Experience Huawei Band 4 on the test bench: fitness tracker

Reading depth of TFT display is 50 meters

March 15, 2020, 12:58 pm Reading time: 6 minutes

(Source: Netzwelt)

With Huawei Band 4, the Chinese manufacturer will launch the fourth version of its popular fitness tracker. In our test report, we checked whether the improvements in battery life and water resistance also convinced previous owners.

table of Contents

1. Facilities: From Hamburg via Munich to Berlin
   

2. Processing and design of Huawei Band 4
   

3. A round of movement for Huawei Band 4
   

   1. Few sport modes
      

   2. Operating system and Huawei health applications
      

4. Sleep tracking and other features
   

   1. Music controls, timers, etc.
      

5. Battery Life
   

6. Price, availability and "lite" and Pro models
   

7. in conclusion
   

Huawei has released the fourth generation of popular fitness trackers via Huawei Band 4. These features give you impressive features at a low price. The same goes for the fourth-generation smart bracelet. The Band 4 is waterproof up to 50 meters, has a longer battery life, a heart rate sensor, and according to the manufacturer, it costs less than 40 Euros.

However, at the time of its release, manufacturer Huawei was experiencing a crisis. Due to the U.S. government's trade embargo, manufacturers cannot use the system of Android developer Google without restriction. The fact that customers have felt when building Huawei Band 4. tell you later.

Facilities: From Hamburg via Munich to Berlin

For Huawei Technology Band 4, the popular “unboxing” among many technology enthusiasts is very unobvious. Apart from fitness trackers, there are very few descriptions on how to tumble the power of the fitness tracker from the cardboard box. With the built-in USB connector, this operation is very easy, and it can power Huawei Band 4 without any accessories. After charging your fitness tracker, you can start setting up.

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Since the embargo on Huawei has already been mentioned, it is very troublesome. Without the "Huawei Mobile Services" app, the Huawei Health app will not launch on our Google Pixel 3 XL. You can find it in the Google Play store, but you can only use outdated versions. Therefore, you must download and install the official APK file of the latest version of Huawei Mobile Services App from the Huawei homepage.

To find out, we need about 30 minutes, including installation. After that, the Huawei Health app works, but it gives us other problems when setting up a user account. We have to guess the buttons and input fields a few times because they don't display correctly or display black letters on a black background. Overall, setting up Huawei Band 4 is tedious and may negatively affect your first pulse measurement.

Processing and design of Huawei Band 4

Before entering the nature with Huawei Band 4, let's take a look at the craftsmanship and design. According to the manufacturer, the fitness band is waterproof to 50 meters. This is evident in the composition of the tracker, as there are no gaps or water permeable components. Armand's electronic heart looks like one piece, made of high-quality plastic.

Both sides of the bracelet made of flexible silicone rubber are reinforced with metal at both contact points. Overall, the tracker weighs less than 20 grams and can be easily flattened to a thickness of 1.5 cm. There is no negative display of Huawei Band 4 on the wristband.

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The different "dials" that are only visible when opened are crucial to the design. If you close the 0.96-inch TFT display, you will only see a capacitive button at the top, which is represented by a small oval.

A round of movement for Huawei Band 4

Of course, we also tested the most comfortable Huawei Band 4. Shuttle in sports. To do this, we jog on our wrists with a fitness tracker and then let the Huawei Health app track us through our smartphone GPS. Band 4 should record our steps and heart rate.

After accurate to 1,000 meters, the Huawei Health app makes a sound for the first time. A male voice told us the distance covered in English and gave us an average heart rate: 160 beats per minute. Seems a bit too much for us, but we have been running. At 2,000 meters, the fitness tracker reduced our heart rate-very good so far.

We also tracked a second application to compare information later. We were surprised when we only heard him after four kilometers. Looking at the phone, we find that the Huawei Health app ends unexpectedly, which means that the route has not been recorded. The app will automatically resume tracking.

However, all other announcements are now missing heart rate. So the app started working again, but Huawei Band 4 didn't. Therefore, our overall motion tracking is cat-specific. As a check, we conducted the second round of competition, equipped with Huawei Band 4. This time we let the Huawei Health app work alone and it didn't crash. However, we recommend that you pay attention to the announcement of the application at runtime. After the voice notification stops, you should check the recording of the application.

Few sport modes

If you don't just want to use with Huawei Band 4, you will find only 7 different sports modes and a "free training" mode in the fitness tracker's menu. Although Huawei claims water resistance to 50 meters, there is no way to swim here. Huawei is wasting a little potential here, even if you can use free training while swimming.

Operating system and Huawei health applications

In our tests, we used the Huawei Health app on an Android smartphone. As mentioned at the beginning, installation needs to overcome some obstacles. But even then, the application is not always easy to use. Fitness trackers often lose their connection to the app and even crash during jogging.

