Smartphones, Tablets & Wearables

Review: Run through two weeks with the HONOR Band 6

The urge of people to log their everyday life is promoted by technically more and more powerful mobile devices and thus fitness trackers have enjoyed growing popularity for more than 10 years now.

With the Band 6, the Chinese supplier HONOR delivers the successor of the fitness wristband Band 5 with a larger display and a long battery life of up to 2 weeks. The main functions of the Band 6 are the recording of heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen levels and stress levels. It also supports the recording of 10 different types of workouts, and a number of small tools provide greater independence from the smartphone during workouts. With the smartphone app “Huawei Health”, the recorded data can be synchronized with the smartphone via Bluetooth and then clearly displayed.

The wristband is available in three different colors, black, gray, and pink, the background of the main menu can be customized to one’s taste, and since it is waterproof, it is of course also suitable for activities in the wet. For those on short notice, it can automatically detect some exercises and start recording if that is desired.

All these features make it a versatile helper for health-conscious people and athletes at first glance. In terms of price, it ranks in the lower midfield at just under 50€ at the time of testing (currently € 109.90 *). To what extent it can live up to the expectations, we tested it for you with the help of an Android smartphone.

Technical details

Design
  • The HONOR Band 6 redefines fitness trackers with a 1.47-inch AMOLED display that contains 2.48 times more pixels than the last generation.
  • The HONOR logo on the side and the red line on the button give the HONOR Band 6 an iconic look.
Display
  • 1.47-inch AMOLED color display
  • Full-screen touchscreen
  • 194 x 368 pixels at 282 PPI
Color Meteorite Black
Sandstone Grey
Coral Pink
Water resistance 5 ATM
Battery life Up to 14 days with typical use.
Up to 10 days with intensive use
Health tracking
  • SpO2 measurement: measures blood oxygen levels based on optimized hardware, optical technology and algorithms.
  • Heart rate measurement: supported by TruSeen™ 4.0 with professional optical components and a chipset with AI algorithms to provide accurate readings for individuals regardless of skin color, gender, age, and wrist circumference.
  • Sleep Analysis: Analyzes the user’s sleep patterns and provides more than 200 personalized sleep quality assessments and suggestions for improvement, thanks to the TruSleep™ algorithm.
  • Stress Measurement: Tracks your stress levels 24/7 and offers calming exercises in the breathing app.
Sports & Workouts
    • Supports 10 workout modes including running outdoor/indoor, cycling outdoor/indoor, swimming pool/open water, elliptical, rowing, walking outdoor/indoor and free workout with real-time data monitoring such as heart rate, calories burned, distance and pace.
    • Calculates personal heart rate zones to scientifically improve workout results by identifying the best zones for burning fat and improving endurance.
    • Evaluates swimming efficiency based on your SWOLF score by identifying and recording your swim stroke and monitoring your heart rate during the swim.
    • Automatically identifies six workouts and prompts to record workout data

.

Smart Life Assistant
  • Remote photo capture to control and take photos from your smartphone via the band.
  • Message/call reminders from smartphone, reject calls and retrieve messages.
Price € 109.90 *

* Data from HONOR internal labs. Actual charging and battery life may vary due to different environments and situations.
** This product is NOT intended as a medical device. Measurement data and results are for reference only and are not intended to be the basis for diagnosis or treatment.

Scope of delivery, workmanship, design

The Honor Band 6’s scope of delivery includes the wristband itself, the magnetic charging cable, the Quickstart guide, and the warranty slip.

The tracker’s build quality is impeccable from a visual standpoint. The slim case is well-built, pleasantly rounded on all edges and also feels high-quality in other respects, which is also helped by the not too low weight due to the built-in battery. The single control button sits firmly in the case and provides optimal resistance.

The wristband, which is available in three different colors, is made of a supple, elastic material, which in our case unfortunately emitted an unpleasantly acrid chemical smell after opening the packaging for the first time, which was only largely gone after a week.

