Ultra only by name
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra has much to offer – with an attractive design, a sturdy build, and impressive battery life, it appears to be an accomplished smartwatch on paper. However, despite its ‘Ultra’ moniker, it misses out on key functionality like third-party apps and mobile payments. If you’re in the market for a rugged but basic smartwatch, this will suffice; however, if you desire something more versatile and truly ‘Ultra’, look elsewhere.
Attractive design
Seriously durable build
Long battery life
No Wear OS
Software feels half-baked
Squirrel Widget
Key Features
Sapphire Glass and Titanium constructionThe Honor Watch 5 Ultra is built to feel and look premium and boasts high-grade materials to boost durability.
Long battery lifeWith a 480mAh battery and a custom OS, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra promises up to 15 days of battery life.
Over 100 sports modesNo matter what your preferred sport is, chances are the Honor Watch 5 Ultra will be able to track it.
Introduction
From the heady days of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Moto 360 over a decade ago, the smartwatch market has reached maturity. Driven in no small part by the Apple Watch series, there’s a host of options available at all price points, from activity trackers to big, heavy, rugged endeavours that resolve to do it all.
Honor, previously of Huawei, has made its mark with a slew of products priced just below premium. Smartwatches have been a part of its product offering for some years now, and the Watch 5 Ultra is its latest attempt at a high-end smartwatch.
As might be expected, it comes with all the mod cons, including a 1.5-inch AMOLED display, a titanium frame, e-SIM capabilities, a built-in speaker, more sensors than you could shake a long stick at, and a battery life quoted as up to 15 days.
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One heavy caveat to the above is that it doesn’t come with Wear OS but boasts Honor’s proprietary MagicOS, which may have some unfortunate tradeoffs.
It’s also billed as an ‘Ultra’ watch, a moniker with great significance. With a big name come bigger expectations. Is this really one of the best smartwatches of 2025?
Design and Screen
Titanium construction
Sapphire glass display
1.5 inch OLED panel
There are two schools of smartwatch design: square and circular. Put perhaps a little more eloquently, some tend to a more squared-off profile, like the Apple Watch, while others have a totally circular watch face, like most of Samsung’s offerings.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
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The Honor Watch 5 Ultra skews entirely towards the latter. Its watchface is totally circular, and it also has a lovely tactile crown. But what’s more, this is a large watch, hence the ‘Ultra’ moniker. With a lot of tech and a big battery crammed inside, being truly svelte was a luxury too far.
Durability is the big focus here. The display is covered in Sapphire Glass – an industry-best material for avoiding scratches and scrapes. The whole unit is constructed from the same titanium alloy as the Apple Watch Ultra 2, delivering a lower weight while still remaining rugged and dependable.
It’s rated IP68 for dust and water resistance and up to five atmospheres of pressure, so you can also take it swimming.
At just over 50g it was light, but its not insignificant presence meant it was difficult to forget on the wrist. However, whether you find it comfortable to wear will depend entirely on the size of your wrists.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
It has a high profile, which means it doesn’t readily fit under shirt sleeves, and it clearly wasn’t made with women in mind. This is for men or those with thick wrists, especially those who work out or who regularly go outdoors. If you meet those prerequisites, then it is indeed comfortable, but it’s recommended that you try before you buy.
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As for the display, it’s an OLED, and it’s crisp enough that text remains easily legible and without any noticeable jagged edges. At 1.5 inches it’s big enough to display quite a lot of information, even if you won’t want to read War and Peace on it.
It coped very well with the bright winter sun, remaining easily usable, and at night it got dim enough that it wasn’t blinding. There’s plenty of saturation too, meaning that with the right watch face it really pops.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
There’s an always-on option, but as is always the case, that means a relatively significant hit to battery life.
Smart Features and Software
Runs a proprietary operating system
Only apps are the ones in-built
Companion app is a little half-baked
As is to be expected with a modern smartwatch, and especially one sporting the epithet ‘Ultra’ in its name, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra does its very best to offer as many features as possible. It’s a little unfortunate then that some of them appear to be half-baked at the time of review.
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For example, NFC is included with the watch but cannot be used for payments. You can also dial and make calls with an eSIM, but again, this feature wasn’t available at the time of the review.
A device can only be judged on its current state rather than its potential future state, and it can occasionally feel like it needs a little more ‘time in the oven’.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
That impression runs through the software to some extent, too. This isn’t Google’s Wear OS but MagicOS, a custom operating system built by Honor. Going proprietary has advantages and disadvantages, and achieving a balance is key to success.
The key disadvantage is the lack of access to third-party apps via Wear OS. On other devices, it’s possible to download apps like Strava and Citymapper, but not with Honor’s Watch 5 Ultra. Simply put, if Honor didn’t build it, you won’t find it here.
This also means you won’t find deeper integrations with the apps you like. So, if you receive a WhatsApp message, you can see it but can’t respond to it on the watch.
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The main benefit of locking things down is greater control over more granular areas of the device, like which processes run in the background, and that can have knock-on benefits for battery life.
