The Honor Band 6 is an inexpensive health tracker from Honor that boasts a big display screen and fundamental smartwatch options. With an SpO2 sensor and stress administration instruments, it affords greater than the bare-bones expertise for these seeking to enhance their well being. That mentioned, there are additionally various missteps, bugs, and omissions that stop this from being a powerful contender for health aficionados on a funds. Learn our full Honor Band 6 evaluation to study extra.
About this Honor Band 6 evaluation: I used the Honor Band 6 for 10 days working software program model 10.1.1.32. The Honor Band 6 evaluation unit was offered to Android Authority by Honor.
What you’ll want to know concerning the Honor Band 6
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
- Honor Band 6: $49/£44/€49
Though Huawei offered Honor in November 2020, the Honor Band 6 positions itself as a “transitional” product, even going as far as to depend on the Huawei Well being app as earlier fashions have performed.
Thus, not an enormous quantity has modified since 2019’s Honor Band 5. The most important enchancment over the last-gen tracker is by far the bigger display screen. This can be a vital soar from the earlier 0.95 inches to the all-new 1.47 inches. The display screen can be curved, AMOLED, and really shiny — a standout characteristic on a funds gadget similar to this.
In any other case, all of the options you’d count on are right here. It has an optical coronary heart charge sensor, auto exercise detection, sleep and step monitoring, 5ATM water resistance, and fundamental smartwatch performance. Nonetheless, there’s nonetheless no in-built GPS assist.
The Honor Band 6 is that can be purchased now from Amazon within the US, UK, and Europe. It can even be offered by way of the official HiHonor retailer from April 2021.
How about that display screen?
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
The Honor Band 6 is available in robust and makes an excellent first impression. Though the field itself could be very fundamental — betraying the gadget’s inexpensive nature — the display screen greater than makes up for it. The show now takes up 85% of the mannequin’s entrance, which provides it a really fashionable aesthetic.
Not solely is the display screen enticing, but it surely additionally has wonderful contact responsiveness. This makes navigating the gadget a breeze and gives the look of a way more costly gadget. You may select between an enormous variety of watch faces, and I truly actually favored a lot of them. They actually pop due to the vivid colour, too, and most will present steps and energy at a look.
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
It’s a disgrace, then, that your watch might not keep wanting so crisp. After just some days, mine picked up a distinguished scratch within the high nook. This was earlier than I’d even performed any coaching. There’s additionally no auto-brightness, which is a disgrace, and the shiny display screen may cause a little bit of glare. Fortunately, the brightness is such that it may well usually be considered in daylight with no challenge.
The watch is in any other case pleasing to the attention if a little bit unremarkable. There’s a rubber wristband that feels comfy and a single button on the aspect that returns you to the house display screen/opens up the menu. I maintain making an attempt to pick out choices with that button, however that’s on me.
However can it health?
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
As a health tracker, the Honor Band 6 lets itself down in some key methods.
First, the exercise detection isn’t nice. Initially, I believed it wasn’t working in any respect, however on additional inspection, I discovered that the data appeared within the “steps” part of the app and solely as a proportion cut up between strolling, working, and climbing. Don’t count on to go for a stroll and see this logged as an exercise.
Associated: The very best health trackers | The very best working watches
Beginning a run from the wrist wasn’t way more profitable. For one, the watch constantly stories that it doesn’t have GPS. The one solution to get the Honor Band 6 to file your run with GPS is to provoke the run by way of the app. I can forgive the shortage of in-built GPS as that is customary for the value. However it is a large limitation that undermines one of many key advantages of getting a smartwatch. It’s worse, too, seeing as there are solely three coaching profiles to select from inside the app.
I did get in contact with Honor to see if this was one thing they have been conscious of. I adopted its directions, however this, sadly, didn’t resolve the difficulty when paired with an iOS gadget. Furthermore, they talked about that GPS monitoring wasn’t supported in any respect on non-Huawei/Honor Android gadgets. That’s an enormous downside, certainly.
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
The Honor Band 6 has 10 completely different exercise profiles to select from. These embrace outside and indoor working, outside and indoor strolling, outside and indoor biking, pool swimming, elliptical, energy (which has an image of a rowing machine), and different.
That is comparatively slim pickings. There’s no particular profile for weight coaching, yoga, aerobics, or the rest somebody may conceivably need to measure. For these, you have got “different.”
The information supplied is pretty customary for a funds health tracker. You do get cadence and a breakdown of your coronary heart charge zones, and over time you’ll even get an estimate of VO2 max.
The accuracy is difficult to confirm as Honor doesn’t present a way to obtain the uncooked HRV information. Meaning I can’t instantly evaluate outcomes with a extra correct chest-worn monitor. When eyeballing the outcomes in contrast with a Wahoo Tickr X, they give the impression of being pretty regular for a funds tracker.
