Honor Band 7

Verdict

The Honor Band 7 is a really minor improve on a price range health tracker that also provides good options for the value, however doesn’t push the boundaries of what’s already on supply at that charge.

Introduction

The Honor Band 7 is the health tracker replace to the Honor Band 6, which launched in 2021 and was surprisingly a solid-performing price range choice for those who wished mixture of metrics with a much bigger display screen than most equally priced trackers.

The Band 7 doesn’t see Honor make sweeping adjustments although, specializing in giving it a extra enticing look than its predecessor, while additionally offering a lift on the connectivity entrance.

It sticks to an analogous reasonably priced value, however is there sufficient right here to improve, and is it a greater choice than equally priced trackers just like the Huawei Band 7 and Xiaomi Mi Band 7? Let’s dive in.

Design and display screen

• Polymer case and non-removable silicone strap
• Is available in three colors
• 5ATM water ranking

Honor hasn’t strayed too removed from the design of the Band 6 and that’s a recurring theme whenever you see how a lot is definitely totally different on the smarts entrance as effectively.

You’re nonetheless getting a 43mm-sized case that at 10.99mm thick, is only a tiny bit thinner than the Honor Band 6 (11mm). Honor has used what it calls a ‘metallic spraying course of’ on that case, which basically means it’s making an attempt to provide it the look of a metallic case, nevertheless it doesn’t fairly do the trick. It feels a slight contact extra enticing than the 6, however you continue to know there’s plastic there.

Honor has caught to a solitary bodily button that you would be able to press to get up the wearable or get to the watch face display screen, or double faucet to get to the primary menu display screen. It has ditched the pink line from that button, which didn’t appear to serve a lot objective aside from wanting a bit misplaced.

That display screen is identical 1.47-inch, 194 x 368 pixel decision show from the Band 6, with 2.5D Gorilla Glass to provide it a lift within the sturdiness division. It’s an excellent display screen to search out on a tracker at this value. It’s sharp, provides good colors, will get fairly vivid too and I had no points utilizing it in brighter outside gentle, plus it was simple to view within the pool as effectively. One factor you do need to reside with out is having the ability to hold the display screen always-on, however the elevate to wake is fairly responsive on the entire.

The strap hooked up to it’s a good, comfortable contact silicone-style materials that you would be able to’t take away sadly, however together with the three case colors, you’re given the choice to select from inexperienced, pink and black shades. There’s a fairly customary buckle included nevertheless it’s one which stays put throughout exercises so that you received’t have to fret that it’s going to go walkies.

There’s no change within the water ranking both. Honor sticks to a 5ATM cap, so it’s nonetheless match for being dunked in water as much as 50 metres depth. I’ve saved it strapped on within the bathe and brought it for swims and it’s survived to maintain on monitoring with out subject.

Health and well being monitoring 

• 96 exercise modes
• 24/7 coronary heart charge and SpO2 monitoring
• Related GPS

Whereas there is perhaps some minor variations within the design division, it’s arduous to search out something that’s totally different when it comes to how the Band 7 tracks your well being and health in comparison with the Band 6.

If you need one thing to maintain monitor of your steps, the Honor Band 7 can try this and all through my testing it was typically inside 500 steps of Garmin’s day by day step monitoring. Inside the enhancing Honor Well being app you may see whenever you’ve met your day by day step purpose together with a report of train minutes and lively energy burned.

There’s an optical sensor on board to watch coronary heart charge 24/7 and whereas coronary heart charge ranges typically matched up with Garmin’s dependable steady monitoring, resting coronary heart charge was sometimes greater and wherever from 5-10 bpm greater on some days. That sensor may also allow you to monitor SpO2 ranges, capturing newest readings, ranges and low ranges which might be price wanting into.The info isn’t actually put to a lot significant use and Honor’s choice to clarify oxygen saturation through a Wikipedia definition is definitely an fascinating transfer.

Coronary heart charge monitoring (or extra particularly coronary heart charge variability) drives stress monitoring, supplying you with a breakdown of stress ranges and also you do get a pleasant breakdown of the annoying and fewer annoying intervals of your day.

