Honor is back in India in 2023 under the HTech brand. This year, the Madhav Sheth-led company launched its second smartphone, the Honor X9b 5G Watch, along with its first smartwatch, the Honor Choice Watch. The smartwatch is priced at Rs 6,499, features an AMOLED display, runs Android operating system and has all the bells and whistles usually found in mid-range smartwatches.
The watch supports lifestyle features such as GPS, Bluetooth calling and long battery life and also has health and fitness features such as SpO2, heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking and activity tracking. We have been using the white version of the Honor watch for a few weeks now. My impressions are shown below.
To plan
The Honor Choice watch has a rectangular dial with a smooth bezel and its metallic texture gives it a premium look. It weighs 45 grams and is comfortable to wear all day long. I can also wear it while sleeping without any problem.
The smartwatch’s metal-colored bezels also feature a circular crown with limited functionality. You can only switch between the main menu and the main screen.
The smartwatch’s silicone strap sits comfortably on the wrist as long as you don’t tighten it too tightly. In addition, prolonged use of the watch (if it is too tight) may cause skin irritation and rashes. The strap can be easily removed and reattached to the screen.
This smartwatch has 5ATM water resistance, so you can easily deal with splashes and sweat during your workout sessions. The Honor Choice watch also has a vibration drain function that removes water drops by shaking the device.
Screen
The smartwatch features a 1.95-inch rectangular AMOLED display that delivers crisp, colorful images and is bright enough for outdoor use even in strong sunlight. The display also felt crisp and clear, providing an immersive visual experience.
However, the Honor Choice Watch doesn’t support brightness adjustment, so I had to manually adjust it in different lighting conditions.
Aside from this minor annoyance, the watch’s display performance is smooth and we didn’t experience any lag or other display performance issues during our testing.
Performance
Like most mid-range Android smartwatches, the Honor Choice Watch cannot function on its own as a standalone device and must be paired with a smartphone (via Bluetooth) to achieve its full potential.
To set up the device, users still need to install the Honor Health companion app on their smartphone. This app is compatible with both iPhone and Android devices.
During testing, the setup process seemed a bit slow as the entire process took almost 30 minutes. Once the watch was connected to my smartphone, the app and the watch synced.
It’s also important to note that I’ve occasionally noticed delays in syncing notifications, particularly when the watch’s battery is low or I’ve just turned it on. Additionally, data syncing took a few minutes as the app installed firmware updates.
Speaking of lifestyle features, we were particularly impressed by the watch’s Bluetooth calling experience. When paired with a smartphone, the wearable can now accept or reject calls directly from the screen.
The watch’s speakers provided clear audio and the microphone ensured a hassle-free experience for the person on the other end.
I also had no connection issues when receiving calls on my watch. Notifications from several apps also appeared, but I couldn’t respond to them.
In addition, the smartwatch’s health tracking features such as breathing exercises and stress management, as well as sedentary reminders to stay hydrated, also help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Other health-related features such as sleep, heart rate, and SpO2 monitoring were also accurate.
For fitness tracking, the Honor Choice Watch also supports a pedometer and multiple training modes. The step count wasn’t very accurate, but it gave me a good overview of my daily fitness activities.
In addition, this watch has other useful features such as a built-in calculator, compass, voice recorder and music player, which provide more convenience to the user.
Wearables come with just a few standard watch faces. However, a companion app allows users to choose from hundreds of custom watch faces and sync them directly to the watch for a new look every day.
battery
The Honor Choice Watch lived up to the company’s battery life claims. Fully charging the watch took less than two hours. After that, the battery lasted about a week, despite all the notifications, activity tracking, and other features running in the background.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.
