Honor Band 6 Fitness Tracker Review: When the screen decides

Cost Honor Band 6 is about 3,500 rubles. In the device of users, there is a large display, up to two weeks of autonomous work, sports modes, many topics of the desktop, the measurement of oxygen in the blood and other functions. In this review, I will talk about the characteristics of the model, its advantages and minuses.

Characteristics

• Screen: AMOLED
• Diagonal: 1.47 inches
• Resolution: 368 * 194
• Battery: 180 mA * h
• Opening hours: up to 10 days (in standby mode 14 days)
• Waterproofing: 5 ATM
• Bluetooth version: 5.0
• Dimensions: 43 x 25.4 x 11.45 mm
• Weight: 18 grams
• Monitoring: Oxygen, pulse, sleep, of calories, steps

Appearance and equipment

Honor Band 6 comes in a small cardboard box in a white and blue version. On the front side you can see the image of the device, its features are listed on the back.

inside the fitness bracelet, USB cable with a magnetic fastening for charging, are Warranty card and instruction.

Visually, Honor Band 6 reminds Rather Smart watch, rather than bracelet. The reason is that a rather large display of a rectangular shape is used here. Its angles are slightly rounded, but capsule is still not oval, which highlights the device against the background of competitors. The design of a little problem and, rather, to a strict, thanks to which the bracelet will suit any style of clothing.

Facial Panel - Large AMOLED screen with 2,5d glass and small frames around. There is no information about the presence of protection on the display, but during use (about 2 weeks) any defects on the surface did not form. By the way, a transparent protective film is applied from the factory for safety during transport.

On the back of contacts are provided for charging and optical sensors responsible for measuring oxygen in the blood and calculation of the pulse.

On the right side is the "Home" button / "Menu". It is located in the middle, has a red stripe. On the left side, the brand name is pretty large. The housing is completely plastic, from the side it is not noticeable and can only understand it is tactile.

Silicone watch strap and disconnected. Its length is sufficient to wear the tracker could be on a big hand. If you, like me, the hand is small, there can be a big free end of the strap. This is not a problem: it has a special retainer, protruding an additional clasp. The mechanism of the belt clasp is made by analogy with the clockwise. Removable strap itself, tight fastening, so you have to armared something sharp.

The bracelet is available in three colors - black meteorite, coral pink and sandy gray. The difference is only in the color of the strap, the capsule in all cases is black. My version is sandy gray. This is a universal option that logically looks both on a male hand and on the feminine.

Common Design Honor Band 6 I liked. This is a pretty strict device that is suitable for different style styles. The tracker does not look cheap, and a rather large display and misleads at all, causing thinking that this is a clock.

I am not a fan of wearable electronics (and a person far from sports), so my acquaintances were surprised by the presence of such a device and constantly asked the question: "Did you buy a clock?" It was necessary to explain that this fitness bracelet, which caused even more interest, as the form and size of the display rather non-standard.

Ease of use

from point of view There are no issues of wearing any questions. The strap is long enough for users with any hand size.

The material is tactful pleasant and even with constant wearing in the heat I have not experienced any discomfort, while the bracelet was removed only before the shower and for charging. I also note that at first glance there were fears regarding its material - the surface of the straps is smooth and I was afraid that some scratches and defects could remain. For two weeks it did not happen. The fastener at the tracker is strong, made of plastic, but no doubt in the fortress does not cause.

The main distinguishing feature of the fitness bracelet was its display. He is big, it is striking, but in no way affects ergonomics. The surface of it is closed with 2,5d glass, which looks modern and convenient from the point of view of use.

I mentioned that the surface, in all likelihood, provides for some kind of protection, since the defects during the use did not appear. There is a oleophobous layer - I did not notice the screen quickly covered with imprints and it would have had to wipe it. The sensor pleases the sensitivity: it is responsive and reacts even on the wet fingers. Considering Summer and heat, it is definitely plus.

The screen is made using AMOLED technology, but, contrary to waiting, AlwaySon mode is not implemented. However, it is not particularly necessary for me, since the device automatically turns the backlight when the hand is turned (the Option is turned off) and click on the button to see the time or indicators during training, is not required. Perhaps as a compromise for the lack of permanent illumination, the manufacturer has implemented the "Active Screen" option. You can select the time of operation without disconnecting the display - 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes.

The picture quality does not cause any complaints - the image is excellent and readable. The brightness is sufficient to comfortably use the device with strong sunlight. During the use of the backlight stood almost all the time at 50% (3 levels) and only twice I put 100% (5 level), when I had to leave the house in the middle of the day with a very bright sun.

Sound notifications on the bracelet are not provided, the display lights up instead and the vibration is triggered. She has two levels - weak and strong. I have installed the second: it is well felt that it was cut out several times in crowded urban transport. It will not give and sleep: even a strong sleep did not become an interference for alarm clock, configured on the tracker.

