Huawei Watch 6 Review: The best practical smartwach out there?

The Huawei Watch 6 is one of the most practical and stylish smartwatches I've ever tested. It's the sixth iteration of Huawei's number series, and unlike the GT lineup, this watch is focused on giving you a little bit of everything. And in the case of the Huawei Watch 6, a lot of everything!

The watch features a new design with a slightly domed sapphire glass over its 1.5-inch AMOLED screen. It has a convex lens effect, which contributes to the stylish look of the device. The case is made of stainless steel, and the lugs take standard 22mm bands.

The number series also features cellular connectivity, and you can use NFC for mobile payments. Huawei's latest X-tap technology is present, and all the bells and whistles from the GT series can also be found here—a comprehensive health and fitness tracking kit.

Add a stacked silicon battery that can last for days to the mix, and you'll get the picture. The Huawei Watch 6 is the Swiss Army knife of smartwatches. I've been using this gem for a little over a week, and honestly, I can't fault it.

The design is one of the Huawei Watch 6's strongest features. The domed sapphire glass on top of the bright AMOLED gives the watch a unique, premium look. Sapphire is virtually unscratchable, so you shouldn't worry about damaging the watch due to the slightly convex nature of the glass.

The 46mm version I tested comes with a stainless steel case and a polymer back, while the 42mm one uses an aluminum case. The rotating crown on the right has a conical shape that feels very nice to the touch, allowing your finger to make better contact with the crown when operating it at an angle. The X-Tap sensor sits between the crown and the shortcut button.

The body looks sleek and stylish, featuring a matte finish with polished, chamfered edges running along the case. The watch feels pretty substantial at 60 grams, but it's comfortable to wear for prolonged periods.

The Huawei Watch 6 comes with a fluoroelastomer band in the box, and it's quite comfortable. It's soft and offers plenty of adjustment, and it also uses a standard, quick-release 22mm attachment mechanism. You can swap in any 22mm band of your liking if you choose to do so.

In the box, you'll find the Huawei Watch 6, a fluoroelastomer band in a matching color (blue or black), a wireless charging puck with a USB-C cable, and some paperwork.

When you power on the Huawei Watch 6 for the first time, you'll be greeted by its vivid, bright 1.5-inch AMOLED screen. The domed sapphire glass on top emphasizes the contents of the screen underneath (it really acts like a lens).

The display has a resolution of 466 × 466 pixels, resulting in a pretty decent pixel density of 310 PPI. Huawei says the watch can output up to 3,500 nits, and I can attest to that claim—the watch stays easily readable even under direct sunlight. 

This screen uses an LTPO 2.0 panel, which means it supports an adaptive refresh rate and keeps energy draw to a minimum when the watch displays static images, such as the Always-On Display (AOD). Speaking of the battery...

When you power on the Huawei Watch 6 for the first time, you'll be greeted by its vivid, bright 1.5-inch AMOLED screen. The domed sapphire glass on top emphasizes the contents of the screen underneath (it really acts like a lens).

Huawei doesn't disclose the exact battery capacity of the Huawei Watch 6, but judging by the previous generation, I'd say it uses a similar 867mAh stacked-silicon cell as its predecessor. The company estimates up to 4.5 days without AOD and up to 3.5 days with AOD on a single charge.

I've been using the watch for about a week, and I've charged it twice so far. Bear in mind that when I test smartwatches, I tend to leave everything on — especially AOD, which is a vital feature for me. I always set health and sleep tracking to the most frequent polling setting, vibration to strong, and volume to maximum. Basically, I'm getting the bare minimum battery life possible with every feature running.

During my time with the watch, I made sure to record at least one hour of GPS-tracked activity daily — a 5K run alongside an outdoor walk, for example. I took all my incoming calls on the watch and placed a couple, too. I also slept with the watch every night and measured every health metric it has to offer, sometimes multiple times a day.

Under this heavy usage pattern, the Huawei Watch 6 lasted almost exactly three full days on a single charge, which is impressive.

The comprehensive health tracking package is as impressive as ever. I have a seven-year history of testing and reviewing Huawei smartwatches — ever since the first Huawei Watch GT — and health tracking on these devices has always been robust. 

Deep health insights are available on the Huawei Watch 6. | Images by PhoneArena

The Watch 6 features an array of sensors that can monitor nearly every aspect of your health. The optical heart rate sensor on the back is aided by Huawei's X-Tap system, which combines ECG, PPG, and a 10-level touch sensor into a compact module. 

