Review: Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro

There was a time when I planned to start playing golf the day the kids were old enough not to need driving everywhere. The dream isn’t entirely dead, but judging by last year’s golf tournament, I can’t exactly say I feel like the same natural talent I was when I tried it for the first time as a 15-year-old. What I did get hooked on, however, was Huawei’s smart watch, last year’s Watch Fit 4 Pro, which became one of the gadgets I used the most over the past year. Not just because Huawei has long had one of the best sleep trackers on the market, but also for its rich range of features, built-in apps, and automatic start of workout activities, among many other things.

Now it’s time for a generational shift with the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro, which I’ve had for about a month before the embargo lifted at the launch today, May 18, 2026. And without drawing out the suspense too much, I can already say that the Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is something that truly shakes things up. By combining the lightweight format of fitness trackers with materials and features from exorbitantly expensive adventure watches, you actually have to ask yourself: Does a premium watch really need to cost a fortune?

Design and Display: Like a featherlight tank

The first thing that strikes me when I strap the watch to my wrist is the build quality. Like previous generations, the watch borrows quite a bit of aesthetics from the Apple Watch Ultra, but unlike the heavy Apple device, the Watch Fit 5 Pro weighs in at a featherlight 30.4 grams (without the strap). It is only 9.5 mm thick, yet Huawei has still managed to squeeze in an aerospace-grade titanium case, an allergy-friendly polymer fiber bottom, and 2.5D sapphire glass over the screen. For those who like diving, it is also EN13319 certified for free diving down to 40 meters.

But the star of the show is the incredibly flexible 1.92-inch LTPO AMOLED display. The bezels have been slimmed down all the way to 1.8 mm, giving a screen-to-body ratio of 83 percent. The most impressive part, however, is the brightness. The watch pumps out up to a crazy 3,000 nits, which means you can read your running stats or check the time on the beach in absolute, blinding summer sun without any issues. The previous generation was good, but the Watch Fit Pro 5 pushes this to impressive heights, and the slightly larger surface area feels noticeably bigger without the watch needing to feel frying-pan-sized on the wrist.

Health and Training: Pandas and even more clinical precision

On the inside, we find Huawei’s new “TruSense” system with an advanced optical heart rate monitor (6-LED/6-PD). After testing it against dedicated heart rate straps, the conclusion is clear: the heart rate sensor is one of the absolute best on the market right now, with one small exception – it tends to lose the signal when swimming in a pool. Another downside of TruSleep 5.0 is that the watch measures much more strictly and likely more accurately, as it reports essentially the exact same sleep values as the Withings Sleep Analyzer – which shows this gentleman that he needs to slow down and try to get more deep sleep. It’s around an hour now, which isn’t terrible, but a far cry from the three to four hours a good weekend could provide before. Perhaps the upcoming vacation can remedy this, we’ll see.

The health features are massive for this price range. The watch has a built-in, CE-certified ECG sensor for detecting atrial fibrillation (Pulse Wave Arrhythmia), it measures arterial stiffness, and has gained a new “Sleep Breathing Awareness” feature that monitors breathing interruptions (sleep apnea) while you sleep.

For the couch potato and the office worker, Huawei has added “Mini-workouts” – short stretch and movement breaks on the watch face led by an animated panda when the watch senses you’ve been sitting still for too long. It’s a charming (if slightly gimmicky) detail. When it comes to serious running and cycling, the watch offers advanced data such as running power and virtual cycling power, but the GPS accuracy (the upgraded Sunflower system) measured approximately 63% precision compared to elite watches like the GT Runner 2 (90%). For the majority of everyday exercisers, this is more than enough, but elite runners who navigate at the meter level should be aware of this limitation.

Smart features and finally NFC payment

The biggest news for us in Sweden is that Huawei has finally solved the problem with wireless payments. Through a partnership with the fintech company Curve, Curve Pay now works directly on the watch via NFC. This means you can leave your phone and wallet at home, enter your six-digit PIN on the screen, and tap for your coffee after a run. A huge boost that is welcomed and doesn’t cost many kronor for the convenience it brings to be connected to the payment service.

As usual with Huawei, the battery life is fantastic. You get up to 10 days of battery life with light use, and just over a week (7 days) with normal use. Even with the “Always-on” display enabled, you get 4 days. When the watch finally dies, it charges fully in just about 60 minutes thanks to fast charging. The watch is fully compatible with both iOS and Android, but iPhone users (as is common outside the Apple ecosystem) must accept certain limitations, such as not being able to send quick replies to messages directly from the wrist. But at least it’s much more compatible with iOS than, for example, Google WearOS, which barely works at all.

Conclusion

The Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro is an incredible piece of hardware that blurs the line between a lightweight fitness tracker and a full-fledged premium smartwatch. Getting a 3,000-nit screen, materials like sleek titanium and sapphire glass, and over a week of battery life for a price under 3,000 SEK is nothing short of a slap in the face to the competition.

I think I have a new favorite everyday gadget.

Huawei sent a review sample for this test. The sender of materials has no editorial influence on our tests; we always write independently with you, the readers and consumers, in focus.