Huawei Watch Ultimate review

Introduction

The Watch Ultimate arrived, claiming to be one of the best Huawei wearable but. It comes with a 100-meter water ranking, Exploration Mode for the outdoorsy sorts and an extremely sturdy construct.

We spent almost a month with a unit to check all its options, and listed here are our findings.

The Watch Ultimate arrives in just one dimension – 1.5″ or 48.5 mm in diagonal. It is priced near the Apple Watch Ultra and the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro, however its consumer expertise is not like these two, so it can cater to a distinct viewers.

Design and construct

Our unit got here in Voyage Blue coloration with a Titanium Strap. The physique is product of a zirconium-based liquid metallic case and a ceramic bezel, and the show has sapphire glass safety. We additionally bought two hydrogenated nitrile rubber bands in our field (one common and one other enabling totally different put on modes). The materials is designed to be extra sturdy and comfy than the fluoroelastomer straps on different smartwatches.

The Titanium Strap is definitely a looker and much more trendy, however the rubber is clearly much better fitted to out of doors actions and understanding.

The Watch Ultimate is an automated eye-grabber – first, due to its large dimension; and second, it seems to be nice and washes away the boundaries between a classy basic watch and a wise wearable. We did our greatest to check its sturdiness in all components – rain, mud, quick rivers, vibrant solar and loads of sweat – it took the beating and by no means confirmed any indicators of wear and tear.

Huawei put an LTPO AMOLED for the primary time on the Ultimate – it allows numerous refresh charges, reportedly happening to 1Hz in particular eventualities like AOD. Another first was the third button on the highest left aspect, which permits for even quicker entry to sure functionalities.

The prime proper button is a basic crown that rotates and scrolls; the underside acts as a pre-set characteristic shortcut and can be conductive for the ECG performance. The sensors on the again observe the center price and SpO2 ranges, enabling extra correct exercise logging and sleep monitoring.

Sadly, the Watch Ultimate has no mobile connectivity choice, which we remorse because it limits your choices of leaving your telephone at house when going for a run. The Watch solely helps Bluetooth connectivity, however no less than it has GPS and may retailer its data till the telephone is in vary.

Huawei designed the Watch Ultimate physique so it enhances the antenna sign to work in denser forests, more difficult mountain geography and concrete environments, supporting L1 and L5 satellites.

Software

Huawei launched the Watch Ultimate with HarmonyOS 3.0. We cherished that we might obtain some apps from AppGallery into the Huawei Health app after which ship them to the wearable.

We additionally bought to check the brand new Exploration Mode. The prime left button is an automated shortcut for the characteristic that permits you to get misplaced and discover your approach again solely with the markers set. As we talked about, Huawei claims wonderful accuracy with world positioning programs, and we did not have a difficulty coming again for lunch, following solely the markers we set.

That mentioned, we genuinely imagine the Watch Ultimate shouldn’t be the only real machine for experiencing the wilderness – at all times take a charged smartphone with you, loads of water and meals, and inform a pal the place you are going earlier than you accomplish that.

Another important characteristic is diving. The Watch GT 3 Pro was the primary watch marketed with such capabilities however was restricted to free diving, primarily finished in 10 meters depth at round 1 ATM. The Huawei Watch Ultimate goes quite a bit additional and is the primary good wearable to be licensed for 10 ATM or 100 meters depth. This is the organized scuba diving with neoprene wetsuits, flippers, air tanks on the again, and many others.

The contact display doesn’t work underwater, which means all three buttons have a chosen job when the Diving mode is turned on – mark a timestamp, change the display or carry up superior settings like setting air bottle capability.

Battery life

The Watch Ultimate, Huawei’s largest wearable ever, clearly comes with an ample battery. The cell capability is 530mAh, and we have been promised 14 days of battery life with typical utilization and eight days with heavy utilization.

First, we tried to go the nippiness approach – no notifications, no stress or blood oxygen assessments, only a fancy band that exhibits the time and appears good. We managed to get our two weeks, and we’ve to say we have been fairly impressed with that. Then we charged the wearable – Huawei promised 60 minutes from 0 to 100%, and we achieved it in 63 minutes, which isn’t dangerous in any respect.

Then we went into it with the heavy use – that meant one-hour exercise day by day, notifications turned on, all of the sensors turned on. It could not get us by means of the week – we needed to put the Watch Ultimate on the magnetic puck on Day 6 to cost it. We bought 64 minutes from 0 to 100% this time.

Trying all these items with AOD ought to’ve meant we get greater than half the interval like different Huawei Watch wearables – in spite of everything, the display was purported to be refreshing much less, thus saving the battery. The real-life AOD eventualities confirmed 7 days of battery life with common use and 4 days with energetic use. We recharged the machine one final time, and once more we bought a full cost in simply over 63 minutes.

Verdict

The Huawei Watch Ultimate is certainly one of the best wearable the corporate has ever produced, and this should not even be a dialogue. Yes, the Exploration Mode and the Scuba Diving options are cool, however the construct and the battery life make the machine stand out.

We already talked about some opponents firstly of this text, however every tries to attraction to a distinct crowd. The Apple Watch Ultra is a wearable for Apple customers – its battery life is laughable at finest, so it should not be in the identical dialogue as any Huawei Watch.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is barely an improve over its 2021 siblings. It is a look ahead to individuals who desire a extra minimalistic look; Huawei designed the Watch Ultimate to be much more imposing.

There are additionally extra professionally oriented watches from manufacturers like Suunto, Coros and Garmin. Still, they’re catering to particular sports activities, and it would not be honest to place them towards the Huawei machine for fans and amateurs (like our resident runner).

Let’s speak costs now that we all know who this machine is for and who is not. The Chinese launch in late March noticed astronomical costs between $900 and $1,000. In Europe, Huawei priced the Voyager Blue at €800 and the Expedition Black at €750.

Yes, it’s expensive however presents a novel characteristic set and endurance, so the worth is considerably justified. Then once more, Huawei has loads of cheaper wearables in its portfolio, so it’s a matter of the scale of the pockets.

If you have got an enormous chunk of money to spend on a wearable, the Huawei Watch Ultimate is a purchase order you’ll not remorse. Plus, the corporate throws loads of presents with each buy. For instance, the watch in Germany, France or Italy is bundled with free Freebuds 2 Pro, which value €170 alone, and that helps to melt the blow.