Huawei GT3 vs Xiaomi S1 Active: Which Will You Choose
If you are someone that’s set on buying either a Huawei GT3 or a Xiaomi S1 Active, and ensure which one is better suited for you?, then this article is definelty for you. Both devices have there strengths and weakness’s, so this comparison article will no doubt help you decide which device is better suited.
When ever I test a device, I test it for six different categories and write an article for each, and after comparing my results, the Huawei GT3 wins 5-1. Although the score line is a little flattering in favour of the Huawei GT3, there are some things that the device does not cover, which I will explain in this article. Here is a quick summary of my final results.
| Sector | Winner |
| Smart Features | GT3 Active |
| Health Features | GT3 Active |
| Third Party Apps | GT3 Active |
| Workout Mode Ability | GT3 Active |
| GPS Tracking | GT3 Active |
| Battery Life | S1 Active |
In this article I will explain in detail my results for each category. I will present my testing results including the reasons why one device has the advantage over the other. If you want to know more about how I go about testing a device, I will provide links to my full articles to view.
Lastly if you are not familiar with my comparison articles, I do not compare specifications to declare a winner. I have my own testing criteria that I follow to provide consistent results that’s more focused on the user experience, which is the result that really matters.
Smart Features : Winner Huawei GT3 Active
When it comes to smart features, both devices are very strong in this category. However the S1 Active should have scored a lot higher, but the major down side is that some of the smart features did not perform reliably and consistently. But in the end The Huawei GT3 excelled, here is a summary of my testing results.
The major downside for both features is NFC payment. If this is a feature that is important to you, then check with your bank if they support Huawei pay or Xiaomi pay. I will provide a link below if you want to see the full article.
| Level | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| Beginner | 4/5 | 5/5 |
| Intermediate | 3/5 | 4/5 |
| Advanced | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Final Score | 10/15 | 12/15 |
Where Does The Huawei GT3 gain the Advantage
I will provide a quick summary of the features that the S1 Active does not have in this category.
Ability to make phone calls : A handy smart feature to have, but the only limitation is the number of contacts (only 20 contacts) and it’s a massive battery burner. I dont like to use this feature too much especially if I plan to do a long hike where I use the GPS tracking feature (another battery burner). Never the less it’s a very reliable feature.
Quick Reply Messages : With the latest updates to it’s operating system, the Huawei GT3 not only can reply to your messages, but you can now reply back to messages from Viber, Instagram DM’s and Line. Your replies are fairly limited and it’s really based on the pre set messages that you use to reply back to text messages, still a very useful feature if this is something that you use a lot.
Ability to provide direction : An advanced feature, Huawei GT3 can connect to Petal maps and use the navigational systems to provide direction. This feature is similar to Google maps, and in my experience it’s hard to differentiate between the two because both systems are very reliable
Where Does The S1 Active Gain The Advantage
There are a few features that the Huawei GT3 does not offer that could make a difference in deciding which device is better suited for you.
Send a SOS Message : If you are someone that likes to be outdoors alone, this feature could assist you in need of emergency assistance. It’s a great feature and all but it doesn’t have a secondary message system, where it sends a text message to your emergency contact, with your GPS coordinates in case you are in a remote area. Other issue is it does not have fall detection so if you dont have the capacity to make SOS call, there is no back up provision to assist you that way.
Digital Assistant : A very handy advanced smart feature, that can provide a better experience for the user. S1 Active has Alexa built in, and can automate the smart features built in via voice command, which is better than activating manually. You can also stream to smart home devices that are compatible to Alexa, which is useful to anyone that values this feature. In my experience it wasn’t the greatest feature, only because I am based in New Zealand. Other countries in the world may have a better experience with Alexa than me.
Health Features : Winner Huawei GT3 Active
When it comes to health feature’s, both devices are not very strong in this category. Both devices have similar health features such as heart rate variability, stress management, menstrual health, sleep tracking, daily health goals.
The one advantage that the Huawei GT3 has over the S1 Active is the snore detection feature. For this feature to work you must
- Allow permissions for Huawei Health to access your phones microphone to record your sleeping
- Keep your phone on the charge during detection because using the microphone during your sleep can have a massive toll on your battery life.
