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Huawei Watch 2 lasts 25 days and costs at least $300

The Huawei Watch 2 has a special low-power mode that can display the time and track steps for nearly a month on a single charge.

Dan Graziano Associate Editor / How To
Dan Graziano is an associate editor for CNET. His work has appeared on BGR, Fox News, Fox Business, and Yahoo News, among other publications. When he isn't tinkering with the latest gadgets and gizmos, he can be found enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City.
Dan Graziano
4 min read

Huawei's new smartwatch may be the first one I actually wear for more than a month.

The Huawei Watch 2 has almost everything I look for in a smartwatch. There's GPS to track my runs, an optical heart-rate sensor for my health and NFC for mobile payments. The international model will even be offered with a 4G LTE cellular connection, although the just-released US model ($300 and up) doesn't seem to be including any cellular options. Still, it's the closest to an all-inclusive Android Wear 2.0 watch that we've seen yet.

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The main selling point, though, is the watch's battery life. The Huawei Watch 2 has a special watch mode that can display the time and track steps for up to 25 days. You read that correctly: The watch can last almost a month on a single charge, albeit in a not-so-smart state.

In the US, the Huawei Watch 2 costs $300, or $370 for the step-up design Huawei Watch 2 Classic which has standard watch straps. International pricing hasn't been announced for all models yet.

Editors' note: This article was updated on April 18 at 9 a.m. ET with pricing for US models.

Sport and Classic

There are two models: the Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic. Both models feature a 1.2-inch 390 by 390 pixel resolution with circular display. Unlike the original Huawei Watch, which was protected with scratch-proof sapphire crystal glass, this year it has been swapped out for Gorilla Glass 3, which Huawei said reduces the weight of the watch. But the watch is also thicker than the original Huawei Watch.

Other features include a 1.1 GHz Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset with 768 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. There's also an optical heart-rate sensor, GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Unfortunately, the watches aren't swim-proof like the Apple Watch Series 2.

huawei-watch-2-classic-5.jpg

This is the Classic model.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

Huawei has said that the watch will last up to two days with normal usage, or up to 10 hours with an active GPS signal, which is comparable to the Garmin Forerunner 235 (our favorite running watch).

For extra battery life, there's a new watch mode to squeeze out extra juice. Huawei has said that with 10 percent battery remaining, the watch mode can extend the battery for an additional 40 hours. Keep in mind, this basic watch mode is limited to watch display and step count, and the watch screen isn't always on.

The Huawei Watch 2 and Huawei Watch 2 Classic share all of the same features (aside from the international LTE option -- that's exclusive to the Huawei Watch 2). The difference between the two is in the design. The Watch 2 has a sportier and more rugged look with curved straps. It also includes an extra button that can be customized to quickly jump into a certain app (by default it will start a workout). Meanwhile, the Classic model has a more traditional look and features standard 22 millimeter watch straps. Neither one has a spinning crown like LG's new watches do.

During its Mobile World Congress press conference today, Huawei also announced a Watch 2 Porsche Edition. Huawei didn't say whether it would have any unique features, but I'll report back when I hear more and when CNET has been able to see it in person.

Huawei Watch 2 Porsche edition

A glimpse of the Huawei Watch 2 Porsche edition.

Kent German/CNET

Fitness and smart coaching

The GPS in the Huawei Watch 2 allows it to measure pace, distance and speed when running or biking. Unlike the first-generation Huawei Watch, which only offered on-demand heart-rate, the new model will continuously track heart rate similar to the Fitbit Charge 2.

Huawei also partnered with First Beat, a company that specializes in physiological analytics for sports and well-being, to provide various run-coaching features. The watch (and companion Huawei app) can create a personalized running plan for you, provide real-time coaching and guidance during runs, and will assess your VO2 Max -- a metric used by athletes for measuring the maximum amount of oxygen that can be used during workouts -- to give you an indication of your cardio-fitness health.

huawei-watch-2-classic-4.jpg

The Watch 2 can track your heart rate with these optical sensors.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The Android Wear watch to beat?

On paper, the new Huawei Watch is similar to the LG Watch Sport , but it looks like the better Android Wear 2.0 sports watch. It feels more comfortable, and has nearly the same feature set.

The original Huawei Watch was my favorite Android Wear smartwatch, while I'm not the biggest fan of the tachymeter-like scale around the bezel, the new model has almost all of the features I look for in a watch. I wish the LTE model was coming to the US, though.

We'll have a full review of the Huawei Watch 2 in the coming weeks.

Smartwatches compared


Huawei Watch 2Huawei Watch (2015)LG Watch StyleLG Watch SportSamsung Gear S3
Display 1.2-inch AMOLED1.4-inch full circle AMOLED1.2-inch full circle POLED1.38-inch full cricle POLED1.3-inch full circle Super AMOLED
Resolution 390x390 (326 ppi)400x400 (286 ppi)360x360 (299 ppi)480x480 (348 ppi)360x360 (278 ppi)
Dimensions 45x48.3x12.6 mm42x42x11.3 mm42.3x45.7x10.8 mm45.4x51.21x14.2 mm49x46x12.9 mm
Protection Gorilla Glass 3Sapphire crystal glassGorila Glass 3Gorila Glass 3Gorilla Glass SR+
Strap size 20 mm; 22 mm (Classic model)18 mm standard18 mm standardIntegrated22 mm standard
Build Stainless steelStainless steelStainless steel, plastic backStainless steelStainless steel
Processor Snapdragon Wear 2100Snapdragon 400Snapdragon Wear 2100Snapdragon Wear 2100Exynos 7270
Memory 768 MB512 MB512 MB768 MB768 MB
Storage 4 GB4 GB4 GB4 GB4 GB
Battery 420 mAh300 mAh240 mAh430 mAh380 mAh
Operating system Android Wear 2.0Android Wear (upgrade to 2.0 coming later)Android Wear 2.0Android Wear 2.0Tizen
Scroll wheel NoNoYesYesYes; Rotating bezel
Microphone YesYesYesYesYes
Loudspeaker TBDYesNoYesYes
Vibration YesYesYesYesYes
Wi-Fi YesYesYesYesYes
NFC YesNoNoYesYes
GPS YesNoNoYesYes
LTE Yes; International model onlyNoNoYesYes
Heart-rate sensor YesYesNoYesYes
Ambient light sensor YesNoYesYesYes
Water-resistant IP68IP67IP67IP68IP68
US price TBD$350$250$350$350 ($400 with LTE)