Given how young Android Wear is as a platform, it's not terribly surprising that a new "best" Wear device pops up every six months or so. But the Huawei Watch, announced way back in March at MWC in Spain, has all but stolen the proverbial show since it was first unveiled. Let's get the important parts out in front: pre-orders start today at GetHuawei.com, Google Store, Amazon.com and BestBuy.com, and ship beginning September 17th. The Huawei Watch will start at $349 for the stainless steel body and basic black leather strap and go up to $799 for the rose gold version with matching links.[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI4ZqEaoS6I[/EMBED_YT]We've now had a chance to spend more than a few moments with the device (that aren't early engineering units) off a tether, and Huawei's new product is probably the pinnacle of Wear device design and quality to date.
Side by side with two Watch Urbanes, the Huawei Watch's bezel looks tiny.
The circular 1.4" AMOLED display is large but lacks the bulky metal bezel of LG's Watch Urbane or the flat tire of Motorola's Moto 360. This allows you to have the uninterrupted, full circle of the Urbane, but a bezel that is much closer in profile to the upcoming 2nd gen Moto 360 - it really lets those digital watchfaces shine through. A display resolution of 400x400 also makes it the most pixel-dense Wear device yet (though not as dense as the Gear S2), so those faces are also sharper and crisper than previous devices. All in all, it adds up to a visual experience that is probably the pinnacle of Wear hardware to date. You know, for what that title is worth.
The body comes in three styles - stainless steel, black, and gold. The stainless is the base model, and you can have that with a leather band, a mesh loop, or steel links. The leather is the cheapest ($349), with the steel links and mesh loop adding a $50 premium ($399) for the standard polished stainless body. Moving up to the black version - only available with black links - you're looking at another $50 on top of that, at $449. The rose gold with alligator texture leather band is $699, and the rose gold with gold links is an eye-watering $799. I realize this isn't expensive for a watch, but for a smartwatch, there's no enhanced functionality there - it's the same watch in a different color with a different band. It will be interesting to see how many buyers Huawei can find for the rose gold versions with those MSRPs.
The versions you and I would probably be considering are the standard stainless and maybe the black. The black body adds analog tickmarks along the bezel, which I'm not a huge fan of, but it is coated in a highly durable black carbon finish that Huawei claims is extremely scratch/scuff-resistant, so it'll stay perfectly black as long as you don't actively abuse it. It's definitely quite striking, perhaps striking enough for Huawei to justify that $50 premium over the stainless model with links. The stainless body is perfectly attractive, and I actually quite like it with the mesh loop band - the links are a bit formal for my taste, and the leather seems slightly out of place. But those are personal opinions, and your mileage may vary.
The rose gold versions add some decorative stamping around the bezel, in a "coin-edge" pattern that, frankly, I'm not a fan of. Considering how sleek and "flat" the face of a smartwatch looks in ambient light, this texturing creates a busy look that draws attention to the comparatively flat, smooth display, which then further draws attention via contrast to the fact that it surrounds a screen, not a real watchface. When your goal is plainly to make a smartwatch that looks like a real watch, this seems potentially counterproductive.
All versions of the Huawei Watch feature a sapphire crystal glass display that should resist all but the most abusive scratching (i.e., don't take a hacksaw to it), though I've not seen many scratched-up smartwatches out there at this point. The metal body of the watch also extends fully around the case, instead of reverting to plastic on the back, something Huawei was keen to point out. Aside from adding a bit more "premium" feel, though, I'm not really sure what this accomplishes. The rose gold version also isn't shipping until later this year, suggesting it was a more recent development.
Speaking of the back, you'll find a pogo-pin charging interface that couples the watch to a small, disc-shaped charger via magnets. Unlike the LG G Watch R or Urbane, you don't have to center the Huawei Watch on the charger - there are no ridges or alignment points, and the magnets seem strong enough to simply snap it into place on their own. The charger itself is kind of a mixed bag - the USB cable is permanently attached to it, and that's almost definitely going to get some jeers from the internet at large. Huawei's logic is that without the cable attached, the puck portion would be too easy to misplace. I don't disagree with the basic premise there, though I also find the notion that these "pucks" cost any significant amount of money to produce quite silly. Just make spares cheap enough that we don't have to worry - that should be the real goal. That, or use wireless charging standards. Huawei's solution here does solve one problem (lost pucks), but it creates another (a failed cable means a failed puck). I'm not sure which is preferable.
Also on the back is a heart rate monitor, which Huawei claims is the best such monitor on any Wear device to date. We didn't receive any information or numbers to back up that statement, though, so I'm not even really sure what it really means.
Powering the watch is the same ultra-portable version of the Snapdragon 400 processor we've seen on most Wear devices to date, with the same 512MB of RAM and 4GB of built-in storage, using a 300mAh battery for power.
The straps slot in via a standard 22mm pin mechanism, so swapping bands is, in theory, quite easy. We didn't try it on the units at the preview event we shot these photos at, so I can't comment on how simple swaps are in reality. Huawei will supposedly make all the band styles available for standalone purchase, too, so you'll be able to mix and match (exact availability of all band styles is unknown). The bands, for the record, are black leather, steel links, steel mesh loop, black links, gold links, and brown (alligator pattern) leather.
The 45-degree offset of the main function button is a more ergonomic positioning according to Huawei, and I agree - it was definitely more natural in my experience. How much it really matters in the grand scheme, though, I'm not certain - I rarely find myself using the button on my Urbane, and I doubt changing the orientation would make me want to use it more, either.
We'll save further thoughts for our review, which you can expect in the next week or two.