Huawei Band 9 vs Honor Band 9: We uncover their unique quirks
Huawei Band 9 and Honor Band 9 come from sister companies. Similar in name and the same in the numbering, we delve into how different they really are. Launched in March 2024, both fitness trackers offer decent options for those seeking robust health monitoring, long-lasting battery life, and smartwatch-like features without breaking the bank.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
This article pits them against each other to uncover their unique quirks. Get ready to discover if one of these two deserves a place on your wrist.
Key takeaways
The Huawei Band 9 and Honor Band 9 are remarkably similar fitness trackers with nearly identical features, battery life, and price, making the choice a matter of personal preference. If you favor a physical button and the potential for more precise motion tracking, the Huawei Band 9 is a great option. For those who prefer a slightly larger, higher-resolution screen and a more streamlined design, the Honor Band 9 is the way to go.
Jump to
Hardware
Technical specs
Features
Price
Bottom line
Huawei Band 9 vs Honor Band 9: Hardware
Look & feel
Both the Huawei Band 9 and Honor Band 9 embrace a similar rectangular look that feels instantly familiar on your wrist. With their hefty size, they straddle a fine line between fitness bands and smartwatches.
The duo is crafted from lightweight yet durable polymers, ensuring comfort even during the most intense workouts. However, where the Huawei Band 9 opts for a touch of sophistication with its glossy gilded bezel, the Honor Band 9 goes for a slightly more premium look with its NCVM metal texture coating and stylish aluminum alloy buckle. Despite subtle size differences, both bands will comfortably fit a wide range of wrists.
When it comes to navigation, the Huawei Band 9 offers the classic feel of a side button, providing satisfying tactile feedback. The Honor Band 9 takes a more modern approach, ditching physical buttons altogether. Which means you only have the touch-display with which to navigate the menus are start and end workouts. So that’s an important difference to note.
Display, colour options, water resistance
Beyond that the trackers boast vibrant AMOLED 2.5D displays, ensuring your stats and notifications pop with color. The Honor Band 9 edges slightly ahead with its larger 1.57-inch screen and higher resolution, promising a potentially crisper viewing experience than the Huawei Band 9’s 1.47-inch display. That’s because Honor’s device is slightly wider, hence it can accommodate a larger screen.
No need to worry about a rainy day or an intense swim session – both bands are ready for the elements with their 5 ATM water resistance. This means you can splash around worry-free, tracking your workouts even in the pool.
Finally, express your style with a range of color options! The Huawei Band 9 brings playful hues like Lemon Yellow, Light Pink, and Electric Blue alongside the classics. The Honor Band 9 expands the palette further with a vibrant Purple and another Blue option, letting you pick the perfect match for your personality.
Sensor technology
The Huawei Band 9 boasts a 9-axis IMU sensor, which includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer, offering detailed motion tracking and potentially more accurate fitness tracking capabilities. This is complemented by an optical heart rate sensor and an ambient light sensor. The Honor Band 9 is not very different. However, it simplifies its sensor suite to include an accelerometer, gyroscope, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), and heart rate sensors, focusing on essential fitness and health metrics without the inclusion of a magnetometer.
Both the Huawei Band 9 and Honor Band 9 rely on connected GPS, meaning they leverage your smartphone’s GPS for location tracking and lack built-in GPS. For connectivity, the Huawei Band 9 uses Bluetooth 5.0 and BLE, while the Honor Band 9 uses the slightly more advanced Bluetooth 5.3.
While the Huawei and Honor bands do offer NFC (Near Field Communication) for contactless payments in their home market of China, this feature isn’t supported globally. Neither device offers onboard music storage, though you’ll be able to control music playback on a connected smartphone (Android phones 9.0 and later for Honor Band 9).
Battery life
Boasting a 180 mAh battery, the Huawei Band 9 can keep going for up to 14 days on a single charge under typical usage, which includes continuous heart rate monitoring with TruSleep turned off. This impressive duration decreases to about 9 days with TruSleep activated during the night, and drops further to just 3 days if the Always On Display (AOD) feature is utilized. However, for users on the go, the Band 9 supports an efficient quick charging capability that provides up to two days of usage from just a five-minute charge.
The Honor Band 9 boasts a battery with an identical capacity. It also offers up to 14 days of usage under typical conditions and approximately 10 days under heavy use.
