Huawei challenges Apple again, the new smartwatches and notebooks push on design

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Huawei launched new products destined to arrive on the European market in Dubai. It is not the first time that the Shenzen company has chosen the United Arab Emirates city for its presentation.

Last December, for example, Huawei had shown right in the shadow of the Burj Khalifaone of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, its original earphones Free Clips.

This time the Chinese tech giant returns to Dubai on the wings of a newfound enthusiasm. Despite persistent conflicts with the US government, Huawei has recently managed to establish itself as the largest smartphone manufacturer in China, surpassing Apple in terms of number of devices shipped.
But in Dubai the Shenzhen company did not reveal any smartphones.

In fact, they took the scene the smartwatches and notebooks produced by the Asian company. With the addition of the Huawei MatePad 11.5 tablet and in-ear noise-canceling headphones FreeBuds 6i.

As for smartwatches, an absolute novelty was launched in Dubai, the Huwaei Watch Fit 3. In addition to this device, a new edition of a watch that the Asian company presented a few months ago was announced, namely the Huawei Watch 4 Proand a new color of the Huawei Watch GT 4 of which the Chinese company has shipped 5 million pieces worldwide (Huawei data announced in Dubai).

Representing Huawei notebooks, which usually shine for their quality-price ratio, there was the new MateBook X Pro, a very light and very thin computer that presents itself as an alternative to Apple’s MacBook Air.

The new smartwatches

The new Huawei Watch Fit 3 is a smart watch designed primarily to monitor health and physical activity. It was therefore created with slightly different purposes than the Watch 4 Pro, which, although it monitors sleep and heartbeats, for example, is a device that intends to replace traditional watches. And for this reason it is worn on the wrist.

Let’s be clear: the Watch Fit 3 allows, like the Watch 4 Pro, to receive notifications from numerous apps on your wrist, and also to quickly respond to a message or phone call directly from its dial. But the size of the dial and its casual style place it in a product range closer to the fitness lovers.

What is striking about the Watch Fit 3, as often happens with Huawei devices, is the refined design and the choice of materials that provide an excellent feeling to the touch. In short, you immediately understand that you have it in your hands a quality product.

The case of the Watch Fit 3 is square and the edges are rounded. The 1.82 inch AMOLED 2.5D screen it is not very large and perhaps there was room to recover a few more millimeters on the edges, given that Huawei declares a screen-to-body ratio of 77.4%. The brightness of the display – max 1500 nits – seemed very good to us and more than sufficient for outdoor use of the smartwatch, even in bright light.

The resemblance to l’Apple Watch it is evident and we will certainly not be the first to notice and write about it. In the past, Huawei took inspiration from the Cupertino company for other devices – its MateBook notebooks, very close to the look of MacBooks – and this choice proved to be a winning one. Especially if the products coming from China can guarantee convincing materials and performance an affordable price.

Il Watch Fit 3 it costs significantly less than an Apple Watch SE, for example – the list price of the Huawei device is 159 euros for the version with fluoroelastometer strap – but the feeling is that of still having a premium watch in your hands.

The rounded aluminum case, in a satin dark grey, is elegant and seems sufficiently robust. Even the straps that we had the opportunity to observe are well made and with attention to the smallest details. We are referring, for example, to the aluminum used to close the strap, which recalls the materials and colors of the watch case.

Speaking of straps: those of the Huwaei Watch Fit 3 are interchangeable – they detach by applying light pressure under the dial – and are also available in breathable jacquard fabric or real leather.

One of the strong points of the new Fit 3, in our opinion, is its weight: only 26 grams. This is a really slim watch. Furthermore, the thickness of just 9.9 millimeters contributes to a sense of lightness that allows the wearer to tolerate it even at night. It’s not as convenient as a smart ring, obviously, but the Fit 3 represents an acceptable solution for those looking to track their sleep. In this regard, Huawei has developed TrueSleep 4.0 technology which aims to measure breathing and, more generally, the quality of night’s rest.

