Huawei and Honor are capable of making excellent wearable devices. It is no coincidence that among the best Android smartwatches there is the Huawei Watch GT 2, and that among the best smartbands, if not the best, there is Honor Band 5 (here our review). The experience accumulated over the years allows the two Chinese companies to create devices that are beautiful to look at, with long autonomy and full of functions, all features that we also find in theHonor Magic Watch 2, recently arrived in Italy.
This smartwatch resumes with full hands what was seen with the cousin Watch GT 2, slightly modifying the aesthetic aspect but maintaining all its characteristics. Moreover, Honor has decided to sell it at a lower price, all factors that candidate the Magic Watch 2 to the podium for the best Android smartwatch in the value for money.
Design
At first glance, the Magic Watch 2 looks identical to the cousin Huawei Watch GT 2. Unlike this, however, there is no numbered ring around the display, for a slightly cleaner line. The differences, however, are minimal, but it is not necessarily bad because in this way the quality seen in the Watch GT 2 is preserved. Honor has created two variants of its smartwatch, one 42 and the other 46mm. The images you see in this article are of the smaller version, preferable if you want the watch to go more unnoticed on your wrist, the 46 one is very conspicuous indeed. The shell is in aluminum and two buttons are available on the right side, with the first one you enter the menu with all the available functions, with the second one you access the training section, where the different supported sports are indicated. The shell resists up to 5 atmospheres and in the lower part it is characterized by the sensors present in the device, enclosed in a polycarbonate insert.
In general, the build quality of the Magic Watch 2 is very good, especially if compared to the price range. Even the silicone strap supplied does not disappoint and is easily changed with one of the compatible models.
Technical features
Honor Magic Watch 2 in this 42 mm version uses a 1.2-inch 390×390 pixel AMOLED screen. In the larger variant of 46 mm instead we find a display, always AMOLED, but 454×454 pixels and 1.39 inches. Other differences between the two models are given by the battery, in the smaller version a 215 mAh one is installed, in the larger one a 455 mAh one, and from the speaker, absent in the 42 mm, which is therefore unable to receive and make hands-free calls.
The remaining specifications remain the same, starting with the Kirin A1 processor, and Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi and GPS are available. Also present on heart rate sensor, essential for monitoring cardiac activity, sleep and stress, this function is also available within the Huawei Health application.
Software and user experience
We carried out the test of this smartwatch with a Galaxy Note 10+ updated to Android 10, with which we had some problems during the installation phase. The Huawei Health application is not enough to synchronize the smartphone with the clock, Huawei Mobile Services must also be installed. However, the version on the Android Play Store is not updated and causes a crash to Huawei Health; doing a search on the internet it emerged that the problem was also found in other phones with Android 10. Honor then corrected the shot and now, once Huawei Health is installed, a warning appears on the screen advising you to download the Huawei Mobile Service ( HMS) directly from App Gallery, Huawei's proprietary Android store. This way everything works, but you need to install two applications and HMS to get this result. Obviously, if you have a Huawei or Honor phone, the procedure is simplified by the fact that all these applications are already installed.
Once the installation is over, which remains within the reach of less experienced users, you are immediately ready to go.
The display of the Magic Watch 2 is the first surprise: bright and with good definition, it seems to belong to a smartwatch with a higher cost. The automatic brightness adjustment works well but is not very fast and the always-on display is also available. To save some battery you can also choose the activation by rotating the wrist.
The Watch Faces are present in large quantities and can be found in all types, from the richest ones visually to the most minimal ones, the choice is wide.
Opening the menu of the smartwatch in the first place we find the part dedicated to training, which includes a great variety of sports, from running to cycling, going for swimming, mountaineering, triathlon and rowing, each with voice notifications and with the ability to set goals, such as distance or intensity in training. Each sport then offers customized statistics, for example in swimming you can discover the SWOLF, which calculates the efficiency in the swim.
Scrolling through the menu we find the possibility to observe your heart rate, or to monitor sleep, a very precise function that offers a detailed report of the moments of rest, able to detect even simple naps. There is also a function for detecting stress, one dedicated to breathing exercises, controls for music playback from smartphones, compass, barometer and the classic weather.
Music can be saved in the 4 GB of internal memory and played by connecting bluetooth headphones to the watch.
Notifications from the smartphone are quite basic and allow you to read the first words of a message but not to reply; also excluding images, which cannot be displayed on the watch. Ultimately the LiteOS proprietary operating system, at the base of this smartwatch, it performs very well and consumes even little, with a recharge you can do 4-5 days of use with all the active functions, which rise to about 10 for the larger model. Charging takes place via a small docking station which in about an hour is able to fully charge the smartwatch.
The price to pay for good autonomy is the absence of applications, Magic Watch 2 offers a wide range of functions that covers what are the classic uses of a smartwatch, but cannot be expanded, except by Honor with firmware updates .
