Honor Band 4 Music Control
After the release and successful sales of the Honor Band 4 fitness bracelet (see the review), Huawei, which owns the Honor sub-brand, decided to consolidate its success by releasing the “fifth generation” of the device. In fact, Honor Band 5 is not much different from its predecessor, we can say that this is a slightly improved version. Of the fundamental innovations, music control on the smartphone and the function of measuring oxygen in the blood appeared. The company also promises remote photography, but so far it is not. Plus, the icons are better designed: thanks to the ghosting around the images, an additional three-dimensional effect is achieved.
Contents of delivery
Honor Band 5 comes in a white cardboard box with an image of the model and an indication of the main characteristics.
In addition to the bracelet itself, the kit includes a short USB cable. micro USB and a small cradle (docking station), and it is the same as the previous model, so you can use them for each other. Also there is the necessary documentation.
To charge the bracelet, you need to combine the contacts with the contacts of the cradle, connect the USB cable and charge through standard charging, which is not included, or through the USB port of the computer. By the way, this is exactly what you need to do for the initial launch of the device: connect it to the USB port of the PC.
Advanced strap
The strap of the fitness bracelet is the same rubber with the same texture, but its loops got a small lock, making the fastening much more reliable.
Screen and design
Honor Band 5 received the same screen as Band 4, and repeats the design of its predecessor. It uses an AMOLED matrix with a diagonal of 0.95 inches and a resolution of 240×120, which provides high brightness and contrast of the picture. As you can see, the black color of the display merges with the black color of the case. The display is protected by 2.5D tempered glass. Under it there is a round touch control button.
At the bottom of the device’s body are heart rate sensors and power connectors.
Music player
Initially, the bracelet did not have new features, but they appeared after updating the device. When moving up (by swiping your fingers across the screen down), the first item is already a music player. It connects to “Play Music” and allows you to control tracks and adjust the volume. All this is done by clicking on the appropriate buttons on the bracelet screen.
Health on a new level
In addition to the pulse, you can now measure the level of oxygen in the blood (SpO2). This indicator signals when it is necessary to seek medical help.
Honor Band 5 is also equipped with TruSleep 3 technology, which automatically detects the phases of sleep (light sleep, deep sleep and REM fast sleep). The technology is certified by the Center for the Study of Dynamic Biomarkers at Harvard Medical School and allows you to analyze the quality of sleep: it recognizes 6 common sleep disorders and offers 200 solutions.
Multi-colored dials for all tastes
The number of beautiful dials was added: there are 8 of them in the menu, but you can even choose more in the Health application (Huawei Health).
Doing sports
In addition to jogging on the street, jogging on the treadmill, walking on the street, exercise bike, swimming in the pool and free training, indoor walking, elliptical and rowing exercise machines were added to the training record. To record a training session, go to the corresponding sub-item of the menu item “Training”, select the parameters and start the recording process. After finishing it is necessary to stop the process and, if desired, write data. They will appear in the application, where they can be analyzed in detail.
The fitness bracelet is not afraid of water and can withstand diving up to 50 m, and almost perfectly considers all swimming styles. Therefore, it is recommended to control swimming in the pool. But only in open water, like its predecessor, it will not be able to calculate anything, since it is tied to the size of the pool: you can choose 25 or 50 m, as well as adjust more precisely if the pool is non-standard. This is done by adding or minus meters from the standard size. Actually, in detail about testing Honor fitness bracelets in the pool and the Health application from Huawei, it was said in a previous review.
Autonomy
Like Band 4, the fifth model is equipped with a 100 mAh battery. If you do not measure the pulse around the clock, then the gadget can work for a whole week, especially since it has auto-adjustment of brightness.
Comparison with Xiaomi Mi Band 4
Honor Band 5 was released immediately after the release of Xiaomi Mi Band 4, which in turn almost repeated the characteristics of Honor Band 5. Therefore, Huawei decided to urgently “surpass” the competitor. Therefore, the previous screen and design remained, but new functions were added.
These fitness bracelets use the same size and resolution displays: 0.95-inch AMOLED with a resolution of 240×120. Mi Band 4 wins in battery capacity (135 mAh versus 100 mAh), but with the optimization of energy consumption this advantage is leveled.
But the Honor Band 5 boasts the best heart rate sensor and the presence of a measurement of oxygen in the blood. It is convenient to charge without detaching the strap from the gadget. Yes, and holds on to his hand he is much more reliable.
Fair price
And most importantly, with such remarkable characteristics, a striking appearance and comfortable wearing, the Honor Band 5 costs only 899 UAH, and in “gray” shipments is even cheaper. If we compare with Xiaomi Mi Band 4, then the competitor is of course similar, but somewhat inferior in functionality.
