We recently reviewed the newly-launched Honor Band 5, and it has a lot to offer at an affordable price. It wasn't perfect though, neglecting to include a feature that it had the hardware for and forgetting key software features as well. The Sp02 sensor was present but not enabled outside of Chinese markets, and there was no way to control your currently playing music from your wrist. In an update, Honor has enabled both features.

Sp02 sensors are specifically used for monitoring blood oxygen levels during and after exercise, to make sure that enough oxygen is flowing to your muscles. Hemoglobin is a protein that carries oxygen and gives red blood cells their color. This is what the sp02 sensor specifically measures to calculate your oxygen levels. Anything above 90% is considered healthy, though obviously the Honor Band 5 doesn't qualify as a replacement for a medical device.

Both features really should have been there all along, as already mentioned, the Honor Band 5 in China had an Sp02 reader. As for music controls, that really only makes sense for any smart fitness band, as if you're exercising it can sometimes be difficult to access your phone to change music. At least both features are finally here, and you can play around with the Sp02 reader if you're interested. There's no way to view the results in the Huawei Health app yet, so you can only see what your blood oxygen level percentage is when you run the test - not after the fact. You also need to tighten the band and stay still for it to take measurements, so it's not likely to be something that can run every few minutes as the heart rate monitor can.

The update is beginning to roll out now, and you can download it through the Huawei Health app.