It's been a year since Xiaomi Mi Band 2 settled on my left hand. During this time, a lot of good things happened: I finally stopped missing calls and important notifications, learned to walk those 10 thousand steps a day, and even began to sleep more, like him recommends (sometimes). But there was also a bad thing between us: for all its functionality, some aspects of it literally infuriated us.
And now the Xiaomi bracelet has a competitor. Huawei Band 2 Pro, which came to me for testing, is very similar to Mi Band 2, although it costs twice as much. But the manufacturer promised an almost professional set of functions, water resistance to a depth of 50 meters and other tempting things. It was worth a try.
Appearance and ergonomics
Huawei Band 2 Pro looks like most similar gadgets - a plastic capsule with a monochrome display on a silicone strap. The capsule is secured with two screws, so, unlike Mi Band 2, changing the bracelet is not so easy. But the bracelet itself is longer and has more holes, making it easier to fasten and adjust to the width of the wrist. The clasp is double, and due to this, the bracelet is attached very securely: in a couple of weeks it came undone for me only once, but this happens to its competitor quite often.
Huawei Band 2 Pro has a fairly large and at the same time informative display. The main screen immediately displays the date and time, charge level, Bluetooth icon and the number of steps taken, while Mi Band 2 only informs about the date and time, and to find out everything else, you have to scroll through the screens one by one.
The second difference that you immediately notice (and which is very pleasing) is the brightness of the screen. One of my major complaints about the Mi Band 2 is that the display gets blinding in bright daylight. This is incredibly annoying, because you usually use the bracelet as a replacement for a wristwatch. Such problems have never arisen with Huawei Band 2 Pro.
The third difference is in the control capabilities from the display. In Huawei Band 2 Pro, you can start two training modes from it - running and cycling, as well as a breathing exercises mode (the bracelet tells you when to inhale and exhale). To start each mode, you need to press and hold the button.
One of the most useful features of sports bracelets, in my opinion, is gesture control, in our case it’s auto-start when you raise your hand and switch screens when you turn your wrist. On the Huawei bracelet, both functions work more clearly and quickly, which is also a plus.
Which tracker or watch to buy
Ideally, before purchasing a tracker or watch, you should go somewhere that has them in stock and try them on. The characteristics can be found on the Internet, but often they are not very different from each other, so it is better to pay attention to the sensations. If the model is not sold in the store, perhaps one of your friends has it.
Maybe Apple will introduce an inexpensive bracelet. Come at 20:00 to watch the live broadcast from our colleagues from AppleInsider.ru
Try it and you will immediately understand which tracker you need. And straps for everything that is worn on the hand, and other accessories can be found in the cool Telegram channel “Ali Baba’s Chest”. Only the juice from AliExpress is selected there at the lowest prices and with the best reviews.
Basic functionality
Both bracelets can track physical activity - count the number of steps and meters, measure pulse, analyze the quality of night sleep and work as an alarm clock. I’ll talk about how correctly they do this a little later.
In addition, Huawei Band 2 Pro can operate underwater at a depth of 50 meters. With it you can safely swim and dive and even take measurements at this time (however, you won’t be able to find out anything other than time, distance and calories burned). Let me remind you that Mi Band 2 is waterproof according to IP67 and WR30 standards, which allows water to get on it, but in moderate quantities (for example, when you take a shower).
Cameras Huawei Nova 2i
The Huawei Nova 2i camera review is really surprising, because we have never seen a smartphone with 4 cameras at once. Each pair has a main and an additional module. In the case of the rear side, the main module received a resolution of 16 megapixels, and the auxiliary one - 2 megapixels. The front camera has a similar second sensor, and the first one is 13 megapixels. An additional module is needed to expand the aperture and take beautiful pictures with a background blur effect.
Example photo on Huawei Nova 2i
I was pleased with the presence of the “live photos” mode, which creates short videos lasting about 3 seconds. The intensity of the background blur and the focus area can be changed not only during shooting, but also on the finished image if the variable aperture mode was active.
