Huawei Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: two budget fitness trackers with great value-for-money

Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: video display

Before the detailed comparison, let's know more about the two smart bands via the following video display.

	HUAWEI Honor 4 Bracelet - BLACK
	$51.29 $35.99	(429 reviews)

	HUAWEI Honor Band 3 Smartband - Black
	$40.64	(1162 reviews)

Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: design

Both smartbands look quite similar at the first glance. You get rectangular displays sitting atop unobtrusive rubberized bands. The designs on both fitness bands are rather simple and prompts simple operation as well. You can navigate both devices via their touch screens and the small white circles at the bottom of the screens serve as Back buttons.

Both smart fitness trackers are suitable for swimming and come with 5ATM water resistance, which means that you can pretty much take them diving. It also makes for varied everyday use as you can go swimming, jogging in the rain, etc. One thing to note, however, is that the company warns against exposing the fitness bands to hot water — which may be problematic unless you are a big fan of cold showers.

Screen-wise, the Honor band 4 comes with a 0.95-inch color display with 240x120 resolution compared to the 0.91-inch 128x32 monochrome OLED display on the Honor band 3. In fact, a color screen is one of the key upgrades the Honor band 4 has over its predecessor. The Honor band 4 comes with 3 distinct watch faces including one with some 3D graphics. It's interesting that the watch face you will start off with by default is not the best option for showing off the best of the display's capabilities — so we do suggest you take a look at all three to appreciate display upgrades. This screen is covered by toughened glass with 2.5D curved edges. One of the main highlights of the model's screen is the brightness: even when under strong sunlight, you get very good visibility (which is usually the weak point for budget devices).

Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: performance and sports tracking

Both fitness trackers do very well when it comes to monitoring your athletic performance.

Both devices come with dedicated heart rate monitors — so you will be able to keep an eye on your pulse before, throughout and after the workout. This will be a good indication of your overall well-being and will also help you make effective changes to your workouts overtime for better results.

The Honor band 3 is a simple fitness tracker — but you do get all the essentials for monitoring your workout. The fitness tracker comes with an accelerometer and gyroscope — so you will be able to easily track your runs, hikes, walks, etc.

Unfortunately, the tracker does not come with built-in GPS so you will not be able to create running routes or map out your hiking trails. But the tracker does feature an accurate pedometer so you will be getting accurate data on your step count — whether outdoors or on a treadmill at the gym.

The Honor Band 3 is also one of the few budget fitness trackers capable of tracking swimming, which is a really useful feature to have onboard.

You also get sleep tracking on the band via the feature that Huawei calls TruSleep. The sleep tracker will monitor your sleeping habits, analyze them and suggest changes to your sleep patterns. There is also a breathing score encouraging you to take control of your breath ensuring effective relaxation.

The Honor Band 4 comes with many of the same fitness tracking features — the key upgrades in performance are best seen in software and navigation. Thus, you do get a heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, pedometer and all the other basics. These add up to really good run tracking: you will see your distance, speed, calories burned and your heart rate. You will also be able to set up the tracker to give you a buzz after you've covered a certain distance. Just like with the Honor band 3, you are not getting a GPS tracker nor the ability to use your smartphone's connected GPS. You will also have the option of choosing between different workout modes: indoors, outdoors, free-form gym work, etc. All the acquired data goes to the the Huawei Health app for safekeeping and further analysis.

One of the strong points of the Honor Band 4 is the user experience. The tracker has several home screens that you can flick through to move between the band's main features.

Another highlight is the built-in NFC that is primarily used for payments via AliPay. You might think that this is something that can only come in handy in China, but with over 700 million users worldwide, AliPay payment options are popping up in airports and big shopping malls all over the world.

Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: battery life

When it comes to battery life, the Honor Band 3 is the longer-lasting band of the two: but that's because the band uses a black and white display and comes with fewer energy-demanding features.

Thus, with the Honor Band 3, the company promises a month of battery life in between charges. With the Honor Band 4, the offer is quite a bit more modest: the tracker lasts up to 17 days but that requires having some of its key advanced features turned off. With all the extras turned on, you get about 6 days of battery life with active use.

Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: specs

Finally, let's make a review about the main specs of the Huawei Honor band 4 and Honor band 4.

Honor band 4 vs. Honor band 3: the verdict

Both the Huawei Honor band 4 and the Honor band 3 do very well as budget fitness trackers. The Honor band 4 definitely comes with some nice improvements over the previous model — and you get the option of exploring AliPay. However, when all you need is basic workout tracking, the Honor band 3 has all your fitness needs covered.