The charging cable is overall made in a mediocre to good quality and is completely white. The magnetic charging contact connects foolproof to the tracker case only in the correct way and keeps both parts stably together thanks to a strong magnet. The end with USB Type-A connector unfortunately has some sharp edges, but this does not disturb the overall impression.

Commissioning

If you want to use the Honor Band 6, you first have to connect it to a smartphone that has the Huawei Health app installed, which in turn requires a mandatory Huawei account (ID).

We started the pairing in the Health app by adding a new device and selecting the “Honor Band 6-DE1” from a list of available devices. Surprisingly, the app also required access to our contacts to continue, which we grudgingly granted it.

After successful pairing, the data collected by the tracker could be synced with the Health app. However, we only found out how this works by accident after a while of trial and error: in the main menu, you swipe down with your finger until the words “Sync…” appear. This can also be done automatically.

The Band 6 then also required the authorization to make or manage phone calls, which is related to the fact that calls can be conveniently answered via the tracker without having to operate the smartphone to do so.

Operation

The Band 6’s touchscreen has a sufficiently high resolution, responds swiftly, and is visible even in low-light conditions. It is equipped with only one control button, the rest of the control is done via gestures and touchscreen. As if by magic, the screen turns on when we tilt it towards us in a quick turn of the hand. From the home screen, we can access the settings and some functions and displays by swiping up, left or right on it. The main menu, which is not accessible via swiping, is accessed by pressing the case button. A swipe to the right is usually used to return to the previous view or to cancel processes.

Conveniently, incoming calls can be answered from the wristband and media can also be controlled from the corresponding menu, both of which worked well in the test at first. However, we had problems with the menu navigation when we wanted to accept an incoming call while music was playing.
Nevertheless, the handling was mostly pleasant and intuitive. Initially, we found it irritating that the screen often turned off after only a few seconds of inactivity. This can always be disabled once for 5 to 20 minutes in the settings.

Health tracking

The main features that make the Band 6 a practical companion for health-conscious people are the ability to constantly measure heart rate, automatically record sleep data and determine blood oxygen and stress levels. In addition, certain fitness exercises can be documented.

For all health-related data that can be recorded with the Band 6, it applies that they may explicitly not be used as a basis for diagnosis or treatment, according to Honor.

Heart rate

We tested the heart rate recording in different situations, for example at rest and during a hike, and measured it manually at the same time. The deviation between the real value and the measured value was about 15% on average and increased with strong movement. We often had the impression that the displayed value was also about 5 to 15 seconds in the past.
In general, it can be said that any recording with the Band 6 worked better when we did not move. This principle basically applies to most wearable devices that use optical methods to read body functions. Anyone who has tried to record the heartbeat with the smartphone camera or other sensors will probably have noticed that the slightest movement can lead to violent swings in the recording and thus to a certain falsification of the results.
Since the Band 6 always reflects an average value, the heart rate recording was ultimately reasonably accurate and mostly close to the real value.

Sleep

We recorded sleep for a few days in a row, for which the wristband only has to be worn during sleep. Not only the duration of sleep is recorded, but also the duration and frequency of the individual sleep phases and interruptions. Based on this, the sleep is evaluated with points and recommendations are given on how to improve it.

Since the results of the sleep recording are not verifiable for us due to the lack of our own sleep lab, we were not able to evaluate the collected data in the end, but we found it interesting nonetheless. However, if you read a bit into this topic, it becomes clear that the reliable determination of the individual sleep phases is probably beyond the capabilities of today’s fitness trackers (source: www.livescience.com).
We cannot assess whether and to what extent these technical limitations also apply to the Band 6 or to what extent they are compensated for by sophisticated software, but the times of falling asleep and waking up were indeed detected correctly.

Stress and blood oxygen

Recording the stress level and the blood oxygen content is straightforward in each case. Both tests are performed at rest. We only had to calibrate the stress test at least once beforehand. During calibration, we answered a few questions that formed the basis for the stress test.

However, the validity of both tests was not verifiable for us in the end.
For stress sufferers, the Band 6 offers a small program for breathing exercises, which presets the breathing rate in three speeds and for up to three minutes.

