[ad_1]
Watches in our century have already completely lost their main purpose — to show time — and have become exclusively part of the image. An important accessory, for men it is often the only one, for women it is one of them. The meaning of the very idea of a watch as a daily assistant is returned by the so-called «smart watch» — thanks to interaction with a smartphone: they can show notifications, signal calls, and sometimes even allow you to answer calls using the built-in microphone and speaker. A serious array of information also flies in the opposite direction: a step counter, a track when jogging, information about the state of health (pulse or something more — it depends on the model). But there was a problem — this is Another gadget that needs to be charged regularly. Too low battery capacity burned Google Glass, this is the key problem of wearable devices. The need to put another device on charge every night can piss anyone off.
Huawei WATCH GT 2 is just created against this practice. “A smart watch that needs to be charged once every two weeks” is enough to attract attention. Any fan of the Apple Watch will snort at all — this is impossible, the watch must be charged every evening. But maybe for the sake of this something important had to be sacrificed and Huawei WATCH GT 2 fails in terms of functionality? We understand.
⇡#Specifications
| Huawei WATCH GT2 | |
| Form factor | Wrist Watch |
| Display | 1.39″ AMOLED HD (454×454) touchscreen |
| CPU | HiSilicon Kirin A1 |
| Operating system | LiteOS |
| Compatibility | Android 4.4 and above; iOS 9.0 and above |
| Interfaces | Bluetooth: BT5.1, BLE/BR/EDR |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, optical heart rate monitor, light sensor, air pressure sensor |
| Waterproof | 5 atmospheres |
| Strap | Black fluoroelastomer, cinnamon leather strap, titanium gray |
| Battery | 455 mAh |
| Weight (without strap) | 41 g |
| Dimensions (without strap) | 45.9×45.9×10.7mm |
| Price | 120$ |
⇡#Design and construction
The general idea and design direction of Huawei WATCH GT 2 is almost unchanged from the first version. There are two versions that differ in size (more brutal with a 1.39-inch screen and more elegant with a 1.2-inch display), weight (41 and 29 grams, respectively), the presence / absence of a bezel, the presence of a speaker (it is only in models with a 46 mm case), color variations and a set of dial backgrounds.
The main difference between GT 2 and last year’s WATCH GT is the screen in the same plane as the bezel. A special slightly convex glass is used (the manufacturer calls it 3D glass), which visually enlarges the display.
True, such a decision is fraught with unnecessary damage. Despite the tempered glass that covers the watch screen, any careless movement can scratch it (which I did by hitting the cave wall with my hand). In the previous version, the protruding bezel protected from such situations, now there is a danger, albeit not a very big one.
The front of the case is completely covered with glass, along the perimeter of Huawei WA TCH GT2 — metal bezel, and the back side, adjacent to the hand, is made of plastic. A special area protrudes above the surface of the back side with optical pulse sensors and contacts for the charging pad.
 |
 |
The watch is controlled using a touch screen and two buttons on the side of the steel case: one of them calls up the menu, and the second is responsible for quick access to various sports modes. However, the purpose of the buttons can be changed — they respond both to a single, and to a double or long press.
The strap is replaceable — in our case, we used black rubber, and I had no complaints about it. It is very soft and fits snugly around the wrist. I do not wear watches on a regular basis, but despite the solid weight of Huawei WATCH GT 2, I did not experience serious discomfort from an additional accessory on my body. If desired, the strap can be changed to any other, the mount is standard, 22 mm wide.
The watch is water-resistant, but Huawei does not specify a specific standard — it simply claims that they must withstand water pressure up to 5 atmospheres. You don’t need to dive deep with the WATCH GT 2, but you can take a shower or swim with them on your arm.
The WATCH GT 2 with a 46 mm case has 14 interchangeable dials that display not only the time, but also various other measured parameters (which ones depend on the dial).
⇡#Working with the device, charging
For wearable devices, Huawei now has its own Kirin hardware platform — it is called A1, and the manufacturer does not indicate the details of the filling of this system. The only thing known for certain about it is the size of the crystal (4.4 × 4.3 mm) and the fact that this is the world’s first processor for wearable electronics with support for the new Bluetooth 5.1 standard, as well as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.1 Chip capable of providing data transfer rates up to 6.5 Mbps. The chip includes an application processor, memory, a Bluetooth controller, a digital signal processor, a power management module, and some other elements. In addition to Huawei WATCH GT 2, which became the first device with Kirin A1 on board, the chip is also used in the new Huawei FreeBuds 3 headphones.
