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Huawei is no stranger to releasing interesting devices. I have to admit, the first time I’ve seen this smartwatch, I was quite skeptical. Since the moment I laid my hands (and eyes) on it, however, I was very intrigued. The Huawei Watch Buds is actually a really compelling product, as you’ll find out in our full review. This smartwatch has been replacing both my regular smartwatch and my earbuds for a while now. Quite frankly, I have a lot to say about it.
Spoiler alert! The Huawei Watch Buds is actually a better smartwatch than I expected. In fact, it’s a better smartwatch-earbuds combo than I expected. As with every product, there are drawbacks here as well. Many of them became apparent not long after I started using it, actually. In any case, let’s get this party on the road, there’s a lot of ground to cover.
Table of contents
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Hardware / Design
The Huawei Watch Buds smartwatch is made out of stainless steel. The watch feels quite sturdy, and that goes for the door at the top, through which you can access the earbuds. Confused? Well, this smartwatch packs a pair of tiny truly wireless earbuds on the inside, and you can access them at any point. The watch itself acts as a charger for those earbuds too, so they’ll always be ready to go. Accessing them is rather easy. There is a physical button below the display, between the display and the watch band. You need to press it, and the trunk will pop pop open. Once you raise it, you’ll find the earbuds magnetized on the top side of the trunk.
The magnets are strong enough, just the right amount
Getting those earbuds out of the case was easy, and the same goes for placing them back in. Huawei was smart when designing these, as they have flattish sides all around, so they’re easy to grip. The magnets are also quite strong, but not too strong. In other words, they won’t prevent you from easily accessing these earbuds. There is also a pleasant click when you close the lid, which is much appreciated. The whole system feels quite sturdy, and quite frankly, I loved using it. The button is also noticeable, but at the same time a part of the frame, and semi-hidden, so that it doesn’t poke you in the eye at all times.
The side button is clicky, but poorly placed
You’ll notice there is a button on the right side of the watch, a single button. Huawei watches usually have two of them, and one also doubles as a rotating crown. Well, that’s not the case here This is just a button, which is a shame. That button is very clicky, and sturdy, but I had issues with it when working out. That is the case with every smartwatch that has a button at a 90-degree angle. I much prefer them when they’re moved up a bit, so that I don’t press them by accident. I was pressing it all the time while doing my triceps, stretching out, and doing some other exercises. The placement is not ideal. If you’re not one to do those types of workouts, where your hand bends in such a fashion, you’ll be good.
It’s thicker than its siblings, of course
Now, this smartwatch is thicker than other Huawei watches released recently, but it’s not that much thicker. Add this trunk on top of the Huawei Watch GT Runner, for example, and you’ll get the overall thickness. In other words, the watch is 14.99mm thick, while the Watch GT Runner is 11mm thick. That is one of the thinner watches I’ve used in the last year or so, so there you go. One would assume the Watch Buds will be a lot thicker, but it’s not, not really. It doesn’t really feel like it’s out of place on the hand, not at all.
It’s also quite bulky
What I did notice is the weight. This thing weighs 66.5 grams without the strap, while the Watch GT Runner weighs 38.5 grams. I’m comparing the two as I used the Runner right before I started using this one, so it’s a point of reference for me. That is the weight addition you’ll notice, but I got used to it quickly. The Watch GT Runner is unusually light, so… yeah, the weight is not bad at all, actually, especially if you’re used to wearing larger smartwatches. All in all, I’m very impressed with the design and the execution here, you cannot not admire Huawei for this.
The earbuds are tiny, but feel great
What about the earbuds themselves? Well, they have flattish sides, and are very tiny. They measure 21.8 x 10.3 x 10.3mm, and weigh only 4 grams with a default (M) ear tip. Speaking of which, both S and L ear tips are included in the retail box. The earbuds actually fit in my ears really nicely with the medium tip, but changing them is a piece of cake. I actually love the way Huawei designed these. Once you place them in your ear, they don’t exactly stand out in any way, unlike basically every other pair of truly wireless earbuds.
The earbuds are IP54 rated, while the watch is not
Some of you are probably wondering if the Huawei Watch Buds smartwatch is waterproof, or at least water resistant. Considering that it has a lid on top, it would be understandable if Huawei omitted that feature. You’ll be glad to know that the earbuds are IP54 rated, while the watch itself doesn’t have a rating, but Huawei says that the watch is “is splash-, dust-, and water-resistant under normal conditions but isn’t a pro-level water-resistant device”. The company also emphasized that the resistance to water and dust may deteriorate with usage, of course. It would be best if you don’t get the watch wet, basically. Don’t go swimming with it, that’s for sure. I didn’t try getting it wet in any way, shape, or form. I did get stuck in the rain with the earbuds, and everything was fine.