While reviewing the Huawei Nova 2i graphite black smartphone, we noticed that the Huawei Nova 2i cameras do an excellent job of taking pictures even in cloudy autumn weather. Indoors, in the presence of good lighting, you get clear pictures with excellent detail even of small objects.
The quality of night photos largely depends on the illumination of the object entering the frame. If it is illuminated brightly, then even a non-professional photographer can get a good shot. But if it is not backlit, then a lot of noise appears and in general the picture turns out blurry.
Huawei Nova 2i prestige gold review in Russian showed that when shooting nearby objects with flash, details located in the shadows are highlighted, but it is important not to make mistakes with focusing. In some cases, it gets lost when the flash fires.
The smartphone can shoot panoramas in a resolution of 21 megapixels, which are stitched together very neatly.
A review of Huawei Nova 2i showed that the maximum resolution for recording video on the main camera is FullHD at 30 frames per second. The video is well detailed and smooth, the sound is recorded in stereo.
The key feature of the front-facing camera is the ability to shoot in portrait mode, which competitors cannot yet boast of. The pictures are taken in high resolution and look no worse than with the main camera.
Conclusion
The Huawei Nova 2i smartphone has become an exception to the rule, because for an affordable price we get almost all the advantages that flagships can boast of. A complete surprise was that there were four cameras at once, which is not a useless solution - you can get beautiful pictures with the bokeh effect, which applies not only to the main module, but also to the front camera. There is reason to believe that in the future their functionality will only expand, for example, it will be possible to save live photos in gif format.
The other characteristics also did not disappoint: a large, and most importantly high-quality display with an aspect ratio of 18:9, powerful hardware that can handle any modern games. If you need a smartphone that is affordable at its price, but at the same time with decent battery life, cameras and hardware, then this is the ideal choice. Among the shortcomings is the lack of an NFC chip and a 5 GHz Wi-Fi standard.
Where can I buy?
Following the links you can buy a smartphone at the best prices:
Aliexpress
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Applications for fitness bracelets and their functionality
The capabilities of sports bracelets, as we know, are significantly expanded through the use of applications. In them you can not only customize the bracelet itself, but also track the statistics of your sports life, set goals and monitor their implementation. And of course, share your achievements on social networks, if you wish.
For the Mi Band, you can download the official Mi Fit application from the Play Market or App Store (or, at your own risk, third-party applications), but with the Huawei Band 2 Pro everything is thinner. If you have an Android smartphone, you will have to download two applications at once. First, Huawei Wear, with which the bracelet is paired with a smartphone, allows you to track basic indicators: distance traveled and number of steps, as well as calories burned, as well as configure the device itself. Full statistics are available through the Huawei Health app, where you can also create a cardio training plan and monitor its implementation. Band 2 Pro cannot be linked through this application; only the Honor Watch S1 and various third-party heart rate monitors are supported.
If you have an iPhone, only the Huawei Wear application is available to you, and, unlike its counterpart on Android, both the bracelet binding and full statistics are immediately available in it. The logic of the developers is certainly difficult to understand, but I believe that it exists.
Be that as it may, we have to admit that the capabilities of Huawei's applications (or applications) are richer than those of Mi Fit. The ability to create a workout plan (and not just write down one of them), save a track of your run or bike ride, and even take a photo - all this is endlessly pleasing.
Honor Band 6 or Honor Watch ES
For me, comparing these two models is also quite interesting. Even though these are completely different gadgets, their prices are not so different that they cannot be compared. Moreover, Honor Watch ES is a very incomprehensible gadget - either it’s short of hours , or it’s overdone .
You can read more about the Honor Watch ES in the long review I released a few months ago, but when you compare it to the Honor Band 6, there are a few key differences.
Honor Watch ES
In addition to approximately twofold difference in price, they received completely different screen sizes - 1.47 inches (194 by 368 pixels) for Honor Band 6 versus 1.64 inches (280 by 456 pixels) for Honor Watch ES.
But both devices received an oxygen sensor, Bluetooth 5.0 and water protection, allowing you to swim with them. They also have the same battery size, which is why the more productive and simply larger Honor Watch ES lives about 30% less on one charge - 10 days in normal mode and 7 in active mode .
