Introduction
Honor is now an independent company that launches wearables alone, but its latest bracelet was actually developed under Huawei ownership when it originally came out in China in November 2020. It only recently hit global markets and gave us a chance to spend some time with it and produce this review. It brings a lot of features to get excited about and here is what we found them to perform in real life.
Honor Band 6 is not a smart move, although the division lines at this point are very blurred. It has a big screen, a lot of sensor and tracking for all possible sports and displays messages.
After all Huwaei Watch ES, which we reviewed a few months ago, has the same size and shape, has exactly the same software, but is called a smartwatch.
Design
We are not here to argue for semantics, but rather to check the dignity of the band. It feels light on the wrist thanks to its weight of only 18 grams without the straps. Honor upgraded the AMOLED panel compared to its predecessor, and now it’s 1.47 “in diagonal, compared to 0.95” on Honor Band 5.
There is a fairly large black frame around the screen, which cheapens the look a bit, and this is really evident in situations where the brightness is max. The strap is long enough and can be adjusted to all wrists. For design purposes, Honor also places holes on the short side where the buckle is.
The charger for Honor Band 6 is magnetic with double pogo legs. Not only is it proprietary, but it’s different too, so if you come from Band 5, you can not use the old one. But the one from Honor Watch ES works.
Features and battery life
Like any other modern Honor laptop, this SpO2 (oxygen levels in the blood) tracks stress through the heart rate sensor and brings TruSleep 2.0 technology to a better understanding of sleep patterns. Sportingly, there are 10 preloaded modes, including running, swimming or cycling, and you can even create a custom one.
The battery life of Honor Band 6 is announced as 14 days. This can be done thanks to the efficient Kirin A1 chipset and the lightweight Lite OS.
The actual battery life we had is about 10 days, which is still a massive achievement – it includes TruSleep-enabled, constant heart rate tracking, sports activities for leisure and some notifications and alarms. The power cell on the inside is 180 mAh and charges from 0 to 100% in less than an hour.
Are you going to buy it?
Honor Band 6 was introduced several times – first in China, then at CES 2021, and finally it will hit the global stage this month. The price is set at € 49.90, at which point it represents good value for money. But Honor often throws the occasional gift or two, which means the band is often a proper steal.
