Huawei and Honor watches are highly autonomous. These LightOS devices can last up to a week without recharging. Watch Magic 2 is a step forward in this segment. They received a microphone and learned to analyze the activity of the carrier more accurately.
Characteristics of Honor Watch Magic 2:
Supported Android 4.4 or higher iOS 9.0 or higher
Connections: Bluetooth BT 5.1 with BLE/BR/EDR support
Operating system: Light OS
Screen: AMOLED, 1.39 inches, 454 × 454 pixels, 326 PPI density
RAM: 32 MB
Built-in memory: 4 GB
Sensors: Accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, optical heart rate sensor, light sensor, barometer, capacitive sensor
Microphone: yes
Dimensions: 45.9 × 45.9 × 10.7 mm
Weight: 41 g
Battery: 455 mAh
Waterproof: 5 ATM
Appearance Features
We had at our disposal the classic version of MagicWatch 2 with a stainless steel case with a diameter of 46 millimeters and a leather strap. The polished case, tachymeter markings on the bezel, large keys and brown leather are reminiscent of an expensive mechanical watch. There are also insignificant but pleasing to the eye details: the concentric grinding of the bezel, hidden under the glass, shimmers beautifully under the rays of light.
Despite its luxurious appearance and high-quality materials, the watch does not weigh on your hand at all. Their weight is 41 grams, which has a positive effect on comfort during round-the-clock wear. One of the reasons is the plastic back, which houses a slightly protruding optical heart rate monitor.
For lovers of dark watches, there is a sports version with a silicone strap. Girls should pay attention to the 42 mm version in gold with a Milanese loop or in black with a silicone strap.
Regular readers may have a feeling of déjà vu as if the Trashbox community has already reviewed such smartwatches. Indeed, the new product from HONOR is very reminiscent of Huawei Watch GT 2, which is not surprising given the relatedness of the brands. But there are still differences. Firstly, there is a tachymeter on the bezel of MagicWatch 2, which cannot be used for its intended purpose - this is an element of style. Secondly, MagicWatch 2 has a subtle red bezel on the top key. The hardware and functionality are completely the same.
A huge contribution to the look is made by a brown leather strap, beautifully stitched with thread. It goes equally well with formal wear and casual jeans. If you remember the Galaxy Watch Active 2, that black leather strap looks and feels much simpler.
There are no complaints about the workmanship, but the strap itself is a bit stiff: I couldn’t secure the watch tightly to my wrist, which can affect the accuracy of heart rate measurement. Some inconvenience is caused by the statically attached fixing loop, due to which the strap has to be strongly bent each time it is put on. After 3-4 weeks, natural wrinkles and hints of wear appeared on the material, but it is still far from losing its neat appearance.
The mount is equipped with quick-release axles, making it as easy as possible to replace the strap. The width of 22 mm is common among smartwatches; alternative straps can be found both in the company’s official store and on third-party sites.
Design
Externally, Honor Watch Magic 2 is similar to a mechanical watch: a metal case, a round dial, two mechanical buttons on the side. You can’t call them futuristic, like most smartwatches; their design is strictly classic.
The watch case is made of stainless steel, widely used in the aerospace industry. The material is resistant to mechanical damage.
There is a metal ring with a dial around the screen. In this model it is located below the glass. In the Huawei Watch GT Active it was located higher and protected the watch from impact; here you have to rely on the strength of the glass above the screen. The solution is impractical, but logical - the industry is striving to reduce the scope. This makes the watch look more modern and aesthetically pleasing.
The weight of the watch is 41 g. For comparison, the Apple Watch S4 44 mm weighs 36 g, and the S4 40 mm weighs 30 g. The watch is heavy. During the first few days you will definitely feel them on your wrist, and when you actively work on a computer keyboard, when your hands are tense, you will want to take them off.
Display and control
The front panel is occupied by a 1.39-inch AMOLED without any problems reading information even under bright light. The light sensor works correctly, the moments of brightness adjustment are not noticeable. The thick bezel of the display is enhanced by additional markings on the gray bezel and black frame - a neat find. An effective oleophobic coating adds aesthetics and convenience.
