I tried Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro, and now I can’t go to gym without it

The new Huawei watch is like a personal trainer on my wrist to encourage me to sleep better, walk further and stretch after hours at desk

It started as a luxury. A stylish extension of your smartphone that delivers notifications. But as years passed, smartwatches have upgraded and are now equipped with more functions than ever. Yet I have never owned a digital timepiece. When I got my hands on Huawei’s new Watch Fit 5 Pro, I felt like having a subscription-free personal trainer on my wrist and I love it.

As the name suggests, the new watch focuses on fitness and health but the design remains stylish and is suitable for everyday use. Comparing to Apple smartwatches, the premium Watch Fit 5 Pro is so light and slim that I can easily slide it under my shirt sleeve. The Pro version, which is available in orange, black and white, also boasts up to 10 days of battery life on a single charge.

Huawei said this is ‘the largest screen’ on a Fit series watch ever, a 1.92-inch AMOLED screen with 2.5D sapphire glass to protect the display. They also opted to use a titanium alloy frame in combination with a micro-arc oxidation ceramic finish.

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With health tracking features to ‘spark my vibe’, the watch offers mini workouts to keep me stay active after hours at desk. Guided by playful panda animations, it takes about 30 to 40 seconds involving simple moves like extending arms to the side, raising heels to stretch or upper body rotations.

Instead of solely optimising physical performance, Huawei also focuses on reducing injury risks. There are fitness courses for pre-workout warm-ups and post-exercise stretches. If you want to track your fitness training, you can choose your workout (from gym classes to extreme outdoor sports) from the scroll-down menu.

I tested it during my spinning class, reformer pilates and even a pedalo ride at Hyde Park. (Who would have thought a leisure sail could turn into a fat-burning cardio exercise?)

For golf enthusiasts, Huawei has also added 17,000 golf courses from all around the world to the watch, including detailed vector maps. Bikers get to access their performance based on real-time speed, slope, weight and bike type. The new high-range IMU sensor also adds fall detection to the watch.

When it comes to the health aspects, the watch is capable of a range of tracking including heart rate, skin temperature, mood and the new sleep breathing awareness and nap tracking.

Before the Huawei smartwatch, I was using the Philips sleep headphones, the period app, the steps counter, a white noise machine etc. The Watch Fit 5 Pro has everything I need in it and yet I do not feel overwhelmed.

Certainly there are other brands like Garmin that offer more advanced health and wellness tracking, but as a first-time smartwatch user, I prefer Huawei’s Watch Fit 5 Pro as it blends health and fitness features with a stylish design.

I have to admit that I’m getting slightly addicted to track my sleep score and weirdly obsessed with playing back my sleep sounds.

Sleep expert Sammy Margo shared her advice on good sleeping habits – firstly, keeping a consistent wake time every day, even at weekends serves a powerful anchor for circadian rhythm.

Secondly, giving yourself five minutes of movement several times a day can improve deep sleep quality. And lastly, it’s good to take a 20-minute nap – it is recovery, focus and self-leadership ‘all in one’.

There are lots more to explore in the mobile app, however, most of them are restricted for VIP members, meaning you have to pay a monthly subscription to access better watch faces, sleep music library etc.

But from now on till June 21, new customers get to enjoy a free one-month watch face membership and £30 off, as well as free gifts like a scale and a watch strap. The Watch Fit 5 Pro retails at £249.99, while the Watch Fit 5 retails at £149.99.