Training Modes

The Band 6 can be used to record 10 different sports, including walking, running, swimming and rowing. Basis for further calculations here provide the total duration of the training session, the heart rate and the completed steps. GPS data is only recorded when the training session is started via the Health app. Other sports, such as strength training, are not specifically supported, but can theoretically also be recorded as “other training”.
For our test, we completed several kilometer-long hikes in the fresh air.

The automatic recognition of training sessions is initially turned off. If you enable it, after a few minutes you will be offered the recording of the detected workout type. If you ignore it, the wristband offers recording again after a short time, and so on. However, due to the not insignificant delay between the start of the training and the request and the not always accurately determined training type, it is rather recommended to start the recording of the desired training type manually.

Further information is derived from the recorded data even during the training session, such as calorie consumption, speeds, distances, step counts and heart rate zones.
The collected data can be displayed on the wristband itself as well as in the Huawei Health app, but is displayed in more detail in the latter.

If you start the recording with the wristband, no GPS data is recorded, as already mentioned. However, if you activate the smartphone’s location tracking, you will receive weather data from the respective region.
If, on the other hand, you start the current workout in the Health app, it displays the route live on Google Maps and also records it.

Overall, the training mode worked very well in our test. The resulting data and information are more or less relevant depending on the level of interest and also not 100% reliable due to certain inaccuracies, but a good enough indicator for personal performance analysis.

Battery life

The battery range is stated by Honor to be around 2 weeks with typical use. In fact, we only used about 5 to 10% of the battery every day during normal use. With 15% of the total capacity remaining, we then decided to perform a full charge once. Within 13 minutes the battery was already charged by 45% (3.4% per min.) and after 37 minutes by 75% (2% per min.). After about 55 minutes, the charging process was completely finished (1.5% per min.). The fuller the battery, the longer the remaining charge took, so 10 to 15 minutes of partial charging is quite efficient, such as when time is short.

Conclusion

For its price of just under €50 (currently € 109.90 *), Honor’s Band 6 fitness wristband offers many of the capabilities of high-priced competitors, at least at first glance. Apart from an intermittent plastic stink from the wristband, we found the workmanship to be good, the operation to be intuitive overall, and the battery life to be above reproach against any form of criticism.

The Huawei Health app is mandatory for operation via smartphone, which in turn requires a Huawei account. Among other things, the app asks for access to the contacts, which annoyed us a bit. However, data protection is taken seriously at first glance, and all relevant settings are disabled by default in the options.

The biggest benefit of the Band 6, in our opinion, was all-day heart rate monitoring, which was accurately recorded in most situations. However, stronger movements led to inaccuracies in the recording, which were sometimes more and sometimes less severe.
For the rest, we unfortunately could not track whether and to what extent the values for the stress level, blood oxygen content and sleep phases corresponded to reality. However, the values and the information and recommendations resulting from them seemed to us to be mostly plausible and helpful.
The recording of endurance sports in training mode mostly worked well and provided detailed information.

So lifeloggers and endurance athletes who hope to gain a particular advantage from, among other things, a permanent heart rate measurement that is not always 100% accurate and who want to log their workouts cannot ultimately go far wrong with the Band 6.

Honor Band 6

Workmanship
Hardware
Features
Value for money

83/100

A good fitness wristband for lifeloggers and endurance athletes with a long battery life, good workmanship, intuitive operation and mostly correct readings. Works very well with Huawei's Health app.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

Related Articles

Neue Antworten laden...

Avatar of Basic Tutorials
Basic Tutorials

Neues Mitglied

3,251 Beiträge 1,471 Likes

The urge of people to log their everyday life is promoted by technically more and more powerful mobile devices and thus fitness trackers have enjoyed growing popularity for more than 10 years now. With the Band 6, the Chinese supplier HONOR delivers the successor of the fitness wristband Band 5 with a larger display and … (Weiterlesen...)

Antworten 1 Like

Back to top button