I’ll give you free advice: don’t break your toe while analyzing a blood pressure monitor. aptitude.
Fortunately, the Honor Band 6 had nothing to do with this crash, but it’s a little harder to put it to the test when the doctor told you not to walk too much.
Still, a few days of exercise and six weeks of lameness later, I have a good idea of the results the Honor Band 6 delivers in both real workouts and lighter daily use. Between the big screen, varied tracking options and two weeks of battery life, this is arguably the smart band economical to beat.
Design and manufacture
The big change from the Honor Band 5 2019 is the move to a larger 1.47 ” AMOLED display, which extends practically to the edges of the device. It’s big, bright (and colorful) without the monitor being voluptuous. Plus, the extra screen space makes the menu browsing experience more enjoyable.
A larger screen means the case is now 43mm tall. It is a bit sturdy with a thickness of 11mm, but it weighs only 18g.
The monitor body is black, with the Honor logo inscribed on one side and a single button on the other. Unfortunately, the silicone strap is not removable, with the option to choose between black, gray or pink.
I was able to test the model in black, which has a sporty touch and is functional, but not exactly stylish. There are definitely better monitors out there, but in general you’ll have to pay more for them (or ditch some features).
With a water resistance of 5 ATM, you can also wear it in the pool (compatible with a swim track) or leave it in the shower.
At this point, one thing is worth mentioning: Its design is essentially identical to that of the Huawei Band 6, although it is available in other colors. Honor was a subsidiary of Huawei, but it was sold in 2020. The Honor Band 6 was already in development before the sale, so they are very similar and both are worth considering.
Overall, the Honor Band 6 is light and comfortable and I didn’t mind wearing it all day for six weeks at all, as it benefits from water resistance and water tracking. sleep. I only took it out to wear it.
Heart rate tracking and monitoring
Despite its low price, the Honor Band 6 offers plenty of tracking features.
In addition to the standard step counter, you will recognize ten types of exercise: running, walking and cycling (indoor and outdoor), elliptical, rowing, and free training.
That’s a bit less than some of its competition, especially considering that outdoor cycling tracking only works with iPhones and Honor phones, and not with any other Android device.
The Huawei Band 6 includes up to 96 types of exercises, which makes the Honor 10 insufficient.
There is also an option that you may have seen before, like automatic workout detection. He tends to be lazy and the Honor Band 6 is no exception. It’s a good support option, but I recommend starting your workouts manually if you don’t want to miss the first few minutes of tracking.
You can use it to track when you go for a run outside, for a walk or when you are cycling with your mobile, but there is no built-in GPS. No NFC either, so you won’t be able to use it for wireless payments either.
Beyond that, the follow-up is quite impressive. You can monitor your heart rate continuously with Huawei’s TruSeen 4.0 sensor, and in most cases it’s pretty accurate, delivering results in line with other monitors.
Heart rate information is also used for band 6 stress and sleep tracking. The former gives you a score out of 100 at regular intervals throughout the day.
Like most stress trackers, he’s not always right: sometimes he’s recorded the ups and downs of my life, while at other times he’s tearing my hair out to hit a deadline. and the smart band He said he was totally calm.
Sleep tracking is also automatic, recording deep, light, and REM sleep at night and giving you a score out of 100 each morning.
In this case, the tracking is impressive, often matching the Withings sleep analyzer on the quality of my sleep and even beating the dedicated scanner when it comes to recognizing the difference between being in bed awake or actually sleeping.
In addition to heart rate, you can also monitor blood oxygen levels (SpO2). It is manually activated, and it is not continuous, and each reading takes about 30 seconds or so.
I am not entirely convinced of its accuracy. Taking one reading at a time, I got a result of 99% followed by a result of 86%, which is a far cry from what would be a normal margin of error.
Finally, there is also menstruation and fertility cycle tracking, but unfortunately I couldn’t test it personally.
Battery life has always been one of the areas where budget monitors shine, with the Honor Band 6 leading the way.
Honor guarantees the total battery life is 14 days, with a promise of 10 days for more intense use. After more than a month of testing, I can say that these numbers are pretty accurate.
Is smart band It goes on and on, and it goes on for so long that when you get a low battery alert, it even surprises you: “Oh yeah, this needs to be recharged every now and then …”.
Reloading it is even more impressive. The charger plugs into any USB-A port and magnetically connects to the monitor. For a full charge, it takes a little over an hour, but the included fast charge technology means that a 10-minute charge will give you around 3 days of use.
Software
The Band 6 uses its own Software Honor, which means it uses Huawei software. Despite everything, thanks to its larger screen, this operating system takes full advantage of it, with plenty of screen space so that everything can be read well.
The single button is used to access quick shortcuts and start workouts. You can also slide your finger up to access settings, or switch back and forth to navigate between the default watch face and screens that include your heart rate and stress results, your blood pressure meter. music and your activity goals.
There are things that I didn’t like. The ‘push to wake’ feature is not as reliable as I would like and without the ‘always on’ option it can often be difficult to tell what time it is.
And besides not having a “ Do Not Disturb ” option, from what I can see there is no way to schedule the alerts not to sound, so you will have to do it manually all of them. in the evenings if you want to use the Band in bed to keep track of your dream.
There aren’t many ways to customize it, but there is a selection of faces to choose from based on your style, although only one of the default faces allows you to customize it further. If that’s not enough, there are hundreds of them in the accompanying app.
The app in question is, in fact, the Huawei Health app, which is a clear indication that it was originally designed with Huawei. Honor has yet to release its own health app, and while it does, it’s unclear whether it’s Band 6 compatible or whether it will continue to use Huawei’s.
Either way, it’s a perfectly functional app, although it might not be the most appealing. The tiled home screen gives you access to all your health information and aptitude, while the “Exercise” tab offers several options.
The app can be linked with Google Fit, Apple Health, and MyFitnessPal to share information, but that’s it: no other exercise or health app is compatible.
Pricing and availability
Really, the most appealing thing about the Honor Band 6 is its price. At just $ 49.99, it’s one of the most affordable monitors on the market today. You can get yours right now on Amazon.
It has a price lower than the 59 $ that the Huawei Band 6 costs, which is practically the same smart band Beyond an additional strap color and more workout options, you’ll have to spend almost twice as much for a similar Fitbit model.
The biggest competition comes from the hand of the Xiaomi Mi Band 6, which offers a pretty similar list of features for just $ 45, despite having a longer and thinner screen. For more options, check out our pick of the best activity trackers.
Verdict
The Honor Band 6 isn’t perfect, but it packs enough elements to make it a decent option for anyone looking for an affordable activity tracker.
You’ll get multiple tracking options, a large display and excellent battery life, as well as 5 ATM water resistance.
I would have liked to see more customization options and a slightly sleeker design, and the 10 official workout limit is a bummer. The Huawei Health app, while solid, is certainly not the best in the market.
Still, the Honor Band 6 offers a lot for its price, and it’s hard to justify spending more.
Specification List
- Compatibility: Android 6.0 or later; iOS 9.1 or later
- Display: 1.47 ” AMOLED (194 x 368 pixels)
- Features: accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate sensor
- Water resistance: 5 ATM
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
- Battery: up to 14 days of autonomy
- Dimensions: 43 x 25.4 x 10.99 mm
- Weight: 18g
- Color: black | Gray | Pink
Original article published on Tech Advisor.
Product photos: Dominik Tomaszewski
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