It’s one of those fitness bands that you wear and then promptly forget about. It’s quite light, and you’ll forget it’s there until it nudges you with a notification. The Huawei Band 7’s case is made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, resulting in a weight of only 17 grammes (0.6 oz) without the band, which is one gramme heavier than the manufacturer’s standards. The tracker weights 29 grammes with the silicone armband (1 oz). The chassis has a 1.47 “The long axis of an OLED display is softly curved. The right side of the case has a button, while the dark underbelly houses multiple sensors for the heart rate and SpO2 monitors. Two metal charging pins can also be discovered on the device’s underbelly.
Huawei Band 7 review: Design
There are no discernible differences between the Huawei Band 7 and the Huawei Band 6 at first appearance. Picking them up and looking closely, though, you will find that the Huawei Band 7 is lighter, smaller, and somewhat taller than its predecessor. This is due to its 16 gramme weight, 9.99mm thickness, and 44.35mm height. The Huawei Band 6 weighs 18 grammes, has a thickness of 10.99mm, and a height of 43mm. Despite the minor size adjustments, the Huawei Band 7 retains the same 1.47-inch AMOLED display as the Huawei Band 6. In daily use, the Huawei Band 7 is light. Because it has a larger display than, instance, the Xiaomi Smart Band 7, navigating between options is simple. Its case is comprised of “durable polymer materials,” which translates to plastic. It is available in dark grey, gold, green, and red.
Huawei Band 7 review: Interface and controls
Music control, alerts, breathing exercise, stopwatch, timer, alarm, and flashlight are also accessible. There’s also a Find my phone option that plays a sound stating on your smartphone to help you find it if you misplace it. When synced with your device, the Huawei Band 7 allows you to control the playback of music. It will also vibrate when you receive notifications, but you must manually enable the feature in the Health app and select which applications can send notifications to your band. You can’t accept calls because it lacks a microphone and a speaker, but you can reject them or send fast pre-written responses, which is a rare feature at this pricing point.
Huawei Band 7 review: Display
One of this Huawei tracker’s greatest assets is its display. Even though the resolution is slightly lower than Huawei’s smartwatches, the blacks are completely dark and the contrast is excellent, as is normal for OLED displays. The tracker’s viewing angles are also excellent: the sideways viewing angle is substantially greater than the vertical viewing angle, owing to the mildly bent glass in that direction. The absence of a brightness sensor is the only drawback. During the day, this isn’t a significant deal because the display is always legible, even in direct sunlight. However, because the brightness is not automatically decreased in dim rooms, the display might be blinding. In our tests, the display produced a maximum brightness of 472 cd/m2, and we recorded relatively steady pulse-width modulations at 120 Hz. Aside from that, you can change the content and order of the cards by swiping sideways from the home screen. The brightness can also be adjusted directly on the watch. Huawei has not included a built-in light sensor; instead, the user can choose between five levels of brightness and engage a mode that dims the watch’s display at night.
Tracking
The Huawei Band 7 has sleep tracking, which provides ample of data to measure the quality of your sleep. First and foremost, we discovered that it overestimated sleep in general and was less responsive than the Whoop 4.0. The sleep duration was very much a reflection of the amount of time spent in bed, rather than the quality of sleep – and significantly lower durations would be tracked in Fitbit, Whoop, or Oura ecosystems. It’s also less sensitive. It usually registered fewer wake-ups per night than Whoop and only recorded wake time if we got out of bed. Similarly, a nighttime restroom trip could account for up to 30 minutes of solid awake time.
Huawei Band 7 review: Features
Huawei’s latest fitness tracker is powered by HarmonyOS, the company’s proprietary software. The user interface and menu navigation are same to those seen on the Huawei Band 6. To pair the Huawei Band 7 with your phone, you must also instal the company’s Health app. When synced with your device, the Huawei Band 7 allows you to control the playback of music. It will also vibrate when you receive notifications, but you must manually enable the feature in the Health app and select which applications can send notifications to your band. You can’t accept calls because it lacks a microphone and a speaker, but you can reject them or send fast pre-written responses, which is a rare feature at this pricing point. Because it is more affordable, the Huawei Band 7 lacks an ambient light sensor as well, requiring you to manually change the screen’s brightness as needed. When the brightness is set to maximum, the displayed information is simple to read even in direct sunshine.
Performance
We tested the step tracking by wearing the Huawei Band 7 on one wrist and an Apple Watch Series 7 on the other. From running to walking, swimming in a pool to cycling, the Band 7 didn’t miss a beat and matched the internal GPS of the Apple Watch while piggybacking on the iPhone’s GPS. The main concern was the limited number of workout alternatives your cardio classics are covered, as well as the chance to customise them further and build your own, but we’d have liked more. If you’re a dancer, a fan of combat sports, or anything else that isn’t covered here, you might be dissatisfied. The Huawei Band 7’s battery life outperforms expectations. The Band 7 has a two-week battery life, making it excellent for intense workouts over longer periods of time. However, charging can be cumbersome and lacks the convenience of the Fitbit range’s magnetic attachments.
Huawei Band 7 review: Battery life
Huawei claims that the Band 7 has a usual battery life of 14 days. However, actual mileage varies greatly depending on usage. I charged my watch every 5 days, and we could barely get through a week on a single charge. This is most likely due to all of the testing and fiddling, but it is also due to the Always-on Display. We had AoD turned on for 8 hours a day, allowing the Band to turn it off during my inactive hours and nights. Anticipate those that utilise this band for its intended purpose, fitness tracking, to achieve comparable, if not slightly greater, mileage. A week’s worth of battery life from this band seems more reasonable. The Band, on the other hand, charges at 5V 1A/1.5A/2A using a patented magnetic charging mechanism. The charger has not changed at all between the Band 6 and Honor Band 6. And, yeah, I tried it, and it charges this Band perfectly.
Price and Configurations options
In the UK, the Huawei Band 7 is available from the Huawei website as well as a number of third-party stores. It is one of the more cheap fitness trackers on the market, costing £49.99. The gadget is not available in the United States because Huawei has been designated a national security concern since June 2020, with President Biden signing legislation in November 2021 to prohibit Huawei from acquiring Federal Communications Commission licences.
Conclusion
It’s one of those fitness bands that you wear and then promptly forget about. It’s quite light, and you’ll forget it’s there until it nudges you with a notification. Workout and sleep tracking are as good as ever, and the OS is packed with features. The software could be a little more stable than it is now, but it doesn’t prevent you from enjoying all of the smart band’s features. It improves on the previous iteration by having a larger screen, a slimmer shell, and an Always-on mode display, which I think important for any fitness band or smartwatch.
