Huawei GT3 Vs Galaxy Watch 4 : Which Will You Choose?
In this comparison, I am taking a close look at two superb smartwatches – the Huawei GT 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Each of them bring something unique to the table, and despite their minor flaws, they both offer an exceptional user experience. Ultimately, it boils down to personal preference and what they hope to gain from their device.
Like I have always said, who ever wins this comparison does not mean that one is better than the other, Each brand brings its own unique feature to the table and if that watch suits your personal preferences and needs, then that’s the one that you should get. In my mind I that that the perfect fit for you and also the type of watch that you would get excellent value for money.
Here is a quick summary of the comparison of the two superb watches
| Sector | Winner |
| Smart Features | Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 |
| Health Features | Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 |
| Third Party Apps | Draw |
| Activity Tracking | Huawei Watch GT3 |
| GPS Tracking | Huawei Watch GT3 |
| Battery Life | Huawei Watch GT3 |
A close contest between the two brands and you can see th e Huawei GT 3 clearly leading the way. Please note that this is purely based on my personal experience and what I felt. Also the sectors that I have chosen to compare are the ones that I think are the most critical in determining the value of a smartwatch. I will go into details about the individual features in my subsequent article.
Smart Features : Winner Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
This one wasn’t too hard to declare a winner because in the smart features sector both brands offer some really nice features. Both devices offer
- Music Control : You can save a playlist on the watch
- NFC : depending in which part of the world you are in, it can be problematic or dont offer it at all.
Where the Galaxy Watch 4 shines is with the quick messaging and voice calling. Here is the reasons why it’s better than the Huawei GT 3
Contacts and call log : The Galaxy Watch 4 can tap into your entire contacts list on your phone to call or message. The Huawei GT3 only allows 10 favourite contacts.
Quick Reply and Messaging : With the Galaxy Watch 4 you can reply by using the speech to text format (by far the best method), qwerty keyboard or by doodling the letter of a wordfor a pre-written response. Or a pre text message by using the quick reply option on. Where as the Huawei GT3 only offers the pre text message by using the quick reply option. with a max of 20 unique messages.
The only downside of this awesome feature is that it absolutely drains the battery life of the watch. If you were to use the text to speech format a lot, you will need to recharge the watch every day or night.
Health Features : Winner Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
This one was a little difficult to judge a winner, I mean both devices offer many of the same health features that you would find in a modern fitness watch such as
- Stress tracking
- Sleep tracking
- Calorie tracking
In terms of sleep tracking both devices dont do too great on this. In fact both devices are way down the pecking order in terms of accuracy of sleep tracking.
Where the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 does a little better is calculating your body mass index with the patented sensor on the watch. It’s accuracy is questionable considering there isn’t any interferences that could effect the reading.
Third Party Apps : Draw
This one I thought was a easy decision. After using the Galaxy Watch 4 for nearly a year, the third party apps isnt that great at all. I mean you get to download all of the top apps on google play onto your watch but it comes with a catch. Your phone must be in Bluetooth range to have any real benefits.
Which I fine kind of annoying because it would be better if the watch ran like a independant device without your phone. Now please note that this applies to a Bluetooth version of the Galaxy Watch 4 and I dont know if this applies the the LTE version.
To gain any benefit of the third party apps is that you must link your Samsung Health account to the app. That way the third party app can get all the tracking iformation from Samsung health and the Third party app can then use this information and apply insights. I can only speak from my own experience but I find that doing it this way is the best way to use the third party apps.
In regards to the Huawei GT3, it doesnt have a rich gallery like the Galaxy Watch 4 has access to. I find that the Huawei Apps Store does not provide very useful third party apps compared to Google Play. Im talking about apps like calculator, fitness racker, prayer app (muslim faith only), horescope and gossip. None of these apps on offer are really helpful unless you find these things interesting and fun to use.
All though the Huawei GT3 doesnt have the rich access to apps in the Huawei Apps Store, it does have the ability to link to the Huawei Health just like Samsung Health. I mean the native tracking system is absolutely awesome and there is no need to use third party apps for tracking, but linking to popular third party apps is very useful and helpful.
Ever since the Huawei Watch GT Runner was released, which is the first dedicated running watch in the Huawei line up. Huawei have slowely released new updates to ensure users that they intend to create a partnership with some of the most popular apps and third party apps in the market. Just recently Huawei Health can be linked to Strava and will be working with other popular third party apps in the near future and create partnerships with them.
I was going to give the win in this sector to the Huawei Watch GT3, but I thought that the fair thing to do is to declare it a draw.
Activity Tracking : Winner Huawei Watch GT3.
