More than just phones: here are Huawei’s smartwatch, earphones and smart glasses

Chinese smartphone maker Huawei announced its P30 lineup this week. But that’s not all — infomercial-like, Huawei surprised us with a few more products to look forward to.

Most notably, we saw the company show off smart glasses that function as a wearable virtual assistant, its Watch GT smartwatch range, wireless earphones, and a 12,000mAh power bank. Throw in a fetching jacket and you’ve got yourself a full outfit, courtesy of Huawei.

I spy Huawei’s Smart Eye

Huawei has partnered with Gentle Monster, a sunglasses brand, to launch its own series of smart eyewear. The drawcard? Huawei have built a voice-activated voice assistant into the bows of the glasses. They’re more like a Bluetooth headset or earphones, because they can be used to make or receive calls and even hear audio from your phone.

They are also IP67 dust and water resistant, which protects the dual mics and dual speakers inside the bows. The only things we’re missing? A name (unless Huawei X Gentle Monster Eyewear is a name) and pricing. They’re expected to turn up some time this June/July… which is the same window in which we’re expecting the foldable Mate X to arrive. 

Power me up, Scotty

Next up, something to make the South African community feel empowered — the Huawei 12000mAh 40W SuperCharge Power Bank. According to Huawei, it can charge the new Huawei P30 to 70% in under 30 minutes. Eh, that could be faster. 

Like most power banks, Huawei’s offering won’t only work within its ecosystem. The charger can be used to top up other Android devices, smartwatches, gaming devices, and even laptops due to its size. We expect that last bit is restricted to laptops that charge over USB-C, though. 

Not your buds

Huawei announced two ear-companions in the shape of wireless earphones and earbuds, called FreeLace neckbuds (that’s a word now) and FreeBuds, respectively. The FreeLace in-ears promise 18 hours worth of playback, while the FreeBuds will offer 12 hours of battery life. 

The FreeBuds have an IPX4 rating — good for the odd splash of water but not much more. The FreeLace neckbuds are connected by a cable that splits in two to reveal a USB-C plug. This can be used to quickly charge the earbuds — a five-minute charge gets you four hours of playback.

Watch this GT

The Watch GT only came to SA late last year, and Huawei just announced its follow-up range — the Watch GT Active and Elegant.

The Elegant Edition has a 42mm face and offers one week of battery life with heart tracking turned on. The Active Edition has a larger 46mm face and can last around two weeks before needing a charge. GPS, Glonass, Galileo are all on board for precise location tracking. Like its predecessors, these run on Huawei’s own Lite OS rather than Google’s Wear OS.

We cannot wait to get our hands on the P30 Pro with all its friends — especially after the P20 Pro blew us away in 2018. Watch this space for upcoming reviews on Huawei’s latest harvest. Or at least of the items that are coming to SA, that is.