There are two color options to choose from
The Huawei Watch Buds smartwatch comes in two colors, Black and Khaki. The Black model has a black stainless steel frame, and a black leather strap. The Khaki model has a silver stainless steel frame, and a brown leather strap. The quick switch mechanism is included on these straps, by the way, and the watch is quite comfortable to wear, actually.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Display
Huawei has been doing a great job with displays on its watches for quite some time now. This one is no different. It utilizes a 1.43-inch AMOLED panel which offers a resolution of 466 x 466 (326 ppi). This panel has been used on a number of other Huawei smartwatches, and it’s plain excellent. It’s sharp, vivid, and offers a great touch response. Huawei also did a good job optimizing the software for interaction from a user, so… the experience is pretty much the same as I got on the company’s flagship watches.
If you tend to bump into things, that could be an issue
Thanks to the trunk on top of the watch, on top of which is this display, the display is raised more than on other watches, and that could be a problem for you. Chances are you’ll find it easier to bump this display by accident. Also, there’s virtually no protection around it, as that part is raised above the frame, so… you’ll have to be careful when handling this watch, that’s for sure.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Smartwatch performance
Huawei listed specs for this watch a long time ago, but it never mentioned the SoC, RAM, or storage. It is, probably using the same Kirin SoC as some of its siblings. The point is, the performance is excellent. The watch was fluid at all times for me, regardless of what I was doing, or how fast I was going through the menus. That part is also identical to Huawei’s flagship smartwatches, the Huawei GT 3 and GT 3 Pro. I don’t have a single complaint when it comes to performance. Well, regarding the fluidity of the performance, as we’ll talk about the software in a different section. The point is, the watch was fluid, with basically no hiccups, while the lag was non-existent.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Earbuds performance
This was the area I was most skeptical about going into this review. It turns out, I should not have been. Huawei has made something truly impressive here. These earbuds are tiny. Based on their size, I wasn’t really expecting much audio-wise. Still, they delivered. No, the sound is not as good as what you get with the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2. Those are Huawei’s flagship truly wireless earbuds, and they’re in a class of their own. Huawei had only so much space for the driver and everything needed here, so fitting a 14mm driver was not possible.
These earbuds are much better than you think
That being said, the sound you get here is actually really good. I have recently used the Nothing Ear (1), and these have them beat, plain and simple. Yes, these tiny things offer a punchier output in comparison. The sound is not as crisp as what the FreeBuds Pro 2 have to offer, nor as loud, but if you haven’t used a high-end pair of truly wireless earbuds, you’ll definitely be surprised here. The sound is also well-balanced across the spectrum.
Noise canceling is included, despite their size
These earbuds even offer noise canceling, believe it or not. Considering their shape, and how snuggly they fit inside your ear, they’re actually quite good at isolating sound even without noise canceling, though having that option is quite useful. What I missed here was the awareness mode. I understand Huawei couldn’t offer every single feature here, so I understand the omission, but if you’re used to it, you’ll miss it. They are so good at isolating sound that it’s kind of difficult to talk to people if they’re in your ears, even if you’re not playing anything at the moment.
The touch gestures are different, but they work great
There are touch gestures included here, but not the way you think. These earbuds don’t exactly have touch panels on them. Huawei opted for something different, probably to save space, and it works! Huawei refers to these controls as “wide-area auricle touch controls”. You can basically tap the earbuds themselves, auricles, or the area in front of the ears, it’s up to you. I usually tapped the earbuds, but tried all three, and it works very well actually. There are double tap and triple tap controls, set to play/pause and noise cancelling on/off, respectively. You can customize this via the Huawei Health app, though.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Battery
The Huawei Watch Buds smartwatch includes a 410mAh battery on the inside. That battery is, of course, supposed to keep the watch charged, and also recharge the earbuds. Is it enough, though? Well, Huawei smartwatches usually have excellent battery life, but considering that the earbuds are included in the package here, it will depend a lot on your usage. To put things into perspective, I was using the earbuds a couple of hours every day, and was able to squeeze out 2-3 days worth of battery life. During more frequent usage, I got like two days. If you don’t use them at all, I bet this watch can go on for a week without a charge. If you disable some health features, such as constant heart rate tracking, and so on, you can probably squeeze out a bit more.
