Huawei Watch Buds: one minute evaluation
Huawei Watch Buds is a smartwatch that wishes to attraction to these individuals who by no means need to depart with out their smartwatch and actually wi-fi earbuds. As a substitute of searching for the place you left these buds mendacity round exterior your case, Huawei desires to maintain your case and buds the place you’ll be able to all the time discover them, in your wrist.
Enter the Watch Buds, which turn into considered one of Huawei’s most costly smartwatches that in alternate for greater than your cash provides you a watch operating on its HarmonyOS working system and contained in the watch case is a set of actually tiny earbuds wi-fi.
Do we want a smartwatch with earphones inside? Huawei undoubtedly thinks we do. Works? Surprisingly nicely is the reply to that query, however (and forgive us for sounding slightly dramatic) at what value? What compromises did Huawei must make to deliver the 2 wearables nearer collectively?
Whereas it really works nicely, that is clearly an early iteration of a novel concept. it is neither the very best smartwatch, nor the very best wi-fi earbuds, however a wonderfully common try at each. These compromises might put some individuals off shopping for the primary era model of this ingenious tackle the smartwatch.
| Part | Huawei Watch Buds |
|---|---|
| Worth | £449 / 499 |
| Dimensions | 47×47.5x15mm |
| Weight | 66.5 g (with out strap) |
| Case/bezel | Chrome steel |
| Display | 466×466px, 1.43 inch, AMOLED |
| GPS? | Sure, single band |
| Battery life | Three days |
| Connection | Bluetooth |
| Waterproof? | NO |
Huawei Watch Buds: value and availability
Huawei Watch Buds are out now (opens in a brand new tab) and is priced at £449 or €499. It at the moment has no official price ticket within the US and Australia, possible as a result of Huawei’s ongoing disputes with the US authorities.
That value means it is dearer than Huawei’s Watch GT 3 Professional, so these added earbuds come at a hefty further price.
Huawei Watch Buds: design and show
- The thickness of the watch case is just not overly thick
- It makes use of the identical AMOLED display screen because the Huawei Watch GT 3
- Decrease waterproof ranking as a result of lid design
At first look, the Huawei Watch Buds appear to be a really good (albeit fairly thick) smartwatch. It veers extra into the aspect of a conventional watch with a chrome steel case obtainable in black or silver and a 22mm leather-based strap that may be eliminated if you happen to’re not a fan of leather-based.
View the watch from the aspect and it is stunning how satisfactory the Watch Buds are for a full-sized smartwatch. It is undoubtedly thicker than different Huawei watches, however at 14.99mm thick, it is not an enormous beast that protrudes noticeably out of your wrist like, say, the Huawei Watch D. Huawei needed to make the case thicker. thick to accommodate these buds, nevertheless it’s a lot thinner than we anticipated.
Then we come to the “buds” half, which you’ll find by urgent a button on the entrance of the watch’s case, which then lifts like a lid to disclose a set of two small black earbuds. They’re little issues that include an array of small, medium, and enormous earphones. They magnetically snap into place contained in the case, which can also be the place the buds are charged. The lid design fortunately feels nicely made moderately than low cost and posed no drawback opening and shutting it throughout our assessments.
Because of housing these buds contained in the watch case, Huawei wanted to alter issues up on the sturdiness entrance, particularly how nicely it could possibly deal with water. In contrast to the 5 ATM safety used on most Huawei watches, the Watch Buds are solely rated IPX7 to guard in opposition to sweat and rain. The earphones are IPX4 rated, making them primarily appropriate for sweat. If you wish to take him swimming or within the bathe, do not.
This can be a actual draw back to the watch, as most of the greatest operating watches at this value level are utterly waterproof and will be taken browsing, swimming, showering, paddleboarding…mainly, anyplace you are taking your time. they are going to carry your adventures. The Watch Buds are usually not an adventurous health watch – the gimmick simply does not permit for that.
Elsewhere it is all a fairly acquainted story. There’s the identical colourful and vibrant 1.43-inch, 466 x 466 decision AMOLED display screen discovered on the Huawei Watch GT 3, and a crown-shaped button to supply a approach to bodily work together with the watch. The result’s a sexy smartwatch that does not present any apparent indicators that it is hiding some earphones.
Huawei Watch Buds: options
- Concord OS is gorgeous and easy
- The headset integration works nicely
- Household sports activities and health monitoring
For those who’ve used a Huawei Watch, utilizing the Watch Buds will really feel like a well-recognized expertise. It mainly makes use of the identical model of HarmonyOS because the Watch GT sequence with some options lacking in motion however not lacking a lot. There aren’t any temperature sensors, microphone or audio system, however by way of these final two issues that is the place the earphones come into play.