The easy-to-use Honor Health app manages every part of the device. Though the app exists for iOS, compatibility wasn’t possibleduring the testing period.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
After testing on a Lenovo device, I found that the app worked well for the most part. Once connected, you can use it to configure notifications, update the device, change watch faces, set alarms, modify notification settings, and find the watch if you’ve lost it.
It isn’t the most fully featured offering, and the odd bit of Mandarin text can be jarring when encountered.
Sleep and Health Tracking
Offers an array of sensors
Can track Sp02
Can measure stress levels
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As expected, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra comes with a host of health-tracking features, including an SpO2 reader, a heart rate monitor, and a sleep tracker.
Heart rate tracking can be used in several different modes, including a one-tap ‘Health Scan’ or continuously throughout the day. Overall, it proved to be accurate without the weird variances that can plague cheaper devices. The SpO2 meter is also a helpful inclusion, helping to measure ‘Stress’ as defined by Honor.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Sleep tracking happens automatically and can’t be triggered manually. Due to its bulk, I found it difficult to sleep with the watch on, but for those who don’t have this issue, it will prove to be helpful. In the more limited use I managed to achieve, it reported accurately across the night.
You can measure the quality of your sleep, whether you have been sleep talking, or snoring. Quite how it proposes to measure the final two points isn’t clearly defined, however it is beneficial regardless. Unlike some other watches, it cannot measure for sleep apnea, which will make it less appealing to some.
So, while it doesn’t have any marquee, big health tracking features, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra is quietly competent in the ways that count. For many, that will be enough.
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Activity Tracking
Accurate GPS tracking
Over 100 sports modes
Beyond tracking sleep and heart rate, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra can also monitor and record your workouts, including keeping a lock on you through GPS. It kept a solid lock during multiple walks in the back of beyond, where mobile signal was not a guarantee.
Honor Watch 5 Ultra
Image Credit (Trusted Reviews)
Moreover, it has programmes included to monitor nearly every type of exercise known to mankind. Coupled with its general toughness, this is a watch that can go with you nearly anywhere.
I’m admittedly not the most exercise-focused person. My idea of a tough challenge is a walk back from the supermarket with a week’s shop. However, it made me far more aware of my steps and what calories I had burned.
If you are a keen runner or really anyone who exercises regularly, you’ll be able to get a lot out of it, though again, it has no marquee fitness features.
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Battery Life
Up to 15-day battery life
480mAh cell included
With a 480mAh battery and grand longevity claims, the Honor Watch 5 Ultra certainly sets itself up as a device that can go the distance. And for the most part, I found that to be true.
To reach 15 days, you’ll need to use this as just a plain watch, nothing more. With the full suite of tracking, the display always on and regular workouts, you’ll need to recharge every few days or so – this does massively depend on what you’re doing.
That’s with the caveat that the battery life is good because of the proprietary OS, which limits what you can achieve with the device.
So if you are happy to eschew features for longer runtime, this will be an excellent match for you. But, if you want your watch to be truly smart, you’d best look elsewhere.
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Should you buy it?
You want a good looking watch that excels with the basics
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a unique-looking, rugged smartwatch that’ll track all your health data with ease.
You want a fully featured smartwatch
Lacking support for Wear OS, you won’t find Google Pay or third-party app support here.
Final Thoughts
There are many redundant terms in tech product names, but ‘Ultra’ still means something: no compromise, everything included, the height of a product line, a statement and showcase of intent and ability.
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is a pretty, tough smartwatch with good battery life that will fit well as a health tracker, but it doesn’t reach the lofty heights of Samsung and Apple’s ‘ultra’ watches.
You can’t access third-party apps, you can’t make payments, and some features were MIA at the time of review. Moreover, the software can feel a little half-baked, with missed Mandarin translations in places.
The former is fixed in stone and the latter will likely improve with time, but at the moment, it doesn’t quite feel worth the €279 asking price when the impressive hybridOnePlus Watch 3 only costs a little more.
If you are in the market for a stylish and tough watch, want to track your health, and need good battery life, it is a great fit. However, if you want something that can grow with you, has both bells and whistles, and is truly rugged, then check out our Best Smartwatch and Best Fitness Tracker guides.
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How we test
We thoroughly test every smartwatch we review. We use industry-standard testing to compare features properly and we use the watch as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Worn as our main watch during the testing period
Thorough health and fitness tracking testing
FAQs
Does the Honor Watch 5 Ultra use Wear OS?
No, it uses Honor’s proprietary MagicOS software.
Can I make payments with the Honor Watch 5 Ultra?
There is an NFC chip, but it’s unclear whether it’ll ever be used for payments without Google Pay support.
Full Specs
|Honor Watch 5 Ultra Review|
|---|---|
|EU RRP|€279|
|Manufacturer|Honor|
|Screen Size|1.5 inches|
|IP rating|IP68|
|Waterproof|5ATM|
|Battery|480 mAh|
|Size (Dimensions)|46.2 x 11.1 x 46.2 MM|
|Weight|52 G|
|Operating System|Honor MagicOS|
|Release Date|2025|
|First Reviewed Date|06/03/2025|
|Colours|Black, Brown|
|GPS|No|