The protective glass is noticeably curved so that the surface of the dial protrudes beyond the case. This potentially increases the risk of accidentally breaking the watch, but after a month of use, not a single scratch appeared on the glass.
The primary task of the watch is to show the time; for this purpose, MagicWatch 2 comes pre-installed with different skins: analog and digital, minimalistic and with additional information - in other words, there is plenty to choose from. But skins do not support fine customization; you cannot change the colors of individual elements or information on the card. The second point is that the skins are not translated into Russian: the days of the week, month, units of measurement and other information are displayed in English. This little detail does not affect the information content, but creates an unpleasant impression of a crude gadget.
Contrary to popular stereotypes, HONOR watches support third-party watch faces; the catalog can be found in the companion on your smartphone. There are only a few dozen different skins; the list also includes themed options, for example, for Christmas. The dials are installed in one click, and there is no difference in power consumption between them.
In this generation, HONOR and Huawei watches have acquired the function of constantly displaying the time, but the implementation is lame. Firstly, regardless of the selected skin, you can choose one of two simple watch faces, analog or digital, for permanent display. The pinnacle of customization is changing the color of the accents. Thus, the appearance of the Anways-On screen is always discordant with the main skin. Secondly, if you cover the active watch face with your palm, the screen will go completely dark without activating the constant display. This is despite the fact that the palm gesture does not work in other menus.
Cards are collected to the left and right of the dial; their set and display order cannot be customized in any way. When swiping from right to left, the order is: heart rate, stress level, weather, music and activity level. The cards are moderately informative and not overloaded with unnecessary information, so you quickly get used to them. A curtain with quick settings is pulled out from above. The application menu is called up with the top key. To return to the watch face from any menu, use the same top key. You can assign any shortcut from the menu to the bottom button.
Notifications from selected applications are displayed on the screen and collected in a general list without grouping into branches below the watch face. The watch does not indicate the application from which the notification came; only the sender's name is in the header. Moreover, if the message came from a conversation, its title will be indicated in the header, followed by the sender’s name separated by a colon. But on the watch screen, as a rule, there is not enough space to display a long title, and there is no ticker. Another point is that the watch does not support emojis, leaving spaces. Some methods of interacting with messages are not available, read only. Let me remind you that both interaction with cards and support for emoticons were in Huawei watches on Wear OS several years ago. If necessary, in addition to vibration, you can turn on the sound of notifications like on a smartphone.
The watch allows you to accept or reject calls, but you cannot send SMS from templates. But it is possible to talk handsfree, thanks to the built-in speaker and microphone. Also in the application menu there are lists of calls and favorite contacts, allowing you not to take out your smartphone for calls at all.
What is an altimeter?
While this feature is not as common as, say, a chronograph function, an altimeter can still be extremely valuable in certain circumstances. As you might have guessed from the name, these are any circumstances in which it is very necessary to measure height. After all, this is its main task - to inform the user of the altitude (or height) above a fixed point. Typically, this fixed point is sea level, but (in some cases) it can be changed to suit other needs - for example, if you want to measure the change in elevation on a hike from a fixed starting point to the very top.
Initially, altimeter readings were based on changes in atmospheric pressure. Although such a system sometimes makes mistakes, it is still considered quite accurate. This is because the higher you go - whether on a mountain hike, on a plane, etc. - the lower the pressure in the atmosphere. The reason for this is simple: Earth's gravity pulls everything toward the center of the planet, even air molecules. So, the closer to the center of the planet, the higher the pressure.
Of course, the accuracy of the readings can be affected by the weather as the atmosphere is constantly changing, but overall the data is quite accurate and the technology is still widely used today. However, for maximum accuracy, the barometric altimeter must be constantly calibrated.
While pressure-based barometric altimeters are still very common in devices such as analog watches, aircraft pressure gauges, and even handheld devices used by skydivers, the technology has not stood still. There are currently other types of altimeters, the most common type is based on GPS data. As you already know, GPS uses a network of satellites orbiting the Earth to help determine the exact location of a specific device on the planet. While GPS is typically used to determine longitude and latitude on a map, it can also be used to determine—you guessed it—altitude.
