Honor Watch X5i Review: Is It Really Worth Rs. 8,999?

The affordable smartwatch market in Nepal is getting quite competitive these days. At around Rs. 8,000–11,000, there are already plenty of options, including the Realme Watch 5 and Watch 6 Active, along with watches from brands like Zeblaze, MWC, Ultima, and Amazfit.

So, when Honor launched the Watch X5i at NPR 8,999, I was curious to see what it had to offer. I’ve been using this watch for the past two weeks, testing everything from the display and smart features to health tracking, battery life, and other everyday features. After spending this much time with it, I have a pretty good idea of what I like about the watch and where I think it could have been better.

So, here’s my experience with the Honor Watch X5i and whether I think it’s worth buying for NPR 8,999.

Honor Watch X5i Specifications

• Design & build: 46.7 x 40.5 x 10.9 mm, glass front, polymer body, 28.1 grams, IP69-rated
• Display: 1.97-inch AMOLED touchscreen, 390 x 450-pixel resolution
• OS: RTOS
• Memory: 32–64 MB
• Health tracking: Heart rate, SpO₂, sleep, stress, and menstrual tracking
• Sports modes: 109
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.4, two-way calling
• Battery: 420mAh, up to 6 days with Always-On Display and up to 3 weeks with casual use
• Colors: Black and White

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Honor Watch X5i Review

Design: Apple Watch-like design

One of the first things I noticed about the Honor Watch X5i was how much it looks like an Apple Watch. It has the same square-shaped design, along with a crown and a button on the side. Personally, I like the overall look. 

For Rs. 8,999, I think Honor has done a good job with the design. The body is made of polymer, so it doesn’t feel as premium as a metal or aluminium smartwatch, but it also doesn’t feel that cheap in hand too. It also has an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, so I didn’t have to worry too much about rain or accidental splashes.

What I liked most was how light the watch felt. At just 28.1 grams, it was barely noticeable on my wrist, and I was comfortable wearing it even while sleeping. The strap also remained comfortable during long hours of use, and I didn’t experience the rashes I usually get from smartwatch straps. However, the locking mechanism could be better. Like the Realme Watch 5, it was sometimes difficult to secure properly when my hands were wet or sweaty.

Overall, I have no major complaints about the design. The X5i looks good, feels lightweight, and is comfortable to wear throughout the day.

Display

So, talking about the display, I really like it. The 1.97-inch AMOLED screen is huge, and I really like the extra screen space for checking notifications and navigating around the watch. The bezels are also quite thin and symmetrical, which makes the display look even better. Viewing angles are good too, with barely any color shift when I look at it from the side. I also like the flat design, and there are plenty of watch faces to choose from in the Honor Health app.

The main problem I had with the display was its smoothness. Even though it has a 60Hz refresh rate, scrolling through the menus didn’t feel that smooth. There was some noticeable jitter, and at times it felt more like I was using a 30Hz display. This was probably the most annoying part of using the watch. I also noticed that turning on the Always-On Display disables raise-to-wake, which I found a little odd.

Brightness is another area where I think Honor could have done better. The screen can be difficult to see under strong sunlight, and there’s no auto-brightness option, so you have to adjust it manually. 

Overall, I really like the big AMOLED display, but the sluggish scrolling and sunlight visibility are still things I think Honor could have done better.

Health and fitness tracking

• 24/7 health monitoring
• 109 sports modes
• Accelerometer sensor, Optical heart rate sensor

Health and fitness is one area where I feel a lot of budget smartwatches cut corners, so I was actually quite curious to see how the X5i would perform. I used it to track things like heart rate, SpO₂, sleep, and workouts. It also comes with 109 sports modes and can automatically detect walking and running. 

From my experience, the heart rate and SpO₂ readings were fairly accurate, although I noticed some differences in other tracking data.

No Built-in GPS

However, the biggest downside for me is the lack of built-in GPS. The X5i has to rely on your phone for GPS tracking, which isn’t as convenient for outdoor workouts. The Realme Watch 5, for a little extra, has built-in GPS, so I definitely missed having it on the X5i.

To see how well the X5i actually handled tracking, I decided to compare its data with the much more expensive Huawei Watch GT 6 Pro. I looked at things like steps, distance, GPS tracking, and workout data, and the results were quite interesting. Let’s go through them one by one.