You do have automated sleep monitoring and you may see your earlier evening’s sleep and sleep period on the tracker and a breakdown of sleep phases together with a sleep rating. If you happen to take a nap, it’ll seize that too. I used to be really pleasantly stunned to see how the sleep monitoring carried out. Information like sleep period, sleep stage breakdowns and sleep scores have been properly according to the Garmin watch and Oura Ring 3 I used to be carrying to mattress as effectively.

If you wish to monitor train with the Honor Band 7, you’ve bought your choose of 96 exercise modes as soon as once more, with a core of these modes supplying you with extra activity-specific metrics. These embody runs, biking and pool swims in addition to indoor exercises like rowing.

There’s nonetheless no built-in GPS, so that you’ll must lean in your cellphone’s GPS to trace outside train, and fortuitously the soundness of that connection appears to have improved. If you happen to don’t use that GPS assist then unsurprisingly, accuracy will not be nice. An 11km run was clocked at 9.24km with out a cellphone connection. For pool swims, it was 75 metres out on a 2,000 metre swim with common stroke charge and tempo having a noticeable disparity in comparison with that of a Garmin and the Kind Swim Goggles. When used throughout indoor rowing exercises, stroke counts and common stroke charges have been fairly related so I used to be pleased with the efficiency there. 

Coronary heart charge efficiency for regular paced exercises carried out surprisingly effectively and weren’t too far off a chest strap monitor, although it was additionally inconsistent for some indoor exercises. The nice match does imply that you would be able to get some good train HR information at occasions, which you’ll be able to’t say for lots of trackers at this value.

Smartwatch options and efficiency

• Music playback controls
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Makes use of Honor Well being app 

On the subject of options exterior of the monitoring expertise, issues are nonetheless largely the identical with the Honor Band 7. You’ve nonetheless bought a pleasant assortment of vibrant watch faces, although you may solely retailer a most of two faces at a time on the wearable itself.

You may swipe from that watch display screen to see your notifications, although some will solely allow you to merely learn components of the message like the topic line of an electronic mail obtained. 

You’ve bought helpful music playback controls, climate forecasts and options like a discover my cellphone mode, a torch, timers, a stopwatch and the power to set alarms.

Honor doesn’t discuss processors or the RAM the Band is packing, however I didn’t see any subject on the efficiency entrance. It’s not laggy when swiping by means of screens or launching modes, and attending to grips with what this tracker can do doesn’t take lengthy in any respect. It’s added Bluetooth 5.2 to enhance connectivity assist between your cellphone and the tracker, however I’m not satisfied that is the type of addition to essentially shout about, nor does it make a noticeable distinction throughout day-to-day use.

If you happen to like one thing that allows you to know that an electronic mail has landed otherwise you need an replace on a sports activities rating, and even merely a monitor and verify the climate, the Honor Band 7 does a superbly tremendous job of it. 

If you need one thing that may allow you to pay your means through NFC, provide you with apps and take music on the go, you’re going to need to pay more cash for a tracker or smartwatch that will provide you with these options.

Battery life 

• As much as 14-day battery life
• 10-days in heavy utilization
• Quick charging mode

Honor hasn’t budged from the battery numbers it promised on the Honor Band 6. You may anticipate as much as 14-days in typical utilization or 10-days in heavy use, which implies turning on options like steady well being monitoring and common train monitoring.

It’s no shock to search out the day by day drop-off is across the similar as its predecessor. I noticed a battery drop on common of round 10% and that was with common notifications firing over, some outside or indoor train monitoring and with steady coronary heart charge and SpO2 monitoring. That does equate to 10-days, which is what Honor guarantees right here.

When it does drop low, you get a fairly helpful quick charging mode that may get you again from 0-100% in underneath an hour. It’s the identical charging cable as effectively, which does allow that quick charging and securely locks in place through magnets on the again of the gadget.

So it’s nonetheless battery in health tracker phrases, however doesn’t supply any enhancements on its predecessor in the end.

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