Review of fitness tracker Honor Band 5 - the main competitor of Mi Band 4

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A handy gadget that can do everything you need and costs around 3,000 rubles.

Laconic design in three colors

Honor Band 5 is sold with different straps: black, navy blue and pink. The body color remains black in any case. Replaceable straps.

A relief pattern is applied to the bracelet, and the gadget is fixed with a classic buckle.

Owners of previous versions of the Honor Band 3 and 4 are unlikely to notice the change. It's still the same laconic design, rectangular shapes, a button under a small screen and a thin strap. The bracelet looks like a sports gadget, but it can also be worn with a shirt.

8 dials and touch screen

The Honor Band 5 has a 0.95-inch color AMOLED screen with a resolution of 120 × 240 pixels. All icons are carefully and nicely drawn. On some watch faces, the pixel density is not very high, but this is not the most important characteristic for fitness trackers. The main thing is that the information is visible, and it is visible even in bright sun.

There are eight dials to choose from. With and without arrows, bright and discreet, with various additional information. There is an option for Nike fans: the dial is not branded, but the colors and branded italics are recognizable from afar.

There is a lack of some strict monochrome version - it seems that the manufacturer was trying with all his might to emphasize the richness of the screen colors. All dials are static, although some of them would definitely be animated.

The tracker is controlled using the touch screen. There are no mechanical buttons on the case. On the display, you can tap or swipe up or down. It is activated by turning the wrist. The tracker is sensitive to accidental clicks, for some reason there is no screen lock.

By tapping on the dial, a screen opens with information about notifications, battery level and weather. With swipes, you can flip through the sections: activity, heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, sleep time, training mode, notifications and additional settings.

Most of the settings and detailed activity data can be viewed in the Huawei Health app.

Blood oxygen measurement and sleep monitoring

The main function of any fitness tracker is activity monitoring. The corresponding section of the gadget shows the steps and meters passed, the approximate number of calories burned, the time in training and in motion. More detailed data is available in the application.

The Honor Band 5 can measure heart rate either continuously or in smart mode, when the sensor starts to work when the activity level changes. Continuous reading consumes battery power noticeably - the gadget works with it for about five days.

The tracker can measure the oxygen saturation of the blood. An unusual feature that could have been dispensed with. If you are healthy, you do not need to measure your SpO2 level in your daily life. And people with medical conditions are better off using a certified pulse oximeter.

The gadget not only shows on the screen how much you slept, but also provides detailed data in the application. For example, there you can find out the sleep quality index and the time in different phases.

In addition, the Honor Band 5 has a smart alarm function. You set the time at which you need to wake up, and the tracker wakes you up with vibration during REM sleep shortly before the selected mark. In theory, it’s easier to get out of bed this way. In fact, everything is individual: when some feel the ease of awakening, others do not see the difference and are angry because of a few wasted minutes of sleep.

One of the most useful features of any smart wrist device is showing notifications. There is the bare minimum here: truncated push text with strange indents and no mention of the app. Find out in which messenger you received a message, or you cannot reply to it.

Slightly more possibilities open up when interacting with Android-smartphones, in particular Huawei or Honor. For example, you can take a photo with your phone camera using a button on the tracker or control music playback.

Verdict. The main functions of the Honor Band 5 are a vibrating alarm clock, showing notifications and basic activity information. For those who follow the regime, sleep monitoring is useful, and for sports fans, a workout and heart rate tracker during exercise will come in handy. The smartphone will have to be taken out almost as often as without the tracker: the gadget can only cope with displaying cut notifications. The function of determining oxygen in the blood, which is rare for smart bracelets, is not needed.

Honor Band 5 in training

The watch supports 10 training modes, among which there are all the popular ones: running, swimming, cycling, as well as exercising on a treadmill or stationary bike. If you are a fan of an unusual sport, you can choose the free training mode.

The tracker can notify you about the next stage of your workout using vibration. It is able to work, for example, after every kilometer traveled or every 5 minutes.

Honor has upgraded its swimming mode. The tracker understands what style you are swimming (freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke or backstroke) and calculates the SWOLF Index, a swimmer's performance indicator based on strokes and time per track.

Differences between Honor Band 5 and Mi Band 4

They have the same price and similar feature set, but there is still a difference.

• Design. The capsule of the Mi Band 4 case has a more rounded shape.
• Strap. For Mi Band 4, it clicks with a button, for Honor Band 5, a classic buckle. A matter of taste.
• Autonomy. The battery capacity of the Honor Band 5 is 35 mAh less. This affects the operating time without a plug. Xiaomi claims 20 days when sleep monitoring and constant heart rate measurement are turned off, and Honor's record time on a single charge is about two weeks.
• Play music. Honor Band 5 can control the player only on Android. For Mi Band 4, the smartphone platform is not important. So, for example, from the Xiaomi gadget, you can switch tracks from Yandex. Music to the iPhone.
• Dials. Mi Band 4 has a lot more of them.
• Screen lock. It can be turned on on a Xiaomi gadget, and the Honor Band 5 is not protected from false clicks.
• Charger. To charge the Mi Band 4, the case must be taken out of the strap and placed in the charging station. To the Honor Band 5, you just need to clip on the clip.
• Oxygen saturation sensor. Mi Band 4 doesn't have it.

Mi Band 4 is slightly better than Honor Band 5 in some details. Most of them are not critical, so you can choose what you want.

Specifications

• Modifications: with black, navy blue and pink strap.
• Dimensions: 17.2 x 43 x 11.5 mm.
• The weight: 22, 7 g.
• Display: 0.95 inches, 120 × 240 pixels, AMOLED.
• Battery: 190 mAh. Autonomy up to six days in use, up to 14 days in standby mode.
• Built-in memory: 1 MB.
• RAM: 384 KB.
• Connection: Bluetooth 4.2.
• Sensors: accelerometer, heart rate monitor.
• Contactless payment function: no.
• Protection class: IP68. They can be immersed to a depth of 50 m.
• Compatibility: Android 4.4 and above, iOS 9 and above.

Outcomes

Honor Band 5 does not give new sensations. It is very similar to both the Honor Band of the fourth generation and the competitor Mi Band 4. At the same time, it cannot be said that something is wrong with it: the sensors read information correctly, it is convenient to operate the gadget, it looks good with almost any clothes, and its strap does not pinch your hand.

If you are looking for a simple, budget-friendly workout and activity tracking bracelet, the Honor Band 5 is a great fit.

The official price of the device in Russia is 2,990 rubles. You can find cheaper on AliExpress and on promotions in stores.