Huawei Watch review

When Huawei originally announced its first smartwatch back in March, it was one of the few smartwatches at the time that had a truly circular display, making it one to watch (pardon the pun) over the then 1st Gen Moto 360. However, a lot's changed in eight months, as we now have the Samsung Gear S2 and the Pebble Time Round, leaving the Huawei Watch decidedly feeling less special now that it's finally available to buy.

However, there's no denying that the Huawei Watch is still one of the best looking smartwatches around, as its display is housed inside a cold-forged stainless steel bezel, giving it that premium look and design. The display is fully circular, unlike the 2nd Gen Moto 360 which has a section sliced out of the bottom, giving it a 'flat tyre' appearance. It's also the first Android Wear smartwatch to use sapphire crystal glass for its main watch face, making it highly resistant to accidental scratches. Huawei says it's also resistant to corrosion and has IP67 rated dust and waterproofing, so it won't break if you get caught in a rain shower.

At 11.3mm thick and 42mm wide, it's still quite sizable as far as smartwatches go, but it's no bigger than the 2nd Gen Moto 360, and it didn't get caught on my coat and cardigan sleeves nearly half as much as the Vector Luna I wore earlier in the year. However, despite Huawei professing that it's been designed with both men and women in mind, it's still a bit too bulky for my liking, and I think it's still clearly a smartwatch that's aimed at those with larger, more manly wrists than someone like me who has thin, tiny wrists.

My review sample came with the basic leather strap, which is very comfy to wear, but it did start to crinkle quite quickly after just a few days use. Those after something a bit more durable can pick from a metal link or mesh band instead. These start at £329 and are available with both a black and silver watch bezel, although the black models will cost you an extra £40 over their silver counterparts. Fortunately, you're not tied to the strap you buy out of the box, as you can swap it out for any strap you like that has a standard 18mm lug.

Whichever model you choose, the 1.4in, 400x400 AMOLED display looks great. With rich colours, excellent contrast and a pixel density of 286ppi, each watch face is beautifully detailed and Android Wear's app notification cards look lovely and sharp. That's largelt in line with the Gear S2's slight-higher pixel density of 302ppi, but it's miles in front of the 2nd Gen Moto 360 and LG G Watch R, which only have pixel densities of 205ppi and 247ppi respectively.

The screen is also more than bright enough to view outside clearly, but if it's particularly sunny you can always enable the brightness boost setting by swiping left from the main drop down menu. The only slight problem I have with the screen is that there's no auto-brightness to match darker lighting conditions. I've had numerous notifications come through during the night, for example, and it's been shining on my desk like a glowing beacon.

Despite this, battery life is excellent, as I just about managed a full two days of use from it on a single charge, giving it more longevity than the 2nd Gen Moto 360. The Huawei Watch is quick to charge, too, taking roughly 75 minutes in total on its bundled wireless charging dock, making it easy to top up during the day if you need a bit more juice to get you home. You can also double-tap the crown button to put the watch into sleep mode to help improve battery life, as this won't turn the screen on every time you move your wrist. To wake the screen, all you need to do is press the button again.

Of course, much like every other Android Wear watch, the Huawei Watch can display notifications from your phone in addition to telling the time, and, since it's running the latest version of Google's smartwatch OS, it works with both Android and iOS devices. It pairs with your phone over Bluetooth, and there's also Wi-Fi support so you can still pick up notifications when you're out of Bluetooth range from your phone. 

With 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage on board, Android Wear feels very smooth and responsive, and apps such as Google Maps only took a few seconds to load. This is great when you don't want to fish out your phone on the way to a restaurant or meeting, and other apps such as CityMapper even give you a screen by screen breakdown of how to get home or go to work.

However, other non-Google apps can be a bit hit and miss, in terms of how practical they are when viewed on your wrist. Outlook notifications, for example, only show the sender and one or two words from the subject line of the email, which you can then archive, reply to (despite having no way of knowing what's inside the email before opening a reply window on your phone) or simply open like normal on your phone by swiping through the different card options. Gmail, on the other hand, gives you a small preview of the email in question and adds the option to delete it as well, making it much more practical than Outlook. Admittedly, this is more an issue with Android Wear than the watch, but if you rely on non-Google services it's worth checking how well they work before buying.

Conclusion

Android Wear isn't perfect then, but if you want a smartwatch and use an Android handset then it's still the logical choice. The Huawei Watch certainly has the looks and the battery life to give it an edge over its Wear-based rivals. However, with prices starting at £289, the Huawei Watch is at least £60 more than the 2nd Gen Moto 360. This might be worth it if you're after a day's more battery life, but those looking to save some money are better off choosing the 2nd Gen Moto 360.