With more than 1,500 journalists, digital creators, and industry insiders present at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Huawei took the wraps off its latest products for the European market: the Watch GT5 and GT5 Pro. Looking around, it seemed as if we were back in the days when the Shenzhen company presented its P and Mate series smartphones, whose sales led it to become the number-one phone manufacturer in several European markets. No smartphones have been seen in Catalonia because of the US ban and the inability to equip devices with Google’s product suite. This has blocked Huawei’s European path, diverting investment to wearables. This strategy is paying off because, according to IDC reports, the Chinese company ended the first half of 2024 at the top of the smartwatch manufacturers’ ranking, recording a 55.1% increase in sales compared to June of the previous year.

During the launch of the new watches, Huawei executives talked a lot about numbers, specifying that 150 million smartwatches have been sold globally in eleven years, while 520 million users have downloaded the Health app, which allows them to view data collected by the watches. With HarmonyOS5 on board, which allows users to reply using the virtual keyboard to messages received on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, Signal and other apps, the Watch GT5 is available in dual 46mm and 41mm versions for a total of eight different models in terms of style and colours: Black (for both versions), Brown, Blue, Light Blue, Milanese, Brown Women and White Leather.

WATCH GT5 Pro

Premium materials mark the distinction of the Watch GT5 Pro, including sapphire crystal, ceramic nanocrystal coating and aerospace titanium alloy. Another special feature is the golf mode, which includes course maps and tracks various elements such as time and swing speed. Thanks to the onboard sensors, the GT5 Pro also shows the user’s position on the course, wind speed and the slope of the terrain during a round of golf. Also, for sports performance tracking, with the Sunflower system, the top-of-the-line smartwatch detects position data more accurately than before during activities such as cycling and running.

The symbol of the new smartwatch’s leap forward is TruSense, a platform for monitoring vital parameters and training quickly and accurately. To achieve this, Huawei studied various fields of application, such as optics, electronics and material science, to understand the reactions that different skin types, wrist sizes and weather conditions can generate on the sensing sensors. Thus, the Watch GT5 series devices can measure 60 indicators, guarantee heart rate accuracy of over 98% and a margin of error of less than 2% when measuring blood oxygen saturation.

A significant advantage for those who use the smartwatch intensively is the autonomy of the Watch GT5 Pro, which Huawei has managed to double compared to the previous generation: from 7 to 14 days of use (one week is the battery life for GT5), always bearing in mind that the actual consumption depends on the type and frequency of the activities performed. In view of the qualities unveiled by Huawei, the price of the Pro model is not high, and, in comparison with the GT5 (price is €249), I would recommend going for the GT5 Pro without a doubt. That costs €379 for the basic version, €499 for the titanium strap and €599 for those who want to have it in ceramic.

Watch D2

Huawei’s intention in the smartwatch market is to emerge as a leading manufacturer in the health sector. An example of this is the work done for the Watch D2, the first smartwatch capable of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, ABPM, which is also certified as a medical device in Europe, where it has obtained MDR certification. This means the device allows checks at regular intervals and constant monitoring for 24 hours with a simple wrist flick. An important aid for those who need to keep hypertension under control, with multiple checks throughout the day.

To take the measurement, Watch D2 uses a system that is the fruit of nine years of research, which is similar to electronic sphygmomanometers and incorporates a mini airbag on the strap that inflates during measurement. A way of ensuring greater accuracy while reducing the margin of error. Equipped with the TruSense sensor, the smartwatch also monitors sporting activities and many other vital parameters, including the possibility of performing an electrocardiogram, which is more for guidance than a medical check-up. Available in black and gold, the Huawei Watch D2 is on sale for €399.