Xiaomi has been the undisputed king of the budget segment fitness tracking bands for quite some time. Huawei Band 6 emerges as a strong competitor that outshines the MI band 6 in some aspects. Despite being a fitness tracker band, the new Huawei Band 6 is bold, bigger, and adds a hint of style, as compared to the bleak-looking aesthetics of the Mi Band 6. Read more to know about the improvements that make the Huawei Band 6 a serious contender for the title of best budget fitness trackers.
Rating: 4.3/5
Technical specifications
Design
Huawei band 6 upgrades its color palette and now comes with gorgeous color schemes including forest green and amber sunrise, both of which look equally stunning on your wrist. It is significantly lighter than most smart fitness bands and weighs just 18 grams (excluding the strap). While color options are enchanting, you have to settle for only one color from the lot.
The straps of the Huawei band 6 are non-detachable, so you cannot swap between the four different color options. Its strap material is silicone but the edges of the Huawei band 6 sport a freemium metallic textured finish. Despite its shiny appearance, it is still a polycarbonate build.
Display
Huawei band 6 comes with a comparatively larger display size than the MI band 6. The larger legroom lets you easily navigate the smartwatch even if you have big fingers. It is just shy of a few millimeters compared to a smartwatch display, which is a good thing to display stats without cramming everything in a corner. Huawei Band 6 sports a 1.47-inch AMOLED display with a 194 x 368 pixels resolution and a 282 PPI pixel density.
Battery
Huawei band 6 comes with a 144 mAh battery and uses a magnetic pogo pin charger to charge itself. The fitness band supports fast charging and can refuel itself in an hour. It promises a battery life of almost 2 weeks but if you put it in a realistic time frame with all the sensors enabled, it struggles to hit the 7-day mark.
Smart Features
24/7 Heart Rate Monitoring
Huawei band 6 supports 24/7 heart rate monitoring using an optical sensor and AI-based data processing. It produces elaborate logs that can be viewed graphically to understand more about your heart’s functioning. The maximum heart rate monitoring is a bit clunky on this fitness band, and it sometimes fails to register an increase in the heart rate despite the intense physical activity.
All-day SpO2 Monitoring
Despite being a budget fitness band, Huawei band 6 comes with all-day spo2 monitoring support. Measuring blood oxygen levels were never as useful as it is amid the covid pandemic, and the spo2 monitoring of this fitness band is on par with more premium offerings in the market. It logs your spo2 levels every 30 minutes throughout the day, which amounts to 48 logs in a 24-hour time frame. It can drain your battery pretty quickly, so it is best to switch to manual spo2 monitoring unless you need the data of your oxygen levels. Huawei band 6 is not a medical device and can only be used as a reference and not for diagnostic purposes.
TruRelax Stress Monitoring
Stress monitoring is a bit of a gimmick on the Huawei band 6 that monitors your stress levels. If it gets too high, the fitness band displays a set of breathing exercises to calm down your nerves.
TruSleep 2.0 Sleep Tracking
Huawei band 6 is capable of tracking four different levels of sleep cycles and can also measure quick naps if you have a habit of taking one frequently. Your sleep logs are displayed graphically and it also classifies your sleeping problems into six major categories and makes suggestions to improve them. The accuracy of sleep tracking is very high, and the fitness band never misses whenever you close your eyelids for a quick nap.
Menstrual Cycle Tracking
Huawei band 6 has menstrual cycle tracking that works on manual logs made by the user. It is less automated than it could have been and needs a major software improvement to accurately predict the beginning of the next menstrual cycle.
Fitness Tracking
Huawei band 6 allows you to set three major activities including steps, hours active, and moderate-to-high intensity activity. All these three activities are displayed in colorful rings and inform you about the current progress in the day. The fitness band supports tracking of up to 96 workout modes, but only a few of them are accurate enough. The great thing about fitness tracking is that primary physical activities such as running, walking, swimming, and high-intensity physical activities are accurately monitored by the fitness band.
Dedicated App
Let’s face it, Huawei apps are never returning to the Google Play Store. The users who don’t know about the clash between Google and Huawei tend to download the outdated version of the fitness tracking app for the Huawei Band 6. It is a major problem as the application is quite buggy and the logs are not interpreted correctly.
You can directly download the updated companion app for the Huawei Band 6 from the manufacturer’s website. Essentially, you have to visit the Huawei app gallery and download the health app. Make note that the app is only supported on devices running Android 6.0 or later, and iOS 9.1 or later, and few smart features like menstrual tracking are unavailable for iOS devices.
Huawei Band 6: The Good
Huawei Band 6 isn’t an inferior fitness tracker at all. It shines in a few tracking areas and disappoints in only some workout modes. It comes with a bright and responsive AMOLED display that is way above the league of a budget fitness tracking band. Battery life is also a huge plus for the Huawei Band 6 that can last up to 10 days with a few tweaks in the monitoring cycles.
Even if you get up late in the morning, the Huawei Band 6 will be ready for the day in just 50 minutes of charge. Due to the bigger display, the stats are evenly laid out and easier to read. You can install up to 5 widgets on the Huawei Band 6 so that quickly accessing the stats is possible. Essential tracking features such as sleep tracking and spo2 monitoring are fairly accurate, which makes it a reliable health and fitness tracker.
Huawei Band 6: The Bad
Huawei band 6 comes with non-detachable straps. It is a very unwise decision as silicone straps tend to break after prolonged usage. And without a modular strap replacement option, the user will have to buy a new fitness tracker. Also swapping between your favorite colors is not a possibility on the Huawei Band 6. The next problematic aspect is the unavailability of the health app on the google play store. You have to manually download it and updating is also a hassle for most consumers. Speaking of customization, the watch faces are not particularly stunning in design and appear cartoonish. With a few software tweaks, the inaccuracy of workout modes can be fixed by the manufacturers.
Should you buy the Huawei Band 6?
If you are looking for a reliable fitness tracking band that is not from Xiaomi, the Huawei Band 6 is a bankable choice that won’t disappoint you. It has a bigger, better display, a useful widget integration, fast charging support. And long battery life, packed in beautiful color options. Spo2 monitoring is an added advantage, especially if you are looking for a fitness tracking band that can double up as an oxygen saturation level monitoring device. Lastly, the Huawei Band 6 is aggressively priced and is very cheap as compared to other pricier offerings from Garmin, and other fitness tracking bands. Also, check out Top Fitness Apps for Fitbit, Wear OS, and Samsung Smartwatches.