Unfortunately, in practice, GPS also has its drawbacks. For example, if GPS reception is poor - if the device is out of range of the satellites in use - then the data may be inaccurate (the error reaches 120 m). This number may seem small, but sometimes accuracy makes a huge difference, especially in an emergency. Regardless of what type of altimeter you ultimately choose, it's important to keep these pros and cons in mind because this knowledge could potentially save your life if you find yourself in a dangerous situation.
Fitness tracker features
Judging by the lack of third-party functionality, the focus is on tracking physical activity. The watch has an accelerometer, a gyroscope, an optical heart rate monitor, a barometer and GPS with an electronic compass. In everyday life, the watch counts steps, floors walked in meters, measures heart rate and assesses stress levels. There is a reminder to get up and stretch. Despite the weak fit of the watch to the wrist due to the tight strap, the heart rate monitor shows figures comparable to a home blood pressure monitor and direct heartbeat measurement.
The list includes 15 sports activities, including walking, running, cycling, swimming and various types of exercise equipment. In the latter case, the watch estimates the intensity of the workout based on your heart rate. In the case of street activities, in addition to data from the accelerometer and gyroscope, tracking is based on built-in GPS. The ability to track heart rate underwater while swimming is especially emphasized. The watch cannot detect activity and record data automatically; everything is done manually through the menu.
Heart rate monitoring
Wrist devices of these models are equipped with an optical heart rate monitor. This function is capable of measuring and storing data about your heart rate 24/7. To use this feature, you need to go to the “Huawei Health” add-on and activate “Continuous heart rate monitoring”.
How to measure your heartbeat correctly
- First, you need to make sure that the device is placed correctly on your wrist. When measuring the heartbeat, the hand should be relaxed.
- On the working display, you need to press the button at the top and scroll to the desired function, to the “Pulse” section. When you click on this section, the gadget measures your pulse.
- To stop the measurement, you need to swipe the display to the right. For initial information about your heartbeat, the watch will need 6 - 10 seconds. With the “Continuous Heart Rate Monitoring” feature active and set to “Real Time Monitoring Mode,” the heartbeat measurement will take 1-2 seconds. The incoming information changes after 5 seconds. A full measurement cycle may take up to 45 seconds.
If necessary, for a more accurate pulse measurement, you need to check the correct placement of the device on the hand. Also check whether the watch strap fits tightly. The wrist device should fit tightly around your hand and not slip. The body of the wrist-mounted device must have direct contact with your skin.
Additional options
Additional options include a built-in music player and the ability to connect Bluetooth headphones. A little more than 2 GB of memory is allocated for downloading MP3 files from the smartphone. The player supports Cyrillic tags and the creation of playlists. If desired, music can be played through the built-in speaker.
There are no other additional options. As a result, the low-power Kirin A1 chip does not have to handle unnecessary processes; all the potential is spent on the fast operation of the interface. The results are impressive, the operating system runs smoothly, without a hint of thoughtfulness.
Software
Honor Watch Magic 2 runs on the LightOS operating system. Its functionality is limited - there is no app store, and the ability to download files to the device's memory is limited.
The interface is aesthetic. The icons are multi-colored, making navigation easier. They follow the shape of a round screen; there is a unity of style. An analogue of the curtain in Android has been added to the main screen - swipe down.
Dials can be changed. Select the appropriate section in the settings or hold your finger on the main screen. You can choose the most convenient dial: in addition to the time, the battery charge can show training data or health status. Just decide what's most important to you and choose the watch face that suits you.
A special feature of Honor Watch Magic 2 is the ability to put a photo on the watch face. In addition, you can set up a slide show - each time you lift the watch, a different photo will be shown on the display.
Pressing the left crown goes to the settings menu, pressing the right one goes to the training menu.
