Major tech trade show is heaven on earth for tech enthusiasts, but it can be a pretty brutal event for manufacturers. Why? If a brand launches something new, it’d make sure the company are all geared up in the marketing aspect, or else it risks being drown out by a whole other drool-worthy tech. Speaking of which, the Huawei Watch 2 was one of the many gadgets announced during the early part of this year’s MWC 2017 in Barcelona, but for some reasons, we feel that it is not getting the love it deserves. In any case, if you haven’t heard, yes, the 2-year-old Huawei Watch finally has a successor and it is called, well, Huawei Watch 2, naturally.
As far as look is concerned, Huawei’s second smartwatch does not disappoint (looks more like a real watch!) and while it does boast obvious enhancements in the tech department, the best news to come out of this latest version is, it can now be used independently of a smartphone, and you know what that means. It means it’s all out Dick Tracy from here on and out, texting and making calls without without the presence of a mobile. Fitness fanatics also has something to rejoice too cos’ the new Huawei Watch 2 is able to provide you with comprehensive data of your fitness routine – thanks to the use of multiple sensors with advanced algorithms.
Huawei Watch 2 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, clocking in at a healthy 1.1GHz, which boast features like always-on connectivity with low power usage, and more importantly, the ability to enable the wearable to cut ties with smartphones. Two models are offered: Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic, with the former geared towards less formal wear and the latter, more suited for formal wear. But hey, we are not setting up rules here, you free to wear the rad, Dynamic Orange plastic smart timepiece with a tuxe too. Its your choice.
Besides, whichever you choose, you’d be getting the same features including a 1.2-inch AMOLED circular touch display with 390 x 390 resolution (326ppi) and Corning Gorilla Glass, 768MB RAM, 4GB storage (actual available storage to user is about 2.3GB), an IP68 rated built to keep water and dust at bay, a 420 mAh battery good for 2 days usage (or 10 hours if used for fitness tracking), built-in independent GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth 4.1 LE+BR/EDR, WiFi 2.4GHz b/g/n, and GSM/WCDMA/TDS/CDMA2000/TDD-LTE/FDD-LTE (for 4G supported model).
This being an advanced smartwatch, it is, of course, loaded with a host of sensors, including heart rate sensor, capacitance sensor, ambient light, geomagnetic sensor, along with the usual garden variety. Finally, Huawei Watch 2 also gets both SIM and eSIM card support for the 4G model and it will be flaunting the latest Android for wearable, Android Wear 2.0. The difference between the standard issue and the Classic are the material used and the lug size. The standard issue is of mixed plastic construct and a lug size of 20 mm, while the Classic gets a 316L Stainless Steel (with bits of plastic here and there) and a larger 22 mm lug width.
Now, for the most exciting part of this article: availability and price. The Huawei Watch will be rolling out in more than 20 countries and regions starting this month (March), priced starting at €329 (around US$345).
Images courtesy of Huawei.