Connection and configuration

After turning on the bracelet, the user will need to install the health "Health", it is Huawei Health. I did not invent a bike and simply scanned QR code from the instruction. However, for interest, I learn it in Google Play and through the search - it appears first on request "Health".

After that, it is enough to enable Bluetooth on the smartphone to turn on the pairing with the tracker.

No difficulties with search and connection did not happen, which was very pleased, since I recently had an unpleasant experience with the use of smart hours from a well-known brand. Then I spent more than one and a half hours of connection and even doubted my own mental abilities. As it turned out later, difficulties were not only for me, and the connection was managed only after studying thematic forums.

After conjugation, you will need to give permission to access memory, contacts, location, call list, SMS, and telephone. I forbade access to the camera and the microphone, as there are no functions in the tracker associated with them.

Next remains to register an account, enter user data, mark from which applications notifications will be displayed. Another bracelet offered to upgrade what I did. For two weeks of use, another update fell.

In general, the setting and connection takes no more than 15-20 minutes. Everything is simple and affordable, so even older users who may have bought a similar technique for the first time, it is hardly faced with any difficulties.

Interface

Main Desktop at Honor Band 6 Customizable. Several decorations are pre-installed, and they can be changed directly on the tracker through the settings.

It is allowed to change not only the topic itself, but also the information displayed within it. For example, by default, the bracelet shows the pulse, steps and calories. If you want to see the level of stress instead of calories, you can select the desired indicator in the settings.

Watch faces also change in the application, where there is a Watch Faces tab in the Devices section. We go into it and find a huge selection of options, both free and paid.

If desired, you can hang a photo or a picture from the gallery as a background on the selected topic. The cost of paid topics starts from 19 rubles, it simply cannot be cheaper, so there is no need to complain that you have to pay for all the most interesting things. More precisely, you need to pay, but complaining about such a cost is somehow ashamed.

Management here is carried out by swipes, taps and the control button. Swiping right/left reveals heart rate, stress, weather, music controls, activity. This list is changed through the "Favorites" submenu in the screen settings.

Swipe up allows you to read messages. Swipe down displays connection status, date and time, battery percentage, quick access to settings, turning on Active Display and Do Not Disturb modes, setting and activating / configuring an alarm, finding a phone.

The physical button acts as the Home button and opens an advanced menu with access to settings and features.

The menu contains:

• Training (10 Sports Disciplines)
• Records (Detailed Statistics on Training)
• Pulse (permanent calculation)
• SPO2 (oxygen measurement)
• Activity
• Sleep
• Stress
• breathing exercises
• Music
• Messages
• Weather
• Stopwatch
• Timer
• Alarm clock
• Phone search
• Settings

The last item contains display settings (brightness and backlight time / design of the desktop / Favorites), vibration (strong / weak), "Do not disturb" mode (day schedule / All day) Training (enable automatic recognition), as well as System Items (Disable / Reset / Restart) and "Device Information".

Appendix

As I mentioned above, the installation of the "Health" will need to interact with the tracker. It has a pleasant and simple interface.

On the main tab of "Health" are indicators of activity, recording on training, pulse, sleep, weight (weighing is required), stress, blood oxygen content. This list can be edited, for example, remove some of the items. Girls can add a cycle calendar.

Second Tab - "Exercises". It has records of completed workouts, their settings, task of goals and ready-made programs.

In addition, it is possible to start training (and you need!) Directly From the application. Why do you need? The fact is that the inclusion of training is possible in two ways - directly on the tracker or through the application.

And here there is a nuance. If you need a GPS data tracking, then starting from the bracelet after the search GPS reports that satellites are not found and offers to start training without this tracking. I performed a re-conjugation, deleted the application, dropped the tracker, rebooted it and the smartphone, but I did not find a solution to the problem. Therefore, I believe that this is a bug that can be eliminated with updates.

If you turn on the workout from the smartphone, then there are no questions to the operation of GPS - everything works as it should.

The third tab is "devices". Connected devices are displayed here, and access to the dials mentioned above is displayed.

Final tab - "I". It contains information about your account and achievements. Here you can change user data (age, weight, etc.), assign training plans, set up notifications and the work of the application as a whole.

. If briefly, the application "Health" has a clear and pretty interface, difficulties in dealing with in it, does not occur. There are no unnecessary tabs here either.

The bracelet in

will begin with the fact that the bracelet offers not only health-related functions.

The "smart" functional Honor Band 6 allows you to manage music, displays notifications and calls, tells about the weather, helps to find a smartphone (even if silent mode is turned on) and acts as a flashlight.

The latter assumes that the display lights up with bright white light, that is, you can highlight something in a dark room or search backpack at night the keys, but, of course, we are not talking about A full-fledged flashlight, although the brightness is pretty good. Music management supports audio players and music in applications (for example, VK)

Notifications Displays the application icon (the most common - WhatsApp, Telegram) are supported. At the same time, the name of the interlocutor and part of the text can be seen. Reply, note the message read or read it completely, it is impossible. Not very convenient, but you get an idea of ​​the importance of the contents, it means you can decide to read right or postpone. During calls you can see the name and number of the subscriber, the call can be reset.