A wireless charging puck is included
This smartwatch comes with a charging puck, which is attached to a USB-A charging cable. It’s basically the same as the chargers on a number of other Huawei watches. It does a good job. The watch magnetizes itself to this charger, and that’s basically it. The charging is not blazing fast, but considering you won’t have to charge it all the time, it’s not bad either. It’ll take you a little bit over an hour to get this thing fully charged.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Software
This smartwatch comes with HarmonyOS out of the box. I had several updates ready to go when I connected the watch to my smartphone, and ultimately ended up with HarmonyOS 3.0 on the watch. If you’ve used any other modern Huawei smartwatch, you know exactly what to expect here. To me, personally, HarmonyOS is the no.1 smartwatch OS. I’m aware that it’s not exactly a popular choice for many of you, but I really like it. It does everything I need, with great fluidity. Huawei improved this OS a lot over the last couple of years, though there’s still room for improvement.
HarmonyOS is more or less the same as on other Huawei watches
Do note that dismissing notifications on the watch won’t dismiss them on your phone. That’s just how this watch works, and I do appreciate that, actually. My notifications mostly consist out of messages and emails these days, and I never respond to those on my watch. So it’s nice that I can remove them from the watch, and still have them waiting for me in the notification tray on my phone. Not everyone would agree, though. You do have a number of slots for widgets on this watch, and the default media player is one of my favorites. The Huawei Health app has been serving me well for a long time across a number of other watches, and the same is the case here. It’s a bit of a pain you can’t get it from the Play Store (at least not a modern version), but once you get it installed, it does the job.
Some features are missing, but the overall experience is great
I didn’t experience any bugs in the software, as I did years ago on Huawei watches. As I said, HarmonyOS 3.0 is leaps and bounds from earlier versions I’ve used. It works great, and is a great alternative to Wear OS and Apple’s OS for wearables. I would love to see the ability to respond to messages via an actual keyboard though, and interactive layers on the watch faces themselves. Those are just two improvements that come to mind, and I do hope we’ll see them in the future. Also, don’t count on many third-party apps to be available for this OS. So, if that’s something you’re counting on, you should look elsewhere. I, personally, have never seen the need to install apps on my smartwatches, based on my usage. On top of everything, you probably won’t be able to make payments with this watch, as the ‘Wallet’ option is not supported in many countries.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Health/Fitness
This smartwatch is packed with health features. It can track your steps, your heart rate, and SPO2 bloody oxygen as well. Menstrual cycle tracking is included, while the watch does come with GPS support. It can track a ton of different fitness activities, and some of them it even recognizes on its own. I didn’t encounter any issues with the step counter, though I did spot issues with it on some other watches, so keep that in mind. Other than that, everything worked well.
Workout tracking seems to work fine
I tested several workout options, such as indoor running, indoor walking, jump rope, and a bit of biking. Everything seemed to work fine, though I cannot be sure how accurate it is, of course. I can say that it tracked my distance while running somewhat reliably, at least, as I was able to compare that with what the treadmill showed me. Heart rate tracking also did a good job, as far as I can tell. Never expect smartwatch tracking to be 100% accurate, though, on any watch. As long as you make your peace with that, you’re good to go.
Huawei Watch Buds Review: Should you buy it?
So, should you buy the Huawei Watch Buds? Well, that’s a tough question, to be quite honest, mainly due to its price tag. The Huawei Watch Buds is priced at £449.99 in the UK, so it’ll be close to €500 in Europe. Needless to say, that’s quite steep. Still, this smartwatch is… well, unique. Also, you’re getting two products in one here. That is definitely something you should keep in mind. I’ve talked to some tech reviewers who have decided to be too harsh on this thing because of some of its shortcomings, which are almost impossible to avoid. I understand that side of things, but I did choose to appreciate the novelty behind the product, and the fact Huawei did a great job bringing it to life. Implementing a truly capable pair of earbuds inside a watch, while keeping the watch from being too thick is not an easy task. If you take into consideration that everything feels premium too, well, Huawei did a great job. Yes, there are downsides here, for sure, but this is a hybrid product that essentially gives you two products in one. If you can live with its shortcomings, you’ll be getting something truly unique, and that may be worth it. It all depends on what you want/need. One thing is for sure, this is a unique product, and I’m glad Huawei came up with it.
You should buy the Huawei Watch Buds if:
- You appreciate innovation
- You don’t want to carry a pair of truly wireless earbuds around
- You would like to support Huawei’s design prowess
- You don’t mind this smartwatch is a bit thicker than most others
- You appreciate bulkier watches
- You want a pair of truly tiny earbuds
- You appreciate truly nice displays on smartwatches
You shouldn’t buy the Huawei Watch Buds if:
- You use a smartwatch while swimming
- You’re working out in a specific way (power button placement)
- You dislike thick watches