You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand where Huawei draws inspiration for its newly announced products. See UltimateThat’s clearly Huawei’s not-so-subtle answer to the Apple Watch Ultra, and now we know the similarities extend to the price tag as well. €749 / €700 for the colorway and €899 / €800 for the Nautical Blue version.
I missed the Watch Ultimate news because the company currently has no plans to launch the device in the US. (Huawei’s ban still kicks off in his 2023.) The company once had a decent foothold in the wearables market, but the ban has left all but the most avid users out of reach of U.S. audiences. Limited reach. That said, here’s a quick overview of the features.
These are all features that Apple introduced in Ultra, but to be fair the Ultimate is different enough that completion interrupt. That’s at least evident in the design, which is much closer to a traditional mechanical watch.There are also differences in specs and materials. The Watch Ultimate, for example, uses a “zirconium-based liquid metal case” that boasts 4.5 times the strength of stainless steel and 2.5 times the hardness of his. Unlike the Ultra, it’s not titanium, but the meaning of extreme ruggedness is the same. (Neither is liquid, of course.) Both feature LTPO OLED displays with nanotech ceramic bezels and sapphire glass.
Huawei also wants to surpass Apple in some areas. Like the Ultra, the Watch Ultimate is certified to EN13319, the standard for diving equipment. But while Apple doesn’t recommend diving beyond 40 meters, Huawei says the Watch Ultimate can dive to 110 meters, supporting technical and free diving in addition to recreational diving.
Battery life is also much longer. Huawei claims the Watch Ultimate will last him up to two weeks on a single charge, but hasn’t looked into the parameters it used to arrive at that estimate. As with any smartwatch, battery mileage will vary based on usage. That said, Huawei says users can go from zero to 100% battery in 60 minutes and 25% in 10 minutes.
Huawei’s own OS doesn’t have the most robust app ecosystem, but it does improve on that front as well. Huawei says users will be able to use his Strava, Komoot, and Runtastic third-party integrations.it’s not very It’s like having an app on your wrist, but it makes sharing data between these services much easier.
Regardless of how you feel about Huawei, the Watch Ultimate is, at least in theory, the closest competitor to the Apple Watch Ultra in a single smartwatch. Garmin has a few options, including the Epix 2 and Fenix 7 lineup, but these are solid fitness watches rather than ambitious luxury smartwatches. I wish everyone had more options on that front, but if you’re in the US, there’s no official way to get the watch through a US retailer. We’ll have to wait to see what Wear OS watch makers have in store.