Buy Honor Watch ES
Notifications
One of the useful features of such trackers is that they can notify you of incoming calls, messages, tasks, etc. Of course, you shouldn’t expect smartwatch functionality here, but nevertheless, it’s very convenient, for example, when the smartphone is in silent mode and buried somewhere in the depths of the bag.
What can our heroes offer us in this regard? It all depends on what application you are using.
The Mi Fit application for iOS allows you to configure not only the vibration of the Mi Band when there is an incoming call, but also inform you that someone has written to you in instant messenger or on social networks. Which ones exactly depends on which applications are installed on the smartphone.
In Huawei Wear, in this sense, everything is more concise: you either subscribe to all notifications or do not receive them at all. And it's very inconvenient.
In the Android versions, the lists in Huawei Wear and M iFit are much longer and include all applications and services installed on the smartphone.
When it comes to display, the undisputed leader is Huawei Band 2 Pro. Not only notifications are displayed on its screen, but also the text of messages or letters, and when there is an incoming call, not only is the caller’s number shown, but it is also possible to reject the call.
Interface
The review of the Huawei Nova 2i smartphone showed that it uses the proprietary EMUI 5.1 shell, which begins to surprise even on the lock screen. By swiping from the bottom of the display you can go to the quick menu, which is very convenient. Screensavers are automatically downloaded from the network and updated regularly so that you don't get bored. If desired, each interface element can be customized and set a wide variety of gestures. The shell is as simple as possible, beautiful and easy to use.
Accuracy of measurements
To test how adequate the Huawei Band 2 Pro and Mi Band are in measurements, I conducted several tests.
For the first one, in which I examined how accurately our bands measure heart rate, I used a Polar sports heart rate monitor with a chest strap, which provides almost perfect measurement accuracy.
I took several heart rate measurements at rest, during low physical activity, and during intense cardio exercise. Tests have shown that in the first case, the pulse is measured quite adequately by both bracelets. The error remains practically insignificant when the load increases and the threshold of 90 beats per minute is reached. After this, such confusion and vacillation begins that there can be no talk of any accuracy of measurements. As an example: the Polar sensor confidently produces 132 beats per minute, Mi Band and Huawei Band 2 Pro at the same moment - 84 and 78 beats per minute, respectively.
The reason for this inaccuracy lies in the sensors. These types of gadgets use optical sensors to measure heart rate. They emit light that is absorbed by the blood. The higher the load, the more intense the blood presses on the walls of the arteries, the level of absorption of light from the sensor changes, and our bracelet records this. By the way, this is why you shouldn’t neglect the manufacturers’ advice on how exactly to place the fitness bracelet on your wrist, this is really important. But at a certain stage, when the load increases and the heart rate increases noticeably, this measurement method does not work. This is why it is best to use chest straps for intense workouts.
The second test I decided to conduct was to check how accurately the Mi Band and Huawei Band 2 Pro measure the number of steps taken. The result is in the table.
Component Performance
The best processor from Huawei is still the Kirin 9000 5G. It is made using a 5nm process technology and includes eight cores: one Cortex-A77 (3.13 GHz), three Cortex-A77 (2.54 GHz) and four Cortex-A55 (2.05 GHz). The graphics chip is Mali-G78 MP24, and in addition there is a Da Vinci neural unit that performs tasks using machine learning. This is supported by 8GB of RAM and 256/512GB of fast internal storage.
In performance tests, the Kirin 9000 5G is inferior to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and Samsung Exynos 2100, showing results at the level of the Snapdragon 865+. In Geekbench 5 multi-core mode, the Huawei Mate X2 smartphone scores 3389 points, and the Mate 40 Pro turned out to be slightly more powerful. The Mate X2 does not have a Performance mode, although there is no throttling, as well as overheating of the case.
In the GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p) graphics test, the Huawei folding smartphone produced a result of 61 fps for the main display, although the result was worse for the secondary screen. This is probably done at the software level to save energy.
For gaming, the performance of the Mate X2 is not the highest; if there are no lags, then the games look simply amazing on the 8-inch display. However, often the graphics can look a little strange, because not all games are optimized for such a screen.
