HUAWEI WATCH D3: The simplest way to measure blood pressure

design and construction

The HUAWEI WATCH D series of watches are “losing weight” with each generation – by default, they become bulky due to the need to place an inflatable cuff under the strap to measure blood pressure, and they are gradually trying to reach the common size of smart watches. HUAWEI WATCH D3 basically does this.

The dimensions of the phone are 46.5×41×11.3 mm, which means the body is two millimeters thinner than the WATCH D2. WATCH D3 does not feel that big in the hand, and the strap has also become smaller – the large version is 9 grams lighter, and the small version is 6.5 grams lighter. The cuffs narrow; you won’t immediately notice it’s there.

Although there is no doubt that the connection of the watch to the hand is very complicated, the mechanism is a bit confusing and does not allow you to adjust the diameter directly on the hand, but you need to choose a “scale” that approximately suits you and try to put it on / take it off. This is all due to the need to hold the watch as tightly as possible on the hand without pinching the same cuff.

The strap is made of artificial leather (white and brown, like our case version) or fluoroelastomer – the black WATCH D3 is equipped with this strap. The set includes two straps – a larger one and a smaller one; this is also because you need to choose the cuff that works best for you.

This is an atypically shaped watch from Huawei – the company prefers round dials, but here we see a rectangular screen (although we can recall another “rectangular” series – WATCH FIT). It uses an AMOLED panel with a diagonal of 1.92 inches and a resolution of 480×408 pixels. In other words, despite the reduced size, the screen on the WATCH D3 is larger than the screen on the WATCH D2.

The case materials are pretty simple for a device like this – aluminum (frame), glass (screen) and plastic (back panel with sensors). At the same time, HUAWEI WATCH D3 does not feel cheap; there is no problem with the workmanship quality.

Functional

Functionally, there are no changes to the Huawei Watch compared to its predecessor. Although they have very compelling features, they cannot be called medical devices, but more importantly, they do not try to look like medical devices.

This is a mature wearable companion device – equipped with the familiar Harmony OS 7.0 operating system, such as the recently launched HUAWEI WATCH GT 7 Pro. With their help, you can control the player on your smartphone, receive notifications (and be able to respond to them), use them to release the shutter of your mobile camera, and much more. In addition to basic functions, you can also install other applications through the App Gallery store in the Huawei Health App. Among them, for example, there is the FlipUp app, where you can link your bank card – and then pay for your purchases via a contactless terminal (the watch has NFC).

The Huawei Health app itself is very familiar to all other Huawei watches – it’s mandatory (otherwise you won’t be able to connect the watch to your smartphone, so just launch it), it’s convenient, full-featured and works reliably.

The watch interface is also similar to that of the WATCH GT 7 Pro and many of its predecessors – the card screen here is only supplemented by the button pressure measurement function already on the main watch face. The rest is the usual “health ring”, standard body indicators and training modes.

That said, the HUAWEI WATCH D3 can be used not only (but not that much) to track your blood pressure, but as a device that allows you to fully monitor your health and help you with your training.

What’s unique about the HUAWEI Watch D3 is this tracking ability – not only the ability to plan your work to accomplish certain achievements based on steps taken and calories burned (called “activity circles”), but also the ability to measure your blood pressure while the device is doing it as planned, so you don’t have to keep it in your head.

The pressure measurement process itself is simple and convenient to organize. It is necessary to activate a special function and sit calmly for half a minute in a special posture (arms half bent, almost pressed to the chest). There are almost no glitches during the measurement and the accuracy is very high – not fundamentally different from a standard tonometer. Likewise, the sensation of measuring pressure is close to that obtained using a traditional tonometer. The cuff inflates, squeezes the hand, has a pulse – just not that much, and in a different position (on the wrist, whereas a blood pressure cuff should be worn on the forearm).

A general condition check may also be performed. When you activate it, you receive seven categories of data: pulse, skin temperature, stress level, blood oxygen level, stress and vascular status, divided into two indicators (calculated from the electrocardiogram).

HUAWEI WATCH D3 also has built-in speakers and microphones. You don’t need to take out your smartphone to answer the call.

Unfortunately, the pump and inflatable cuff limit the water resistance of this watch. This time there were no instructions for protection at all; in fact, you can’t swim in it or bathe in it, so be careful.

The capacity of the battery installed in the HUAWEI WATCH D3 is not yet known, but as with watches of this brand, there is no doubt about battery life – their charging capacity is not as good as that of older models, but under standard load you will not need to charge it more than once every 4-6 days (if you run for a few hours every day without turning on the GPS). Well, yes, you have to charge the device once a day when measuring pressure during the day.

in conclusion

The HUAWEI WATCH D3 appears to be just a cosmetic update of the previous model – the features are the same, but the watch has become thinner and the strap has become lighter and more compact. But the large case has always been a key problem for the WATCH D series watches, and the third generation partially solves this problem.