TECH REVIEW – Huawei’s latest flagship smartwatch sets a new standard for premium build quality and brings a comprehensive array of health features, this time headlined by the new X-Tap sensor. The Watch 5 is a true hardware powerhouse, with a gorgeous display and impressive battery life stretching up to 11 days. But for all its strengths, the shine is dulled once again by a lackluster app ecosystem and quirks in its advanced health tracking. This is a top-tier health-centric watch—now available in Budapest—yet it still demands more compromise from users than its main rivals.

 

It’s been two years since Huawei launched its previous flagship series, and following last year’s sportier Watch GT 5 duo, the Huawei Watch 5 enters a crowded field with high expectations. This device represents the peak of the brand’s classic smartwatch line: its design sees only subtle refinements, but the new generation introduces a significant leap in health tech—a brand-new X-Tap sensor on the side of the case.
With each generation, there’s always excitement in the air, but the Watch 5 brings a familiar tale: world-class hardware, but shortcomings in ecosystem and truly actionable health analytics. Here’s our full review—tested on the streets of Budapest, with detailed insights into Hungarian retail offerings.

The Huawei Watch 5 (46mm edition, multi-sensing X-Tap, Health MOT, real-time blood oxygen tracking, up to 11 days battery, eSIM, aerospace-grade titanium or stainless steel housing, iOS and Android support, and a purple color option).
This model lands at a clearly premium price point and, while it costs no more than the Watch 4, it’s still firmly in the domain of the industry’s biggest players.

 

 

Serious Rivals, Unique Approach

 

The main competitors for the Watch 5 are the Apple Watch Series 10 (with Series 11 likely due in September), and, for Android users, the soon-to-launch Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 line and the upcoming Google Pixel Watch 4. While it’s priced right alongside these heavyweights, the Huawei Watch 5 operates on a fundamentally different philosophy. Its mix of strengths and drawbacks carves out a unique, if somewhat niche, spot in this fiercely competitive field.

 

Design: Huawei’s Old Strength, Still with Quirks

 

If there’s one area where Huawei consistently shines, it’s in crafting premium smartwatches. The Watch 5 is no exception: it’s arguably one of the best-looking classic smartwatches I’ve ever worn. The new, rounder sapphire glass is a step up from the Watch 4, and the 316L stainless steel (heavier than the titanium models) gives it a genuine luxury heft and polish. Of course, that also makes it less comfortable for training than a true sports watch, but that’s the expected trade-off.

What surprised me is that despite the weight, the balance is surprisingly comfortable—even after a long weekend run around Budapest, I didn’t feel desperate to take it off. The thinner bezel is another improvement—the screen-to-body ratio on this 46mm version is now 80%, the brand’s best so far. That lets the LTPO display really pop: sharp, vibrant, and bright up to 3,000 nits. For context, that’s on par with the Apple Watch Ultra 2.

 

Glare and Compromise

 

In theory, the Watch 5 is an ideal partner for outdoor workouts—but in practice, the auto-brightness is too conservative. Even under Budapest’s harsh summer sun, it rarely goes above 40–50%, so to clearly see my stats and notifications mid-run, I was forced to crank up the brightness, which of course drains the battery faster. That’s not an issue for most watches, but with this model’s ultra-reflective screen, it becomes more of a hassle. Honestly, I’ve never seen a smartwatch display this mirror-like—and it makes auto-brightness a compromise you really feel.

Indoors, it’s less of a bother, and even outside, it’s only a minor flaw in what is otherwise an impeccable design. Among health-focused watches, this is as good as it gets, and it just feels a step above anything else at this price. The X-Tap sensor is worth highlighting too, though more on its real-world use later. On the black case, the extra sensor is barely noticeable and blends in like a side button; on lighter titanium models, it might stand out more, which comes down to personal taste.

 

 

Huawei X-Tap: New Frontiers in Health

 

Huawei is banking big on the Watch 5’s new multi-sensor X-Tap technology, now a central piece of the refreshed TruSense System. This is an extra array on the case’s side, separate from the main optical sensors on the back, combining ECG, PPG, and tactile sensors. The idea: get better, faster readings thanks to thinner skin and denser blood vessels in your fingertip, and merge that with data from the back sensors.

In practice, X-Tap is genuinely impressive: it can provide a blood oxygen (SpO2) reading in just 10 seconds, and with a three-second press you trigger “Health Glance,” a 60-second overview of nine vital stats—now including heart rate variability (HRV) and a respiratory check if you cough near the mic.

 

Finger on the Sensor—But Who Really Wants This?

 

While it’s cool to see Huawei trying new ways to gather health data, this feels like a solution to a problem most people don’t actually have. Let’s be real—how many users want to press a side sensor for routine checks? Is the extra speed or slightly improved Health Glance enough to make this a must-buy? I’m not convinced—even if the technology itself is slick.

Plus, it runs against the grain of what others are doing: brands like Oura (with Dexcom integration) and Whoop (pushing blood test tie-ins) are showing that not every important metric should—or even can—be tracked at the wrist. They’re branching out, while X-Tap feels like Huawei is squeezing every last drop from the watch form factor.

Improving on-device sensing is a noble goal, but during real-world testing, X-Tap didn’t feel like a game-changer or the kind of indispensable feature that will reshape how you use your watch. It’s an impressive engineering feat, but not the revolution Huawei’s marketing wants you to think it is.