Display in W version ATCH GT 2 with a 46 mm case is installed, I repeat, with a diagonal of 1.39 inches, with an OLED matrix with a resolution of 454 × 454. The manufacturer claims a maximum display brightness of 1000 nits — it’s hard to believe, but the fact is — you can use hours in the sun comfortable. True, they do not perfectly adjust the brightness to ambient light and can be embarrassing with a too bright glow in the dark (there are five levels of brightness, but the clock does not always guess the right one), especially if you forgot to put the clock on do not disturb mode and they light up every now and then .
Yes, the screen of Huawei WATCH GT 2, like on the previous version, is not always on — this is one of the secrets of long battery life. Most of the time it is off and turns on only when you look at the watch — and here the sensor works almost flawlessly — only sometimes it is too sensitive and the dial can light up when you are not looking at it.
At the same time, the watch has, in a smartphone manner, the Always-On Display mode, in which the time is constantly displayed on a dark background, and even a fraction of a second until the screen lights up, you do not need to wait. True, the battery life when it is activated will be reduced exactly by half.
And the battery life is, as you understand, the main (and deserved) pride of the creators of Huawei WATCH GT 2. For the previous version, let me remind you, such a battery life was announced during normal use, when the user wears the watch all day, performs 90 minutes exercises per week with GPS enabled, with heart rate tracking, sleep settings, and notifications turned on, and the screen wakes up 200 times a day. The GT 2 adds continuous heart rate monitoring, incoming call reminders, Bluetooth calls and 30 minutes of music playback.
With my mode of use (not a lot of sports, but a lot of notifications), Huawei WATCH GT 2 lasts about 10-12 days on a single charge, which is close to the declared level. People who are used to a lot of exercise will have to charge the watch every 6-7 days — after all, GPS loads the battery great. In any case, this is a very good level of autonomy.
WATCH GT 2 is charged, as before, using a special pad with a built-in magnet. She, in turn, connects to the charger using a cable with a USB Type-C connector — everything is relevant here.
The main difference between WATCH GT 2 and WATCH GT, in addition to design and a fresh chip that provides the watch with better autonomy, is a built-in microphone with a speaker that allows you to answer and make calls without taking out your smartphone. This is especially convenient to do when you are at home or in the office not near the phone — Bluetooth 5.1 provides a signal reception radius of 150 meters. And the watch screen displays not only SMS, but also messages from a variety of messengers — this is configured in the Huawei Health application, through which the watch is connected to the smartphone.
With WATCH GT 2, you can even listen to music. The speaker here is quite loud, but it cannot boast of serious quality — there is very little space in the case. But it is not necessary to listen to music directly from the watch, it can be transferred from the watch to the headphones, for example, by downloading the tracks directly to the watch beforehand — they have 4 GB of memory for this (of which 2.3 GB is free for download). This is convenient — thanks to this feature, you can not take your smartphone with you for a run.
The remaining features of Huawei WATCH GT 2 are well known from the previous model. The watch has a built-in heart rate monitor, altimeter, gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer and digital compass. They collect quite a lot of information about the world around them, they can track your sleep and work as a “smart” alarm clock (to wake you up at a given time, but in the most suitable sleep phase for this) and, of course, it’s great to help with training — record a track, steps, pace, heart rate, etc. The watch can give advice during workouts. There are even 13 running/walking courses that the watch can offer you — and follow them. And if you sit too long, they vibrate and offer to warm up a little.
An interesting feature of the WATCH GT (both past and new) is that this watch tries to measure your stress level, based primarily on your heart rate, but also offers to answer a number of questions from time to time regarding your psychological state. That’s how I found out I didn’t have much of a stress problem — a nice bonus from the smartwatch test.
The Huawei Health app, through which the watch connects to a smartphone and through which most of the settings are entered and the vast majority of information is collected, is available for both Android and iOS, and I used Huawei WATCH GT 2 both with iPhone and with different Androids -smartphones, and did not notice a serious difference in experience. The application is convenient, since this season it supports a fashionable dark theme (both in iOS and Android).
⇡#Conclusion
Huawei WATCH GT 2 does not offer any new features like smartwatches. They are not bad in this role, especially when it comes to training, Huawei has a really good Health app, they can count sleep, pulse, even stress levels (to a certain extent), offer the ability to listen to music directly from the watch and answer calls.
But in terms of autonomy Huawei W ATCH The GT 2, with its realistically achievable two weeks of battery life, is truly unique and stands out from the crowd. This is an inexpensive and capable watch that is not tied to an outlet — and this is already enough to be among the most interesting gadgets of its type.
[ad_2]