Honor Band 3 review: Budget fitness band with competing features

Fitness trackers and bands are an essential gadget for every user who is keen on keeping a track of his or her activities throughout the day. Fitness bands are very affordable these days and given the nature of their use, they are also very sturdy and have a lasting life. Fitness trackers motivate users to spend more of their time indulging in physical activities.

Honor Band 3 is an affordable fitness tracker that allows users to keep a track of several activities performed throughout the day. It has been priced at Rs. 2,799 in India and is exclusively available on Amazon.in.

We performed an extensive test on the device to get a better understanding of its physical durability and processing capabilities. Here is what we found:

Specifications: What great smart bands are made of!

Honor Band 3 Activity Tracker has a small and elongated display which provides all the information and features of the device. It has a silicone strap that come in three colors viz. Blue, Orange, and Black.

The device supports Bluetooth connection to Android and iOS devices. It has a heart rate monitor along with a pedometer and an accelerometer.

Design: Light in weight and comfortable

Honor Band 3 has a simple design and it serves the user's purpose well enough. It comes with three strap colors for buyers to choose from which are Orange, Blue, and Black. While the Black colored strap gives the band a more subtle look, Orange and Blue straps cry out for attention.

The main body has a small screen that displays all the information and notifications it can possibly fit on the screen. There is round tactile button right below the display which allows users to switch between functions and screens. The tactile button is non-responsive sometimes, especially in water. The strap has two holding pegs that fit well into the grooves on the adjacent strap.

The device fits well on wrists and is quite light in weight. It doesn't really feel like you have smart band strapped around your wrist. It is also water resistant up to 50 meters.

Overall, the design of the Honor Band 3 is both attractive and convenient to use.

Connectivity app: All the information that you need

Honor Band 3 uses the app built by its parent company Huawei to interact with users. The connectivity app goes by the name of Huawei Wear and is available on Google Play Store as well as iOS App Store.

Users need to download at least two apps from Huawei to access all the features of the device. The first one is the Huawei Wear app which allows users to tweak Band's settings while the second app Huawei Health app which keeps a track of all the health and activity stats.

The device connects to your smartphone simply by opening the Huawei Wear app on the smartphone and tapping the connect option on the first screen of the app itself. On the other hand, users can access all the activity data recorded on the fitness tracker using the Health app.

The step counter gives an easily understandable graphical illustration to users where they can check how much of the daily steps goal they have actually achieved.

The heart rate monitor keeps track of the heart rate of a user and prepares a chronological stats graph of the same.

It has a workout mode that tracks activities including running, walking and cycling while giving a real-time data of how distance has been covered by the user, the energy burnt in doing the same and the time elapsed. It also keeps a track of the location of users and displays a map that records the route taken.

Customized workout plans help users prepare for marathons and long runs by offering a complete plan.

The app is feature loaded and also allows users to listen to music directly from Google Play Music. It is quick and I hardly encountered any problem with the app. However, the data syncing with the fitness tracker does tests user's patience.

Functions: Walk, run, swim or sleep

Priced humbly at Rs. 2,799, Honor Band 3 opens up a doorway to a well-monitored health for consumers. The much affordable price of the device makes it easy for potential buyers to get their hands on it.

Honor Band 3 has been programmed to keep an account of several activities that users partake throughout the day. It is capable of recording the number of steps taken by users, simultaneously calculating the distance covered. It also offers an approximation of the energy spent in walking the walk.

It also allows users to monitor their jogging, sprinting and cycling stats. It also records the swimming stats of users.

The device keeps a track of user's sleep as well. One can access the details of sleep hours taken by him/her. The sleep hour's stat records the time of deep and light sleep taken by the user. It also informs that how many times did a user wake up during the sleep hours.

Honor Band 3 also notifies when a user receives a call or text on his/her smartphone. It also displays texts received on the smartphone, however, the text and calls display is a bit delayed.

Honor Band 3 also has an alarm system to wake you up. However, the alarm is nothing more than repeated vibrations and one can easily miss out on it if in a deep sleep.

I really liked the quirky notifications on the device that reminded me every hour while I was sitting, to stand up and get involved in a light physical activity.

Battery and Display: Suits the boots

The battery installed on Honor Band 3 lasts long. However, it does not survive as long as what Honor promises. The device charged down to 50 percent of battery power in five days. At most the device will survive 13-14 days on a single charge which is not even half of what Honor so confidently promises.

Display of the device is also not up to the mark. Daylight visibility of the band is simply poor. You might just skip looking at the display in broad daylight if you really need to know the time or maybe have a look at your step counter.

Conclusion: A great gadget for swimmers and runners!

In my view, an activity tracker is a must-have gadget for everyone. It is not until you start using one, you wouldn't realize what you have been actually missing out on.

As far as the Honor Band 3 is concerned, the device is convenient to use. It looks good on the wrist; it is durable and has several nifty features packed in for fitness enthusiasts. Xiaomi Mi Band 2 and the latest HRX spinoff also have most of the features except the swimming tracker. The device retails in India at Rs. 1,299. So, if you have little to do with swimming, Mi Band 2 is a more economical replacement for Honor Band 3. On the other hand spent swimmers should certainly go for the latter which not only boasts a couple of features more than the Mi Band but is also a lot cheaper from its alternatives such as Fitbits.