For style, Huawei’s watch line-up has gotten louder. The Watch GT 5 Pro, with its metal bracelet and thick bezel, is the most flashy of the bunch. Smart features are mostly the same as they were before, with a few small improvements from Huawei. The high-end price has gone up, and some buyers may already think it’s too high.
Key specifications
| Price | 499 euros (black 399 euros) |
|---|---|
| Display | 1.43-inch AMOLED, 466 x 466 pixels |
| Memory | Not specified |
| Battery | Not specified |
| Dimensions, weight | 46.3 x 46.3 x 10.9 mm, 53 grams (without strap). Strap width 22 mm. |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.2 (BLE/BR), NFC, GPS |
| Heart-rate sensor | Optical heart-rate sensor (Trusense) |
| Water and dust resistance | IP69K, 5ATM (up to 50 meters) |
| Charging | Wireless charging dock |
Where does this fit in Huawei’s range?
The GT family got bigger with the Watch GT 4, and since then, these models have looked more like regular watches than pure sport watches. GT used to mean comfortable long-distance car travel. Now, Huawei wants to make clothes that are comfy to wear anywhere. One device should be able to handle all of your daily tasks, as well as track your workouts and lifestyle.
Models and pricing
In reality, the Watch GT 5 line comes in four different sizes. There are 41 mm and 46 mm models of the GT 5 family. You can get the 41 mm in blue, gold, or black. The bigger standard 46 mm comes in black and blue. The prices for both sizes are between 269 and 299 euros.
There are also two sizes of the Watch GT 5 Pro. The case and band of the 42 mm Pro are made of ceramic, and it costs 599 euros. For 399 euros, you can get the bigger 46 mm Pro with a black bracelet. For 499 euros, you can get it with a titanium band. The second one, which is made of a titanium alloy, is my study unit.
Box contents and strap setup
There is an extra bracelet link, a guarantee card, a wired charging dock, and the watch itself in the retail box. The main band and the extra links on the bracelet both have a quick-release clasp. Getting the bracelet to the right length is quick, but it’s tricky and needs some skill.
Design and build
The finishing is tuned so the watch works for everyday wear and dressier occasions, though it is not exactly a tuxedo watch. Huawei kept the weight down to 53 grams by using a titanium alloy, which gives the GT 5 Pro a sense of quality.
One unmistakable design trait is sharpness. The bezel hints at an octagonal form and the lugs continue those angled facets. A two-tone hour ring frames the display, and the seconds markings run on the outer ring. The result reads very watchlike.
After nearly three weeks of heavy use, the case and glass showed no wear, which bodes well for the metal construction holding up in daily life.
Bracelet trade-offs
The metal bracelet brings two small annoyances. First, sizing requires removing or adding links, so you cannot quickly tighten or loosen the band for a workout the way you might with leather or silicone. If you size the bracelet for daytime swelling on a hot day, it can feel loose the next day.
Second, the vibration motor causes a rattling sensation through the bracelet when notifications arrive. You can dial down or disable vibration to reduce this. If you prefer the metal look but want less fuss, the black fluoroelastomer strap option is both practical and cheaper.
Setup and platform
Setup requires the Huawei Health app. For my testing I installed the app’s beta, which supported unreleased devices during the trial period. After launch the official app will support the Watch GT 5 Pro. The official app is not available on Google Play; you must download it from Huawei’s site, AppGallery, or Samsung’s Galaxy Store. The app is available on the Apple App Store for iPhone users.
The watch connects to phones via Bluetooth only; there is no Wi-Fi or LTE. It does include NFC, but Huawei Wallet payments are not available in some markets, so NFC may not be useful for payments depending on your country.
Software and app experience
Huawei Health is straightforward and logical, although data is scattered across sections. Health data lives in one consolidated place, which is helpful. Syncs and uploads can be slow or occasionally fail.
Display and watch faces
The display is unchanged from the previous model: a 1.43-inch AMOLED panel at 466 x 466 pixels. Blacks are deep and the screen remains legible in sunlight. The panel reaches a useful peak brightness and its 326 ppi renders details crisply.
To emphasize the watchlike feel, the screen supports an always-on display. Preinstalled faces include pared-down always-on variants so the face goes quiet overnight.