I truly believe that this is where the Huawei Watch GT3 leaves the Galaxy Watch 4 in it’s dust when it comes to activity tracking. I was willing to give bonus points to the Huawei Watch GT3 because in terms of value for money it is by far superior. The Huawei Watch GT3 offers way more features, without the need of third party apps. This is achieved because of the new Trusport analytics system by Huawei and it’s focus to help you progress in a smarter and progressive fashion. The examples are as follows.
Running Program
The Huawei Watch GT3 offers a running program that will help you progress and build on your running ability. The running program is really a AI coaching system where the running program will monitor your cardio capacity and running efficiency and training load. With this information the AI coach will dictate what running program to use based on your bodies stress levels. I find this very useful because in order to progressively improve your running you need to understand how your body is performing in terms of efficiency. Translation, if your under high stress the running program suggests a lighter training load, and vice versa. if your training load is low. This is a really nice feature.
Metronome Feature
This feature applies to all of the features on offer except for swimming. This unique tool is very useful for those who are trying to improve your cadence and more importantly it allows your body to experience the level of stress that will help you improve your cadence. In short the metronome feature is like a timing tool and in order to increase your cadence. You are given the option to time your cadence via chime or vibration. Think of the metronome feature like music, if you listen to a upbeat song it encourages you to push harder and thats how the metronome feature works. Once you adapt to the timing you can then start training without the feature and see how you adapt without a timing tool
Training Recovery
This feature is very useful and only appears when you finish a workout. What does it do?, well it basically tells you that based on the stress load your body has experienced, the watch will tell you when the best time to train. The longer you spend in the higher heart rate zones based on your age age fitness level, the more your body will recover and adapt. This feature is my favourite because every second day I like to do 2 activities, one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Upcoming Motion Sensor
It’s not out yet but Huawei have recently announced that they will be releasing a Bluetooth sensor that will increase your running and cycling efficiency. The new Bluetooth sensor is called Huawei S tag and will be available at a later date.
GPS Tracking : Winner Huawei Watch GT3
This one was a close battle because both devcies are very accurate when it comes to GPS Tracking. The clear difference is that the Galaxy Watch 4 has assisted GPS whereas the Huawei Watch GT3 has dual band frequencey L1 and L5 tracking. In terms of tracking its hard to declare a winner because both deviced are very accurate.
However when it comes to GPS tracking it’s a massive battery drainer so in order to break the dead lock, GPS batery consumption rate will deterine the winner of this category. Based on this Huawei Watch GT3 wins the GPS tracking category. Its GPS tracking battery efficiency rate is 2% better than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. The Galaxy Watch 4 is around 12 to 15% GPS battery consumption per hour whereas the Huawei Watch GT3 is 11 to 13% GPS battery consumption per hour. Also the Huawei GT3 offres power saver mode which will conserve battery life. In one of my recent articles the power saver mode was impressive and was able to save my battery life by 50% which is huge.
Battery Life: Winner Huawei Watch GT3
This one was very easy to declare the winner and the Huawei GT3 wins the battery life category by a country mile. Here is a summary of the results I have undertaken. Please note that this based on my typical usage. I will also add the battery recharge rate as well
| Subject | Huawei GT3 | Galaxy Watch 4 |
| Consumption rate with out using GPS | 18% per day | 24% per day |
| Consumption rate with GPS (60 mins) | 23% per day | 39% per day |
| Total battery life with out using GPS | 5 days | 2 days |
| Total battery life when using GPS | 4 days | 1.5 days |
| Time to charge 0% to 100% | 120 minutes | 160 minutes |
I hope this table gives you an idea when it’s in a table form. I know when using the Huawei GT3 the battery economy rate is better when it’s below 50% battery life.
Final Conclusion
There you have it, the comparison is now complete and I hope you have learnt a lot about both brands. I really love the Huawei GT3, in terms of money for value, this watch really suited my requirements. Its not to say the the Galaxy Watch 4 didn’t, I mean it definitely supported me when tracking my workouts, GPS tracking and sleep tracking. If only the Galaxy Watch 4 had a decent battery life, it could be a serious player in the smart watch market.
I have tested the Galaxy Watch 5 and the difference is no different to the Galaxy Watch 4, so you could say that the Huawei GT3 also wins against the Galaxy Watch 5.
Also if I was to pick a winner between the Huawei GT3 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, I would also pick the Huawei GT3. I have only been using the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro for a week and the only difference I notice is the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has the same battery capacity as the Huawei GT3. I have payed close to $800 NZD for the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, whereas the Huawei GT3 cost me $350 NZD with the technology to match and 56% cheaper in price. I will do a full comparison article soon. Thank you for reading
