2014 was the year that Huawei officially entered the wearable space with the Huawei Talkband B1. A wearable that combined a Bluetooth headset with the fitness and health features of a smart band.
That was just the start of a 10-year pursuit to redefine what a wearable was and is now capable of, with the big breakthroughs coming thick and fast since the launch of the Talkband B1. In 2016, Huawei unveiled version 1.0 of its HUAWEI TruSeenTM heart rate sensor technology, which has since evolved to go beyond monitoring heart rate. The latest iteration of TruSeen can now deliver SpO2 and ECG measurements bringing accuracy improvements while increasing the ability to be used for serious health checks and research.
TruSeen was soon followed by Huawei’s TruSportTM, TruSleepTM and TruRelaxTM platforms, to enhance what Huawei smartwatches could do when keeping tabs on your exercise, sleep and more stressful parts of your day.
Smartwatches are also built for communication and taking you away from your smartphone, so in 2017 Huawei introduced eSIM on the Huawei Watch 2 to do that very thing. Fast forward to 2021 and Huawei’s ambitions to revolutionise health monitoring from the wrist with the Huawei Watch D. This was a smartwatch that could deliver cuff-free blood pressure monitoring along with medical-grade ECG readings from a single watch. No other smartwatch can do that, especially the blood pressure part without calibration first.
That brings us to what will be the next big step in Huawei’s decade of building groundbreaking and cutting-edge wearables. On September 14th 2023, Huawei will launch its next wearable product and also talk about what it has in store for the next ten years of wearables and beyond.
That next wearable product has already been exposed by Huawei on social media and judging by that teaser a new smartwatch or two is on the horizon. We say two smartwatches thanks to the different bezels on show on Huawei’s teaser. The Fashion forward slogan also seems to be a clear nod that we can expect design to be at the heart of Huawei’s big reveal.
Huawei is of course no stranger to making attractive smartwatches. In 2023, we’ve already seen the Huawei Watch 4 and Watch 4 Pro for those that crave the best of Huawei’s smartwatch features. It wrapped up features like a spherical, sapphire LTPO AMOLED touchscreen, eSim technology and the ability to glance at multiple health metrics at one time inside of aerospace-grade titanium.
The Huawei Watch Ultimate, a smartwatch fit for divers, showcased Huawei’s ability to take premium materials like ceramic and liquid metal to create a smartwatch you’d proudly show off underneath your shirt sleeve. It was a similar story for the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro, which comes in titanium and ceramic case options, while the Huawei Watch GT Cyber will let you change watch cases to better match it up with your look. That’s an array of smartwatches that show Huawei has a smartwatch for everyone and offers some hints where Huawei will go next with its new smartwatch.
Beyond a stylish exterior what could be in store for us on the software front? As we’ve seen from Huawei over the years, it could be a lot. Few have innovated in the way that Huawei has and it’s had some notable firsts. We’ve already mentioned its blood pressure monitoring breakthrough with the Huawei Watch D and we’ve also seen the Huawei Watch Buds as a smartwatch that stores away a set of truly wireless earbuds. Huawei has built a running watch with floating external antennas to give runners the accuracy in data they crave and made a kids smartwatch with rotating dual screens.
The watch that lives on your wrist is only part of the package and that’s why Huawei has also been flexing its innovative muscles with its Huawei Health companion smartphone app. Yes, it’s the place where you’ll look deeper into your exercise or sleep stats, but it’s also somewhere now you can turn to for recommendations about enjoying better quality sleep.
Beyond the Huawei Health apps lies Huawei’s Health research platform, where Huawei explores what wearables can be capable of in the realm of health monitoring and the possibility that smartwatches could be used to prevent chronic diseases.
Huawei’s research apps already include over 200 health studies covering everything from heart health, respiratory well-being to blood glucose management in the China market so far and hopefully with international studies to follow soon. This platform has over 13 million participants in research studies currently and is working with over 110 research institutes to make sure its wearables can offer truly life-changing smarts.
Huawei has taken the research in-house too, with 10 research institutes already in existence in its native China. To bolster its fitness and health expertise, it has three health laboratories with more labs to open in Europe before the end of 2023.
That extensive research and studies Huawei is conducting focused on health issues like atrial fibrillation and hypertension have also been recognised by leading medical journals to emphasise the progress Huawei is making on the health monitoring front.
And to the future, beyond the launch event and what Huawei has in store for wearables a bit further down the line. Huawei is already looking closer at how it can track ovarian health, emotional health and is taking the blood pressure monitoring into the exercise monitoring realm too as it pushes to take different and more unique approaches to tracking health. TruSeen 5.5+ is coming too and will look to boost things on the health and wellness monitoring front further.
What is clear is that whatever is the next frontier for wearables, Huawei will be there to lead it. Amplified by the fact it’s already shipped over 130 million Huawei smartwatches globally, while over 100 million users log into the Huawei Health app. It’s applied for over 800 patents and already makes smartwatches for those that care about adventure, heart health or you just want a stylish connected timepiece to own. Huawei has built the foundations and launched the smartwatches to take wearables into its next exciting era.
