The huawei smart band 4 is one of the best low-cost fitness trackers available. It will track your steps, sleep, and heart rate and, with its built-in GPS, will be adequate for casual runners. The battery life is likewise fantastic; however it’s unusual that while being 50m water resistant, it lacks a swim tracking option. The Band does not require a charger because it has a USB stick built in – a design flourish that is popular and distinguishes it.
The Huawei Smart Band 4
A good match
The Huawei Smart Band 4 is as straightforward as fitness trackers get, which is a good thing. It comes in a small 24g design with a tiny 0.96in colour display that is a little pixelated but amazing for the price, though tough to read in direct sunlight. A capacitive touch button just below the screen wakes the screen and serves as a menu back button.
Buttons on the underside rapidly release either half, with one showing the smart USB charging connection, which is otherwise totally hidden when not in use. The tracker’s bottom is softly curved to hug your wrist and has the tiniest of bumps to house the heart rate sensor.
You can wear it all day for over a week and found it quite comfortable. It is water resistant to 50m, so you can use it in the shower too, and it is small enough that you won’t feel it when you’re sleeping – keep it on and it will basically track your slumbers as well.
It is not a particularly intriguing product, and the black variant is particularly unappealing. However, it looks better than the Fitbit Inspire line and is built to last longer. Furthermore, it is difficult to make such a little band more than useful.
The function takes precedence over the form
The Huawei Smart Band 4 is as simple as a fitness tracker with a screen can be, but it outperforms in terms of features. It lacks built-in GPS (as do most trackers this size and price), so you’ll need to take your phone with you on runs and rides to track your route, but it has everything else that any casual fitness user will want.
It measures steps, distance, calories, and heart rate, which may be changed to automated or manual at the expense of battery life. Even with auto heart rate and raise to wake the screen activated (both of which are disabled by default), you can easily get a week of continuous wear out of the Huawei Smart Band 4.
The final note
People who are used the Band 4 to track their runs and exercises at the gym and have found it to be quite accurate. It offers workout modes for running, walking, cycling, cross trainers, and rowing machines, as well as indoor and outdoor runs, walks, and cycles. According to the Huawei Health app, people generally use it in free training mode for weights, and it logs the heart rate and gives you read out of the intensity.
Keen tech writer outside of my day job in I.T. and spending time with my family.
