Gadgetory

with its first Android we're offering Huawei looks to put the smart back into SmartWatch in the fancy sense does it have what it takes to make a splash in a crowded market i'm michael fisher with pocket now and this is a pre-release hands-on with the Huawei watch now if you're familiar with this device there's a reason we played with it very briefly after its unveiling in Barcelona last spring but at that point it only ran demo software on non-final hardware today we get the opportunity to try it out in a much more finished State and there's a lot to like here that starts with a 42 millimeter casing built from 316l stainless steel rated to ip67 for water and dust resistance it's available in three finishes silver rose gold and dlc black and the bands are swappable as well they'll be offered for sale separately in both 21 millimeter and 18 millimeter sizes around back is the typical heart rate sensor qua way does say its fitness tracking capabilities are more accurate than its competitors but we're still waiting for details on exactly how upfront a two-layer sapphire crystal protects the 1.4 inch display like on earlier watches from LG and Samsung it's an AMOLED screen but it brings a pixel density 16% sharper than the LG watch urbane it resembles in person it's certainly a sharp display and a sharp watch for that matter Huawei seems to have tweaked its hardware since the spring is everything from the casing itself to the various band designs feels nicer more premium the company is positioning this as a device to appeal to watch lovers not just SmartWatch geeks and while it's a little thicker than I'd like it to be it absolutely gives the impression of being an expensive piece of kit it also comes loaded with over 40 watch faces out of the box with more available on the Android wear store of course and the AMOLED display means those watch faces can be left in ambient mode all the time and the watch will still last two days on a charge unlike some other wearables on the market it doesn't skimp on the packaging either the Huawei watch comes in a big beefy jewelry box worthy of something much higher end but you're going to have to shell out for that high-end experience the Huawei watch will be one of the most expensive Android wear devices around when it launches this month the stainless steel models start things off at 349 and 399 with the black Sport trim coming in at 449 and the gold editions scraping the ceiling around $800 now we've seen smartwatches as expensive as this before and it does align with huawei's focus on the mid to high end and its mobile products plus at first wearing the watch certainly seems to earn its price tag again it's quite a beautiful piece but for that kind of money it would have been nice to see a better thought out charging solution a magnetic disc is fine but Motorola bundles are really convenient pedestal with it's cheaper moto 360 more importantly underneath the Huawei watch is fancy casing is a pretty typical Android wear device and despite Huawei's assurances that the watch is built to last it's anyone's guess how well this Hardware will age when an if Google starts building more capabilities like NFC into the wear platform the Huawei watch will be available in the US starting September 17th with pre-orders opening an Amazon Best Buy the Google store and get Huawei comm on September 2nd we'll be given the Huawei watch a proper review shortly after release folks stay tuned for that and check out our other Android wear coverage both here on YouTube and at pocketnow.com till next time this has been michael fisher captain two phones on twitter thanks for watching we'll see you next time