Huawei Watch GT2
- Huawei’s Watch GT first appeared in October 2018 and, by the looks of it, the company considered it was time for an upgrade. The smartwatch, which was developed under the code name ‘Latona’, with model number LTN-B19, has popped up in various government databases and a lot of people assumed they were actually looking at a new model featuring the Android Wear OS.
- However, that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least of these new leaked renders are anything to go by. The new watch builds on the original design but brings in a number of improvements: one of them is a larger screen with smaller bezels as well as a thinner and more compact frame.
- The battery however, is slightly larger, standing at 445mAh, so it will last longer than its predecessor’s. The watch also features an integrated GPS module as well as a microphone and a speaker, which means that now you’ll be able to call people directly from it.
- It will connect via Bluetooth but it’s unknown at this time if LTE will make an appearance.
- What we do know, at least judging by the images, is that we’ll have an optical heart rate monitor on it and a choice of two designs: one of them is an all-black variant with a rubber band while the other is a black and silver combination featuring a brown leather strap.
- The smartwatches look like they won’t run on Google’s Wear OS however but Huawei’s proprietary software.
- The Huawei Watch GT 2 will most likely follow in the footsteps of its older sibling and make an appearance in October but it’s not a long shot to assume that Huawei might introduce it during the IFA this week. We’ll keep an eye on it and tell you all about it if the company does.
Huawei
Watch GT release date and price
- There are two variants of the Huawei Watch GT that you need to know about, and Huawei calls them the Sport and the Classic.
- When it was first released, it was difficult to find the more expensive Classic version. It's now a lot easier to find, but in our experience, we’ve often found retailers don’t specifically refer to them by their Sport and Classic names. The way to tell which version you're looking at is the black body edition is the Sport variant, while the silver body is the Classic.
- Originally released in the UK in November 2018, the watch has an RRP of £199 for the Sport variant but we've often seen the price as low as £160. The Classic is meant to cost around £220, but again we've seen it on sale for around £40 less at £180.
- Those in the US will soon be able to buy the Huawei Watch GT too. It's on sale from February 19 this year and is set to cost $199.99 for the Sport edition. The Classic version is up for pre-order at $229.99.
- We currently don’t expect it to officially launch in Australia, although that may change with time and there are some third-party retailers where you can buy the watch. We've seen it on sale for around AU$320.
Design
and display
- This is a thin and light smartwatch with a full-color display, and we found it comfortable to wear throughout our time using it; we also had compliments on how the watch looked on our wrist.
- The design is similar to that of the Huawei Watch 2, although it is slimmer. It's 10.6mm thick, and that helps it to sit on your wrist comfortably, without weighing it down like some smartwatches can.
- There's a 1.39-inch AMOLED display, which we found to be bright and clear. All of your stats appear clearly on the display, and it’s easy to interact with the touchscreen. That clarity is likely down to the resolution of 454 x 454 pixels, which is higher than we’ve seen on a lot of other smartwatches.
- This is one of the best screens we’ve seen on a smartwatch, which is why it’s a bit of a shame there’s no Wear OS software on the watch to provide apps other than Huawei's default selection. But let’s keeping focusing on the design of the watch for now..
- There are two buttons on the right-hand side of the watch that enable you to navigate around its interface when you’re not using the touchscreen itself.
- The top button works to wake the watch and then take you back to the main menu, while the lower one is designed for you to set up your own shortcuts. This enables you to easily boot up your favorite apps without having to head into the main menu, which is useful if you’re often running with the watch.
