Honor Band Z1 review

To make full use of the Honor Band Z1 you're going to need to download the Huawei Wear app to your phone. This app can connect up to other services such as MyFitnessPal or Runtastic if you want it to.

Syncing the app with your phone is a simple process, and once it's done the app will keep you supplied with all the data you need.

When you open the app you'll see a simple graph showing the amount of steps you've done that day, calories burned and a graphic showing you how near to your goal you are. Scroll down and it shows all the different bouts of exercise you've done.

The app is simple to use, with all the information you need clearly and logically presented, and it's one of the best things about the Honor Band Z1.

Among other handy features you can see an overview of a single day or periods of several days, showing your peak times for exercise.

The Honor Band Z1 has broad compatibility, and will work with most smartphones as long as they're running Android 4.4.4 KitKat or above, or iOS 7.0 or above.

However there's no support here for Windows Phone/Windows 10 Mobile devices, and there's no word on whether Honor is looking to roll that out in the future.

Battery life is another highlight of the Honor Band Z1. The marketing information claimed three-day battery life and I was a little skeptical, expecting it to be closer to two days, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I consistently got a solid three days out of a full charge.

It was nice to not have to remember to put the Band Z1 on charge every night without fail – although I'd recommend a nightly top-up, as I sometimes forgot about charging it altogether, and ended up with a lifeless fitness tracker on my wrist for half a day.

Some days when I was exercising the battery didn't seem to drain any faster than on a low-activity day, and charging was surprisingly fast – it took no more than two hours on the Z1's dedicated pad.

Sadly you won't be able to use Qi charging here – you have to use the supplied Honor charging pad, which means it's going to be difficult to find a compatible charger when you've left yours at home.