Huawei intends to launch a new-generation running watch, though the company hasn’t quite said what it will entail. The information about the watch, the first since the unveiling of its Watch GT Runner in 2021, comes via an announcement that the Chinese entity has partnered up with marathon runner Eliud Kipchoge and the dsm-firmenich Running Team.
It’s mentioned almost as an aside, which you’d expect from a release talking about human people. Huawei is “set to unveil a cutting-edge professional running watch,” its first in five years. While the company is vague, it’s also looking to impress anyone in the market for a new running watch.
Huawei going far?
We’ve stripped out most of the PR-speak from the company’s flowery assertions about the still-unannounced device, and this is what it claimed: It’ll use Huawei’s latest TruSense tracking, plus the company’s Sunflower global positioning system. This’ll allow more accurate tracking across the board (“represents a quantum leap in positioning accuracy,” is how the company describes its GPS upgrade).
It apparently features 97% tracking accuracy when estimating race completion times. That’s easy to do towards the end of a race, less simple in the opening minutes where the jostling happens.
It seems that it won’t be targeted only at high-end runners, for all the input runners like Kipchoge and Joshua Cheptegei are supposed to have contributed. This running wearable intends to “[bridge] the gap between high-end functionality and user-friendly design.” It sounds, more or less, like Huawei’s current fitness software with more of a running focus. That shouldn’t be hard to do — the company recently went all-in on golf. Pounding the pavement is a far cheaper activity. That means more potential buyers.
Beyond its existence, the Chinese company’s plans for the unnamed running watch are a total mystery. At a guess, we’d say that it’ll fall under the Watch GT category. As for an announcement, price, or launch date? All unknown, for now. But as soon as the invites go out, we’ll let you know.