If detecting your heath is something that’s important to you, both devices are not that reliable. Apple Watch 7 or 8, Fitbit Charge 5, Whoop and Withing’s are the more reliable devices.
Third Party App Ability : Winner Huawei GT3 Active
If you are not familiar with third party app ability, it’s about the device’s ability to interact with applications. Now the devices these days can do this in two ways, Indirectly which is where you connect to apps via partnership by sharing your tracking data, and directly which is where you control the app directly for your watch.
In the end the Huawei GT3 wins this category by a big margin, only because the S1 Active is the weakest device in this category across the entire market. The S1 Active has no advantages over the Huawei GT3 in this category. Here is my final testing results in this category
| Feature | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| Connection Type | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
| App Stores | 2/5 | 2/5 |
| In Direct Ability | 0/5 | 5/5 |
| Direct Ability | 1/5 | 4/5 |
| Final Score | 3/15 | 11/15 |
In direct Ability : If your have a premium level subscription with popular third party apps like Strava, Komoot or Adidas running, then the Huawei GT3 can connect to these apps with reliability and consistency. During my testing, all of these apps synchronised with the Huawei Health app immediately when I ended my tracking activity and deserves it’s final rating of 5 out of 5, as for the S1 Active, very unreliable. The S1 Active deserves it’s rating of 0 out of 5 because it’s very unreliable. When you finish tracking your workout, it can take up to 6 days for the data to synchronise to the third party app.
Direct Ability : Both devices dont have a very big app gallery, However the Huawei GT3 performs reliably and consistently because a lot of the apps in the app gallery can operate in different ecosystems. When I say ecosystems, it’s really about the ability to work with different phone devices. One other major factor is the app to still perform reliably and consistently when the phone is outside Bluetooth range. There are some features that can work independently which is a huge benefactor to many users.
Workout Mode Ability : Winner Huawei GT3 Active
When it comes to the best devices to track your workouts, it’s not about what device has the most workout modes. It’s all about supporting the watch user no matter the fitness level.
The Huawei GT3 is very reliable in this category, which is why it’s the winner in this category. The S1 Active during my testing is really a basic fitness tracker at best, and does not support a person who is at intermediate level or advanced.
The Huawei GT3 has all of the features that the S1 Active has when it comes to tracking your workouts. I will explain some the advantages that the device has over S1 Active, but here is a summary of my final results. If you want to know more about the devices workout mode ability, I will provide a link to those articles.
| Criteria | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| Speciality | Smart Apps | Activity |
| Basic Level | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Intermediate Level | 1/5 | 5/5 |
| Advanced Level | 0/5 | 2/5 |
| Final Score | 6/15 | 12/15 |
Reasons that The Huawei GT3 has the Advantage.
There are a lot of great features built into the Huawei GT3, mainly in the intermediate and Advanced levels.
Ability to Access your training load, fitness level : If you select the workout status option in the device, you will get access to your training load data, V02 max, recovery times and your running ability index. Such a useful tool to help manage your training stress, and train more smarter. The Huawei GT3 can determine your fitness level in two ways, which is your V02max, which test’s your body’s efficiency to absorb oxygen and Heart rate recovery, which is where you record your heart rate for 2 minutes after a workout.
Ability to connect to Bluetooth Sensors : This is an advanced workout feature where you can connect to a heart rate strap, power adaptor (measure power output from axel of bike), cadence sensor and Huawei motion STAG. I have only experienced connecting my Polar H10 heart rate strap to the device, and never had issues when connecting.
Ability to improve performance : This is an advanced workout feature, and the Huawei GT3 can help improve your running using the Running Ability Index (RAI) feature. An excellent feature for all fitness levels who want to improve their running ability. The device has a A1 coach where you are given specific running programs, that’s dependant on your current training load.
GPS Tracking : Winner Huawei GT3 Active
When it comes to GPS tracking, both devices are very reliable. During my testing I could not connect to the BeiDou (Chinese Satellite system) and QZSS (Japanese Satellite system) due to my location being New Zealand. Never the less, both devices performed very well, and tracked my location reliably.
