While smartphone designs seem to stick to the basic, recognisable form factor of large black rectangle, smartwatch designs are ever-evolving. Probably until they find a shape that works, right? In 2020 we saw Huawei unveil the wonderfully compact Huawei Watch Fit. Now, it’s revealed the Huawei Band 6 that retains its small slab form factor.
Combine the comfy-looking fit with updated features like SpO2 monitoring, a slightly larger display and the kind of long battery life you can expect from Huawei, and you have a beast of a smartwatch on your wrist. Retailing from R1,700 (depending on the retailer), this is one of the more affordable fitness tracker/smartwatches available.
“Over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in people becoming invested in their personal health and well-being, which has led to a concurrent increase in the demand for smart wearables with health monitoring and fitness tracking capabilities,” says Justin Sun, general manager at Huawei Consumer Business Group.
“[The] HUAWEI Band 6… brings all the features seen on its smartwatch into the form factor and price of a smart band, making it more accessible to be a lot more than just a smart band.”
Brand the Band 6
The standout feature (it literally stands out slightly) is the large 1.47in AMOLED FullView Display. It features a decent screen-to-body ratio, something you don’t often see on wearables. And the AMOLED display will promise deeper blacks, making any colour on the display pop, even in direct sunlight.
Digging deeper into the health features, the Band 6 is packed with tech that allows for something called all-day SpO2 monitoring. It’ll scan the wearer’s blood oxygen levels at certain times throughout the day to compile a detailed report on the user’s overall blood health. If your blood oxygen level is low, the Band 6 will notify you to seek medical attention. It will even alert you if your resting heart rate is too high or too low.
Of course, all the usual internal bits are present — expect a high-efficiency chipset (Huawei’s words), up to 14-day battery life (this one we can believe) and fast charging via the supplied magnetic rocker.
The Huawei Band 6 is available for preorder on the Huawei online store, and some additional retailers. You should be able to find ‘em on shelves from 18 June, and they’ll come in Graphite Black and Sakura Pink colour options.