The main purpose of this model is multitasking, and the smartphone copes with this flawlessly.
How to connect a bracelet to a smartphone
As usual for these devices, both bracelets pair with a smartphone via Bluetooth. But there are certain subtleties here that I would like to warn you about, so as not to encounter a situation where the Huawei Band 2 Pro or Mi Band 2 does not connect to the smartphone.
The first thing to consider is that the bracelet cannot be linked to two smartphones at the same time. Therefore, before changing your device, make sure that you have disabled synchronization between it and your smartphone. Simply turning off Bluetooth or “forgetting” the bracelet in the list of available devices is not enough; you also need to unlink it through the application.
The second subtlety is that you should also connect the bracelet through the application, and not through the Bluetooth settings. Of course, after making sure that the Bluetooth module on the smartphone is turned on, and the bracelet itself is not used on other devices.
Sound and wireless communications
As the Huawei Nova 2i review showed, the external speaker is quite loud and of high quality. It is suitable for listening to your favorite music in the comfort of your home.
SIM cards operate in alternating mode, LTE support is declared for each of the slots. In the settings you can set which SIM card will be responsible for calls, SMS and mobile Internet by default. Surprisingly, Huawei Nova 2i does not receive 5 GHz Wi-Fi support; it only works on 802.11b/g/n networks in the 2.4 GHz band. There is Bluetooth 4.2, a radio that only works when a headset is connected. GLONASS, GPS and BDS services are available for navigation. A cold start takes no more than 10 seconds. All subsequent activations occur instantly.
What to buy: Huawei Band 2 Pro or Mi Band 2?
Joint testing of Huawei Band 2 Pro and Mi Band 2 showed that fitness bracelets do a good job with their main function - helping to monitor your physical activity in everyday life and always be in touch. But don’t expect that such things will replace your normal sports heart rate monitors and pedometers, especially if you like all kinds of intense cardio or CrossFit.
If we talk about functionality in general, then Huawei Band 2 Pro fully justifies its higher price. Displaying the text of the message, information about who is calling, the ability to take a photo with all the details of the workout and other useful features - all this is very pleasing.
And it seems to me that Mi Band 2 and I won’t be together for long.
Autonomy Huawei Nova 2i
Huawei Nova 2i lte 64 GB review showed that the smartphone has a built-in 3340 mAh battery, which, combined with other characteristics, allows us to expect an average battery life. With active use, the charge confidently lasts until the evening with 4-5 hours of screen activity. With a more gentle mode of use, you can count on 1.5-2 days of autonomy. When tested, it lasted 5.5 hours in games at 50% brightness and the same amount when playing FullHD video at maximum brightness. Overnight it takes about 4-5% of the charge.
Specifications
- Name: Huawei GT 2e.
- Display: 1.39 inches, AMOLED, HD resolution, 454 × 454 pixels.
- Processor: Kirin A1.
- RAM: 32 MB.
- Connection: Bluetooth 5.1 with BLE/BR/EDR support.
- Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic, capacitive, air pressure sensor, optical heart rate sensor, light sensor.
- Geopositioning: GPS + GLONASS.
- Battery: 455 mAh.
- Charging time: 2 hours.
- Working time: up to 14 days.
- Case materials: stainless steel, plastic.
- Water resistance level: 5 ATM (50 meters).
- Compatible operating systems: iOS 9, Android 4.4 and higher.
- Strap: removable, made of thermoplastic polyurethane.
- Dimensions: 53 x 46.8 x 10.8 millimeters.
- Weight: 43 grams (without strap).
Results
Huawei Watch GT 2e is a gadget for those who have just embarked on the path of self-improvement or are already on it. Whatever your goal is - losing weight, getting a good time in a race, or improving your performance in any sport, smart watches will help you achieve it.
Complete information about your training and fitness level, thoughtful lesson plans and lots of convenient features to make life a little easier. And all this within two weeks without recharging.
Whether you're already involved in sports, preparing for a competition, or just planning to dive into the world of physical activity, Huawei Watch GT 2e will be your best friend and motivator. The smartwatch costs $199.99.
Buy Huawei Watch GT 2e
