Huawei has previewed the Huawei Watch Ultimate, a high-end watch with a new liquid metal case, dive computer features, and a claimed 14-day battery life, in advance of the device’s official release on April 3, 2023.
It appears like it will be deserving of a spot next to its major competitor, the Apple Watch Ultra, on our list of the best smartwatches. The watch’s appearance is reminiscent of a high-performance diving watch, and it features a large 1.5-inch AMOLED sapphire glass display that can produce up to 1,000 nits of brightness. This makes it easy to read even in low light (unless you’re using the watch’s new Dark Night Mode, which displays essential workout and navigation data while shielding the wearer’s eyes). It’s also great for use in the ocean.
By coincidence, Huawei is making a big deal out of the watch’s ability to function well underwater. The watch has apparently been tested to withstand depths of over 100 metres for up to 24 hours, and it has received certifications for use in diving similar to those given to the Apple Watch Ultra, such as the EN13319 standard for diving depth gauges and the ISO 22810 standard for water resistance. There are four distinct diving modes available to you when you go to the Diving Mode menu: recreational scuba, technical scuba, free diving, and gauge.
Huawei has designed a ‘liquid metal’ zirconium alloy case that is 2.5 times harder than titanium and less prone to corrosion so that the watch can resist the stresses it will face while submerged. With the addition of an ‘Ultimate Mode’ button to the normal Huawei digital crown and function buttons, the Watch is now much more user-friendly when wearing gloves.
You can assign any functions you like to the Ultimate Mode button, including access to special modes like Dive Mode and the brand-new Expedition Mode, perfect for exciting overground adventures. The Expedition Mode activates high-altitude health data like blood oxygen levels automatically and activates advanced dual-positioning GNSS satellite navigation and waypoints to ensure you don’t get lost.
It has standard sports profiles, health information such as continuous SpO2 analysis, and the newest version of Huawei’s TruSleep sleep tracking algorithm in addition to the specialised modes.
Huawei’s top-tier Watch, the Ultimate, will soon hit store shelves across Europe and the UK for a price that has yet to be determined. The ongoing conflict between Huawei and the United States government has delayed its introduction in the United States.
The Next Generation of Apple’s Watch
It appears to be a monster, the Huawei Watch Ultimate. Our initial thoughts and comprehensive review will be published soon, but for now, just know that it poses a serious threat to the Apple Watch Ultra’s position as the greatest smart diving watch currently available.
It has the same diving features and is built to work at high altitudes as the Ultra, thus the two are probably aimed at the same price range. The Ultimate Mode button functions similarly to the Ultra’s Action Button. And it shares a similar name.
Only the most dedicated divers will make full use of the Huawei Watch Ultimate’s dive mode functions, but its battery life is rumoured to be far longer than that of the Ultra. Like with the Apple Watch Ultra, we’re interested in hearing the opinions of professional scuba divers on this.
When our review unit arrives, we’ll compare it against the Apple Watch Ultra to see how well the GPS and health measures work. Nonetheless, it is fundamentally different in appearance from the Ultra. The Voyage Blue version of the watch comes with a titanium strap that makes it look like a high-end analogue diving watch, the kind of watch you’d get in a jewellery store rather than on Amazon.
It’s a stylish gadget, especially with the analogue-looking watch face, and more evidence that smartwatches will continue to take cues from analogue watches in terms of aesthetics. Even though it has three buttons, it nevertheless uses Huawei’s signature two-button design language, making it instantly recognisable to anyone who is already familiar with the Huawei GT series. Yet functionality is paramount, and the Apple Watch Ultra will leave the Ultimate in the dust if it can’t live up to its claims.
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