We’ve reviewed plenty of fitness wearables[1], but none of them have offered as many features for as low a price as this one. The Honor Band 3 is priced at Rs. 2,799[2] and offers continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, GPS-based run tracking, and even swim tracking. It even packs a tiny display to complete the package. On paper, it looks fantastic for fitness enthusiasts and those who just want to monitor their activity and sleep. We used it for a week to find out if it works as advertised or the overall offering is too good to be true.
The Honor Band 3 has a slim profile which means it doesn’t look like an alien hugging your wrist. The tracking unit is integrated into the band, not a capsule that pops out. You can wear it with your casual or formal attire and it won't stick out conspicuously - at least the black version. It's also available in orange and blue, but you can't swap bands so be sure to choose the one you like most. The band is pretty comfortable to wear with the exception of the clasp. Even though the clasp is plastic, it would dig into our forearm and leave small marks, even when it wasn't fully tightened.
There's one button below the screen to switch between the number of steps taken, distance moved, and other information. The display is pretty good in most conditions but we had trouble reading text under strong sunlight. The Honor Band 3 uses a proprietary clip-on charger and while it works just fine, we wish that all of these companies would agree upon a standard and use that. If you lose the clip-on charger, it’s going to be tough to...