Huawei Announces Unique New Smartwatch With A Surprise Lurking Inside
For example, if you have a smartwatch, you know you can listen to music while you exercise. But you need headphones for that. Huawei's latest release, just announced and released on March 1st, means you don't have to worry if you forget your headphones.
That's because the Huawei Watch Buds, as the new watch is called, have a pair of earbuds inside. Yes, on the clock, that's right.
Compared to other smartwatches, the watch has a flip screen that isn't too deep from one screen to the other. It is fixed with a magnet and the first surprise when you open it is how thin the screen is. The second surprise is the content. On either side of the central compartment are two ports that house the battery and electronics.
And the ports have two small headphones. It's spherical in shape, but the earcups are really small, with rubber tips inside instead of gunpowder. They come in three sizes of ear tips, so you get decent sound isolation, although the largest ear tip may not fit particularly spacious ear holes.
The idea behind this remarkable innovation is that you'll never be without your headphones and can avoid losing them in your bag when you're done listening (since most of us don't bother putting AirPods on). for example) as they can be returned to the watch where they can be recharged.
Huawei didn't want to skimp on the watch or the headphones. The watch has a steel case and AMOLED display, and the magnetic clasp is designed to look like a pocket watch when opened, adding a nostalgic charm to the experience. The earbuds attach magnetically under the display, and the charging case is cleverly designed so you can place the earbuds in the watch at any angle and they'll keep charging. Oh, and while regular headphones are labeled left and right and have a different shape, the ones here are the same shape and reset every time you put them back on. In other words, even if you put the right earbud into the left slot, it will automatically switch audio channels when you take it out again.
Despite drawing its power from the watch, Huawei promises three days of use between charging the smartwatch. The power saving mode, in which the headphones do not charge and turn off, works for up to seven days.
The watch has heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking and blood oxygen saturation detection and more than 80 sports modes.
The headphones include active noise cancellation, Huawei says, and even adaptive ear canal technology, where a microphone listens to changes in ear volume and adjusts the output. You can also use them to make phone calls.
I mean, I still think it's all a bit crazy, but it's certainly innovative, and Huawei has tried to avoid compromise on any device.
The Huawei Watch Buds are available to pre-order today and cost $544 (£449.99). They are available from March 1.
