Aside from the global launch of the Magic V6 foldable earlier this week, HONOR also released the Watch 6 that went on sale yesterday. It boasts a 35 day battery life and I have been given one to review.
Before we get underway, HONOR provided a free sample without any editorial input or review pre-approval. Below are its specifications:
| HONOR Watch 6 | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions: | 46.5 mm x 46.5 mm x 10.8 mm |
| Weight: | Approx. 41g (Black) / 50 g (Brown) without the strap |
| Display: | 1.46-inch AMOLED Screen, 464*464 pixels, 317 PPI |
| Weight: | 1.4 oz / 40.6 g |
| Compatibility: | Android 9.0 or higher / iOS 15.1 or higher |
| Storage: | 4 GB ROM |
| Bluetooth | 5.4 |
| GPS: | Yes |
| NFC: | Yes |
| Durability: | IP69 Water and Dust Resistance; 5ATM |
| Battery: | 980mAh (typical capacity) Typical usage conditions: Up to 35 days |
| Material: | Aluminum alloy veneer frame paired with 316L stainless steel deco / 316L stainless steel veneer middle frame paired with 316L stainless steel deco |
| Strap: | Black Fluoroelastomer / Brown Leather |
| Colors: | Shadow Black, Twilight Brown |
| Warranty: | |
| MSRP: | £229.99, £249.99 / €229.99, €249.99 |
Introduction
Ours is denoted in bold above, which is the Shadow Black variant.
So what"s it all about? Below are some of the highlights that HONOR shared with me that show more than I could tell from my limited testing.
- 35-Day Ultra Long Battery Life Equipped with a powerful 980mAh battery, HONOR Watch 6 offers up to 35 days of battery life in smart mode, keeping you connected through busy weeks, workouts and long trips with less frequent charging.
- 1.46" AMOLED Display with 3000 Nits Brightness The 1.46-inch AMOLED display delivers sharp detail with a 464 × 464 resolution and 317 PPI, while up to 3000 nits peak brightness helps ensure clear visibility even in bright outdoor conditions.
- All-day Health & Activity Monitoring Stay on top of your daily wellness with heart rate tracking, blood pressure trend monitoring and activity insights, supported by smart sensors including PPG, geomagnetic and barometric sensors. Not intended for medical diagnosis.
- Professional Football & Badminton Modes Designed for active users, the HONOR Watch 6 features dedicated football and badminton sports modes to help track training performance, movement data and everyday fitness activity more effectively.
- 5ATM & IP69 Water Resistance Built for daily wear, workouts and outdoor activities, HONOR Watch 6 features 5ATM and IP69 water resistance, making it ready for sweat, rain and everyday splashes.
- Compatible with Android & iOS Pair HONOR Watch 6 with smartphones running Android 9.0 or later or iOS 15.1 or later via the HONOR Health App to receive smart notifications, manage calls and enjoy connected features throughout the day.
With that said, now on to my own findings.
What"s in the box
If you have ever owned a smartwatch, the experience will be familiar, it arrived in a square box, and after removing the box top, the Watch 6 is the first thing you see sitting in a bit of plastic. Upon removing the Watch 6 and the plastic "shelf" under it, you can find two cardboard compartments with regulatory documentation, and the USB charge puck on the other side.
- HONOR Watch 6
- Charger
- User Guide
Design
The Watch 6 itself weighs 41 grams, and although HONOR doesn"t say what materials are used, it claims that the "texture [is] comparable to titanium alloy" which is another way of saying that it does not use titanium.... instead, it is made up from "sandblasted" aluminum alloy. With the strap, the total weight comes to 68 grams which is four grams heavier than the HONOR Watch 5 Ultra.
| Left side | Right side |
|---|---|
Unlike the newest Samsung smartwatch, the Watch 6 is circular with a non rotating numbered bezel. On the right side at the top is a rotating crown that also doubles as an Up and Power button. Long pressing allows you to turn off the Watch 6, or power it on. Below that is the Down button which also doubles as an app shortcut and defaults to the Workout app.
On the rear of the Watch 6, there"s the Heart sensor in the center, then further out are the two charging ports that connect to the magnetic Watch charger via Pogo pins. Then, the outer ring is the speaker.
| Watch 6 and Watch 5 Ultra | Height difference |
|---|---|
The Watch 6 also has a slightly smaller footprint than the Watch 5 Ultra, owing to its thinner bezel, and slightly smaller display. Above you can also see that the Watch 6 is less bulky and has less height than the Watch 5 Ultra.
