Review: Huawei Watch GT 2. Overhyped, leaves much to be desired

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

• Long battery life
• Comfortable straps
• Very light
• Attractive design
• Accurate tracking

Cons:

• No third party apps
• Limited function
• Truncated notifications

I've heard so much about the Huawei Watch GT2. But I think it's a bit overhyped.

The watch is quite lite and has a long battery life. I had used it for 2 days continuously and the battery had only dropped 6%.  I had a continuous heartbeat turned on.

Despite these pros, the watch leaves much to be desired.

For example, I can't do much from the watch.  The music app won't work with Google Play Music, only the mp3 files transferred to the watch.  Spotify is out too so as Google Fit.

Also, you can't use the watch to pay using NFC.  In fact, most of the settings of the watch must be controlled by the phone; it cannot be used on its own.

While it does a great job at fitness tracking and sleep tracking, it's lacking on other fronts.

In summary, would I recommend the watch?  No.  At least not at the price point of £200.

Review: Huawei Nova 5T. Great phone, camera letdown

I received this product as part of a review program in return for an unbiased review.

Pros:

• Flagship level performance
• Crisp clear screen
• Fingerprint reader on the power button
• Large screen
• Great value for money
• No notch
• Long battery life
• Dual sim capability

Cons:

• No waterproofing
• Camera is OK
• No wireless charging
• No headphone jack
• Punch hole camera does not provide 3D facial recognition.  Also, face unlock doesn't work without ample lighting

On paper, the Nova 5T has an impressive specs sheet.  It shares the same Kirin 980 processor and memory size (6 GB ram and 128 GB storage) as Huawei's other flagship phones.  It also packs a camera with a quad-camera layout:

• 48 MP, f/1.8, 28mm (wide), 1/2.0", 0.8µm, PDAF
• 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.1"
• 2 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), dedicated macro camera
• 2 MP, f/2.4, depth sensor

And it is almost half the price of Huawei's flagships.

But this is where the similarities end.

Design

The Nova 5T has a notchless 6.26 inch 19.5:9 screen.  Instead, it sports a punch out in the left corner of the screen for the 32 MP front-facing selfie camera.  The display is crisp and bright.

The back of the phone is clad in 2.5d hard glass, and there is a distinct camera bump for the 3 cameras + LED flash and depth sensor.  However, despite the metal backing, the phone doesn't have Qi wireless charging.

Overall the design of the camera is curvy and easy to hold.  The only concern I have is with the bump which juts out from the phone.  Therefore, the phone doesn't sit flat on the table.

On the side of the phone is the power button, which also doubles as a fingerprint reader.

The reader works like a charm.  It quickly and accurately unlocks the phone.

Camera

This phone has 3 cameras and one depth sensor.  In theory, the 48 MP camera would mean great pictures, but in practice, I noticed that the camera quality is a bit lacking.

Fruit taken with adequate lighting

Nova 5T night mode.  Blurry as hell

Picture of the peg taken under daylight

Nova 5T 48 mp (Ultra Clarity mode)	Shot of my neighborhood (48 mp)
Mate 20 Pro	Google Pixel 4

The camera performs well under adequate light, but once lighting drops, the phone starts to struggle.  Also, unlike the Mate 20 Pro, the Nova doesn't perform that well if your subject is close to the lens.

The front-facing camera lacks 3D sensing capability.  Therefore, the face unlock won't work in dull lighting.  However, the aforementioned fingerprint in the power button makes a nice backup.

Performance

Nova 5T is powered by Kirin 980 and has 6 GB of ram and 128 GB of storage.  This is the exact same specs as in Huawei's flagship phones.  Thus, the interface is as smooth as butter.  One thing I like about this phone is that it has dual sim capability.  That means that I can have two sims in the device, one for my main phone and one for a back up.  Therefore, I can use different network providers to improve my coverage.

Summary

This is an excellent device with flagship-level performance.  However, its camera is a bit poor, especially in low lighting.