First setup and connection quality
Like other wearable electronics from the brand, MagicWatch 2 is connected through the Huawei Health application. For smartphones with EMIUI it is pre-installed out of the box, for others it is available on Google Play and on our website. Pairing is carried out in a couple of steps; first you need to select the watch model, and then a specific Bluetooth device.
The watch was tested in tandem with Huawei P20 Pro. Over the course of a month of daily wear, the watch never lost contact; notifications always arrived on time. The only flaw found was an error in synchronizing sleep statistics. I think re-pairing will fix the glitch, but the situation exists.
Despite the synchronization error, the clock records all the necessary information. The time of falling asleep and waking up is determined correctly.
Playing music
To play music you need:
- Open the Huawei Health add-on.
- Click on “Devices”.
- Select the name of the gadget you are using.
- Click on “Music”.
- Next, select the “Music Management” section.
- Then “Add songs”.
- The user needs to select the required melodies from the list and click on “γ”. This icon is located at the top, right corner.
When you press the top button of the home screen and scroll further, you will find the “Music” section.
Next, you need to open this item and select the melodies that were added in the “Huawei Health” add-on. To play the selected songs, click on the “Play” sign.
Autonomy
An effective platform, a lightweight operating system and the absence of redundant functionality have a positive effect on autonomy; in the best case, you can count on 14 days without constant time display. I ran two tests. In the first case, the watch was worn only during working hours with a constant time display and pulse measurement, the result was 12 days of battery life. During the second cycle, the watch was not taken off around the clock, while Always-On was activated, constant heart rate measurement, stress and sleep monitoring, daily alarms, the result was 6 days. There is complete confidence in the autonomy of HONOR MagicWatch 2.
Charging through a light and compact pad with two regular contacts, and not wirelessly, as is common with competitors. As a result, it is necessary to keep the contacts clean to prevent corrosion. The platform is symmetrical, but you won’t be able to place the watch incorrectly thanks to the magnet. The charging station has a USB Type-C, and the kit includes a high-quality 1-meter cable.
They work really long
The battery is the indisputable trump card of Honor Magic Watch 2. A 455 mAh battery fits inside the case, and this charge is really enough for two weeks of work.
The watch also charges quickly, taking a little over an hour to fully charge.
The charging block is not included in the package. The smart watch only comes with a cable with a magnetic contact pad.
Review after a month of use
Before testing MagicWatch 2, I had a preconceived notion that HONOR was trying to sell an ordinary fitness bracelet in a watch case. The reason is the absence of the usual attributes of smartwatches: third-party applications, contactless payment and other small features. In fact, it turned out that this does not matter, because we are talking about a watch, and not about a “smartphone for the wrist.” And the primary task is to display the time and notifications, as well as tracking physical activity, which HONOR watches cope with without problems. Moreover, balanced software and an economical chipset provide good autonomy, allowing you not to think about recharging the gadget for 1-2 weeks. The conclusion is simple, in MagicWatch 2, first of all, you see the watch, both externally and in terms of ease of use - this is its main advantage and the leitmotif of the entire operating experience.
What really needs to be worked on is polishing the basic capabilities. It is necessary to Russify the dials and allow unique skins to permanently display the time. The same goes for notifications; instead of an endless feed, I want to see grouped chats with emojis and the ability to reply. The last noticeable nuance is charging through two contacts instead of Qi. Huawei's portfolio includes smartphones with reverse wireless charging, so why not include watches in this ecosystem?
Advantages:
- color AMOLED screen with constant time display;
- stylish design and beautiful strap;
- waterproof when immersed up to 50 meters;
- fast interface;
- high-quality activity tracking.
Flaws:
- incomplete implementation of constant time display;
- no wireless charging.
Controversial points:
- a simple notification feed without the ability to respond;
- possible software glitches.
Honor Magic Watch 2 - buy or not?
The new smartwatch model from Honor will appeal to those who are not looking for redundancy or are simply not ready to overpay for it. Both the design and functionality of Honor Magic Watch 2 are quite laconic, although not without minor flaws. At the same time, the watch looks very balanced in price and quality, so it will be a good buy. Or a gift.
