Review of smart watches Honor Choice Watch

Most recently, we told you about the Honor Watch 4 smartwatch, highlighting the main advantages: the ability to receive and make calls, constant measurement of blood oxygen levels (SpO2), full moisture protection, GPS and an affordable price. However, another model created by Honor's partner within their ecosystem, the Honor Choice Watch, promises the same functionality while maintaining a price advantage.

The watch is available in two colors: black and white. All versions are equipped the same, without selecting additional features such as an LTE module. The differences relate only to appearance.

Now let's look at the technical characteristics of the model.

• Screen: touch, rectangular, AMOLED, 1.95″, 502×410 (332 ppi)
• SoC: not reported
• RAM: not reported
• Storage capacity: not reported
• Compatibility: iOS 11+, Android 9+
• Speaker, microphone: yes
• Connectivity and Internet: Bluetooth 5.3
• Cellular network: no
• Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, automatic pulse oximeter (SpO2), optical heart rate sensor, compass
• Satellite navigation: BDS, GPS, Galileo, Glonass, QZSS
• No camera
• Protection: 5 atm
• Battery capacity: 300 mAh
• Dimensions (without strap): 50x40x10.2mm
• Weight (without strap): 55 g

It’s interesting to compare them with the recently tested, but significantly more expensive Honor Watch 4.

The main difference between the Honor Choice Watch and the Honor Watch 4 is the larger screen, despite the lower price. Another advantage of the model is its thin body. However, this is accompanied by a reduced battery capacity, which is one and a half times less than that of the Honor Watch 4. In addition, the case is made of plastic, not metal, like the Honor Watch 4. Otherwise, the characteristics of the two models are very similar.

Let's move on to the testing itself.

The model comes in a small cubic box with a minimalist design. On the packaging you can see the name of the company that contributed to the Honor Choice ecosystem — this is Haylou.

Inside the box, the watch is located in a cardboard slot. They are reliably protected on all sides, and there is virtually no risk of damage during transportation.

The package includes a tiny booklet with safety information and a folded Quick Start Guide leaflet containing a minimal amount of useful information. Also included is a charging cable with a USB-A plug on one end and a two-pin magnetic connector on the other.

In general, the equipment is standard for such devices, but a useful addition could be an illustrated leaflet with tips on connecting the watch to a smartphone. For many users new to smartwatches, this could be a useful addition.

The design of the Honor Choice Watch is no longer as obvious an “imitation” of the Apple Watch as the Honor Watch 4, although in general the devices remain very similar. However, this impression is deceptive: in fact, there are more differences than similarities. The body, although it has a metallic color, is actually made of plastic. The only button is round instead of elongated and rectangular, but it does not have a wheel function. And, most importantly, the screen is significantly larger.

The main advantage of the device is its large AMOLED display. The slight rounding of the crystal around the edges, known as 2.5D, adds grace to the watch's appearance.

Like the Honor Watch 4, there is only one physical button. However, despite its shape, it does not have a wheel function for scrolling content, as noted earlier.

The halves of the strap are attached to the body using spokes, which is a fairly traditional solution (unlike the completely non-standard one for Honor Watch 4). However, there is still no need to talk about versatility and compatibility with third-party solutions, since it is almost impossible to choose a strap that exactly matches the grooves of the case.

The strap itself is silicone, pleasant to the touch, “velvety”. The clasp is quite standard. There are no inscriptions on the strap, which, in our opinion, is also a plus.

The watch has a microphone and speaker, which allows you to receive and make phone calls.

Overall, the design can be described as thoughtful and functional. Perhaps the appearance of the watch is a little modest, but for the budget segment this is quite acceptable and easily understandable.

The watch is available in only one size with a conventionally rectangular screen measuring 1.95 inches and a resolution of 502x410, which provides a high pixel density of 332 ppi. The screen is made of glass with a mirror-smooth scratch-resistant surface and has good anti-glare properties. The surface has pronounced oleophobic properties, which makes fingerprint removal easy and prevents their appearance.

The maximum brightness of the screen is about 540 cd/m², which allows you to clearly see the image even in strong light conditions, for example, in the bright sun. The minimum brightness reaches 16 cd/m², providing comfortable reading in complete darkness.

