Honor Watch 5 Review: Budget-Friendly Smartwatch with Premium Features
Honor Watch 5 offers a sleek design, bright AMOLED display, long battery life, and advanced fitness tracking at an affordable price.
Honor Watch 5 is a feature-packed smartwatch with a sleek design. Its appearance closely resembles Apple Watch, though it didn’t need to mimic its style to stand out.
It features a bright display, lightweight build and excellent battery life thanks to Honor’s advanced silicon-carbon battery tech from Magic Pro series. Watch includes reliable sleep and fitness tracking, a decent loudspeaker and microphone and compatibility with standard 22mm straps using adapter.
Table of Contents
Honor Watch 5 Specification
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| 📡 Network | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
| 📅 Launch | Announced: Sep 5, 2024 Released: Sep 2024 |
| 📏 Body | Dimensions: 45.6 x 39.4 x 11 mm Weight: 35 g Material: Glass front, plastic back, aluminum frame 💧 5ATM (50m) and IP68 waterproof 🔗 Compatible with 22mm straps |
| 📱 Display | 1.85″ AMOLED, 1000 nits brightness Resolution: 390×450 pixels |
| ⚙️ OS | MagicOS 8 |
| 💾 Memory | Internal: 4GB Card Slot: None |
| 📸 Camera | None |
| 🔊 Sound | Loudspeaker: Yes 3.5mm Jack: No |
| 🌐 Connectivity | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth 5.2 📍 GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, QZSS 📶 NFC (region-based) ❌ No USB |
| 📊 Sensors | Accelerometer, gyro, heart rate, SpO2 |
| 🔋 Battery | 480mAh, non-removable |
| 🎨 Misc | Colors: Black, Gold, Green 💶 Price: ~150 EUR |
Design & Display
Honor Watch 5 comes with an aluminum frame, a ceramic back and tempered glass protecting display. Its design strongly resembles a popular square smartwatch, which might draw comparisons.
Key design features include:
- A rotating crown with “Designed by Honor” etched on it.
- A microphone on the left side and a loudspeaker on right.
- A proprietary band-locking system, with an adapter allowing use of standard 22mm quick-release straps.
Watch is available in black, gold, and green. While we reviewed black version, the gold stands out as a stylish option. Overall design is lightweight, ergonomic and comfortable to wear—though it may invite questions about its resemblance to another well-known brand.
Display Highlights
1.85-inch AMOLED display offers:
- 1000 nits of peak brightness, making it easy to view even outdoors.
- A crisp and vibrant screen, complemented by over 400 customizable watch faces via Health app.
- Always-on display mode with options for customizing complications.
However, auto-brightness feature can be slow to adjust. If you’re outdoors often, manually setting brightness to maximum might be more convenient.
Honor Watch 5 delivers a sleek design and impressive display at a competitive price.
Honor Watch 5 Bands & Size
Honor Watch 5 comes in a single size: 45.6mm x 39.4mm x 11mm, weighing about 35 grams without silicon strap. Strap attaches to the watch with a proprietary mechanism, secured by two buttons on the body.
You can use 22mm standard bands with watch by adding a lug adapter. It’s unclear whether these adapters are included in the retail package or sold separately and we’re still waiting for more details on third-party bands.
More information on lug adapter will be added once available.
Honor Watch 5 Software & Features
Honor Watch 5 runs MagicOS, offering basic smartwatch functions like notifications, camera control, phone finder and weather updates. It’s a simple but reliable smartwatch, excelling in health and fitness tracking.
Fitness Tracking
Honor Watch 5 supports a wide variety of activities, including indoor, outdoor, dance, yoga, extreme sports and more. It even tracks unique activities like Ballet, Parkour and Motor Racing. GPS is accurate and it includes features like VO2Max readings, running courses and detailed workout stats in Health app.
One-click Health Scan
This feature combines key health metrics like heart rate, blood oxygen and stress levels, providing a quick check on your health.
Sleep Tracking
Sleep tracker monitors stages, wake times and overall quality. It also gives suggestions for improvement, along with breathing exercises and option to add music to help you sleep.
Honor Watch 5 Battery and Charging
Honor Watch 5 comes with a 480mAh battery, offering up to 15 days of use with moderate activity. Thanks to OS Turbo X, a special algorithm, the battery life is optimized for efficiency. In real-world use, expect around 10–12 days of battery life with activities like GPS tracking, always-on display, and heart rate monitoring.
While there’s no wireless charging, the watch uses a two-pin contact charger, and it takes about 1 hour and 10–15 minutes to fully charge. You can’t charge the watch from your phone, so keep track of the charger.
Honor Watch 5 Storage and Performance
Honor Watch 5 offers 4GB of storage, though about half is available for use after accounting for the OS and pre-installed apps. This is enough space to store MP3 tracks for phone-free workouts.
While detailed specs about the chipset, graphics and RAM are unavailable, watch delivers solid performance. GPS locks quickly, likely due to its advanced GNSS antenna, and navigation through menus and features is smooth.
Honor Watch 5 Voice Calls and Haptics
Honor Watch 5 includes a microphone and loudspeaker, allowing you to make & receive calls directly from the watch via Bluetooth. Call quality is impressive with clear sound on both ends.
Loudspeaker can also play music or provide voice guidance during workouts.
Haptics are well-tuned, offering feedback for turning the crown, notifications, alarms and system events. You can choose from three vibration strength settings, with the strong setting recommended for better alerts.
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Pros and Cons of Honor Watch 5
| Pros ✅ | Cons ❌ |
|---|---|
| 🟢 Bright and vibrant AMOLED display | 🔴 Familiar design style |
| 🟢 Sleek and stylish design | 🔴 Lacks LTE connectivity |
| 🟢 Impressive battery performance | 🔴 No wireless charging option |
| 🟢 5ATM/IP69 water resistance | 🔴 Limited third-party app support |
| 🟢 Extensive health and fitness tracking features | 🔴 |
| 🟢 Reliable and accurate GPS functionality | 🔴 |
Conclusion
Honor Watch 5 delivers solid performance as a smartwatch and fitness tracker. While its square design may resemble other popular models, it doesn’t detract from its functionality unless design uniqueness is a priority for you.
With excellent battery life, a bright AMOLED screen, and a wide range of health, fitness and sleep tracking features, Honor Watch 5 is a strong choice. It’s compatible with both iOS and Android via the Honor Health app. For an expected price of around €150, it offers great value.
