Chinese smartphone manufacturer HONOR is poised on a new South Africa relaunch – what would effectively be its third. The OEM is expected to launch a new smartphone in the local market soon as part of the relaunch, with other products also in the pipeline.

Apart from smartphones, the brand produces wearables and tablets. In South Africa, the brand offers the HONOR Band Series which competes directly with the Smart Band series from Xiaomi.

Overseas, however, we can see the likes of HONOR Watch. One of the latest entries here is the Watch GS 3. We received a model of the HONOR Watch GS 3 while on a media trip for the soon-to-be-launched HONOR 90, finding that it was an acceptable if expensive wearable.

One that will have to compete with a sea of other smartwatch options if it ever reaches SA shores.

HONOR Watch GS 3 – Visuals

The Watch GS 3 is a large smartwatch, featuring a stainless steel casing that surrounds the circular screen/watch face. It has a height of 10.5mm from the bottom of the watch to the top when laying flat. It sports two bezels on the right side of the device, which can be used as buttons to activate features or for manoeuvering.

Otherwise, these bezels don’t do much else but access the features of the watch. Turning them doesn’t do anything. The watch comes with rubber bands that are comfortable enough, but don’t do much to make the Watch GS 3 look more premium. These bands are quite cheap-looking, and a far cry from the leather bands that HONOR is offering at additional pricing for people to purchase for the watch.

However, aesthetically the watch is so nondescript and so tame in its design that it simply does not demand attention. It looks good and will catch the odd glance probably because it’s so shiny, but it doesn’t necessarily scream premium smartwatch. We can perhaps blame this on the black colourway model we reviewed, and other colourways, especially the bronze or gold scheme seem a bit easier on the eyes.

Display-wise you’re looking at a touchscreen, with striking, vibrant colours and a huge amount of different watch faces to choose from for free. There are hundreds of free displays to choose from, installed in seconds using mobile data or WiFi right from the HONOR Health app.

Looking through, testing and finding the right display was an awesome experience and those that like customising their watches will enjoy the options. There are also ways to set your own images as the watch face but this requires the use of third-party apps.

Some of the faces are animated while others mimic a more traditional watch.

Performance and feel

Since it is on the larger side for smartwatches, the Watch GS 3 is a little bit clunky. Especially as the stainless steel casing is far heavier than the rubber straps that the watch comes with. If you aren’t into keeping your watch tight on your wrist – like myself – it will jostle around a lot.

Tightening the straps obviously fixes this issue, but because of the size of the smartwatch and the position of the bezels, we would often hit the bezels with the top of our hand as we did every day tasks – like typing on a keyboard.

HONOR says that the device weighs 44 grams, and it is noticeable. Like wearing an analogue watch and perhaps this is the point. The HONOR Watch GS 3 is supposed to simulate the feel of a traditional wristwatch.

Here we get into some issues. First, the device – most often used to tell time and look at notifications – sometimes does not light up when you move your wrist up to your face. This happens often enough that it is noticeable, and we could not find an option to simply leave it on without going to sleep.

In fact, it bafflingly has an option to turn off wake up by wrist up. Meaning that you will have to touch one of the bezels in order to check the time each time. I ask which monster lives their lives like this?

The second most noticeable issue is the performance, or frame rate of the watch while moving through the on-watch menus. It is slow. It reminded us of the Xiaomi Smart Band 7, a R1 000 smart band. Unlike the Xiaomi Smart Band 7, the HONOR Watch GS 3 comes with 20 workout modes.

These include walking, cycling, jump rope, indoor, indoor run, yoga, swimming, skiing, rowing, hiking, elliptical and outdoor running, among others. While most users won’t need the 110 fitness options offered by the Smart Band 7 including ridiculous choices like “Board Game mode” we think that maybe a few more options would not have been amiss. For example, an option for just weightlifting.

You can set up your own custom workout mode at least, so mixed workout enjoyers like CrossFit enthusiasts can at least track their workouts well enough using the Watch GS 3. For swimming mode, HONOR says that the device is waterproof for up to 50 meters and excels in swimming pools. However, it will not work in deeper water or hot water. Do not wear your HONOR Watch in the shower, or in the bathtub.

Aside from workout and fitness modes, the device tracks other bodily functions. Heart rate tracking is fast, and HONOR says it can find your heart rate with an accuracy of over 97 percent. It also does sleep tracking, blood oxygen monitoring and stress tracking.

The latter two require you to keep completely still in order to perform the tests properly, and take around 30 second for each test. You are warned to keep your arm and watch as still as possible. We once were testing our stress level and the vibration from a WhatsApp notification caused the test to fail. HONOR says that the watch could also even warn users if their blood oxygen reaches levels that are too low, if they have COVID-19 for example. We luckily never had to deal with this feature.

It uses GNSS9 position tracking to help you when you’re running about with an accuracy of 167 percent, according to the brand. But during our walking tests we could not locate a map, or even see what our GPS position was, only the line in which we were moving compared to our starting location.

Otherwise, daily usage is fair with the HONOR Watch GS 3. You will receive notifications but will not be able to read them on your smartwatch. You can dial calls while wearing the watch, which will call on your smartphone and transfer the audio via Bluetooth.

One key drawback, however, is that the HONOR Watch GS 3 does not have iOS support and can only be used with Android devices.

Battery

HONOR says that the Watch GS 3 can last up to 14 days on a single charge with its 451mAh cell, and we found that it manages a little less – around a week and a half with consistent usage. This is still impressive, especially as it charges incredibly quickly. It will fly to 100 percent in 10 minutes, literally charged to full before you know it.

You will be charging the device so little during your time with it you may misplace the charging stand, only having to return to it every 10 or so days. This battery life corresponds with industry standards, so nothing too impressive or too poor here.

HONOR Watch GS 3 – Final Verdict

The HONOR Watch GS 3 is not yet available to purchase in South Africa, according to the brand. The only African nation that sells the device is Egypt, at least for now. It retails for around ~R4 400 according to international prices, which is more expensive than the similar Xiaomi Watch S1 Active which is available locally.

Compared to these choices, it doesn’t offer too many differences and what you most likely are paying more for is the stainless steel casing. Otherwise, the watch is simply an entry to a mid-range device wrapped in a premium box. If it does eventually hit South African shelves, it will have to fight for market share because we suspect if people were looking for premium smartwatches, they would just knock on Samsung’s or Huawei’s door.

FINAL SCORE: 7 OUT OF 10.

FULL DISCLOSURE: THE HONOR WATCH GS 3 WAS SEEDED TO HYPERTEXT ON A RECENT MEDIA TRIP.