Testing detected brightness modulation at a frequency of 120 Hz, which can cause stroboscopic effects when the watch moves quickly. However, under normal use conditions this is not noticeable due to the different modulation phase in different areas of the screen.

This screen uses an OLED matrix — active matrix organic light-emitting diodes. A full-color image is created using subpixels of three colors: red ®, green (G) and blue (B) in equal proportions, as confirmed by a fragment of a micrograph.

The spectra are typical for OLED — the primary color areas are well separated and appear as relatively narrow peaks:

The watch screen uses a wide color gamut exceeding sRGB, which results in increased image saturation. The color temperature of the white field is approximately 7800 K, and the deviation from the blackbody spectrum (ΔE) is about 4 units on white. Color balance is acceptable and blacks are very rich and remain black at all angles. Viewing angles are excellent, with only a slight drop in brightness when viewed from an angle, but there is a slight bluish tint to the white at high angles. Overall, the screen is of very high quality.

To work with the watch, you need to install the Honor Health application and link it to the device. As with the Honor Watch 4, after the initial setup you will likely be prompted to update the software and it is recommended that you do so. However, be prepared for the fact that the update process may take some time.

In general, the functionality of the model is very similar to the Honor Watch 4, which is especially nice considering the difference in price. However, there are some differences and nuances. For example, the Music application does not support downloading and playing tracks from the watch, but provides the ability to control music playback from a smartphone without restrictions on both platforms (iOS and Android) and in any applications such as Yandex Music. Among the workouts, an option for skiing has been added (the absence of which was previously noted), and some applications have a voice recorder and tracking the amount of water consumed. However, there is no analysis of athletic age, which, however, previously also did not work properly.

Fun fact: the app menu looks exactly like the Apple Watch. That is, these are round icons that fill the screen space and at the same time become smaller at the edges. As a result, Honor Watch 4 was closer to the Apple device in design, and Honor Choice Watch — in interface.

In general, the interface and list of features are traditional for such devices. However, when it comes to budget models, it is worth mentioning that the sleep, blood oxygen level (SpO2) and heart rate tracking functions work constantly in automatic mode (although, of course, this can be turned off).

As for training, it is possible to track water sports (thanks to moisture protection up to 5 ATM, the watch can be used when swimming in pools and natural reservoirs), winter sports, and many others. However, it is worth noting that determining the position from satellites when starting an outdoor workout starts quite slowly — about two minutes. After this, however, it works flawlessly. It still remains unclear why the launch takes so long.

One more detail: like the Honor Watch 4, you can change the watch face by choosing from a variety of options or by uploading a photo of yourself. In the latter case, you can add several pictures and create a slideshow. However, the number of these shots is limited to five, while the Honor Watch 4 had no such limit. We can assume that the amount of built-in memory here is quite small.

Installation of third-party applications is not provided at all.

As we already mentioned, the battery in the Honor Choice Watch is about one and a half times less capacious than in the Watch 4 model, while the screen size is larger and the resolution is also higher. This naturally entails a reduction in battery life. With active use, you can count on several days. In a more economical mode, you can expect a week of autonomy. However, for those who prefer to rarely think about charging, this may not be the best option.

On the other hand, the similar Apple Watch, which we also mentioned (although they do not compete in price with the Honor Choice Watch), has even more modest battery life. Therefore, in general, this cannot be considered a significant disadvantage for the Honor Choice Watch.

The Honor Choice Watch turned out to be more attractive for us even compared to the more expensive Honor Watch 4. At its low price, it offers extensive functionality that is not inferior to competitors not only in its segment, but also at a higher level. In addition, there is a large, high-quality screen, an attractive appearance, support for satellite navigation and the ability to carry out telephone conversations when connected to a smartphone.

If we talk about the shortcomings, we can only note the not very high battery life and the plastic case with a strap, the replacement of which can be problematic. But against the backdrop of all the advantages, these moments do not play such a significant role. Overall, in terms of price and functionality, Honor Choice Watch is one of the most attractive models on the market.