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In addition, there are some translation and graphics errors in the operating system of the app and fitness tracker. After all, Huawei products have been on the German market for some time, which is a bit annoying. If you are used to it and realize that "face" means "face of the watch face", then the software operation is very pleasant.

Sleep tracking and other features

After the storm, our test came to peace. So we said goodbye to sleep after a few hours of jogging. The Huawei Band 4 worn on the wrist feels very comfortable, and the slim bracelet hardly disturbs the wrist. Before turning off the light, we have to activate sleep tracking, but Band 4 will automatically recognize it.

Exactly 6.5 hours later, we updated the Huawei Health app on the phone. The chart summarizes our night: we slept for 2 hours and 43 minutes, and slept for 3 hours and 38 minutes. Thank you Huawei Band 4- but what are we going to do with this data? To do this, tap the three dots in the upper right corner of your phone, and then tap "Comment". Three paragraphs explain how the human sleep architecture works and how we can sleep better in the future. If you stick with the app's tips, you can watch if and how sleep improves the following night.

Music controls, timers, etc.

In addition to these main features, the Huawei Band 4 provides everything a modern fitness tracker would expect. Upon request, your notifications from WhatsApp and Co. can also be sent to the bracelet. After a fairly strong vibration, you can read the message but cannot respond. You can also control the music through the wristband, which is very useful for sports.

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There is also a timer, stopwatch and "search phone" function. This will start the sound on your phone. After listening to the music for two seconds, a female voice called "I am here"-we panicked and stopped trying to find it. The Huawei Band 4 also reliably measures our pulse of fear here.

Battery Life

The battery life of the Huawei Band 4 surprised us. It makes sense to wear a fitness tracker, especially if you wear it permanently on your wrist. You can do this with the Huawei Band 4, because in our tests, the digital wristband lost only half its battery power after four days. However, we only discovered and activated permanent heart rhythm monitoring on the third day.

According to the Huawei Health app, this will slightly reduce battery life. We affirm the manufacturer's claims that Huawei Band 4 can be used for about 6 days. However, this is far from the level of long-distance runner Xiaomi Mi Band 4. With "Plug and Play", an integrated USB port for charging, you can also charge your tape almost anywhere. With a little trick, you can find a USB charging port almost anywhere. On the train, on a work computer or on a rentable electric scooter from provider Tier.

Price, availability and "lite" and Pro models

The Huawei Band 4 can be found in the manufacturer's store for 39.99 Euros, where you can buy black. When the test report was released, we couldn't find a cheap fitness tracker from another retailer. The cheapest providers offer digital bracelets for around 35 Euros.

In addition to the standard models, Huawei also offers two devices related to the Volume 4. Huawei Band 4e and Huawei Band 4 Pro. The two devices each offer a smaller or more advanced range of functions, so the prices are € 29.99 and € 79.99 respectively.

Good hardware affecting U.S. trade embargo

In the test, Huawei Band 4 not only grew on our wrists, but grew a little bit in our hearts. Thanks to smart features such as integrated charging interface, light weight and slim profile, fitness trackers are ideal for everyday use. On Android, the software is currently flawed in many places due to the U.S. trade embargo against Huawei. Hardware can only compensate for this to a limited extent. Since there are expensive alternatives with similar functional scope, we recommend that Android users choose alternatives.

we like

• A variety of functions
• Slim silhouette
• Easy
• Integrated charging port
• Long battery life

We don't like

• Very difficult to set up
• Stop running traces during testing
• No swimming mode, despite water resistance

Processing

8.0 / 10

Processing What material is the tracker made of? Does it make your wrist uncomfortable? How does it react to sweat or rain? Can I wear a tracker on my belt? We clarify these and other issues under the heading "Processing."

Features

8.0 / 10

Features Does the tracker only count your steps or monitor your sleep, or even take over smartwatch functionality? Under "Features" we evaluate the functional scope of the device.

compatibility

2.0 / 10

compatibility Does the tracker work with Android and iOS devices? What about Windows Phone? Can he work independently of a smartphone? We clarify these issues under "Compatibility".

Design

9.0 / 10

Design What does a fitness tracker look like on the wrist? What options can change the appearance?

Battery Life

8.0 / 10

Battery Life How long can I use it on a single charge? Does the fitness tracker charge quickly? This category provides answers to questions.

Information about test products

Huawei provided us with a review of the Huawei Band 4 for free. After the test period is over, it is returned to the manufacturer.
You can find more information on how we use test products, how we conduct testing, and general guidelines for editors in our transparency guide.

Current price

All prices include VAT and may include shipping costs. You can find detailed information about the offers on their respective websites / stores.

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