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Ron Amadeo

BARCELONA, Spain—Huawei might not be well-known in the US, but behind Apple and Samsung, the Chinese company is currently battling for the #3 smartphone spot with Lenovo and Xiaomi. At Mobile World Congress this year, the company surprised us by taking on the Android Wear smartwatch category, and the result is something that looks really good—easily the best smartwatch of MWC.

The name is refreshingly to-the-point: it's called the "Huawei Watch." The device is the same basic idea as the LG Watch Urbane, but it's executed better. You get a jewelry-style watch with a fully round screen. While the Urbane only has a 1.3-inch 320x320 display, the Huwaei Watch has a 1.4-inch 400x400 display (286 PPI), making it the highest resolution Android Wear device yet. The bezel is smaller than the Urbane, too, and combined with a smaller body, it allows the watch to fit better on more wrists.

The Huawei Watch's body is all metal, and if you opt for a metal band, the clasp will be a real, push-button hidden clasp like what you would get on a real watch. The watch cover is sapphire crystal—the same nigh-unscratchable cover used in a real watch. The internals are pretty normal: a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400, 512MB of RAM, and a 300 mAh battery.

The Huawei Watch body is a little more compact than the Moto 360 (42 mm vs 45 mm). The 360 puts the band connections into the watch body, though, and on watches this large, the internal lugs do a better job of "hugging" the wrist and looking like a well-fitting watch. Besides the great design, the Huawei Watch has everything you would expect: a heartbeat sensor on the back of the watch, a pogo-pin charger, and bone-stock Android Wear.

The three best-looking smartwatches out there are the Moto 360, Watch Urbane, and the Huawei Watch. The 360 is a tough choice thanks to the poor battery life and dated internals, and Huawei just seems to have the Urbane beat on specs and size. It looks like a great option if you're looking for a good-looking smartwatch. We're a little concerned about the 400x400 screen and a 300 mAh battery, but if the battery life holds up, this is shaping up to be one of the better smartwatches out there.