Ultra only by name
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra has much to offer – with an attractive design , a sturdy frame , and impressive battery life-time , it appear to be an accomplished smartwatch on paper . However , despite its ‘ Ultra ’ moniker , it misses out on key functionality like third - party apps and mobile requital . If you ’re in the market for a furrowed but canonical smartwatch , this will serve ; however , if you desire something more various and truly ‘ Ultra ’ , look elsewhere .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
From the heady days of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Moto 360 over a X ago , the smartwatch market has reached maturity date . Driven in no modest part by the Apple Watch series , there ’s a innkeeper of options available at all price points , from activeness trackers to openhanded , heavy , furrowed endeavours that break up to do it all .
Honor , previously of Huawei , has made its mark with a mountain of products priced just below premium . Smartwatches have been a part of its intersection oblation for some year now , and the Watch 5 Ultra is its latest try at a high - destruction smartwatch .
As might be expected , it descend with all the mod cons , including a 1.5 - inch AMOLED video display , a titanium frame , einsteinium - SIM capability , a build - in speaker , more sensors than you could shake a prospicient stick at , and a battery life quoted as up to 15 days .
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One ponderous caveat to the above is that it does n’t descend with Wear operating system but blow Honor ’s proprietary MagicOS , which may have some inauspicious tradeoffs .
It ’s also bill as an ‘ Ultra ’ watch , a moniker with great significance . With a big name come bigger first moment . Is this really one of thebest smartwatches of 2025 ?
Design and Screen
There are two schools of smartwatch design : straightforward and circular . Put perhaps a small more articulately , some tend to a more squared - off profile , like the Apple Watch , while others have a totally circular watch face , like most of Samsung ’s offer .
The Honor determine 5 Ultra skews entirely towards the latter . Its watchface is entirely circular , and it also has a lovely tactile crown . But what ’s more , this is a big watch , hence the ‘ Ultra ’ nickname . With a passel of tech and a big battery wad inside , being genuinely lissome was a opulence too far .
Durability is the big direction here . The display is covered in Sapphire Glass – an industry - best stuff for avoiding cabbage and scrapes . The whole unit of measurement is constructed from the same titanium alloy as the Apple Watch Ultra 2 , delivering a low weight while still remain tough and dependable .
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It ’s rated IP68 for dust and piddle resistivity and up to five atmospheres of pressure , so you could also take it swimming .
At just over 50 g it was light , but its not unimportant presence think it was unmanageable to forget on the wrist . However , whether you find it well-off to wear will bet entirely on the sizing of your wrists .
It has a high-pitched profile , which means it does n’t pronto primed under shirt sleeve , and it clearly was n’t made with women in intellect . This is for men or those with chummy wrists , peculiarly those who work out or who regularly go outdoors . If you encounter those requirement , then it is indeed well-heeled , but it ’s recommended that you essay before you buy .
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As for the display , it ’s an organic light-emitting diode , and it ’s crisp enough that text remains easily legible and without any detectable jagged edges . At 1.5 inches it ’s big enough to display quite a lot of selective information , even if you wo n’t want to read War and Peace on it .
It coped very well with the bright winter Dominicus , stay well operational , and at night it got dim enough that it was n’t blind . There ’s plenty of saturation too , mean that with the veracious sentry present it really pops .
There ’s an always - on option , but as is always the case , that imply a relatively meaning hit to battery life .
Smart Features and Software
As is to be require with a advanced smartwatch , and especially one sporting the epithet ‘ Ultra ’ in its name , the Honor Watch 5 Ultra does its very salutary to provide as many feature as possible . It ’s a little inauspicious then that some of them look to be half - bake at the time of limited review .
For example , NFC is included with the lookout man but can not be used for payments . you may also dial and make calls with an eSIM , but again , this feature of speech was n’t available at the fourth dimension of the review .
A twist can only be judged on its current state rather than its potential future state , and it can from time to time feel like it involve a little more ‘ clip in the oven ’ .
That depression runs through the computer software to some extent , too . This is n’t Google ’s Wear OS but MagicOS , a custom operating system built by Honor . move proprietary has advantages and disadvantage , and achieving a balance is fundamental to success .
The primal disadvantage is the lack of access to third - company apps via Wear OS . On other twist , it ’s possible to download apps like Strava and Citymapper , but not with Honor ’s Watch 5 Ultra . but put , if Honor did n’t build it , you wo n’t find it here .
This also mean you wo n’t find oneself deeper integrations with the apps you like . So , if you find a WhatsApp message , you could see it but ca n’t respond to it on the watch .
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The main welfare of locking things down is nifty control over more granular areas of the gimmick , like which processes race in the scope , and that can have knock - on benefits for battery spirit .
