What better thing to do than announce a few exciting new products during a developer conference? Well, that’s exactly what Huawei did with its 2020 Developer Conference this week. Along with announcing the work it’s been doing on its own OS, Huawei revealed new notebooks as well as two new smartwatches in the form of the Watch GT 2 Pro and the Watch Fit.
It’s been interesting to see how the two distinct subcategories of wearables: the smartwatch and the fitness tracker have started to morph into the same thing. All of ‘em essentially do everything smartwatches do and what fitness trackers do. It just comes down to style and needs. This is where both of Huawei’s new wearables look impressive.
Watch me GT 2 Pro
One of our all-time favourite smartwatches, by far, is the Watch GT 2. Now upgraded with a 1.39in super AMOLED display with near-to-no bezels around the sides, the design improves on what was already a good looking smartwatch.
This time you also get 4GB of storage, a 455mAh battery powering things and it runs on Huawei’s own Huawei LiteOS skin. It’s no secret that it can’t use Google WearOS, but in our experience Huawei’s wearable OS is easy to navigate and use, so don’t panic too much.
The Watch GT 2 Pro comes equipped with more than 100 different workout modes, including that can help sort out that golf swing, train you in your balance with skiing and even snowboarding. The watch also features improved tracking features when it comes to the tried and tested heart rate tracking, stress tracking, and even sleep and step tracking. But all of this will need to be tested by watch-wearing professionals like us.
One of the coolest updates, however, is the implementation of proper wireless charging on this one. The biggest gripe anyone can have with wearables and smartwatches, in general, is the need for a finicky proprietary charger. We couldn’t be happier to see that go.
Watch me Fit
On to the strange rectangular one — Huawei also announced a very Apple Watch-esque wearable called the Watch Fit. The form factor is probably something we’d need to get used to, as the display sizes in at 1.64in, is also an AMOLED touchscreen with a resolution of 456×280.
Like we said earlier — no matter the ‘style’ most of these devices to the exact same thing in terms of features. The Watch Fit has a heart-rate sensor, an accelerometer, an ambient light sensor, GPS and a barometer (just like its rounder sibling). In terms of activity tracking, you’ll get almost 100 sports modes, including walking, running, swimming, cycling, but not the strange extras you get on the round one. The watch also comes with support for sleep tracking, blood oxygen or SpO2 measurements and stress monitoring.
So basically, which one you choose will largely depend on the price (which we don’t have locally for these yet) and your style. If you’re still holding on to the analogue style, go for the round one. If you’re ready to push some gym fashion boundaries, check out the rectangular one.