These earbuds and the best way they work together with the watch are general excellent. You might want to pair your watch along with your telephone if you wish to hear audio by way of your telephone, and so they can connect with different units as nicely. While you take them out, extra settings for the earphones open, providing an equalizer and consciousness modes and lively noise cancellation.
The earbuds are small and we had no hassle discovering a great match and after they’re inserted and audio is taking part in, they provide nice sound high quality for music and calls. There’s energy, bass, and there is a good degree of readability and element too. Huawei has launched some sensible sounding actually wi-fi earphones and these buds observe go well with.
Utilizing the Consciousness and Lively Noise Cancellation modes carry out nicely however not flawlessly, significantly on the ANC aspect, the place it actually is dependent upon getting a great measure of blocking out that exterior sound. You may discover earphones that may supply extra constant ANC efficiency, however in the suitable environments it performs nicely sufficient to make its inclusion worthwhile.
Whilst you can management the earbuds from the watch, you even have some management over and across the buds. You need to use a mix of tapping the buds on themselves or in particular areas across the ear to skip tracks, reply a name, or allow one of many ANC or Consciousness modes. For those who’re stationary, the responsiveness of these controls is excellent, as quickly as you introduce motion into the equation, issues get slightly extra sophisticated.
Exterior of these buds, that is each inch a Huawei smartwatch. You’ve got that highly effective suite of sports activities monitoring and exercise monitoring options. It does not get the dual-band GPS mode featured on the GT Runner to enhance out of doors monitoring accuracy, nevertheless it nonetheless will get good options like operating programs and wealthy sleep monitoring too. We discovered general sports activities monitoring to be good, though it does not look like the form of watch you’d need to spend prolonged durations exercising with until you’ve gotten a extra gym-friendly band. You additionally get Huawei’s newest optical coronary heart price sensor right here, which is actually higher suited to resting coronary heart price info than coronary heart price readings throughout train.
As a smartwatch, it handles notification assist nicely, significantly when paired with an Android smartphone, which additionally helps sending fast replies. You can even deliver music with you, however you will must add bought and downloaded recordsdata your self as an alternative of storing offline playlists from a third-party streaming service. You’ve got well-implemented music controls and talent to even add cost playing cards to make use of them to pay your means.
Including the buds into the combination does not negatively change using the Watch Buds as a watch, however it’s important to stay with out some options you will discover in Huawei’s cheaper smartwatch choices.
Huawei Watch Buds: battery life
- Much less battery than Huawei Watch GT sequence smartwatches
- Brief battery lifetime of 4 hours for the earphones
- The buds load rapidly contained in the case
Huawei has made nice strides with smartwatch battery life lately, however you will must stay with shorter battery life on the Watch Buds.
While you use each your watch and earphones recurrently, you should have as much as 3 days earlier than each have to be recharged. The watch half has the flexibility to run for 7 days in low energy mode, however which means turning off the charging of the earbuds each time you place them again within the case.
The earbuds promise as much as 4 hours of battery life or 2.5 hours of name dealing with when not utilizing lively noise cancellation. While you allow ANC, you’ll be able to count on 3 hours of music streaming and a pair of hours to make your calls.
We would say these battery quotes normally are proper on the cash, significantly when utilizing the buds and it every single day. Nonetheless, the earbuds’ battery life appears a contact beneficiant, particularly if you happen to’re utilizing them with ANC turned on and at increased volumes.
For the watch, there is a fairly commonplace white Huawei charging cradle that it’s important to drop it onto whereas the earbuds cost within the case which hogs the battery from the watch which is why you will see a extra extreme drop than different Huawei smartwatches . These buds load rapidly and you will get again to 100% in lower than an hour spent in that case.
- Battery life rating: 3.5/5
Huawei Watch Buds: purchase it if …
Huawei Watch Buds: do not buy it if …
Additionally think about
| Part | Huawei Watch Buds | Google Pixel watch | Huawei Watch GT3 Professional |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worth | £449 / €499 | $350 / £340 / AU$550 | £299 / €315 |
| Dimensions | 47×47.5x15mm | 41x41x12.3mm | 47x47x11mm |
| Weight | 66.5 g (with out strap) | 36g (with out strap) | 54 g (with out strap) |
| Case/bezel | Chrome steel | Chrome steel | Titanium (ceramic obtainable) |
| Display | 466×466px, 1.43 inch, AMOLED | 450 x 450 px, 1.2 inch, AMOLED | 466 x 466 px, 1.43 inch AMOLED |
| GPS? | Sure, single band | Twin-band GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo | Twin band GPS. beidou. GLONASS. Galileo, QZSS |
| Battery life | Three days | 24 hours | As much as 14 days |
| Connection | Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Bluetooth |
| Waterproof? | NO | Sure, 5 ATMs | Sure, 5 ATMs |
First revision March 2023