There's also a barometer, body temperature sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, ambient light sensor, and a depth sensor. The watch can continuously measure your heart rate and SpO2 levels, record an ECG, check arterial stiffness, screen for pulse wave arrhythmia, and even evaluate high-altitude adaptation through a combination of prompts and SpO2 readings.

Health Glance gives you a lot of insights in 60 seconds. | Images by PhoneArena

If you don't want to run every health check separately, Huawei offers a feature called Health Glance. It runs several tests consecutively — including a respiratory check where you cough into the watch's microphone — delivering a detailed report in just 60 seconds. The implementation is great, useful, fast and unobtrusive. Let's check the sports tracking next.

The Huawei Watch 6 is a powerful fitness tool. It features more than 100 sports modes, including running, cycling, swimming, skiing, and hiking, alongside niche options like ballet, esports, laser tag, and fishing.

There are preloaded training plans and running courses, with Huawei placing a special focus on running, cycling, skiing, golf, and swimming, as these are the most popular activities users track. For instance, there are over 3,000 ski resort maps available, and you can even turn your phone into a real-time cycling computer during bike rides.

The GPS is very accurate. I tested it alongside my phone's GPS, and there were virtually no discrepancies. There are plenty of advanced metrics to help you better understand your run, including cadence, power, ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and balance. After a workout, the Huawei Watch 6 gives your Running Ability Index score, recovery time, and VO2Max readings.

Sleep tracking is pretty much your standard affair. | Images by PhoneArena

Sleep tracking is pretty standard. You get sleep stages (light, deep, REM) and wake-up times, along with an overall score of your sleep quality out of 100. There are recommendations to help you tackle issues, such as breathing exercises you can do before bed and suggestions for when to go to sleep based on your typical fall-asleep time.

The watch also monitors for sleep breathing abnormalities using an algorithm that combines data from the microphone and the SpO2 sensor. This feature can detect conditions such as sleep apnea and other breathing disorders, though I can't attest to its accuracy — my readings never showed any abnormalities.

The Health App is your hub for third-party apps, settings, and features. | Images by PhoneArena

There are plenty of cool features available on the Huawei Watch 6. The temperature sensor helps with precise menstrual cycle tracking and ovulation estimates, though you need a third-party app for that. Speaking of third-party apps, AppGallery has grown significantly since my last Huawei smartwatch review.

Apps are plenty and quite useful, too. There are games, navigation apps, music apps (including a guitar tuner I actually use), banking and payment services, on-watch translation apps, and many more.

AppGallery features more apps, some of which are quite useful. | Images by PhoneArena

There's NFC on board, and I successfully added my credit card to the watch — though you need the Curve Pay app to do so. In some regions, cards can be added directly via the Huawei Health app without a third-party app, but Curve Pay works reliably across many markets, so paying with the Huawei Watch 6 at POS terminals is easy and convenient.

Cellular connectivity and NFC payments are available on the Huawei Watch 6. | Images by PhoneArena

You can, of course, add an eSIM to the Huawei Watch 6 for standalone cellular connectivity. Just scan your eSIM QR code in the Health app, and you're all set. Call quality is great on the watch, the audio is loud and clear, and the other party can hear you easily, even in noisy environments.

There's also Wi-Fi available if you want to stream music directly from your watch during a workout while leaving your phone at home. You can always rely on cellular data, but the Wi-Fi module gives you extra flexibility for downloading updates and connecting to local networks at cafes, gyms, or at home.

Finally, the Huawei Watch 6 is water-resistant up to 50 meters (5 ATM) and comes with an IP69 rating, covering high-temperature water jets up to 80 degrees Celsius (176 F) Impressive! Just don't boil the watch.

All this brings us to the big question.

Huawei officially unveiled the Huawei Watch 6 on September 2 at its “Chase the Wild” event in Munich, alongside the Watch D3 and the Watch GT 7 series. The starting price for the 42mm Huawei Watch 6 is £399, and the watch will be available in the UK first through the Huawei Store and Amazon starting September 23.

Should you buy it? I would, if I needed a great all-around smartwatch that can do pretty much everything. There's cellular connectivity, a stylish design, a bright and vivid display, comprehensive health and sports tracking, NFC contactless payments, and great battery life.

Huawei priced and positioned the Watch 6 right in line with the competition. You can get the 44mm LTE version of the Galaxy Watch 9 for pretty much the same price at $459.99, or opt for the cellular version of the 46mm aluminum Apple Watch Series 12 for $549.99.

The only drawback with the Huawei Watch 6 is that it runs HarmonyOS and relies on AppGallery, which is still not as rich in apps as the App Store or Google Play. However, the watch pairs and works with both iPhone and Android devices, so if you want to try something different, the Huawei Watch 6 is a very capable option.