Once I connected the watch to my phone, it used the phone’s location for GPS tracking. The tracking data was presented in a clean and easy-to-understand way, and compared with the GT 6 Pro, I found the overall results to be pretty close. The distance, average and maximum heart rate, and average pace were all quite similar, with only small differences between the two. So, for general health and fitness tracking, I’d say the X5i does a pretty good job.

That said, I did notice some inconsistencies with certain data. The step count and total walking distance were sometimes quite different compared with the GT 6 Pro, as you can see in the results below.

During the same walk, it missed a noticeable number of steps compared with the GT 6 Pro, and the total walking distance was also different. So, I think the X5i is fine if you just want a general idea of your daily activity, but I wouldn’t rely on it too much if you want more accurate tracking.

Sleep Tracking

I was actually quite impressed with the sleep tracking during my testing. The results were pretty close to what I got from the GT 6 Pro, especially when it came to my sleep and wake-up times. The deep and light sleep results were also quite similar, but I noticed that the Honor Watch showed more REM sleep compared with the GT 6 Pro.

Overall, I think the sleep tracking is good enough to give me a general idea of how I slept. The sleep and wake-up times were quite close, but I wouldn’t rely too much on the individual sleep-stage data.

App experience - Honor Health

I used the Honor Health app quite a bit during my testing, and honestly, it’s pretty easy to use. I could quickly check my daily activity, sleep, and workout data, and everything was laid out clearly. The app is also clean and simple, so I didn’t have to spend much time figuring things out.

I also found various workout courses in the app, which I really liked. There are options for beginners as well as more advanced users, and some workouts can also be customized depending on what I want to work on. I found courses for things like fat burning, body shaping, posture improvement, muscle gain, and different parts of the body. Overall, I liked the app and found it pretty useful.

Smart Features

• Bluetooth calling
• Notifications and but sadly "no quick replies"
• Weather, calendar, alarms, and reminders
• Music controls and speaker playback
• Calculator, timer, and stopwatch
• Voice recorder
• Find My Phone
• Games
• Remote camera shutter

For the smart features, we get most of the usual things we’d expect from a smartwatch. We get Bluetooth calling, notifications, weather, calendar, alarms, reminders, music controls, calculator, timer, stopwatch, voice recorder, Find My Phone, remote camera shutter, and even a few games. During my testing, the speaker was loud enough for calls in a quiet room, and most of the features worked fine.

However, there are a few things I didn’t like. The microphone quality wasn’t very good, even in a quiet place. I was also disappointed that there’s no quick reply option for notifications. Since we can already see notifications on the watch, I think being able to send a quick reply would have been useful.

We also don’t get many apps pre-installed, but we can download more from the app market. I don’t really see this as a big problem, though, since the watch doesn’t feel packed with unnecessary apps. Apart from that, the other smart features are pretty basic.

Battery

When it comes to battery life, I’d say it’s pretty good. During my testing, I was getting around seven days of use with AOD turned on, and it took only about 1.3 hours to fully charge. So, I didn’t really have to worry about charging it every day, which I really liked.

Conclusion

Overall, I think the Honor Watch X5i is a decent smartwatch for the price. I like the design, lightweight build, and especially the large AMOLED display. The health and fitness tracking is also good enough for general use, and the battery life is pretty solid. However, there are a few things that hold it back. The display sometimes feels more like 30Hz than 60Hz, there’s no built-in GPS, and the lack of quick replies is also a bit disappointing.

The bigger issue for me, though, is the competition. If you’re willing to spend around Rs. 1,000 - 2,000 more, the Realme Watch 5 gives you built-in GPS and, from my experience, more accurate and reliable tracking. The Redmi Watch 6 Active is also worth considering in this price range.

So, yeah, I think the Honor Watch X5i is a decent smartwatch, but it wouldn’t be my first choice at Rs. 8,999. If you mainly want a good-looking, lightweight smartwatch with a big AMOLED display for everyday use, the X5i is still worth considering. But if fitness tracking is more important to you and you want built-in GPS, I’d personally spend the extra money on the Realme Watch 5. For me, it’s the better overall choice.

Honor Watch X5i Pros and Cons