No products found.
In the recent past, popular tech brands like Honor, Lenovo, Fitbit and Xiaomi have launched ‘Band’ wearables. The latest to launch an update on its series of bands is the Honor Band 5. This band is small in size but supports incredible features. In a bid to undercut the competition and dominate the scene, the Honor Band has an absurdly low price. It’s a close competitor to the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 with almost the same specs and same price.
The Honor Band 5 is a fitness tracking device with a sleep tracker, heart rate tracker and an additional waterproof feature for swimmers. It comes as an improvement of Honor Band 4 which we reviewed early last year. It’s currently available in 3 colors: Navy, Coral Pink and Black.
Our Verdict: The Honor Band 5 is a small, cheap, and easy to use fitness tracker. It may not be appealing to heavy users that need GPS monitoring but its price and functionality make it one of the most affordable fitness devices in the market. It has sleep monitor capabilities, heart rate monitor and long battery life –which undercuts many rival devices.
Table of Contents
Overview and Features
Honor Band 5 comes at a competitive price with an identical design as the Honor 4 but improved features. It features new modes such as Elliptical machine and Rowing machine. The new SpO2 (blood oxygen level) tracking enables you to monitor your blood oxygen level.
If you are a fitness fanatic at the basic level, then this is the smart band for you. It has an AMOLED screen that’s bright enough for indoor and outdoor activities. Its small screen size means it does not support multiple on-screen operations. Its battery life lasts up to one week while supporting almost all the power-intensive features. These are the advanced features that make it stand out.
Battery Life
Similar to the Honor Band 4, this device 100mAh battery lasts for up to 2 weeks, considering it’s not used heavily. But generally, the battery life will highly depend on device usage. When you set all other features like heart rate tracker, notifications and sleep tracker, the band should last up to one week. However, its charging takes just one and a half hours.
Winning Design
Just like its predecessor, Honor Band 5 is small in size with an AMOLED screen and removable silicon straps. It’s so similar to Xiaomi Mi Band 4, although its slimmer and a wide screen size same as the strap. On the screen, there’s a large button that looks like a home button. The circular capacitive button at the bottom allows you to navigate through the system. The design is pretty simple and therefore, if you need a busy design, then this is not an option.
Sleep Monitor
It’s one thing to look at your band in the morning to know exactly the amount of sleep you had, but it’s a completely different thing to open up the Honor Health App and view a comprehensive analysis of your circadian rhythm and get to learn about what it means.
Using TruSleep technology, Honor Band 5 monitors sleep in hours and minutes at night. It divides sleep into light, deep and REM sleep while gathering information on the quality of sleep and breathing. Based on the collected information, it provides tips to follow for better sleep.
Fitness Tracker
With its easy to use interface, you can access the number of steps taken and work out details over a certain period. It allows you to track indoor and outdoor runs and swims. It also tracks use of an indoor treadmill, elliptical trainer, or rowing machine. The Huawei Health app shows a good amount of data, including the number of calories burned and how hard you were exercising. In the case of irregular inactivity, you will receive a buzz to notify you. It supports a workout catalogue with a free training mode for its users.
AMOLED Color Screen
Despite its small size, it supports a 0.95-inch panel size with a 120×240 pixels resolution color display and a 2.5D curved glass. Compared to Band 4, which had an OLED display, Band 5 AMOLED screen is brighter and colored, displaying vibrant looks of logos and characters. You can see even in direct sunlight. Whether you’re waking the screen from its slumber or scrolling through menus, everything feels responsive here. This is despite the bargain price point.
Music Control
Remotely monitor music played on Google Play Music, YouTube, or Huawei Music on your band screen. Pause, play next or rewind songs by pressing on the screen and easy managing of the volume. Therefore, for those that love to listen to music during sports or while in the shower, you have got full control of your songs right on your wrist.
Blood Oxygen Saturation Monitor
Honor series helps monitor oxygen saturation on your blood and gives health feedback recommendations. Based on normal oxygen levels, it notifies you in case of a drop to help you seek medical attention. However, Honor cautions that the results obtained should not be used for diagnosis or treatment but only for personal use.
Remote Camera Control
Honor Band 5 supports the camera to launch on your device. This feature makes the Honor Band 5 unique from other bands. The camera icon is displayed on the smart band from where you can capture pictures by pressing the camera icon.
Waterproof
Thanks to a water-resistant body, you can take your Honor Band 5 to depths of up to 50 meters. Therefore feel comfortable having it on when taking a shower or when swimming. However, it’s not yet proven if it can withstand scuba-diving, and therefore you should avoid it.
Pros
- Bright AMOLED display
- Waterproof up to 50 meters
- Sleep tracking is improved
- Supports workout plans
- 7-day battery with intensive use
- Competitively priced
Cons
- A small screen that may be unresponsive at times
- No integrated GPS
Conclusion and Rating
Smart Fitness Geek.com Product Rating: 4.3/5
Huawei Honor Band 5’s fitness tracking, sleep tracking, 14-day battery life, AMOLED screen and ease of use keep it at the top budget smart bands. Its exclusive features need few modifications to meet the Fitbit and Apple smartwatch standards. At less than half the price of the cheapest Fitbit, it is worth a try especially if you haven’t owned an Honor Band before.