Health functions are represented by monitoring of the pulse, steps, burned calories, activity, sleep, stress, blood oxygen content. In addition, there are sports modes and breathing.

Breath is a kind of respiratory gymnastics in the form of tips. It can be used as meditative exercise or to calm down.

Sports modes for only ten, not very much, but fitness Trackers are not created for professional athletes, and for ordinary users of existing disciplines will be enough. List of available workouts includes:

• Running on the street
• Treadmill
• Walking on the street
• Cycling
• Exercise bike
• Swimming in the pool
• Walking
• Rowing simulator
• Ellipse
• Other

By and large, they all represent a pulse tracking with a notification of certain thresholds, What characterizes the different types of workout - warm-up, burning fat, anaerobic, aerobic, extreme. Detailed information is displayed on the tracker (Record tab), and in the application. The second monitoring option is more convenient, as the information is more information, and it is visually.

I checked the tracker in the modes "cycling" and "Walking on the street". On the features of the launch with the included GPS mentioned above, so I will not repeat. I did not occur claims to the accuracy of measurements - the distance, the number of steps, the speed (at least the periods of acceleration / braking) correspond to reality.

Pedometer was checked with another manufacturer's tracker and an application on a smartphone. All three devices showed the same values, so no reasons for them are not.

A medical tonometer was used to check the accuracy of the heart rate with the pulse count function - insignificant discrepancies, therefore there are no complaints on this item also.

How the indicator "Stress" is calculated, I can not answer.

Before first use, it is proposed to pass a small questionnaire where a few questions have been collected from the series "Are you satisfied with your current life position", "Do you often have depressive thoughts" and so on. Further, the program displays the current level of stress and calculations are periodically automatically produced. I believe that they are built on the basis of the heart rate, but even at high physical exertion, the tracker consistently suggests that the level of stress is moderate.

To judge how truthful, I do not undertake, but I note that for the specified period of serious shocks did not happen, so it was not for sure that somewhere the bracelet was wrong, I can not.

The oxygen level in Honor Band 6 is calculated on demand. This option is clearly not superfluous.

Although it is not a medical device, but it gives a general idea of ​​the amount of oxygen, and therefore, in the case of low indicators, it makes sense to seek professional medical care and not wait for the deterioration of well-being. Check accuracy in living conditions is not possible, but considering that several repeated measurements show the same results (97-99%), we can say that the tracker at least does not contradict himself.

In addition, I am guided by the fact that in responses about other models with a similar option, often mention a significant difference in repeated measurements. In other words, the function is better implemented here.

Regarding sleep I can note that time is calculated correctly, short-term awakening are not fixed (I woke up / looked at time), but If you wake up and walk to drink water, then the bracelet will mark it as an awakening.

There is information about finding in different phases of sleep and advice on improving it. I am skeptical to the latter, and the question is not the advice, but rather their realizability. For example, Honor Band 6 advises to go to bed at 22.00 and get up at 6.00. Personally, I do not know a single person among my acquaintances who would go to such a time. In some regions, at 10 pm, it is completely light, which clearly does not contribute to the departure to sleep. However, this is a subjective opinion and the cons definitely does not apply.

In general, I note that sleep monitoring is the most attractive ability for me in fitness bracelets. Although the advice on its improvement does not seem to be performed (rather, it is ideal requirements), but have a general idea of ​​how much I slept and why I did not sleep, in my opinion, not bad.

Autonomy

The manufacturer declared the work time of 10 days with active use (pairing with a smartphone and training) and 14 days in standby mode.

The bracelet came to me with a charge of 44%. After that, I used it for a week (average brightness and constant pairing with a smartphone), the workout mode included 3-4 times. Put for charging on the 6th day with a battery capacity of 11%. Thus, in 6 days of active use, the battery was discharged slightly more than 30%. Based on this, I can conclude that the declared autonomy corresponds to reality.

The tracker is charged by branded charging. It is magnetic, so trying to connect it, it is not necessary - it is enough to attach it to the contacts. The battery charge replenishment process itself takes place very quickly - less than an hour from the laptop. In addition, the model supports a quick set of containers. In 10 minutes you can achieve autonomy for 3 days.

Conclusion

Honor Band 6 is a fitness tracker with a price tag about 3,500 rubles. For this money you get a pleasant strict design, good assembly, a large display with high-quality and bright image.

In addition, it pleases the accuracy of indicators, simplicity of pairing and working with it, a pleasant interface and a convenient application. A positive picture complements high autonomy and moisture protection. The disadvantages can be attributed to the inclusion of GPS when you start training through the tracker, but it is likely to fix it. As ordinary users without strict requirements for sports functions may noted that the device arranged me at 100%.

As a result, if you need an inexpensive fitness bracelet with excellent work and with a large screen, then to Band 6 from Honor should be climbed. And this is a good option to replace the existing tracker if his design is tired and you want something more presentable.