Huawei GT 3 : Performance vs Power Saver Mode
How much battery life would you save if you used power saver mode? Well, according to the watch settings, the power saving mode reduces the power consumption rate by 50%. In this article I am going to share with you my test results, and find out if you do actually save any battery life.
I do conclude that after doing the test you really do save on battery life, and the power consumption rate does in fact reduce by 50%, which is fantastic value. But the power saving options only apply to 2 different workout modes, which are Hiking and trail run.
In this test run I will be doing a hill run through our local mountain track in 4 laps. Each lap I will record the battery life, switch performance modes and workout modes. The summary of results are as follows.
Hiking Mode
| Battery Mode | Start | End | Duration | Lap | Consumption |
| Performance | 84% | 82% | 7 min 50 sec | 1 | 2% |
| Power Saving | 82% | 81% | 7 min 45 sec | 2 | 1% |
Trail Run Mode
| Battery Mode | Start | End | Duration | Lap | Consumption |
| Performance | 81% | 79% | 7 min 40 sec | 3 | 2% |
| Power Saving | 79% | 78% | 7 min 37 sec | 4 | 1% |
Overall the battery consumption rate in power saver mode is very good. A 50% reduction from performance mode makes a big difference, especially when you consistently do these types of activities every week. However there is a catch when using power saver mode. In order to save battery life you will need to sacrifice something. Before you select power saver mode, The Huawei Watch will warn you about this before you begin. Here are a few other topics that I will be covering in this article.
- Power saver mode is great but
- GPS tracking is reasonably good in power saving mode.
Power saver mode is Great But..
That’s correct, something has to give in order to make a gain. In terms of power saver mode, several settings have to change in order to achieve 50% power consumption.
Heart Rate Tracking
Whether it be for exercise, sleep health or over the course of the day, heart rate tracking is a big power drainer. In power saver mode, heart rate tracking is not turned off, so the number of calories burned, heart rate zone tracking will still be the same and accurate.
GPS Tracking Will Operate in Shorter Intervals
GPS tracking is the biggest power drainer. If you do a lot of workout activities that use GPS tracking, battery life reduces very quickly. In power saver mode, GPS tracking will not be continuous but at shorter intervals.
Workout Broadcasts Will Be Turned Off
If you are not familiar with workout broadcasts, it’s the voice that activates when a milestone has been achieved such as heart rate, distance. Workout broadcasts I find very useful.
AOD (Always on Display) Will Be Turned Off
If you like to check your heart rate during your workout, unfortunately you can only do this at the end.
GPS Tracking Is Reasonably Good In Power Saving Mode
I would have thought that if the GPS tracking was tracking at shorter intervals, then the accuracy would be affected. In fact in this test, it was quite the opposite. After reviewing the GPS tracking I was very surprised to see it very close. The mountain track I chose to do the test would have been a challenge because all of the tall trees would impact it’s level of accuracy. I have taken a snap shot of the route I have taken so you can compare your self. In a future test I will extend the duration a little bit longer and see if the GPS accuracy is still the same. 7 minutes maybe a little too short, so on my next weekend Hike I will use power saving mode. Im going to aim for a 3 hour hike and see how that goes. More updates to this test to come.
Final Conclusion
Should you use the power saving mode?, I would say yes. The whole point of this test was to see how much battery life can be conserved if you switched to power saving mode. Mission accomplished, sort of. On the Huawei GT 3 settings it shows that you can reduce power consumption 50%, and it is true, you really do.
I was surprised on the accuracy of the GPS tracking. I would have thought that if tracked in shorter intervals, the tracking would be off but it wasn’t the case. I also wondered if my workout duration was a little short, so I will be doing a longer hike soon and show my results on this article.
I hope you found this article useful, and if you need any tips on using the Huawei GT 3 I have created a play list of tutorials. Thank you for reading
