---[ EDIT Aug 20 ]---
I've had this watch for nearly a month now, and I've added +1 star to bring it up to 5 stars.
This watch is absolutely awesome. I love it. It looks great, feels great, works great all around. Battery live is about 1.5 days but that doesn't matter as I charge it nightly.
I bought 4 bands for this thus far: 3 silicone bands + 1 link metal one ("classic buckle stainless steel") and they are all easy to put on / remove.
What I like about the watch is that it's discrete - it doesn't look like a smart watch. It has a classic look to it, it's not too fat or bulky, an wears nicely with all types of attire.
Overall, about a month into it, it's a great watch and I am enjoying it more today than I did when I first got it.
----[ ORIGINAL written July 30 - original rating: 4 stars ]-----
This if my first smartwatch and I am happy that I selected the Huawei Watch.
It came down to this vs. the Moto 360 and the reviews for both really helped. A lot of people complained about the flat tire of the Moto, and web reviews (not here) complained about the lack of auto brightness on the Huawei watch. To be honest I almost cancelled this order b/c of the concern over Huawei not having auto brightness. I am glad I did not.
Auto-Brightness
I do admit it's not awesome that it doesn't adjust automatically. If it's bright out and you can't see the watch b/c it's too dark, then it's a bit of fumbling to get to the setting to adjust. That said, it's also not terrible.
Unboxing + feel:
The package it arrives in is beautiful. The watch itself is beautiful and feels premium. It's kind of thick but not a big deal, doesn't look weird, and isn't heavy.
The leather band it comes with feels premium and is soft. Even so I bought a silicon band to try out. It's super easy to swap out straps. I've got a few more straps on the way.
Battery:
Battery life is ok. Most people say they get 2 days, I've gotten 1+ days thus far. This is with wi-fi disabled and watch face NOT always on.
This is b/c I am a heavy user - my job is sales and one "reason I needed this" is b/c I wanted to make sure to get flagged on incoming texts, calendar reminders, and phone calls. I often turn off the sound of my phone and then forget I did that. Having a watch vibrate on your wrist makes sure I am not missing any calls. This is also important b/c when out with friends or whatever, my wife often calls and I missed her calls. Not anymore. I can keep my phone in a pocket or in my bag and know when she's trying to reach me.
Notifications:
Others said the vibrations weren't strong enough. I think they are fine for my purposes. But there are apps to help amplify those if you need.
Apps and Use:
Voice recognition works very well. It's easy to set reminders, send texts etc.
As you can imagine, on screen typing is tough. It took me a bit to understand how to use FlickKey which seems like a popular keyboard. Just expect it to be super slow. That's why apps like Wear Messenger are cool with their "lighting responses" - canned texts you can pick from. So a smartwatch is good for a quick message but not ideal for lengthy texting.
Having access to almost infinite watch faces is also pretty awesome. I'm using Facer and have a cool orange face.
There are a few launchers available for Android Wear but none of them rocked my world. The most popular one (I forget what it's called) asks for crazy permissions. I posted on Google Play about it and the developer responded with something like "we need those for future features and we protect your privacy". They want access to sensors data, heart rate, all of everything. It's crazy. So I didn't bother installing.
The other launchers are "meh".
I didn't give this 5 stars b/c (a) it's only been 5 days so there's still plenty of time for things to go south (which I don't expect) and (b) really because of Android Wear ecosystem. It will get better and for some does have use cases.
Lastly it's a fun gadget / toy.
But now I'm curious about the other smart watches... So this might be the start of an expensive hobby, collecting smartwatches!
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This Item  Huawei 55020533 Watch Stainless Steel with Black Suture Leather Strap (U.S. Warranty) | Recommendations  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | — | $275.00 | $248.00 | $329.00 | -15% $169.99 List: $199.99 | $865.58 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Monday, Dec 2 | Get it as soon as Monday, Dec 9 | Get it as soon as Wednesday, Dec 4 | Get it as soon as Monday, Dec 2 | Get it Dec 2 - 4 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Sold By | — | ExchangeSpring | Rhombeus | Rhombeus | Amor Tech | trippodoshop |
| size | — | 46mm | — | 46 mm | GTR 4 | — |
| operating system | android, ios | HarmonyOS | HMS | HarmonyOS | Zepp OS | Android,Ios |
| display size | — | 1.43 inches | 1.32 inches | 1.43 inches | 1.43 inches | 1.5 inches |
| connectivity tech | Bluetooth | Wi-Fi | USB, Bluetooth | Bluetooth | Bluetooth, Wireless | Bluetooth |
| supported applications | Time Display, Phone, Social Media, text messaging, Heart Rate Monitor, Pedometer, distance tracking, Music Player, Calendar, Email | GPS | GPS, Heart Rate Monitor | GPS, Heart Rate Monitor | Music Player, Voice Control, Fitness Tracker, Phone, Social Media | GPS |
| input interface | touch screen | buttons, touch screen, microphone | touch screen, buttons | touch screen | touch screen | buttons, touch screen |
| wireless standard | bluetooth | bluetooth | bluetooth | bluetooth | bluetooth | bluetooth |
| water resistance | water resistant | water resistant | water resistant | water resistant | water resistant | waterproof |
| case material | Stainless Steel | Stainless Steel | Plastic | Alloy Steel | Aluminum | Metal |
| wireless provider | — | — | du | go | — | base |
| gps navigation | GPS Via Smartphone | Built-in GPS | ✓ | ✗ | GPS Enabled | — |
From the manufacturer
The Huawei Watch is designed to be part of your look, and part of your life. It pairs with any Android phone and it's also one of the first watches powered by Android Wear to work with iPhone.
