Huawei isn't exactly the first company that comes to mind when you think of stylish connected devices. The Chinese manufacturer has delved into wearables with its TalkBand series, but those were slow to come to the US, and their fitness tracker-meets-Bluetooth-headset capabilities were peculiar. Now Huawei wants to test the waters of Google's wearable OS with its new smartwatch, simply dubbed the Huawei Watch, and it's a solid first attempt at Android Wear.

Design

All Android Wear watches must work under the limitations of Google's wearable operating system, and because of this, style has become one of the ways watches can stand out. I consider the Huawei Watch a happy medium between the LG Watch Urbane and the Moto 360: it has the old-school connected case and lug design of the Watch Urbane with the lithe feel of the Moto 360.

Huawei came out of the gate strong with one of the most comprehensive collections of smartwatches, and it happens be one of the most thoughtful collections as well. All six Huawei Watch models measure 42mm and feature a 1.4-inch AMOLED display covered in sapphire glass to prevent scratches. Rather than designating men's or women's versions, there's something for everyone's personal tastes: while I prefer the ultra-luxe rose gold model with chain-link band, my boyfriend would want the blacked-out model with its "diamond-like carbon" coating that resists scratches all over the body. You can mix and match bodies with bands, opting for silver, black, or rose gold faces with either leather, chain, or mesh bands.

SPECS AT A GLANCE: HUAWEI WATCH SCREEN 42mm: 1.4" 400x400 AMOLED (286 PPI) OS Android Wear 1.3 (Android 5.1.1-based) CPU 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 RAM 512MB GPU Adreno 305 STORAGE 4GB NETWORKING Bluetooth 4.0LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g CASE SIZE 42mm x 11.4mm BATTERY 300mAh PRICE $349.99-$799.99 OTHER PERKS optical heart rate monitor (PPG), dual microphones, IP67, vibration motor

My review model was the basic silver body with a black genuine leather band (about $350). While you can't fully customize the watch like you can the Moto 360 using Moto Maker, each Huawei Watch model comes with a matching 18mm band in either leather or metal (making the all rose gold watch a whopping $799) and there are more interchangeable leather and stainless steel bands coming soon. The bands slide onto the body of the watch using quick release pin closures, like those on the Moto 360 and Apple Watch, so it's nothing foreign.

Another difference between the Huawei Watch and the Moto 360 is that its display is a full circle without the Moto's "flat tire" effect. The 400x400 pixel, 286 ppi display is gorgeous and displays different types of watch faces well. I like to switch up the look of my devices often, and I was pleased to see the watch show off the ombre colors of the Reveal face just as well as the black-and-gold accents of the Bronze face.

The display is always on—a standard feature in Android Wear—but Android Wear automatically dims the display after a few seconds. And as in other watches, the Huawei Watch makes the darker watch faces look slightly pixellated when not fully backlit. I did, however, appreciate the palm gesture that lets you dim the display manually. It'll come in handy in meetings and movie theaters.

The watch's crown sits at 2pm, the same position as the crown on the Moto 360. The Huawei Watch has the typical optical heart rate sensor inside, but it's finicky at best. Even sitting still, it took about 10 seconds to read my heart rate, and taking measurements twice in a row would deliver very different results.

I wish the Huawei Watch came with a charger like the Moto 360's, which props up the watch and allows it to become a desk-side clock at night. Instead, the Huawei Watch's charger is a simple disk with magnetic prongs that attach to the back of the watch. It's connected to a USB cable, but it comes with an AC adapter as well.

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Valentina Palladino

Android Wear

Based on Android 5.1.1, the latest version of Android Wear maintains a set of notification cards that you can swipe through, dismiss, and hide to view apps, watch faces, and settings. I first connected the Huawei Watch to my iPhone 6, and it was painful how that limited the watch. Most of the updates that make the new version of Android Wear useful—like replying to Hangouts messages and downloading third-party apps—aren't possible when connected to an iOS device. Also, I had to keep the Android Wear app running in the background of my iPhone at all times or the watch would immediately disconnect.

The Huawei Watch also froze up on me a few times. The screen would stop responding to my taps, and I had to press and hold the crown for a few seconds to restart the watch. Huawei believes my specific model may have been damaged in shipping, so they sent me a new one, and I have yet to experience the same problems.

I had much better results when I paired the watch with a Nexus 4 smartphone running Android 5.1.1. Stock Google apps that weren't available on iPhone magically showed up in the app drawer on the watch, including Find my Phone, Hangouts, and Maps. I made use of these particular apps regularly: Find my Phone sends a sonorous tone to your Android smartphone when you've misplaced it so you can find it more quickly. It comes in handy when one device is always on your person (the watch) and your phone might be across the room or buried in your bag.











Hangouts has improved dramatically since the launch of Android Wear. Now you can not only receive message notifications to the watch, but you can reply using voice messages or by choosing from a long list of canned replies. The newest feature is emoji drawing, which brings up a blank screen on the watch and lets you sketch an image. Android Wear then brings up a suggested emoji based on your drawing (no matter how crude), and you can add multiple emojis to one reply by scrolling through a list of them.

While you can reply with voice and canned messages and emojis in Gmail as well, you cannot do so with every e-mail, and the choices aren't nearly as robust as those in Hangouts. Android Wear also doesn't seem to support Google's custom voice actions yet, nor do voice commands for products like Google's Nest work yet either. Overall, Android Wear has come a long way from its conception, but it's still far from perfect.

Huawei spiced up its watch with some of its own apps. Daily Tracking, Fitness Tracking, and Heart Rate are activity-based tools that track steps, workouts, and heart rate, respectively. They all feature the skin of Huawei's Fitness app for Android and iOS which is used in its TalkBand series of wearables. While they provide an alternative to Google Fit, I recommend sticking with Google's all-in-one app not just for convenience but for consistency, too.