Huawei has launched more than a few notable smartwatches this year, but the Watch Buds, which has built-in earbuds, perfectly wraps up the year.
Huawei's new smartwatch, called the Huawei WatchBuds, wants to save users the stress of lugging around both a smartwatch and a pair of earbuds at the same time by combining the two devices into one. Huawei sells its smartwatches and earbuds under the 'Watch' and 'FreeBuds' monikers, and products from the two lines are sold in multiple regions across the globe, including North America but not in the U.S.
Huawei has released quite a few smartwatches and fitness trackers this year, like the fitness-focused Huawei Watch GT Runner and the Huawei Band 7, and the premium Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro. Huawei is also no stranger to introducing unique designs and features with its smartwatches, with watches like the Watch GT Cyber allowing users to not only easily swap out the straps but also replace the watch's shell to provide three distinct looks to make it suit any occasion.
Continuing the unique trend, the Huawei Watch Buds is a smartwatch that hides a pair of earbuds under its display. Flip the display open, and the light and small earbuds can be seen attached under it via magnets. The Huawei Watch Buds is understandably thicker than other smartwatches, even if the earbuds are compact and don't have stems like other Huawei earbuds. The smartwatch has a 47mm dial covered by 3D curved glass, is housed in a stainless steel case, and comes with leather straps. There is a digital crown on one side and a button below the display to access the earbuds. The Huawei Watch Buds smartwatch is available in two colors — Black and Khaki.
Huawei's smartwatch packs a 1.43-inch AMOLED display. There is a heart rate sensor for 24-hours heart rate monitoring, and it can also detect atrial fibrillation. It also has a blood oxygen sensor and support for stress monitoring and sleep tracking. The Huawei Watch Buds can track more than 80 different activities. However, it isn't waterproof, so it cannot be used for water-based exercises. There is built-in storage for offline playlists, NFC, and Bluetooth calls (via earbuds). Running Harmony OS 3.0, the watch has a battery life of 3 days and has support for wireless charging.
The earbuds can be accessed by pressing a textured button. These are shaped like bullets and have removable silicone tips for passive noise cancelation. Weighing about 4 grams per earbud, they also boast active noise cancelation and have a transparency mode. As a result of their compact design, the earbuds don't have touch controls, at least not on the device itself. Users can control playback or switch between noise-canceling modes by double-tapping or triple-tapping their ears. This is similar to the Wide Area Tap function, where users tap the area between the tragus and the lower jaw bone, found on the open-back Sony LinkBuds.
The pair of earbuds has dual microphones, AI noise reduction for clear calls, and pressure relief. They are rated IP54 for dust and water resistance and have a battery life of up to 4 hours on a single charge. All the official watch faces have a complication that shows the battery life of each earbud, so there is no need to whip out the phone to see how much battery is left. The Huawei Watch Buds works with devices running Harmony OS 2 and above, Android 7 and later, and iOS 9.0 and later. Available only in China, the Huawei Watch Buds is priced at ¥2998 (~$430). Huawei is yet to say if its latest smartwatch will get a global launch.
Source: Huawei
Habeeb has years of experience covering consumer technology and has written for multiple publications. As a Senior Writer at Screen Rant, he enjoys writing about wearables, smartphones, tablets, and Chromebooks. Several of his articles include guides and comparisons that help users get the best out of their devices or choose the one that bests suits them. When he’s not writing, he’s catching up on the latest TV shows. He considers The Crown as peak drama and Castlevania as one of the best game-to-screen adaptations. And on days when there is nothing to watch (is that even possible?), he sneaks in a few hours of games on his PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.