MobileTechTalk UPDATE: PRICING AND AVAILABILITY AVAILABLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.
Wearables! Well, watches, in particular, have been something Huawei has been trying for years. They started with wearOS (back when it was android Wear) then moved to their own lightweight OS called LiteOS and that was the Watch GT and GT2, now with the GT2 Pro, Huawei is taking some tricks from classic watch companies to stand out, and also it’s launching the Watch Fit, a tall rectangular watch with a pretty neat trick.
Starting with the showstopper, the headline grabber, the Huawei Watch GT2 Pro. what makes this watch so pro? Well, it’s almost entirely in external design and construction. The watch GT2 Pro takes some cues from the classic horology world and swaps out tempered glass for Sapphire crystal. Milled aluminium is swapped for titanium, and the plastic back is replaced with ceramic. These are all high-end watch materials designed to give an in hand (or, on the wrist, rather) feel that exudes luxury.
The Sapphire Crystal upfront is flat, not domed, not sure how I feel about this but it likely makes navigating a bit easier, as well as outdoor visibility. The ceramic back is stepped in order to still reliably measure heart rate, SpO2 and other things, but it also enables Qi Wireless charging, something not available on older watches, but will the stepped back make finding chargers hard? Hard to know just yet. Speaking of charging, 5 minutes of charging gives you 10 hours of use, now that’s snappy, but you won’t need to do it often as it still supports 2 weeks of use at a time, something I love about my current Watch GT2.
The rest is all software. The GT2 Pro (and likely older watches with an update) now support over 100 workouts for tracking, including new Golf and Skiing modes. They now have an internal barometer so if you’re hiking or mountain climbing and the pressure drops it’ll warn you to take it easy, this is neat.
Next up is the Huawei Watch Fit, this is different than what you’re used to seeing from Huawei. The Watch Fit is a tall rectangular screen, 1.64” diagonally. This is somewhat reminiscent of a tall Apple watch, but the watch Fit is a lot thinner and almost breathtakingly light at just 34g!. The Watch Fit runs the same OS as the GT, GT2, and GT2 Pro, LiteOS, except that it is been entirely reworked to work on a rectangular screen. So everything has had to be moved, altered or adjust to not look weird on a vertical screen on the watch, this also includes over 200 watch faces, all brand new and optimised for the screen on the Watch Fit, these will be interesting to see.
But the most interesting thing about the Watch Fit is that there will be 12 animated step by step fitness guides. Little animated fitness GIFs on your watch, no subscriptions, no phone needed, just there. Whether you need help with your swat form or press-ups or whatever else the 12 settings have. The Watch fit lasts for 10 days on a charge. A little short of the GT2 Pro, but it does have a much bigger screen to power and is a lot thinner to boot.
Just as with the laptops, price and availability are not yet known, but we will update this once we do know.
UPDATE: Huawei has announced pricing and availability for both of these products. starting with the WAtch Fit, this came in much cheaper than I was expecting at just €129 and will be available later this month (September). The Watch GT2 Pro Classic and sport versions will also be available later this month, but for €329 for the Sport and €349 for the Classic, more expensive than last year, but you are getting a lot more premium materials.