Huawei Watch
Smartwatch for iPhone, Android Smartphones
True style never compromises. With the Huawei Watch, classic Swiss design meets smart technology to create an enduring timepiece. A superior full circle display offers a window onto the world. A wearable to be worn.
The right watch becomes part of your signature style. The Huawei Watch lets you build a bespoke timepiece that expresses your individual look. Choose from a range of premium casings and fine leather or stainless steel straps. Once you have your perfect watch, you can dress it for every occasion with a variety of bespoke watch faces to choose from.
Classic watch design
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All the power of Android Wear
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Review from a traditional watch style guy
I am more of a traditional watch guy, so until recently I have not even considered using a smart watch because in m opinion they all looked fairly ridiculous when worn. I don't want some square device on my wrist with some plastic band. Once he Moto 360 and Huawei watch were released I thought FINALLY something that actually looks like a watch!FIRST IMPRESSIONS / STYLEOpening the box was fairly impressive. The watch is displayed like a nice piece of jewelry rather than a box you'd just throw away. The watch itself is a nice size, slightly larger than a standard sized watch and it is nearly twice as thick as my everyday Seiko watch. Despite the increased size it is still smaller than the Moto 360 and it isn't so large as to draw strange looks when wearing in less techy places (i.e. formal events). The band is black leather for the cheapest version of the watch, but you can purchase additional bands and swap them out as you see fit. For $50 more you can buy the version with the stainless steel band.BATTERY LIFE / CHARGINGI needed to charge the watch as soon as I took it out of the box and your told to charge it while setting it up. First thing I noticed is there doesn't seem to be a way to know how much charge you have left unless battery is close to critical. EDIT: (afew of the watch faces have a battery % indicator, also swiping down from top shows battery life left). The charger is a magnetic disc that attaches to the back of the watch, and the watch has to align with the small prongs on the charger. Unfortunately unlike the Moto 360, there is no wireless charging with this watch. Battery life lasted me almost exactly 2 days. My usage isn't too heavy, I'm not staring at my watch all day, but I do receive a decent amount of text messages, emails, and Thuuz alerts (alerts you to most exciting sports events on). I had the watch on "always on' mode the entire time, but the face does change from the normal view to a darker "low power" face if its inactive. As soon as you raise your hand to check your watch it switches back to normal view.SCREENThe AMOLED screen is nice and has good resolution. Unlike the Moto 360 the entire face of the watch is utilized (which was one of the primary deciding factors for me to buy Huawei over Moto). One thing I had not thought of when wearing the watch is it can be bright in dark rooms (think turning on cell phone in movie theater) so I make sure to switch to darker screen in low light settings (placing palm over watch face switches to darker screen). The Moto 360 has an ambient light sensor that adjusts screen brightness automatically, but on the Huawei you have to manually adjust brightness. Watch faces can be changed by holding finger on the screen, and there are alot that come pre-downloaded as well as other options on Google play store. Glass on the screen is sapphire glass, so its pretty strong stuff.APPS / OS / USAGESome of my phones apps automatically ported over and it came with a few fitness apps (heart rate, pedometer, etc). Watch vibrates with notifications (vibration is louder than expected). Can read emails and text messages. Texts can be replied to with standard responses ("yes", "no", "haha", "ok" etc), voice text, or you can draw an emoji which is a cool feature. You can talk to the watch, by saying "ok Google". For instance "Ok Google, directions to nearest Chipotle" launches google maps on the watch with turn by turn directions/navigation. All of the watches use standard Android Wear OS so most of this is prob same on Moto 360 as well. Although its an android watch it supposedly supports iOS, but I don't use iphone so I could not test this.I'll post a video later so you can see what the phone actually looks like.Not perfect, but I think this is best in breed amongst smart watches out there. Its just a better looking watch than the competitors.
