Huawei and Honor go their separate ways. So that’s it Honor Band 6 the last fitness bracelet that was created in cooperation with the former parent company. COMPUTER BILD tested the bracelet in May 2021. The verdict at the time: Even if the design and wearing comfort are convincing, the tracker measures the heart rate too imprecisely. But when the test was repeated in January 2022, things looked very different: the tape delivered consistent measurements, recognized walks and offered significantly more recording options for different sports!
Honor Band 6: The display has grown significantly
The Honor Band 6’s display has grown. But it stays black until you activate it.
The new design is good for service
The touchscreen and a button on the side of the case form the controls. The screen reacts fluidly to touch, the menus are clearly and intuitively structured: swiping up opens notifications, swiping down opens the quick menu, swiping leads through various displays, including heart rate, music remote control, stress level and weather, and pressing a button opens a list of factory-installed apps. Overall, the larger screen area makes it easier to use.
A button on the side complements the touchscreen.
The clasp is stable and easy to attach.
A heart sensor is placed on the back of the plastic case.
The manufacturer installs a few rudimentary apps on the bracelet.
Fitness functions in the test: finally solid!
The Honor Band 6 records the heart rate on. In the test in January 2022, it was correct when it was resting, in sport it only deviated slightly from the reference (around 4 percent) and thus achieved a satisfactory result. The sleep recorded the bracelet correctly in the test and noticed every waking phase. A comparison with other users or a breathing analysis is missing in the sleep analysis. Honor now has many via update training modes supplemented, so that many sports can be named, even if there are very few special functions. After all, the band recognizes the swimming style when swimming in the pool and counts the strokes. The band also recognizes workouts automatically. This works when running, walking, rowing and on the cross trainer. In the test in January 2022, this worked as promised. If you want to record the route during sports, you have to take your smartphone with you, because the cheap band lacks a GPS module. The recording by mobile phone worked reliably in the test.
stress, breathing and health
The manufacturer relies on “wellness” functions: the band conducts breathing exercises – essentially setting the pace of inhalation and exhalation. It appreciates the oxygen saturation in the blood, but not medically accurate, making the feature as useless as other manufacturers’ devices. New compared to Volume 5 is the stress analysis, for which Honor analyzes heart data. The calibration of the stress test works via the Huawei Health app on the smartphone (at Devices, Honor Band 6, Health, Automatic stress test). You answer a questionnaire that feels like an anamnesis for psychotherapy, including the question to what extent the user sees meaning in his life or whether he is easily irritated. In parallel to filling out the arc, the band measures the heart rate. The result is a level between 1 and 99. From then on, this value can be found on the bracelet.
The bracelet continuously measures the heart rate.
The Honor Band 6 is so smart
The Honor Band 6 reflects incoming Messages of the smartphone. It signals this by vibrating, unless you activate the do not disturb mode, which can be reached via the half-moon icon in the quick menu (swipe from top to bottom). However, there is no answer function. The band vibrates and lights up when calls are received on the mobile phone, and you can reject them from the band. This worked in the test with a paired Android phone. It also worked perfectly Music remote control: From the Honor Band 6, music playback on the paired Android phone can be turned up or down, paused and skipped to the next or previous track. The predecessor Honor Band 5 can already do this vibrating alarm clock including the sleep phase function remains on board, but in contrast to the Band 5, it can now be placed on the wristband display – thanks to the larger display. The tape shows that weather, has a stopwatch as well as one flashlight and a mobile phone search function. Apart from these basic functions, there is no expandability with apps, a payment function and a voice assistant.
The music playback of the mobile phone can be remotely controlled from the tape.
Home initially remains the Huawei Health app
The Honor Band 6 is still running the Huawei Health app, but that should change in the near future: the manufacturer is working on its own application.
Honor Band 6 battery life
The Honor Band 6 has good endurance despite the bright display. On the one hand, this is probably due to the fact that the screen does not show the time permanently, but only when the display is activated – by raising your arm or tapping it. On the other hand, the battery is properly equipped with 180 milliampere hours. In the test, it easily lasted a week with permanent heart rate measurement and activated sports recognition.
Honor Band 6: test conclusion
The dial shows some information, but tapping one of the icons does not take you to another menu.
Honor Band 6 vs Watch ES vs Huawei Watch Fit
- Design: Like the Huawei Band 6, the Honor Band 6 has a slimmer design than the Huawei Watch Fit and Honor Watch ES models, which look almost identical on the outside. The display of the Band 6 models measures 37 millimeters (mm) diagonally, while the other two watches come in at 41.6 mm.
- GPS sensors: The Huawei Watch Fit is the only model that has a GPS module for tracking routes without a smartphone.
- Music: Only the Honor Watch ES has a built-in music player, the others only remotely control music playback on the paired Android phone.
- Workout Guide: Honor Watch ES and Huawei Watch Fit guide fitness exercises. The Band 6 models do without this.
Similar: The Honor Watch ES (left) and Huawei Watch Fit (right) share some similarities with the Huawei Band 6 (middle) and Honor Band 6.
price and availability
The Honor Band 6 has been on the market in Germany since April 30, 2021. According to the recommended retail price, it costs EUR 49.90. The tracker itself is black, the supplied bracelet comes in black (“Meteorite Black”), pink (“Coral Pink”) or beige gray (“Sandstone Gray”).