Huawei Watch GT hands-on

Huawei’s latest wearable really makes us wonder more about the future of Google’s Wear OS, given how the new wearable isn’t running Google’s smartwatch platform, but rather, an in-house developed “OS Lite” operating system. Acting more like its previous effort in the fitness-oriented Huawei Fit, the Huawei Watch GT certainly has an intriguing design from afar with its distinguishable and contemporary watch-like design, but the visual aesthetics are only superficial.

In terms of its stand outs, they include its classic design, 2-week battery life in full working mode, 1.39-inch AMOLED display, 316L stainless steel chassis, Huawei Truseen 3.0 heart rate technology, tri GPS system for enhanced accuracy, intelligent sleep quality monitor, health modes, and its support for Android and iOS devices. The battery life it’s rated for seems promising, which is attributed to the double chipset architecture and AI low-energy consumption algorithm that determines what modes the Huawei Watch GT will go into for the most efficient performance.

As we mentioned, the Huawei Watch GT has a favorable design due to the fact it looks more watch-like than a high-tech gadget on our hand. While the materials on paper sound fancy and premium, as well as looking quite the charming thing from afar, the Huawei Watch GT in reality just has this low-quality feel. It’s instantly noticeable when we first try it on, as the materials just don’t rub on us as being premium – especially with its underside, which is comprised of what appears to be plastic.

While the display looks good and sharp, we’re a bit apprehensive about the Huawei Watch GT’s experience because it’s limited to basic stuff – such as workout and sleep tracking. There are no plans for third party apps support, so its functionality is going to be fairly limited to what it can do out of the box. Worst yet, the stutter with its performance makes us a bit apprehensive, but it’s worth noting that the software running on the unit we tried was pre-production, meaning it might get better at a later time. Still, for those looking for a glorified fitness wearable, the Huawei Watch GT is promising in this area. Better yet, its battery life is extended over traditional smartwatches due to its limited functionality.

Pricing has yet to be revealed, but considering that it’s technically not a smartwatch, we’d imagine that anything more than $150 would make it a tough sell considering that older generation smartwatches, which offer more functionality, and sell for under the $200 mark at this point.