Huawei's unusual Watch GT Cyber has a detachable 'movement'
Huawei remains shackled by US-driven technology restrictions that have drastically affected its market share in telecoms equipment and smart devices beyond its home turf in recent years.
Despite lacking access to Google Mobile Services (GMS) and US 5G chips, Huawei has continued to produce well-designed smartphones with excellent camera systems, such as the Mate 50 Pro, and innovative wearables like the Watch Buds, both of which Huawei plugged at its MWC device briefing.
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There was no news about the upcoming P60 and Mate X3 smartphones, but the Chinese company did highlight the Huawei Watch GT Cyber, which launched in China in November 2022 at ¥1288 (~$185/€175).
The HarmonyOS-based Watch GT Cyber has a unique design, as the watch 'movement', with its 1.32-inch 466-by-466 pixel AMOLED display, is detachable from the strap/case unit. It comes in three editions -- Urban and Sport with 47.4mm cases and 140-210mm high-performance rubber straps, and Elegant with a 45.6mm case and 130-200mm strap. The Urban Edition is available with a Golden Black case, the Sport Edition in Midnight Black or Space Grey, and the Elegant Edition in Moonlight White or Sea Blue.
When you drop the movement into a new case, the watch face automatically adjusts to match its new home. You can even replace the watch's rotating crown for a better match. As well as an array of watch faces to choose from, you can take a snapshot of your apparel and create one from that.
The GPS and Bluetooth-equipped watch offers military-grade durability (the 16-strong test suite includes high- and low-temperature, shock, fluid contamination, solar radiation, rain, salt spray, dust, damp heat, immersion, vibration and acidic atmosphere), along with 5 ATM water resistance, so it should handle a variety of lifestyles.
There are multiple sports and workout modes available, along with TruSleep 3.0 monitoring and TruSeen 5.0+ vital sign monitoring, which delivers 24/7 uninterrupted heart rate monitoring.
The Watch GT Cyber supports reverse wireless charging (from a suitably equipped smartphone) and Huawei claims it will deliver seven days' typical usage or four days' heavy use (30 minutes of Bluetooth calling a week, heart rate and sleep monitoring enabled, 180 minutes of GPS-enabled workout a week, message notifications enabled, and screen on for 30 minutes a day).
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The Watch GT Cyber is currently available in China, south-east Asia and parts of South America, but there are no plans to bring it to Europe (or, indeed, the US) at the moment.