Huawei Watch Buds, a watch straight from James Bond. Does it make sense? [TOPtech]

I decided to take a closer look at him. What can be said about the new gadget of the Chinese manufacturer?

At first, Huawei Watch Buds gives the impression of a completely ordinary smartwatch. Just a standard smart watch, which are many on the market today. However, these are only appearances. This device shows its second face only after opening the housing. Then it turns out that inside there is a pair of wireless headphones, which the manufacturer somehow fit in a tight compartment under the screen. Thanks to this, we do not have to part with the headphones even for a moment, because we have them on our wrist at any time of the day or night.

Ease of use

How is such an unusual connection used in practice? Let’s move on to what is probably the most important thing, i.e. convenience. In its style, Huawei put on a classic, round case and a leather strap, which I definitely liked. The screen has a diameter of 1.4 inches, and a single function button is placed on the right edge. The whole thing looks really elegant and Huawei Watch Buds at first glance resembles a classic timepiece. However, this has already become the standard for most smartwatches from this manufacturer.

Hiding the headphones inside the watch case obviously had to affect the size of the device. Huawei Watch Buds has a thickness of over one and a half centimeters, which is noticeably more than most smartwatches. It is also slightly heavier than them. However, I can’t complain about the convenience when using it. Watch Buds are unlikely to fit under a shirt cuff, but in most situations they are quite pleasant to use.

The operation of the watch itself is also commendable. All commands are executed instantly, and the built-in processor has no problems with Harmony OS. As befits a modern smartwatch, we also have dozens of sports modes, built-in GPS for saving training data and all the necessary health functions, such as heart rate measurement, blood oxygen saturation or sleep analysis.

Built-in headphones

Let’s move on to what distinguishes Watch Buds, i.e. the headphones themselves. These are released by pressing a button cleverly hidden under the edge of the screen. Interestingly, the way the headphones are placed in the ears does not matter. The sensors recognize which of the headphones is in the right and which in the left ear. The way to control the music was solved quite funny. Instead of gestures on the touch panel of the headphones, we make them in the ear area. This usually works quite well, although the headphones do not always recognize all commands.

Sound quality

The sound quality offered by the headphones is really decent, but it lacks a bit of what we can hear in high-end wireless headphones. The sound is clean, but it will not appeal to lovers of deep bass, which is a bit too little here. A huge minus, however, belongs to the manufacturer for the active noise reduction. This function is supposed to be, but its effectiveness is so poor that it is difficult to see the effects of ANC at all. It is worth noting that the headphones are charged from the battery of the smartwatch itself, and this lasts from two to three days away from the charger. A decent result for this type of device.

Defects

Unfortunately, Watch Buds have several disadvantages that may be significant for many people. There is no Wi-Fi connectivity, barometer function, microphone and loudspeaker for calls and support for mobile payments. What’s more, the watch is not waterproof, but only splashproof, so we can forget about taking it to the pool. So who is Huawei Watch Buds for? First of all, for people who cannot part with headphones, but are able to accept a few disadvantages of this model and swallow the high price that you have to pay for a watch. Currently, we can find it in stores for less than PLN 2,300.