop, while the text is crisp and feels like it is floating on the screen. In short, this is very pleasurable to look at. Fresh from factory boot, you get 14 watch faces.
And if that’s not enough, you can add more using the Huawei Health App (watch the unboxing video above to see the watch faces). The always-on display is present but not enabled by default.
Watch GT 2 Battery life
Battery life is the area where the Huawei watch GT 2 46mm really excels. It packs a non-removable Li-Ion 455 mAh battery.
Huawei claims up to 14 days of battery life. I used this watch with pretty much all functions on. I am talking about GPS, continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring (wore it to bed every day), stress monitoring, step counting and auto-brightness (always-on display turned off).
With these settings, the GT 2’s battery lasted an average of 7 to 10 days. If you don’t track your sleep every day, or use continuous heart rate monitoring, you would get a lot more battery life. It takes about 2 hours to charge with a typical computer USB port.
You may get a little faster charging if you charge it with a quick charge brick. It doesn’t support standard Qi wireless charging so you must use the included charging cradle.
Connectivity
Huawei Watch GT 2 is compatible with both iOS 9.0 upwards, and Android 4.4 or later. You need to install the Huawei health app to connect the smartwatch to your smartphone. The pairing process is simple and straightforward (as described below).
Watch GT 2 comes with Bluetooth 5.1. Connectivity is fast and steady. You can quickly transfer music files from your phone to the watch’s 4GB internal storage. Also, all updates are pushed from the health app to the smartwatch through Bluetooth.
When paired with your phone by Bluetooth, the watch can receive display incoming calls, which you can directly answer. Yes, the Watch GT2 now has a loudspeaker.
I was able to quickly answer calls using the watch in situations where taking my phone out of my pocket, would have been cumbersome. The microphone picked up my voice and the person on the other end was able to hear me clearly.
The watch speaker is surprisingly very crisp and loud and clear. It’s even good enough that you can use it to listen to music if you get stranded somewhere and only have your Watch GT2.
How to pair the Huawei watch GT 2 to your smartphone?
- Turn on the watch GT 2 for the first time.
- Download the Huawei Health app from the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android).
- Go to “Devices” and click “Add a Device“.
- You would see many different types of devices, select “Huawei Watch GT 2“.
- Finally, click “Pair“.
- The app takes a few seconds to scan and detect the smartwatch.
- Once detected the app will send a pairing request to the watch.
- Finally, accept the pairing on your Huawei Watch GT 2 and you are done!
Watch GT 2 Software “Huawei Lite OS” and features
Just like its predecessor, the Watch GT 2 runs on Huawei’s proprietary smartwatch operating system called “Lite OS“. It’s an open-source lightweight operating system, designed for low power consumption and fast response.
Huawei claims that this O.S. has a kernel under 10KB and it can run on one AA battery for up to 5 years. They have optimized the operating system to have a fast startup and secure connectivity. And that’s the main secret of the long battery life (10 to 12 days of real-life use).
Button functions
The watch has two buttons. Press and hold the top button to power on or power off the smartwatch. With the watch turned on, press it once to enter the main menu where all the settings are found.
Press the upper button a second time to exit any menu. From factory settings, the lower button is a short cut to the fitness tracker. Press once to enter the workout menu, select the type of exercise you want to track then press it again to start tracking.
When you finish, press the same button to stop tracking. If you don’t work out too often, you can set this button to launch a different function.
Watch GT 2 Workout Tracking
It’s worth noting that there is no automatic workout tracking. The only way to track your exercises is manual. Below are the various workouts that you can track.
- Running Courses (Run/Walk, Easy Run, Fat Burning, MAF180, Aerobic Endurance Run, Long Slow Distance Run, Cruise Interval Run, Tempo Run, and HIIT Run).
- Outdoor Run
- Indoor Run
- Outdoor Walk
- Indoor Walk
- Outdoor Cycle
- Indoor Cycle
- Pool Swim
- Open Water
- Climb
- Hike
- Trail Run
- Triathlon
- Elliptical
- Rower
- Other (for tracking other activities which are not included)
Swiping and touch navigation
The watch is easy to navigate using touch controls. If you swipe continuously to the left, you can access the heart rate monitor, stress monitor, weather, music player, and activity tracker.
Swipe down from the top, to reveal the quick access menu. There you can find the alarm, no disturb, “show-time”, and find my phone functions.
There is also a shortcut to the settings menu which contains the following sub-menus; Earbuds, Display, Sounds, Strength, Do Not Disturb, Down Button, System, and About. Swipe up from the bottom to read notifications from your phone.
Huawei Watch GT 2 Titanium Grey Specs
| COLOR | Titanium Grey |
| DIMENSION | 45.9 x 45.9 x 10.7 mm (diameter by thickness) |
| WEIGHT | 41 g (without the strap) |
| BUTTONS | Power button, function button |
| DISPLAY | 1.39 inch AMOLED 454 x 454 HD |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 455 mAh battery, 14 days for typical use (manufacturer claim) |
| Internal Storage | 4 GB |
| MATERIAL | Metal + Plastic |
| BLUETOOTH FREQUENCY | BT 5.1, BLE / BR / EDR |
| SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS | Android 4.4 or later IOS 9.0 or later |
| SENSOR | Accelerometer sensor, Gyroscope sensor, Geomagnetic sensor, Optical heart rate sensor, Ambient light sensor, Air pressure sensor, Capacitive sensor |
| WATER AND DUST RESISTANCE RATING | 5ATM water-resistant |
| CHARGING PORT | Magnetic charging thimble |
| IN THE BOX | Watch x 1 (Fluorine rubber strap gifted in products with leather and metal strap) Charging cradle x 1, Charging cable x 1, Strap adjustment screwdriver, User Guide, Safety Information & Warranty Card x 1, |
Verdict
The Huawei Watch GT2 is primarily built for endurance. Its light operating system combines with its large 455 mAh battery to take you for at least one week of regular use.
Watch GT 2 has most of the features you would expect from a fitness tracker. Its heart rate monitor and GPS are very accurate and reliable.
And all of that is packed into an elegant yet robust water-resistant chassis, suitable for any kind of use (wet or dry). Unless you really need the classic look, there’s no need to buy the Titanium Grey edition.
The only thing that differentiates it from the other 46mm models is the proprietary metal strap and the price. The overall user experience is great and we would totally recommend this smartwatch for Android users.
Disclaimer: As An Amazon Affiliate, We Earn From Qualifying Purchases