The dearth of skill to export HRV information is a mark in opposition to the watch in itself. Certain, this characteristic can be lacking on Xiaomi gadgets and is hardly a priority for many informal customers. However with that mentioned, it’s additionally true that it could possibly be helpful for sure customers and would price nothing for Honor to implement. It leaves you questioning why you might be being stored from your personal information.
I’m not an enormous fan of the Huawei Well being app, a minimum of on iOS. It’s pretty easy, however I want there have been tabs for often visited pages like “sleep.” Your mileage might range, although. It’s actually clear and easy to navigate!
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
The Honor Band 6 tracks sleep nicely and depends on the TrueSleep algorithm discovered on different Huawei and Honor gadgets. The Band auto-detects sleep successfully, and the outcomes it produces don’t look too dissimilar to the Oura Ring 2 (which is excellent however not good, both).
Some information is lacking, nevertheless, similar to resting coronary heart charge. Honor says it affords personalized “sleep enhancing options,” however I’ve not seen something aside from a urged sleep goal.
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
SpO2 is a pleasant further characteristic to have and may doubtlessly be helpful/attention-grabbing for monitoring total well being. That mentioned, it’s unlikely anybody coaching at excessive altitudes wouldn’t spend a little bit extra on a working watch. You need to start an SpO2 studying manually, and I don’t imagine that is factored into sleep monitoring (the place it could possibly be helpful). I’m tempted, due to this fact, to say that that is unlikely to be actually helpful for many customers. The Huawei Band 6, then again, affords steady blood oxygen monitoring. That is prone to be way more helpful.
See additionally: What’s SpO2, and why must you care?
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
Stress monitoring additionally isn’t terribly astute. For instance, it says my stress degree is “regular” proper now. In actual fact, I’m sitting upstairs working with my headphones off in order that I can hear the carpet being fitted in my front room. That is after a month of residing with the in-laws resulting from issues going improper following a burst pipe. Evidently, I’m harassed, and the Honor Band 6 senses no traces of it.
Lastly, the Honor Band 6 additionally helps cycle monitoring for feminine customers.
Sensible options and battery life
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
The smartwatch options are fundamental however very usable. Basically, they quantity to viewing notifications. However due to that giant display screen, it is a good expertise. Notifications got here by means of reliably (extra so than another gadgets), and the big display screen real-estate meant I might view a considerable amount of textual content.
Apart from that, you do get a discover my cellphone characteristic, a stopwatch, climate, and a torch.
You’ll be capable of get pleasure from all these options for a very long time, too. That’s due to a powerful 14-day battery that basically does ship on that promise even with a number of coaching classes and 24-hour coronary heart charge monitoring.
Honor Band 6 specs
Honor Band 6 | |
---|---|
Show | 1.47-inch touchscreen AMOLED 194 x 368 decision 283ppi |
Sensors | Blood oxygen Coronary heart charge Accelerometer Gyroscope |
Battery | 180mAh 14 days regular use 10 days heavy use |
Colours | Meteorite Black, Sandstone Gray, Coral Pink |
Water resistance | 5ATM |
Weight | 18g |
Connectivity | Bluetooth 5 |
Notifications | Sure |
Worth and competitors
Honor Band 6
The Honor Band 6 is an inexpensive and enticing health wearable.
This may look like a really unfavourable evaluation, however this should all be taken within the context of worth. The Honor Band 6 prices simply $49, which is a fraction of the value of many high-end health trackers. With that in thoughts, the Honor Band 6 is an efficient worth health tracker.
The closest competitors is the Xiaomi Mi Band 6, which is equally priced and has a 1.56-inch AMOLED show. The characteristic set between these two gadgets is near-identical, too.
In any other case, you may choose to spend a little bit extra and get the Huawei Band 6. This dearer gadget seems extraordinarily comparable due to the identical 1.47-inch show however comes with steady SpO2 monitoring, TruRelax 2.0 stress monitoring, and 96 completely different sports activities modes. There’s additionally a digital camera shutter and music playback controls, however nonetheless no GPS.
Or, if you wish to spend rather less, select the Honor Band 5 and get a lot of the identical options, albeit on a smaller display screen.
Honor Band 6 evaluation: The decision
Credit score: Adam Sinicki / Android Authority
The Honor Band 6 will get quite a bit proper and does sufficient to offer Xiaomi trigger for concern. That mentioned, it additionally drops the ball in a number of key areas due to some bugs and lack of polish. If you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing that may rely your steps, file your route and coronary heart charge throughout walks, and monitor your sleep, that is a beautiful choice. If you happen to’re critical about health, nevertheless, I’d maintain wanting.