It's almost end of the year and most of you might already be planning to set new goals, bring discipline in life and add fitness to the mix come 2019. Sadly, every year passes by and only so many people hit those running, exercising and dieting targets. If you're doing the same thing and expecting different results, you know it's not going to help, which is why change is necessary.
Tracking your fitness on a regular basis can be rewarding and could finally help you achieve your fitness goals. That said, the wearables space in India has grown significantly and you can see many people wearing fitness trackers and smartwatches these days. Xiaomi has captured the market well with its affordable range of fitness trackers but faces competition from Honor, which recently launched the Band 4.
Honor Band 4 is an affordable fitness tracker priced at Rs 2,599. Since the Mi Band 3 is so popular, does it make sense to switch brands while looking for an affordable fitness tracker in India? Let's find out.
Honor Band 4 comes with a bagful of features to help you track more than just your steps. In fact, if step count is all you're after, your smartphone with the right app can give you an approximate calculation. Honor Band 4 comes into the picture when you wish to look deeper into your health statistics such as sleep and heart rate pulse.
While we can argue on the accuracy of the Band 4's heart rate data, there's some good sleep tracking capability that is sure to help you in the long run. After having used the Band 4 over an extended period of time, there are a few things I'm thoroughly impressed with and few that I felt could be improved upon.
Firstly, the overall design of the Honor Band 4 is not screaming premium. It's a decent looking fitness tracker that comfortably sits on your wrist without causing any kind of irritation. Sometimes going minimalistic is the way forward and Honor does just that with Band 4. The band fits all sizes – thanks to the accommodating adjustment strap, which is sadly not changeable.
I received the blue coloured Band 4, but there are black and pink options as well. The display is common for all, and the best part of the tracker. The colour AMOLED panel measuring 0.95 inches covered with a 2.5 curved glass is visually appealing and responsive to touch. The 3-level brightness adjustments helped looking at the necessary data on the tracker with ease – be it under sunlight or in a dim room without straining my eyes.
If the Band 4 must be rated for its display, it compensates significantly for the otherwise blatant design. But don't just fall for the display here.
Honor Band 4 is just as good on the inside. There's some really smart sleep tracking, which tells you more than just how many hours you slept the previous night. The real-time sleep monitoring is something we haven't seen in this rate and it does so with great accuracy – at least as much as a fitness tracker can do.
Paired with Huawei Health app, Honor Band 4 will show you all the data it has tracked and the sleep statistics can be enlightening. It's important to get a good night's sleep and Band 4, with the help of Huawei's TruSleep, was able to tell me my deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep, awake times, breathing quality and naps with detailed accuracy. If the band detected lack of enough sleep, it suggested to stay away from electronics during bedtime – a practice I have been trying to get rid of for a while now.
Honor Band 4's deep sleep tracking capability is one of the bigger reasons to buy the tracker instead of its competition.
Honor Band 4 offers continuous heart rate monitoring, which can be turned off to extend battery life. In order to get accurate readings, I had to wear the band above the carpal bone, which is not the ideal spot for me to wear any wrist-wear but it is not discomforting as well. The band was able to show me readings, which I couldn't find of much use but could be of help who have a history of a heart condition. Don't expect it to be as accurate as your doctor's prescribed tests, but it certainly gives a rough estimate – that's enough to know when you need to see your physician. It's the most convenient way in this modern age and a way to justify Band 4's price tag.
Since fitness trackers are mostly used for running and tracking steps, Honor Band 4 won't disappoint. It has various modes such as to track indoor treadmill runs or outdoor marathons. It can even track swim strokes, but I didn't have the chance to test it during my review.
In addition to all the fitness tracking, Band 4 can show you important notifications such as from your WhatsApp, SMS and other apps. I could even disconnect calls without having to take out the phone, which was quite helpful during workout sessions.
Finally, the battery of the Band 4 depends complete on how you use it. With all notifications turned on, along with continuous heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking, I was able to get the tracker to last almost a week. Without heart rate and sleep tracking on at all times, the Band 4 easily exceeds 10 days. In 30 minutes, the tracker charges from 10-50 percent, but it took almost 2 hours to fully charge it.
For me, Honor Band 4 came as a complete package and easily one that deems recommendation when it comes to affordable wearables in the market. The non-removable strap was one of the major setbacks. But I also experienced issues while pairing the band to the app to get all the statistics on more than one occasion. Resetting the band helped, but it was an inconvenient way, and it would revert to the Chinese language. I'm assuming that's because the review unit I received was shipped to India before launch and the one on sale won't have that trouble. Even if it does, it's not something Honor can't fix with a software update.
At the end of the day, Honor Band 4 – like any other fitness tracker – will only take you so far. You have to do the heavy lifting and simply by slapping that tracker on your wrist isn't going to work the magic. How you use all that is tracked is completely up to you and make a strong will to achieve those fitness goals you've set for yourself – for yourself.
