Huawei Band 9 Review: A Major Contender for the Title of Budget Fitness Tracker of the Year!

Huawei recently released a new fitness tracker in India in the form of the Huawei Band 9. The Huawei Band 9 is an affordable, feature-rich smart band that is designed to match your active lifestyle.

The Huawei Band 9 price in India is set at Rs 5,999, although it is currently available for Rs 3,999 on Amazon India. However, at the time of writing, the Huawei Band 9 wasn't available for purchase on Flipkart or Amazon. Now that we've covered the pricing, let's take an in-depth look at the Huawei Band 9.

Design

The Huawei Band 9 features a sleek and lightweight design weighing 14 grams, making it comfortable for use over long periods. I wore the band while cycling for well over two hours and had it on for a full six hours while sleeping and it is safe to say you barely notice it. It also features a polycarbonate build, although the band itself doesn't feel cheap.

Despite its classification as a smart band, the Huawei Band 9 looks a lot like a smartwatch. Huawei's latest smart band comes in Black, Pink, White and Yellow colours. Our black model arrived with a silicone strap and glossy finish, which gives it a metallic look.

The skin-friendly silicone strap comes in multiple colours and is easy to adjust based on the size of your wrist. The bezels on the screen are quite noticeable, while there's a physical button on the right of the dial. The Huawei Band 9 also features ATM water resistance, allowing you to use it for swims.

Display

The Band 9 features a 1.47-inch AMOLED colour touchscreen with a resolution of 194 × 368 pixels and a pixel density of 282 PPI. The 2.5D curved glass display is bright and smooth to use, complemented by 3D scratch-resistant glass. However, it still attracts fingerprints and isn't entirely resistant to scratches. The screen wakes when you lift your wrist and turns off after a few seconds to conserve battery.

Outdoor visibility remains excellent, and brightness can be adjusted through Settings → Display → Brightness Settings, with five levels to choose from. A key improvement is the addition of an ambient light sensor for automatic brightness adjustment, making manual changes unnecessary. This upgrade enhances usability and convenience.

The band also has quick shortcuts for the Stopwatch, Timer, Torch, Alarm, DND, Sleep, and more. The companion health app offers a ton of different free watch faces, up to 25 of which can be stored in the Band 9 itself. You can add up to five widgets from your favourites in the settings and rearrange their order to suit your preferences. The Huawei Band 9 has a bright and sharp display that is easily visible in all scenarios.

Fitness Features

The Huawei Band 9 comes with a ton of fitness and health features. There is support for over 100 fitness modes, including 11 professional workout modes. Additionally, the walking, running, elliptical, and rower modes support automatic workout tracking.

The Huawei Band 9 offers rich fitness tracking features for outdoor workouts like running, including route maps, distance, calories, steps, average speed, cadence, stride, heart rate zones, and recovery time. Step tracking is fairly accurate, though it slightly overcounts compared to my Fitbit. While it lacks built-in GPS, it quickly connects to your phone's GPS in seconds.

However, GPS lock must be initiated via the app, and the workout appears on the band. A physical button on the band lets you pause or stop sessions easily, adding convenience during runs or rides without needing to reach for your phone. The Huawei Band 9 is paired with the Huawei Health companion app, which cannot be installed through the Play Store, although the APK file can be downloaded here.

The app offers AI-generated training plans, running courses as well as fat-burning, cardio, endurance, and customizable workouts. The band relies on your phone's GPS for outdoor workouts, which connects quickly, but requires manually starting activities from the app since it lacks built-in GPS. The app also allows you to keep track of all your activity, while also displaying health metrics.

Health Features

The Health section presents your activity data using rings or clovers and includes tabs for exercise records, heart rate, SpO2, sleep, and emotional well-being. You can add a menstrual cycle calendar but features like skin temperature and weight tracking aren't supported. Other tools include health monitoring, app-specific notifications, alarms, weather updates, and troubleshooting help.

The device settings let you disable music controls and raise-to-wake. While sleep tracking is not as accurate as my Fitbit Versa, it can be quite useful, with TruSleep 4.0 offering insights and reliable nap tracking. The band also supports mensural cycle tracking and stress level monitoring, which is called emotional wellbeing.

Battery Life

The Huawei Band 9 packs a 180mAh battery, promising up to 14 days of battery life, 9 days with typical use, and 3 days with Always-On Display (AOD). After a week of use, including workouts, heart rate and SpO2 monitoring, stress tracking, and notifications, 29% battery remained.

A 30-minute outdoor session drained only 2-3%. Battery life varies based on display brightness, workout tracking, and notifications. The band supports magnetic fast charging, fully recharging in 45 minutes with a 5V-1A input. While charging, it displays the time and usage tips, enhancing convenience.

Verdict

The Huawei Band 9 is a well-rounded fitness tracker that offers a wide range of health and fitness features, making it a solid choice for anyone looking to lead a more active lifestyle. While some metrics like sleep tracking and step counting aren't the most accurate, the band still delivers useful insights across various activities. Its bright AMOLED display, excellent battery life, and lightweight, comfortable design make it easy to wear all day.

However, it lacks camera controls, call rejection, and auto-reply options, which might disappoint users looking for more smart features. While it may not always be accurate and does lack a few functions, the Huawei Band 9 is the one of the most feature-rich fitness tracker in the segment, earning it an easy recommendation in our books.