Smartwatches may have very limited features, but when you have a smartwatch that is highly specialized and well optimized in the right features, then that’s a really good deal to consider, isn’t it?

The smartwatch, which we are going to talk about today belongs to this category, and it is none other than the Huawei watch GT Runner. This latest Huawei smartwatch is not only a normal wearable assistant but also your personal running coach. So we decided to wear it for daily activities, especially for daily running. At this point, we were able to draw the conclusion that the GT Runner is the best smartwatch for people who take running as their primary exercise. 

It is assembled with capable hardware sensors and professional software that can record and process environmental and health data. It can also produce customized scientific and effective training plans, providing you with an easy yet highly professional fitness experience. 

Before we get into the specially assembled features, let’s take a look at the design and built. One of the most impressive parts about its built is the weight. It has a comfortable weight of 38.5 grams, which is lighter than any other Huawei Watch in the market. 

Thanks to the ultra-light silicon strap and good choice of materials, the whole watch is very sturdy and solid and has a very premium, high-end feeling with ceramic ultra-light bezel and aerospace-grade titanium-alloy watch crown. The strap is also very elastic, the experience of wearing the watch around your wrist is delightful. Even after a long time of running, with sweat and weariness, it still can be very comfortable. The upper button has a smooth rotatable crown, which is also very pleasing to use. And with this really fashionable and premium look, the design and built surely are top-notch level.

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As for the specs, it comes with a 1.43 inch AMOLED display that supports slide and touch gestures, 4GB RAM, and most importantly 5 ATM water-resistant, which means it can be used under 50 meters of water. That is great news for runners who also enjoy swimming. At the same time, it is also rated IP68, so you don’t have to worry about the dust as well.

It has a 455 mAh battery with wireless charging, and that is enough for 14 days of typical use without charging. In actual use, it’s good for daily typical scenarios, including a 90-minute workout per week. You can even get a longer battery if you turn off some standby features like continuous heart rate monitoring. But if you’re a self-disciplinarian who works out every single day and uses sensors more frequently, battery life could still last for 6-7 days.

Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic, Optical heart rate, and Air pressure sensors are the main sensors that enable measuring and collecting environmental and health data. One of the most impressive experiences of using the GT Runner is its accurate positioning and route tracking. Thanks to the insane five major satellite systems integrated into the watch (GPS+Beidou+GLONASS+Galileo+QZSS), it has the most precise positioning and distance counting that I’ve ever seen on a smartwatch. And almost no obvious trajectory drift happened to the watch during running.

For most runners, one of the biggest headaches is quantifying their running performance, it is a complicated process, but with all these various and powerful sensors and a well-designed HUAWEI TruSport software, you will be provided with the Running Ability Index (RAI) to evaluate your running performance based on your heart rate, pace, distance, frequency, and other multidimensional data. When I wore it and went out for a morning jog, I could not only see my accurate dynamic heart rate and SpO2 but also get other professional data such as fatigue level, training index, and aerobic/anaerobic training pressure. I can use this information to make reasonable adjustments to improve my results. 

And the Huawei Health app is the best smart wearable app that I’ve used on the Android platform. The most valuable point of the software is that it adapts almost all the features to other brands’ phones, bringing almost the same experience on most android devices as using a Huawei phone. In the app, users can develop their own health plans, take exercise courses, or set training goals. 

Apart from these features for runners, it’s also as powerful as any other Huawei smartwatch as a daily driver. It runs on HarmonyOS 2.0 and offers sleep and stress monitoring and healthy living reminders like drinking water, deep breathing, early bedtime, and even daily smile through the HUAWEI Health app feature. Because it’s so comfortable to wear, wearing it at night when I am sleeping is also much easier compared to other watches. Therefore, I can now even consider trying out sleep monitoring. It also provides music playback with earphones or speakers and comes with a large amount of storage space which can store up to 500 songs. And of course, getting notifications, and sending messages are all available as other watches.

The watch is positioned as the company’s first professional running watch and is priced at €299. This price may not be very exciting, but if you want the above-mentioned professional features, then it can still be a very good bargain to have. At least for me, I think I can have a great time wearing on my wrist, monitoring my fitness and health, in a way that will actually bring some positive impact on my total well-being.

On the other hand, I will also want to spend this money on other options, such as eating healthier stuff or buying a good bike to enjoy more outdoor time. So you can make your purchase decision depending on your preference.