Hands on with the Huawei wearables at Mobile World Congress 2015

At Mobile World Congress 2015, Huawei unveiled their latest wearable smart devices as Huawei is set to expand the category of accessories and become entrenched in the wearable/ fitness market.

Wearable are meant just for that – to be worn. By doing so they are expected to take abuse. The lesser brands who offer wearable devices at Mobile World congress would not last the exhibition not to mention the real world as the feel like cheap no-name-mass-produced plastic devices with some built in tech. At the conference I had the opportunity to get get some hands-on time with Huawei’s devices and what stood out for me is quality. The devices are sturdy with no plastic feels and the finish on all products is well thought out and superb. Quality should be a priority along with design when it comes to strapping technology on our bodies and whilst I am not convinced that a Bluetooth in-ear headset is something that consumers are after, the is no denying that the wearables look and feel more jewellery-like rather than technology for technology’s sake.

The Huawei has a beautiful smart watch offer that incorporates everything all  the other wearable have to offer and that is the Huawei wearable product that is likely to become the flagship product.

Huawei TalkBand B2

The TalkBand B2 is the second generation wearable and Bluetooth headset combination device from Huawei. Huawei has upgraded its look to be more business-like with this new design. The device has smarter fitness tracking functionality with higher accuracy taking advantage of the 6-axis sensor which can automatically identify and record motions accurately, detect the duration of deep sleep and light sleep, and provide consumers with health tips on ways to improve their sleep pattern.

Inheriting a more superior Bluetooth connectivity than its predecessor, the Huawei TalkBand B2 doubles up as a Bluetooth headset so whilst on the run, pop the headset into the ear and make that call. Its dual-microphone, noise reduction technology can detect if the earpiece is on the wristband or not, allowing it to automatically push audio (music/call) to the smartphone or B2 bracelet.

TalkBand B2 is also equipped with a pager to search and locate your smartphone, regardless of the phone model, through vibration or ring tone alerts.

Made of high strength, light weight aviation aluminium, TalkBand B2 comes in two watchband styles, the environmentally professional TPU material or the luxurious leather, which caters to different occasions. Each style comes in many different colour varieties.

TalkBand B2 has a five day battery life (depending on usage), support continuous call time up to six hours, and 12 days’ standby time. TalkBand B2 works with both Android 4.0  and IOS7.0 or above and it will come in three colours, black, silver and gold.

No word yet on the South African prices however the retail price of the leather version is 199 euros (roughly R2587) and that of standard version is 169 euros (roughly R2197)

Huawei TalkBand N1

When heading out on your training routine, Huawei TalkBand N1 is a companion that not only holds 4 gigabytes of local MP3 storage but also doubles at a Bluetooth headset and a sports fitness tracker.

Made with high quality loudspeaker components, TalkBand N1 has clear, loud and crisp in-ear speaker system that deliver great sound quality thanks to chamber tuning.

Once paired with a smartphone, TalkBand N1 becomes a health and sports tracker with functionalities such as step counting, distance calculation and calorie consumption tracking. It also carries a function that announces the names or phone numbers of incoming calls.

Made with a TPU soft rubber material surface, the TalkBand N1 weighs 18 grams, and has an IP54 dustproof and waterproof level. Note that the device is not intended for swimming but rather is sweat proof and can handle some rain drops.

The TalkBand N1 comes in three stylish colors: Silver, Grey and Red and the recommended retail price of 119 euros (roughly R1547).

Huawei SmartWatch

The Huawei Watch features a 1.4 inch circular design at 42mm diameter, 400 x 400 pixels resolution AMOLED screen. The watch is scratch-proof and water-proof. It is powered by Android Wear, Huawei Watch is packed with a range of health tracking functions and has a built-in advanced heart rate monitor sensor, 6-Axis sensor, barometer sensor, touch motor, and built-in microphone.

Once the watch is paired with a smartphone running Android 4.3 or higher, Huawei Watch enables users to receive notifications from the device including SMS, email, calendar, app, and phone call notifications. The 6-Axis sensor also enables the watch to automatically identify a user’s state of motion and measures sports data provided by their activity – walking/running/climbing/cycling.

The watch has 40 customizable watch faces ranging from a classic analogue to digital, and faces that integrate health data including calories ingested, steps taken and more into the watch face for quick reference.

Huawei Watch comes in three stylish colors: gold, silver and black with a full range of materials, watch straps and other styles also available.

*I travelled to MWC as a guest of Huawei