Both devices have dual band frequency built in for added accuracy. With the additional satellite bands can help track your location a lot quicker and accurately, and this also applies when your location is lost.
A really close battle and the Huawei GT3 is the winner as it performed slightly better in the hard test. The hard test is where I walk from an open area where these is no obstructions, then through the township where these is many obstructions such as buildings, then finish in a open area. For more information about my GPS tracking tests and how I rate a device, check out my full articles, however here is my final results.
| Criteria | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| No of Sensors | 5 | 5 |
| Additional features | Dual band | Dual band |
| Basic test | 5/5 | 5/5 |
| Hard test | 1/5 | 2/5 |
| Very Hard Test | 4/5 | 4/5 |
| Final score | 10/15 | 11/15 |
- Article : Xiaomi S1 Active – GPS accuracy isn’t too bad
- Article : Huawei GT3 – Is GPS tracking accurate?
Battery Life : Winner Xiaomi S1 Active
When it comes to battery life, I like to do two types of tests, one is based on my typical usage without GPS tracking. The second test is the amount of battery life consumed when GPS tracking is used.
Both are essential measures, especially the GPS battery consumption rate because this feature can burn a lot of battery life. This measure is important for anyone that use GPS tracking for long periods during the day.
In the end the Xiaomi S1 Active is the clear winner in this category and out performs the GT3 in both tests, whereas the Huawei GT3, this would be it’s weakest category. Even with the latest Harmony OS3 updates, the battery life has not really improved. Here are my final results.
| Tests | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| Battery economy without GPS Tracking | 2/5 | 1/5 |
| GPS Battery consumption | 5/5 | 3/5 |
| Final score | 7/10 | 4/10 |
Battery Economy based on my typical usage without GPS tracking
All of my tests are based on my typical usage which is as follows
- All day heart rate tracking including sleep tracking
- AOD : 20-25 screen activations
- 50 minutes workout tracking
- 20 messages
- 1 hour of GPS tracking
| Criteria | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| Battery economy without GPS Tracking | 14% | 18% |
| No of days | 6 | 5 |
| Star rating | 2/5 | 1/5 |
- 1 star device: is where a device consumes battery life equal to and more than 17% per day based on my typical usage.
- 2 star device: is where a device consumes battery life between 14%-16%, based on my typical usage.
- Xiaomi S1 Active is 22% more efficient than the Huawei GT3 when it comes to battery economy
GPS Battery Consumption
| Criteria | S1 Active | GT3 Active |
| Battery economy without GPS Tracking | 14% | 18% |
| GPS battery consumption per hour | 5% | 13% |
| Total battery consumption | 19% | 31% |
| No of days | 5 | 3 |
- A 5 star device for GPS battery consumption is where battery life consumed is equal to or less than 7% per hour, Which makes the Xiaomi S1 Active one of the most efficient GPS battery device.
- The Xiaomi S1 Active is 62% more efficient than the Huawei GT3 when it comes to GPS battery consumption rate per hour. Which is a big difference in the no of days you can get on a single charge.
- If you use power saver mode with the Huawei GT3, becomes a 5 star device for GPS battery consumption, only consuming 6% per hour.
- Issue with power saver mode is that it’s limited to 2 workout modes, whereas the S1 Active is the same GPS battery consumption rate for all GPS tracking workout modes, massive difference.
Final Conclusion
Thank you so much for reading and I hope I have answered all of your questions in this comparison article. The Huawei GT3 is a fantastic device and wins the comparison article 5-1. The only issue is the battery life, but it’s still not bad considering, so use the information that I presented to you , and make a call if the device meets your requirements.
Also both devices have the ability to use NFC payment, however Xiaomi pay and Huawei pay are not available in some regions around the world. So if this is a feature that you must have in a device, check with your bank.
All though the Xiaomi S1 Active may have lost in this comparison article, the device is still appealing to a certain user. I have recently written an article, if the device is worth buying. I also attempt to create a profile who would get great value in this device so take a look at that, thank you for reading. Article: Is it worth buying?
