Huawei Watch GT preview: Everything we know so far

When will the Huawei Watch GT be out?

The Huawei Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro will be revealed on 16 October in London, where the company has scheduled a press event. Both phones have been extensively leaked, and they apparently won’t be alone at the event.

WinFuture reports that the Huawei Watch GT will be right there alongside the more premium Mate 20 models (the Mate 20 Lite already launched). If true, then we’ll likely see the Watch GT release pretty quickly, possibly by the end of October.

The Watch GT has also reportedly been approved by the United States FCC, which adds fuel to the fire that it’s coming very soon.

(Huawei Watch 2 shown)

How much will the Huawei Watch GT cost?

Last year’s Huawei Watch 2 underwhelmed with its design while tacking on a higher price point – and that strategy didn’t really work. But now Huawei might be aiming lower (at least on price) with the Watch GT.

WinFuture suggests that retailers see the Watch GT launching around just €190 (about £169) for both Sport and Classic models, however the site believes that the retail prices will fall closer to €199 (~£177) for the Sport and €229 (~£203) for the Classic. In any case, that’s a whole lot less than the Apple Watch Series 4 and Samsung Galaxy Watch.

What will the Huawei Watch GT look like?

You’re apparently looking at the Huawei Watch GT Classic above, thanks to a leak from WinFuture. With metal and leather, it’s a sleek-looking number that continues the lineage of past Huawei Watch models.

And the image at the top of the screen? That apparently leaked from the official Huawei website, showing the exact same Classic model alongside what might be the Sport model alongside. WinFuture suggests that it will be waterproof and swim-ready, so that’s certainly a plus.

Granted, we weren’t big fans of the first Huawei Watch 2, which eventually became known as the Sport model when the Classic version followed later, but we’re hoping that this one will do the trick.

What about the Huawei Watch GT’s screen?

The Huawei Watch 2 had a great screen, but it felt a bit small given the size of the overall watch itself. Luckily, leaks suggest more screen real estate this time around.

WinFuture points to a 1.39in AMOLED panel for the Watch GT, instead of the 1.2in AMOLED screen from the Watch 2, and the official website leak backs up that stat. It’s slated to be a 454×454 panel, which is higher-res than the Huawei Watch 2 but might ultimately pack about the same pixel density given the larger physical size.

How much power will the Huawei Watch GT pack?

The Huawei Watch GT seemed like a safe bet to debut Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon Wear chip, but there’s one small problem: this reportedly isn’t a Wear OS watch.

Surprise! That unexpected detail comes from the offical website leak, which suggests that Huawei will use proprietary software instead of the official wearable Android OS. Instead of the Snapdragon, SlashGear points to a custom ARM Cortex-M4 chip instead.

Unfortunately, the given the switch away from Wear OS, the Watch GT may only be compatible with Huawei’s own phones. That’s a big "maybe" for now, so it’s entirely possible that we’ll hear otherwise once the full details are announced.

You can catch a few looks of the interface above in this leaked image snagged by SlashGear before the site was pulled offline.

Is there anything else I should know about the Huawei Watch GT?

Battery life is a key consideration for any smartwatch, and Huawei could edge out the competition if battery life estimates are to be believed.

WinFuture and the official website leak both point to a 420mAh battery pack in the Huawei Watch GT, which is exactly the same size as the Huawei Watch 2… but they’re making bigger promises here.

Leaks suggest the watch should last up to a week with the always-on display activated or up to 20 hours when using GPS functionality, with a low-power standard watch mode said to last for up to 30 days.

Lastly, the website leak points to a bunch of health sensors onboard, including TruSeen 3.0 heart monitoring, TruSleep sleep monitoring, and TruRelax stress tracking. Can it really compete with the Apple Watch Series 4 on the health front?