It is clear that both bands offer excellent battery performance, surpassing the endurance of many smartwatches. This is largely due to the lightweight operating systems they run on.
Huawei Band 9 vs Honor Band 9: Technical specs
Here’s a comprehensive tech specs comparison table for the Huawei Band 9 and Honor Band 9:
Feature | Huawei Band 9 | Honor Band 9 |
|---|---|---|
Release Date | Mar-24 | Mar-24 |
Case Material | Durable polymer materials, glossy gilded bezel | Durable polymer materials, NCVM metal texture coating process, TPU strap, Aluminium alloy buckle |
Number of Physical Buttons | One side button | 0 |
Shape | Rectangular | Rectangular |
Size | 43.45 x 24.86 x 8.99 mm | 43 x 27.88 x 9.49mm |
Display Type | AMOLED coloured 2.5D display | AMOLED coloured 2.5D display |
Resolution | 194 x 368 pixels | 256 x 402 pixels |
Screen Size | 1.47 inches | 1.57 inches, 60Hz refresh rate |
Weight (without strap) | 14 grams | 16.3 grams |
Sensors | 9-axis IMU sensor (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer), optical heart rate, ambient light sensor | Accelerometer, gyroscope, blood oxygen saturation, heart rate |
Water-Resistance | 5 ATM | 5 ATM |
Positioning | Connected GPS | Connected GPS |
Built-in Speaker | No | No |
Microphone | No | No |
NFC | China only | Yes (optional) |
Music Storage | No | No |
Connection | 2.4 GHz, BT 5.0 and BLE | Bluetooth 5.3 |
Cellular Connectivity | No | No |
Battery Type | 180 mAh | 180 mAh |
Battery Life | 14 days maximum usage, 9 days regular usage, 3 days when AOD is on | 14 days maximum usage, 10 days regular usage |
Operating System | Proprietary | Proprietary |
Colors | Lemon Yellow, Light Pink, Electric Blue, Sand White, and Stellar Black | Purple, Black, Blue |
Typical RRP | $60 | $60 |
Huawei Band 9 vs Honor Band 9: Features
As far as health and fitness tracking, there is hardly anything to separate these two. Both continuously monitor your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation levels, providing insights into your overall well-being. They are also equipped with in-depth sleep tracking capabilities, analyzing sleep stages to help you understand your patterns and optimize rest. For women, the trackers offer menstrual cycle tracking for a more personalized health experience.
When it comes to specific sports and fitness activities, the devices are well-equipped to handle a variety of exercise types. They can track workouts, runs, swimming sessions, and more, offering users insights into their performance and progress. The Honor Band 9’s slight edge is in its larger screen which makes viewing your data on the go easier. Both bands require connection to a smartphone for GPS tracking, which might be a drawback for runners and cyclists who prefer to leave their phones behind.
As mentioned, these are budget fitness bands. Hence they offer a basic, no frills fitness, health and sports tracking experience – covering all the basics.
Smartwatch-type features
Beyond core health and fitness tracking, these bands offer several smartwatch-like functionalities. Receive notifications for calls, messages, and other apps directly on your wrist, ensuring you never miss an important update. Control music playback on your connected smartphone for a seamless audio experience.
Huawei Band 9 vs Honor Band 9: Price
Thankfully, neither the Huawei Band 9 nor the Honor Band 9 will break the bank. These fitness trackers are positioned at a very competitive price point, typically around $60. This makes them excellent choices for those looking for a feature-rich fitness companion without wanting to splurge on the premium price tags often associated with full-fledged smartwatches. While regional pricing may vary slightly, you can expect a similarly affordable experience from both brands.
Huawei Band 9 vs Honor Band 9: Final thoughts
The Huawei Band 9 and Honor Band 9 are incredibly similar fitness trackers, making the decision between them a close call. They offer robust health & fitness monitoring, a vibrant display, long-lasting battery life, and a touch of smartwatch-like convenience, all in an affordable package. No difference in price, either.
Which means it boils down to subtle preferences and the ecosystem you prefer and phone you own:
- Buy the Huawei Band 9 if: You prefer the classic feel of a physical button, value slightly more comprehensive fitness tracking potential (thanks to the magnetometer), and like the touch of elegance from the glossy bezel.
- Buy the Honor Band 9 if: You want a sleek, buttonless design and appreciate a slightly larger and higher-resolution screen.
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