Our Black Shadow variant comes with a black silicon strap. Unfortunately, if you have an old Samsung smartwatch, the bands will not fit on the Honor Watch 6, but they are interchangeable with the Watch 5 Ultra straps.
Usage
Setting up the Watch 6 is relatively easy. It connects to the HONOR Health app on Android, although initially I did get a "Pairing failed" prompt, after which it went smoothly and I had to immediately upgrade the firmware that was shipped with it. My testing was done in firmware version 20.0.1.65 (SP6) but the Watch 6 has since received an update to version 20.0.1.88. I read online that people were complaining about sporadic disconnects, but, for what it"s worth, I did not experience this.
Anyway the whole process to connect the Watch 6 is shown in the below gallery.
And now that you"re setup, what can you do? Well if you"re into fitness, then HONOR has you covered.
The 1.46" AMOLED display with its up to 3000 Nits brightness is quite crisp and looks fantastic. The display supports several swipe gestures, these are:
- Tap the screen Select or confirm
- Touch and hold the screen
- Change watch face (touch and hold the watch face screen)
- Access the card settings screen (touch and hold the card)
- Swipe right
- View device card (swipe right on the watch face screen)
- Go back
- Swipe left View device card (swipe left on the watch face screen)
- Swipe up
- View messages and notifications (swipe up on the watch face screen)
- View more functions and messages
- Swipe down
- View shortcut menu and status bar (swipe down on the watch face screen)
- Turn on and off Do Not Disturb, Sleep mode, and more in the shortcut menu
- Check remaining battery and Bluetooth status in the status bar
- View more functions and messages
Quirks
Unfortunately I tripped almost at the first hurdle. When attempting to setup cards on the Watch 6 to test NFC, I was informed that Wallet services were not supported in my region (The Netherlands), which was kind of annoying. I have Google Wallet setup on the Magic V6 with my payment cards, but apparently the Watch 6 cannot make use of it.
Bedtime mode doesn"t sync to phone
In addition I discovered that Bedtime mode does not sync between the Watch 6 and Magic V6. That"s to say, when I enable Bedtime mode on the Watch 6, it is not enabled in the Magic V6, and vice versa. I find this to be quite an annoyance, even though on both devices activating Sleep mode is a "one tap" experience, unlike in the Samsung eco-system where you must tap through Mode manager to access Sleep mode.
Speaking of Bedtime mode, I wore the Watch 6 several times to test Sleep tracking accuracy and was left wanting. Maybe it"s me, my Samsung isn"t all that accurate either.
Notifications
The Watch 6 syncs notifications from the connected Android or iOS device. But all you can really do is dismiss them, you can"t interact with a message and reply on the Watch. However, It does save you from taking your phone out of your pocket to just view the new notifications
Calling
However, aside from the limited notifications management, the Watch 6 does let you answer and make calls directly from it.
Sports
As a tech website co-owner, I wish I had time for sports, but this is one of the modes I did not test. The Watch 6 is clearly designed with fitness tracking as a core feature, as there are several Workout modes that can be utilized directly by pressing on the Down button on the Watch 6. By default the Watch will also detect Workouts and start measuring and tracking.
What I didn"t like
The one feature that bugs me the most, is Bedtime mode not syncing to my phone when I activate it on the Watch 6, also the other way around. I feel like this is something that needs fixing on a device that is supposed to be tracking wellness as well as sports.
It also took some getting used to to have to dismiss alerts by individually tapping on the trash icon, rather than being able to just swipe them away. Maybe this can be fixed in a future update, I don"t know.
What I liked
The screen is beautiful, and it goes without saying that the Watch 6 fixes a major pain point I have had with Samsung Galaxy watches, where they need recharging every two days or so. It all starts to feel like a chore, and when things don"t work so well, like a failed Sleep tracking, that just adds to the disappointment. Here you can throw the Watch on the charger while you"re having a shower and the battery will hardly ever run out with its 35 day rating. However with all the things that I enabled (including AoD), I found that it lasted half that at around two weeks, which is still quite impressive.
Where to buy
Unfortunately the HONOR Watch 6 is not available in the United States, but it can be picked up in the United Kingdom and Europe. For a unspecified, but limited time it has received a £80 discount with an in page coupon, bringing its price down to £149.99 or £169.99 for the brown variant. On top of that you can choose one of two free gifts that include the HONOR CHOICE Earbuds Clip or the HONOR CHOICE Headphones Lite (worth £9.99 each).
- HONOR Watch 6 (Black) for £149.99 or £169.99 (Brown) was £229.99/£249.99