After debuting a premium-feeling smartwatch earlier this year, Honor is back to fill out its range
The Honor Watch 5 Pro has been officially unveiled in China, bringing high-end health features to a more affordable package than its flagship Watch 5 Ultra.
The all-new smartwatch delivers PPG-based blood pressure monitoring, an ECG feature, and a claimed 15-day battery life. It also features a 46mm stainless steel case and a large, 1.5-inch round AMOLED display that reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits.
At least in China, it debuts in both Bluetooth-only and LTE variants, with the latter still offering a claimed three days of battery life with the cellular connection always active.
The headline feature, though, is undoubtedly that inclusion of a blood pressure monitoring feature.
It’s important to note that this is a PPG-based sensor, similar to the one found on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, which means it will require periodic calibration with a traditional cuff.
Honor states that the feature is there to monitor trends, not to serve as a medical-grade diagnostic device, aligning with the position of most wearable makers.
An ECG joins this for detecting signs of atrial fibrillation, as well as the standard suite of heart rate and SpO2 sensors.
The Wareable view
This is another ambitious hardware push from Honor, cramming cutting-edge features into a competitively priced watch.
However, the key question remains the software. In our review of the Honor Watch 5 Ultra, our primary criticism was the proprietary OS’s inability to utilize the impressive hardware fully.
Like Huawei and Xiaomi smartwatch ecosystems (outside of China), it lacks the crucial app support and deep integrations of Wear OS.
The Watch 5 Pro appears to follow this same pattern. So, while the hardware is undeniably impressive on paper, its ultimate success will depend on whether the software experience can live up to its impressive specs.
