The past couple of months have seen an exponential growth in the fitness tracker and wearable market, so much so that according to IDC (International Data Corporation) December report, the wearable shipments have grown compared to the same period last year.
Apart from the premium fitness trackers in the market like the Fitbits and even the Apple Watch there is huge potential in the budget segment which companies like Xiaomi and Honor are trying to tap.
Xiaomi has seen great success with its Mi Band series and Honor too has been snapping at Xiaomi’s heel for some time. The Honor Band 4 is the latest offering by the Chinese phone maker which is in direct competition with the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. Though, the Honor Band costs more, it does offer a feature set that a Xiaomi does not.
We tried the Honor Band 4 for a few weeks and here’s our quick review of Honor’s new fitness tracker.
Design & Display
I won’t call the Honor Band 4 the most premium looking wearable but the design and the overall look focuses more towards sports enthusiasts and fitness freaks. It doesn’t strike out as a daily wear gizmo. The company is offering four different colour variant of the band without the option to swap the straps which totally kills the idea of customisation.
The 0.95-inch AMOLED colour display is vibrant and comes with three level brightness which you can adjust.
Though there aren’t many watch faces to play around with but the ones on-board work to good effect. It sports a 2.5D curved glass which accentuates the overall look of the Honor Band 4, giving it the premium look.
It fits snugly on the wrist and the smooth finish at the back lends more grip so that it doesn’t slip even if the wrist is sweaty.
Performance & Hardware
The Honor Band 4 covers all the basics in terms of fitness tracking. The band borrows the phone’s GPS to track the distance covered while running outdoors while it also offers a mode to track indoor run on a treadmill.
Some other workouts that the band offers are outdoor or indoor cycling and free workout and training without needing any equipment.
The continuous heart rate monitoring is an in-built feature which is relatively accurate. I compared it with the Garmin Instinct, another fitness band in the market and much to our surprise both showed the same results.
The sleep monitoring feature of the Honor Band 4 really takes the competition by the scruff of their necks. The band tracks your sleep based on classifying it into three categories; deep sleep, light sleep and REM sleep.
It can also let you in on the number of times you were awake during the sleep cycle. All these additional stats are available once you pair the band with its proprietary app, Huawei TruSleep, available for both iOS and Android users.
The fact that it’s water-resistant makes it an ideal companion if you’re going for a swim.
I was really impressed with the battery life of the Honor Band 4. It lasted me almost 2 weeks. To deliver that kind of standby with an AMOLED display is truly commendable. It uses a standard butterfly style charger. I prefer the old USB style, but that’s just me. The band takes near 30 minutes to charge completely which is perfect for the people on the go.
Should You Buy?
The Honor Band 4 has been priced at Rs 2,599 in the Indian market which is very competitive pricing. In terms of options in this price segment you have the likes of the Lenovo HX-03F Spectra, the Fastrack Reflex 2.0 and the Mi Band 3 which offer almost similar specifications.
Despite stiff competition, the Honor Band 4 manages to strike the right balance in terms of utility and looks. It’s not the most perfect fitness tracker but gets the job done. Got a budget of Rs 2,500? The Honor Band 4 is an ideal buy.
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