The Huawei Watch almost made me a believer in smartwatches. Almost. (REVIEW)

It’s far from an unpopular and controversial opinion, but here goes: I’m not big on smartwatches. Their limited functionality, poor battery life, and questionable aesthetics are all reasons this particular wearable trend has left me cold.

But a watch from an unlikely maker looks like it could change my mind. Huawei is more known for its “affordable but sleek” gadgets and less as a luxury device manufacturer. And that fame is being hijacked by companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus right now. So, if you haven’t been paying attention to Huawei’s recent products like the Nexus 6P smartphone, the Huawei Watch could come as a bit of a surprise.

It’s got the looks

When it comes to smartwatches, I’m much more attracted to the circular ones out there, like the Huawei Watch, the Moto 360, and the Samsung Gear S2. It’s a personal thing, but they feel much more like what an adult would wear around their wrist, instead of rectangular things like the Samsung Gear S and the Asus ZenWatch. Even the much sleeker Apple Watch’s design doesn’t do it for me.

What Huawei has done with its watch is create an accessory as well as a gadget. For the week or so that I wore it, the Huawei Watch managed to pass as a regular timepiece and only drew people’s curiosity when they saw me checking some notification or other. The stainless steel body is solid enough to feel “real” without being unwieldy. With a diameter of 42mm and a thickness of 11.3mm, it’s pretty much on par with my regular watch, and while I didn’t exactly put it on and forget about it, it felt comfortable to wear even while typing.

That said, its design clearly takes after men’s watches, and might feel too bulky on a woman’s wrist. That’s probably why Huawei seems to be getting ready to announce a women’s version of the watch at next year’s CES, side by side with a successor device. The industry probably still has some way to go when it comes to truly unisex designs. Despite my other misgivings, the Apple Watch does nail that department.

Flying colors

The Huawei Watch boasts a 1.4-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 400×400 pixels and 286 ppi (pixels per inch). This makes its display one of the best available in the market right now. It has rich, vibrant colors and everything on the screen looks crisp and sharp. It helps the Android Wear UI look good in all its Google Now-y glory, but most importantly, it lets the many available watch faces shine. The circular screen takes up the entire display, unlike the Moto 360’s “flat tire” look, which adds to the Huawei Watch’s elegant aesthetics.

The Huawei Watch (left) makes use of its entire screen real estate, unlike the Moto 360 and its always present black strip at the bottom.

Notably, the screen doesn’t turn off when you’re not using the watch, but rather goes into a dimmer “running” mode, displaying a simpler version of the watch face and notifications. This way, you can still tell time with a glance, and you can wake up the watch by simply bringing your wrist to chest level like how you’d, well, look at your watch.

The display is protected by sapphire crystal glass, which makes it resistant to scratches and scuffs. I didn’t try to bang the watch against a wall or anything, but I’m the kind of guy who tends to bump into things around the house a lot, and the watch survived a week on me with barely a mark on it. So while it’s by no means a sporty kind of accessory, you won’t have to constantly worry about the elements getting to it.

That includes water, as the IP67 rating means you won’t need to frantically cover the watch when it’s raining or worry about washing your hands while wearing it. Best not go swimming with it though.

What makes it tick

Out and about

So is it worth it?