 

Health Features: Comprehensive, But Where’s the Spark?

 

Because of the Watch 5’s software limitations, its biggest strength is still health tracking. As expected, core stats—like overnight heart rate and respiration—were reliable during my testing, generally in line with gold-standard trackers like the Oura Ring 4, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Whoop MG.

It regularly matched my sleep/wake times within 5–10 minutes of other devices, offered clear breakdowns of sleep phases, and its “sleep breathing awareness” feature could flag disturbances.
The trouble—like with the GT 5 Pro—is that the Huawei Health app feels more like an archive than a real hub for actionable health insights. The “Health Insights” tab gives Apple-style summaries, but rarely inspires me to dig deeper or change my habits. Isn’t that the whole point?

 

 

Great Data Logger, But Not Much of a Coach

 

I always use stress tracking as a test of whether a brand just ticks boxes or genuinely gives you something useful. Huawei’s stress reports, like before, sit almost always in a narrow low-to-mid range, regardless of how stressful my day actually was.

That’s not “bad” data per se—it’s not inconsistent or wildly off, so you get a general sense of your stress level. But it’s nowhere near the level of context or insight you’d get from Whoop’s in-depth approach or Oura’s Resilience tools.

The Watch 5 logs a sea of health data, often with impressive accuracy, but rarely translates it into real, motivating feedback. It’s a superb health logger, but as a coach, it’s lacking. For some, that’s fine—but if you want your watch to really guide your health, it leaves you wanting more.

 

Workout Tracking: Plenty of Power, Familiar Weaknesses

 

Workout-wise, heart rate accuracy is still a key battleground. Like its predecessors, the Watch 5 is generally solid, but shows some quirks compared to the Garmin HRM-Pro Plus chest strap and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

For example, on an 11km steady run in Budapest’s Pesterzsébet Emlékezések tere park, the Watch 5 tracked an average HR of 156 bpm (165 max), while Garmin and Apple were both at 159 average, with higher maxes (179 and 177 respectively).

During a weights session, Watch 5 averaged 121 bpm, closely following Garmin and Apple at 123. In a 7.3km interval run, it averaged 162 (Garmin 163, Apple 161), but its max HR spiked to 187—well above Garmin (183) and Apple (181).

 

Good Enough Heart Rate, Outstanding GPS and Analysis

 

The Watch 5 usually delivers spot-on averages, though there are occasional spikes or dips in max heart rate depending on the workout. This is more than accurate enough for most users to track intensity and see trends, but isn’t the “gold standard” that purists crave. In short, it’s a sensor that’s good enough for almost anyone, and won’t let you down day-to-day.

GPS is a real strong suit. Signal lock is fast, and whether I was running in open or semi-urban Budapest, distance tracking was consistently within 50–100 meters of Garmin and Apple Watch. It could be pushed harder in a dense city, but past Huawei tests suggest it’s more than reliable enough for race day or everyday training.

The fitness suite is also top notch. Recovery data makes sense and aligns with Garmin; the “Running Ability Index” is a handy visual of your fitness; features like training load, training index, and VO2 max are robust and consistent with major platforms. This is a seriously capable fitness watch.

 

HarmonyOS and Smart Features

 

The Watch 5’s HarmonyOS interface is super smooth, with crisp animations and navigation that match its premium build. Huawei introduces new gesture controls—Double Slide and Double Tap—which can handle calls (even some third-party apps) or music playback. For basics like ending calls or dismissing alarms, they work, but they’re not as seamless or deeply integrated as what Apple and Samsung offer.

The Watch 5 supports eSIM for 4G LTE, letting you make calls and stay connected without your phone—a real perk for runners. But the real usefulness of this depends on which apps are actually available on the watch.

 

New Generation, Same Old Problem

 

This is where Huawei wearables still stumble: the third-party app ecosystem is tiny. Despite Huawei’s push for AppGallery and developer support, and its impressive cross-platform connectivity, it just can’t match the range or depth of apps you find on Apple Watch or Wear OS.

Contactless payments are still spotty or simply not available in many major European markets—including Hungary. Big streaming platforms don’t offer true offline music support, and there’s no deeply integrated assistant on the level of Siri or Google Assistant.

So while the Watch 5 is a connected device, its smart features are clearly limited. Like its siblings and predecessors, it’s still not the all-in-one phone companion that the top rivals are. Health features aside, what’s here works well for most people, but at this price, there are better options for true smartwatch functionality.

 

Battery Life

 

Battery life remains a highlight. For the 46mm version, Huawei claims 4.5 days with always-on display (AOD) active, and in my Budapest testing, this held up. With AOD always enabled, brightness often boosted to cut the glare, regular GPS workouts, and plenty of notifications, I consistently managed just over four days. That’s easily enough for most users to avoid daily charging, even with heavy use like long GPS runs and gym sessions.

For the 42mm, official claims are 3 days with AOD—which is still solid. If you’re willing to skip AOD (which I rarely am), Huawei says the 46mm can hit up to 12 days, the 42mm up to 7 days, thanks to dual-mode battery and Battery Saver Mode. That flexibility is genuinely useful, letting you stretch things further in a pinch.

-Gergely Herpai “BadSector”-

Cons

– Limited app ecosystem
– Heart rate tracking isn’t best-in-class
– X-Tap sensor is more of a novelty than a necessity