The easy - to - use Honor Health app contend every part of the gimmick . Though the app be for iOS , compatibility was n’t possibleduring the testing period .
After testing on a Lenovo twist , I observe that the app run well for the most part . Once connected , you’re able to use it to configure presentment , update the machine , change watch confront , set alarms , modify telling options , and find the watch if you ’ve lost it .
It is n’t the most fully featured offer , and the unpaired bit of Mandarin text can be shake up when encountered .
Sleep and Health Tracking
As expected , the Honor Watch 5 Ultra comes with a host of health - trailing features , include an SpO2 reader , a heart rate monitoring machine , and a sleep tracker .
Heart rate trailing can be used in several dissimilar modes , including a one - tap ‘ Health Scan ’ or endlessly throughout the day . Overall , it proved to be accurate without the unearthly variances that can plague sleazy devices . The SpO2 meter is also a helpful inclusion , helping to measure ‘ strain ’ as delimit by Honor .
Sleep trailing happens automatically and ca n’t be triggered manually . Due to its bulk , I found it unmanageable to sleep with the watch on , but for those who do n’t have this issue , it will prove to be helpful . In the more circumscribed purpose I wield to achieve , it reported accurately across the Nox .
you could measure the timbre of your sleep , whether you have been sleep talking , or snoring . Quite how it proposes to measure the last two point in time is n’t clear specify , however it is beneficial regardless . Unlike some other watches , it can not mensurate for sleep apnea , which will make it less appealing to some .
So , while it does n’t have any pavilion , big health tracking feature , the Honor Watch 5 Ultra is quietly competent in the ways that calculate . For many , that will be enough .
Activity Tracking
Beyond tracking sleep and spirit pace , the Honor Watch 5 Ultra can also monitor and register your workouts , include keeping a ringlet on you through GPS . It kept a solid lock during multiple walks in the back of beyond , where mobile signal was not a guarantee .
Moreover , it has programmes included to monitor nearly every type of exercise known to mankind . Coupled with its general ruggedness , this is a lookout man that can go with you nearly anywhere .
I ’m admittedly not the most exercise - focussed mortal . My idea of a problematical challenge is a walk back from the supermarket with a hebdomad ’s shop . However , it made me far more aware of my stone’s throw and what calories I had burned .
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If you are a keen base runner or really anyone who exercises regularly , you ’ll be capable to get a batch out of it , though again , it has no marquee seaworthiness features .
Battery Life
With a 480mAh assault and battery and grand longevity claims , the Honor Watch 5 Ultra certainly place itself up as a equipment that can go the distance . And for the most part , I found that to be true .
To reach 15 days , you ’ll need to use this as just a plain lookout man , nothing more . With the full suite of tracking , the display always on and regular workouts , you ’ll want to recharge every few days or so – this does massively depend on what you ’re doing .
That ’s with the caveat that the battery life is good because of the proprietary OS , which limits what you may achieve with the gimmick .
So if you are glad to eschew feature for longer runtime , this will be an excellent match for you . But , if you want your watch to be truly fresh , you ’d well look elsewhere .
Should you buy it?
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a unequaled - await , rugged smartwatch that ’ll pass over all your health data with ease .
Lacking support for Wear OS , you wo n’t find Google Pay or third - party app documentation here .
Final Thoughts
There are many surplus terms in technical school ware names , but ‘ Ultra ’ still means something : no via media , everything included , the height of a product cable , a financial statement and showcase of aim and power .
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a pretty , tough smartwatch with unspoiled battery life that will fit well as a health tracker , but it does n’t reach the lofty heights of Samsung and Apple ’s ‘ radical ’ watches .
You ca n’t access third - party apps , you ca n’t make payments , and some features were MIA at the time of review . Moreover , the software can feel a little half - parched , with missed Mandarin translations in places .
The former is fix in stone and the latter will likely improve with metre , but at the bit , it does n’t quite find worth the € 279 asking price when the telling hybridOnePlus Watch 3only costs a little more .
If you are in the market for a stylish and ruffianly picket , want to track your health , and need good barrage fire liveliness , it is a great fit . However , if you require something that can maturate with you , has both Bell and whistles , and is truly rugged , then moderate out ourBest SmartwatchandBest Fitness Trackerguides .
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How we test
We thoroughly test every smartwatch we review . We expend industry - received testing to equate feature of speech properly and we use the spotter as our master twist over the recap period . We ’ll always tell you what we receive and we never , ever , admit money to review a mathematical product .
FAQs
No , it uses Honor ’s proprietary MagicOS software .
There is an NFC chipping , but it ’s unclear whether it ’ll ever be used for payments without Google Pay livelihood .
Full Specs
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