Huawei added 14 new faces this cycle, ranging from classical analog styles to playful designs including a floral goal-tracking face and an expressive panda option.
Sensors, accuracy, and training features
Huawei rebrands its optical sensor from Truseen to Trusense and says it saw significant upgrades. The company boosted the number of measurement channels used for circulation and heart-rate monitoring from four to twelve to reduce noise and improve accuracy.
I focused testing on runs, comparing the GT 5 Pro mainly to the Watch GT Runner and occasionally to the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro. There were no dramatic differences. The clearest change was a slightly faster heart-rate response at the start of runs and during sudden pace shifts. The improvement is subtle but noticeable with side-by-side observation. Overall heart-rate readings behaved about as one would expect from a wrist-based tracker.
GPS performance was consistent. Huawei says the antenna now uses a three-direction fan pattern. In practice the watch locked quickly from the same starting point—often in seconds. If you change region between uses, locks could take 30 to 60 seconds. That is fine, and I saw no meaningful advantage or disadvantage versus my comparison devices.
The workout UI is clear. Heart rate zones are easy to read thanks to color changes in the digits. A welcome new addition is running technique feedback, which is one of the features I had wanted on Huawei watches.
Golfers get shot analysis and the ability to load course maps to the watch.
Sleep and health tracking
With the new sensor sleep tracking feels more coherent and now optionally includes breath monitoring during sleep. That said, Health’s written feedback can be inconsistent; for example, a night may be described in prose as “passable” while scoring very highly numerically.
Built-in health apps include heart rate, ECG, and arterial stiffness detection. These are not medical devices, so interpret results with caution. ECG and arterial stiffness measurements run by holding a finger against the watch’s lower button for the measurement period.
OS behavior and controls
The interface will be familiar to existing Huawei users. Swipe down for quick settings and up for notifications. Notifications are not synced between phone and watch; reading one does not clear the other. Horizontal swipes expose smart assistance and favorite views.
The lower button is customizable, and the upper rotating crown scrolls and opens the app grid. The app view shows nine large icons and the rest as thumbnails, which is a clear layout. You can also switch to a list view. A double-press of the crown returns to the previous function. The lower button defaults to workouts but can be reassigned.
Preinstalled apps include a calculator, flashlight, timer, alarm, stopwatch, weather, compass, workouts, barometer, and Petal Maps (not on iOS). You can install extra apps from AppGallery. Third-party app support exists but is limited compared with Apple Watch or Wear OS ecosystems.
One useful new feature is a full keyboard, enabling free-text replies in messaging apps instead of relying on canned responses.
Performance
The GT 5 Pro is not a raw performance powerhouse, but it feels responsive and I did not notice lag. Software and hardware are well matched.
Wearability and daily use
The watchlike design appeals for general wear. At 53 grams the 46 mm titanium model is on the heavier side for sports but the weight is unobtrusive for everyday use. The metal bracelet is less suited to rigorous exercise.
Battery life and charging
Huawei claims up to two weeks in typical use and about a week under heavier use. In practice I saw excellent endurance. With the watch constantly connected to a phone and the display used when needed, the battery lasted 13.5 days. During that period GPS was only used about 4 to 5 hours, which is lower than my usual usage.
When I enabled always-on display and used GPS roughly an hour per day, battery drain roughly doubled and runtimes fell to about 3 to 4 days between charges. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro runs down in about 1.5 days under similar heavy use. The GT 5 Pro’s battery life is outstanding.
Charging is fast. The empty battery reached 50 percent in just over 15 minutes and 80 percent in 30 minutes. A full charge completed in about 45 minutes.
Durability and water resistance
The watch is protected to IP69K and rated 5ATM for water resistance, allowing dives to 50 meters according to the rating.
Verdict
The Huawei Watch GT 5 Pro has the same great Huawei smartwatch experience, with great fitness tracking and the best battery life in its class. It’s good at tracking features, being well-made, and charging quickly. The price goes up into expensive territory, and there aren’t many apps available. The metal bracelet isn’t great for sports.
The GT 5 Pro looks good, but at 499 euros for the titanium 46 mm model, it seems like a lot of money for what it offers compared to other options. The Watch GT 4, which came before it, has most of the same features and costs about half as much.
