Huawei Watch 3 vs Apple Watch 6

Huawei’s new Watch 3 has reinvented the smartwatch, with emphasis on design. It is the perfect fashion accessory, yet packed with powerful features and a new operating system. It has recently gone on sale in SA and will go up against the Apple Watch 6. But how do they stack up against each other, and which one offers better value for money?

Design and display

The Watch 3 is made up of an ultra-curved 3D glass screen display with a new rotating crown. It features a 1.43-inch bright Amoled display that supports full touch screen operations such as swiping, tapping and pressing and holding. It has a resolution of 466x466 pixels, which is 326 pixels per inch, and has a 46mm case size. The Apple Watch Series 6 starts with a smaller screen size of 40mm and has a resolution of 324x394 pixels. It also has a digital crown.

Compared side by side, the Watch 3 has a more analogue look to it, drawing appeal from regular watch wearers; but the difference being that it’s fully connected, allowing you to use it without your phone.

Sensors and connectivity

When it comes to hardware, the Watch 3 is packed with sensors such as acceleration, gyro, optical heart rate, geomagnetic, ambient light, barometric pressure and temperature. Its connectivity options include NFC, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS and WLAN. A brand-new feature is the LTE eSIM support so you can use the watch independently from the paired smartphone. It also supports both Android 6.0 and iOS 9 upwards. 

The Apple Watch 6 has an accelerometer, barometric, heart-rate sensor, gyroscope, GPS and ambient light. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, Cellular and Wi-Fi. It also offers an LTE eSIM connection, however, it can only be paired with an iPhone and does not offer Android pairing, limiting it to one operating system.

Battery

The Watch 3 battery supports wireless charging and lets you use it in a typical setting called smart mode, or default setting, that lasts three days. This could be two hours of LTE, 22 hours of Bluetooth pairing, heart rate monitoring enabled, 60 minutes of app usage and music, calls, workout access and turning on the screen 200 times a day. 

Ultra-long mode on the other hand lasts 14 days, but allows heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking, 30 minutes of Bluetooth calls, 90 minutes of working out, checking notifications and turning on the screen 200 times a day. When paired with an iPhone, it lasts 1.5 days. 

The Apple Watch Series 6 battery also supports wireless charging but typically needs to be charged every night and would not extend to beyond two days of usage.

Features and apps

The Watch 3 supports video calling app MeeTime by allowing you transfer calls from a phone to the watch, or to make the calls directly on the watch if your eSIM is activated. You can get all smartphone notifications, access flight boarding passes, calendar entries and more. 

It also has SpO2 monitoring, fall detection, SOS alerts, stress management, sleep tracking and can detect more than 100 workout modes. For the avid runner, you can choose from more than 10 different courses, get severe weather warnings, and using the built-in GPS, you can run without your smartphone. It is 50m water resistant and has swim tracking features. 

The Apple Watch offers similar features but does not track nearly as much as 100 workout modes like the Huawei Watch 3.

Price

What sets the Watch 3 apart from the Series 6 is pricing. SA consumers want more value for their money and the Watch 3 is sitting at a sweet spot of R7,299 for an eSIM-enabled smartwatch that can be used independently from a smartphone. It also the larger 46mm variant. The Apple Watch 40mm costs R9,999 — you’re getting a smaller screen and not as many features as the Watch 3.

Huawei is offering excellent value for money with the new Watch 3 that uses its next-gen operating system, along with longer battery life. 

The Huawei Watch 3 comes in Active and the Huawei Watch 3 Pro comes in Classic Edition, and are available in SA. On shelf now, the Huawei Watch 3 retails from R7,299 and Huawei Watch 3 Pro from R7,999 at the Huawei online store. (Terms and conditions apply)

This article was paid for by Huawei.