What is it?
Huawei’s Watch GT 7 offers a welcome addition to the usual wrist-based nagging about exercise: permission to take it easy. A new Physical Readiness feature assesses how well the body has recovered and tells you if you need to cut yourself some slack.
After heavy exercise and a bad night’s sleep, for example, a low readiness score gives you a good – and medically sound – excuse to exchange the next punishing workout for a casual walk. Of course, for those who regard exhaustion as proof of achievement, that may well be the hardest of the watch’s instruction to follow.
The way it does this is fascinating. The assessment combines sleep quality with overnight heart measurements, along with the previous day’s stress and calories burned. Among those measurements is heart rate variability, or HRV, which tracks changes in the interval between successive heartbeats. It then adds information about recovery that an average pulse reading alone would miss.
Huawei then pulls these readings into five recovery levels. I like the emphasis on what happens after exercise. Fitness watches have become very good at celebrating exertion, and I welcome one that also encourages a day off.
The GT 7 pairs seamlessly with Android handsets and iPhones, and has the battery endurance to keep recording through the night. Huawei’s headline claim is up to 21 days for the 46 mm version and 14 days for the 41 mm model, both under light use. Its typical-use estimates are up to 12 days and seven days respectively. In short, you don’t really need to plan a charging routine – only keep an eye on battery levels.
However, those levels fell faster when I left the display permanently on. The estimates fall to seven days for the larger model and five for the smaller one. The choice between sizes therefore involves more than wrist circumference, since someone drawn to the smaller watch gives up a chunk of watch endurance along with the extra millimetres.
The standard GT 7 has a stainless-steel case, with a 1.47-inch AMOLED screen on the larger version and a 1.32-inch screen on the smaller one. Both have a 466 × 466-pixel resolution. The separate Pro adds titanium alloy construction and a ceramic bezel, for buyers who want more expensive materials – and a cooler look – around their exercise data.
And then there is padel. A new Padel Points app uses AI to recognise racket swings and track swing speed, adding another source of data to a sport already doing so much for physiotherapists and chiropractors. Players can examine their technique between appointments, although a faster swing and a well-placed shot remain separate achievements.
Cyclists get climb planning, with route information showing the hills ahead and details of approaching ascents. Knowing how much climbing remains is a great indicator to riders that they should ease off well before their legs deliver that instruction, impolitely.
These features form part of more than 110 workout modes. Most owners will use a handful, and the depth of information in their preferred sport will have far more influence on their enjoyment than the size of that menu.
Huawei pushes further into health assessment with an opt-in Diabetes Risk Study, which uses three to 14 days of vital-sign tracking to estimate risk. That is distinct from measuring blood glucose or diagnosing diabetes, and the results cannot monitor treatment. The Pro adds a coronary heart disease risk study for eligible users after several days of continuous wear. I can vouch for neither of these, and would be happy if I never need to do so.
An Emotional Wellbeing feature is a more immediate proposition: Huawei claims recognition of 12 emotional states. However, I put more faith in its guided breathing exercises than in a watch deciding how I feel. I was always dubious about the version on the GT6, which varied between Pleasant, Neutral, and Unpleasant. What, no Grumpy? Which brings up a major shortcoming of all these devices: they don’t offer a low-coffee alert.
What does it cost?
The Huawei Watch GT 7 series start at R5,999 through Huawei’s official online stores and authorised South African retailers. Selected purchases include FreeBuds SE 2 earphones, subject to the promotion’s terms and stock availability.
Does it make a difference?
The GT 7 gives recovery a bigger role in the exercise routine, backed by battery endurance that supports wearing it through several nights between charges. I find that a stronger reason to buy than adding yet more sports to the tracking menu, but then it does bring in activity options that would appeal to users who enjoy specific activities, like padel. The standard model includes Physical Readiness, leaving the Pro’s extra materials and coronary risk study as specific reasons to spend more.
What are the biggest negatives?
- The smaller model sacrifices several days of battery endurance.
- An always-on display reduces the advertised maximum time between charges by a fair amount.
- A coronary heart disease risk study is reserved for the Pro.
What are the biggest positives?
- Physical Readiness combines several health readings into guidance that is easier to apply to daily exercise.
- Long battery endurance supports regular overnight tracking with less frequent charging.
- Cycling climb planning helps riders pace their effort using the route ahead.
* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.