Aside from meticulously crafting smartphones that have wowed the world, Huawei has always been on top of their game when it came to wearable tech, particularly, their Huawei Watch and Huawei Watch GT line.
Truly understanding that a supersized band isn’t enough to be considered as a smartwatch, Huawei understood their market – those that have been comfortable wearing traditional watches with high appreciation for stylistic and technical design details but want all the enrichment from a full range of functionalities from a smartwatch.
Every since we laid our eyes on the first Huawei Watch GT, tinkered around with the more luxurious Watch GT 2 Pro and their top-of-the-line from 2022, the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro, we’ve fallen in love with how the brand has successfully merged time-honored craftsmanship of horology and technological advancement in health monitoring.
So, will the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE live up to its pedigree?
Geek-stehtic
The Huawei Watch GT 3 SE takes huge inspiration from its Watch GT predecessor, namely the Huawei Watch GT 3 and Watch GT 3 Pro. With a huge 46.4mm watch face, it houses a crystal clear 1.43” AMOLED touch display. Minute markings on the bezel are more pronounced here than in other iteration of the Watch GT 3 series but, unfortunately, does not have any lume or luminous phosphorescent glowing solution usually found on more traditional watches.
The watch lug slightly resembles that of the GT 3 Pro’s silhouette but is hallowed out to show more of the Watch SE’s body. As with previous versions, the bezels are fixed and cannot rotate.
Speaking of the Huawei’ Watch GT 3 SE’s body, the entire thing is ridiculously light. Weighing at just 35.6g, this version is about 40% lighter than the Watch GT 3 Pro, but that’s because it is made up of reinforced polymer fibre for a more hollowed-out design.
As the intention of the Watch GT 3 SE is really for more rugged sports performance, having a watch that constantly weighs you down, or made with more pristine and high-luxury materials, may be counter-intuitive (we’re also guessing that this helps reduce the cost significantly as well).
Finally, the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE has a easy-to-detach TPU black strap reminiscent of the Huawei Watch GT 3’s strap but just felt slightly stiffer.
Looks-wise, we’re liking the overall aesthetic of the smartwatch. We’re just not used to the device being ridiculously light, hugely attributed to durable fiber polymer body of the unit. For those that feel black might be a bit too plain for their taste, there is a moss-green variant called Wilderness Green.
If you want to further customize the watch to your liking, you can easily do so by swapping watch-face designs to your liking. In fact, you can further customize it by uploading your own photo or have the watch suggest patterns to suit your wardrobe or OOTD.
Via the Huawei Health App, you can take a photo of your outfit and the app will suggest various design patterns to compliment you better.
Sports & Health
The Huawei Watch GT 3 SE combines all the learnings of the brand from previous generations when it comes to Sports and Health Monitoring. This means that the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE a deluge of sports mode and combinations you can choose including (but not limited to) Indoor/Outdoor Running, Cycling, Walking, Pool Swimming, Open Water Swimming, Skiing, Hiking, Trail Running, and even a Triathlon Workout Mode among many more. So as far as tracking progress, the watch has got you covered.
For health, you’ll get the usual Heart Rate Monitoring, SpO2 monitoring, Sleep, Stress, and even Menstrual Cycles thanks to the brand’s self-developed Tru-Series aptly named TruSeen™, TruSleep™, and TruRelax™.
In fact I’ve been using TruSleep™ as of late to monitor my quality of sleep and TrueRelax™ to help me during extremely challenging moments throughout my day.
Rotating crown doesn’t do anything. Sadly.
If there’s anything lacking (feature-wise) with the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE is the ECG (Electrocardiogram) functionality found on the Pro version. The additional button only acts as a programmable quick-access button – and not as a sensor (sadly).
But that being said, for more general use, the sports and health monitoring aspect of the smartwatch should be more than sufficient.
Everyday Reliability
To get the full benefits of the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE, you’ll need to connect it to the Huawei Health App. If you’re already using a Huawei smartphone, this one’s a no-brainer. The problem arises if you’re not a Huawei smartphone user. There’s a bit of a workaround because the Huawei Health App can only be downloaded via the AppGallery – Huawei’s own AppStore. Something that’s not available on the App Store or Google Play. That means, 3rd party APK – or downloading the AppGallery via browser.
But once you’ve gotten your phone connected, you should be more or less be able to gain (almost) full access to you’re the Watch GT 3 SE.
For Apple users, however, there are certain functionalities that are not yet available like doing quick replies on messages (Facebook, SMS, WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, LINE, Instagram).
Battery-wise, the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE can run on up to 14 days on a full charge on typical usage or 7 days with heavy usage. Not bad.
Geek Lifestyle Recommendation
The Huawei Watch GT 3 SE retails for Php 8,999 which, if we’re being honest is quite a hefty price for the make. But if you’re after robust sprots and health functionalities on a smartwatch that actually looks like a watch, then the Watch GT 3 SE might be something to consider. Sale started last March 15, 2023 at the Huawei Online Store, but if you order your Huawei Watch GT 3 SE on March 17-31 at Huawei offline stores authorized retail outlets, and leading e-commerce sites Shopee and Lazada, you can get yourselves a free Huawei Smart Scale worth 1,499.
For more on the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE, follow Huawei Philippines on their socials and official page.
Huawei Watch GT 3 SE Specs:
- 4mm x 46.4mm x 11mm
- 1.43” AMOLED color screen (466×466) with 326 PPI
- 6g weight (case only)
- Case – Durable Polymer Fiber / Strap: TPU
- 14 days total Battery
- Sensors – Accelerometer sensor/ Gyroscope sensor/ Magnetometer sensor/ Optical heart rate sensor/ Barometer sensor
- Graphite Black, Wilderness Green
- Php 8,999