Like the Watch 4 Pro, the new Huawei Fit 3 promises to measure the wearer’s heart rate. However, it should always be taken into account that this function does not replace a professional medical device. And therefore the beats per minute detected – and the useful notifications that warn when a value outside the norm is detected – must be consulted with extreme caution.

The new Watch Fit 3, like all the wearables recently produced by Huawei, is also compatible with the iOS and Android operating systems. To pair the watch with your smartphone you need to download the Huawei Health app, which acts as a hub for the data collected by the smartwatch and allows you to remotely manage various settings of the Watch Fit 3.

The app Huawei Health it also offers 660 training courses supervised by fitness influencer Pamela Reif. Added to this is the Stay Fit app, designed to work mainly on the smartphone, which uses a constantly updated database of food calories in over fifty countries around the world. The intent is to suggest a healthy diet to those who wear the smartwatch. But even in this case the watch cannot replace a real nutritionist.

The last aspect that is worth underlining of the new Watch Fit 3 is its autonomy which can reach – if used regularly – seven days of use on a single charge. In the watch package there is only the cable that allows you to connect it to a charger. Connecting the charging cable to the Fit 3 is not very convenient, or rather often the connection fails on the first attempt since there is only one “way” in which the watch can adhere to the magnet.

In Dubai, in addition to the Watch Fit 3, Huawei also presented a new version of the watch Watch Pro 4, a Space Edition that intends to conquer space exploration enthusiasts. For this device the Asian company was inspired – among other things – by the de Laval Nozzle used in rockets and spacecraft, which led to the final design of the watch’s nanocrystalline ceramic bezel.

The Watch 4 Pro is made of titanium. A carbon coating has been applied to the watch case and strap which Huawei considers to be “diamond-like” and which, the Shenzhen company says, “has previously only been used in high-end traditional watches”.

The watch glass is made of an equally durable material: spherical sapphire. The Watch 4 Pro Space Edition also promises to withstand diving up to 30 meters deep (5 ATM for swimming). The watch also comes with IP68 certification and complies with EN 13319 diving equipment engineering standards.

A small update of another Huawei watch has also seen the light of day in the United Arab Emirates, he Watch GTwhich was presented in a new spring color, a very light “green” that distinguishes both elements of the case and the straps of the 41mm models for men and women.
Compared to the Fit 3, Huawei watches with a more traditional design significantly increase in price: the Watch GT 41mm Green costs 250 euros, while the Watch 4 Pro Space Edition costs 650 euros.

The new notebooks

In Dubai, what in our opinion remains Huawei’s strong point, namely its notebooks, arrived at the end of the event. The reason does not concern the importance of the product, evidently, but the availability of the computer on the European market.

While the Huawei Watch Fit 3 is available for purchase immediately, for the MateBook X Pro – redesigned compared to the 2023 model – we will have to wait a little longer: the release is scheduled for next June with a base price of 1,999 euros for the version with Intel Core Ultra 7 processor. The cost rises to 2,499 euros if you choose the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, significantly more powerful.

We cannot say too much about the performance of this computer, as we have not yet had the opportunity to test one. On the design, however, we can already express ourselves. The MateBook X Pro is 11.3 millimeters thick. And it is so thin that, when opened, its keyboard seems to rest on a sheet of paper. The sensation, in fact, is that it has no thickness: you have to raise the computer to finally identify the curvature of the body, also just a few millimetres.

Also striking is the generous touchpad, which starts from just below the keyboard and reaches up to the bottom edge. But the edge, in fact, is not there. And so the touchpad has even more space, it seems an infinity pool for your fingers.

All this, combined with a weight of just 980 grams, makes the new notebook a very light travel companion. Huawei underlines this with a comparison that calls into question the elephant in the room: “The MateBook compared to the MacBook Air 13 which weighs 1.24 kg.

Last note on appearance: the MateBook The company name, as always, is engraved on the upper part of the notebook’s body.

The new notebook was also presented in Dubai Huawei MateBook 14 (15 mm thick and 1.4 kg in weight) which, due to its features and price range (1,099 euros), seems to be intended for users who need a machine to study and work. In this case the surprise is the green color.

The new tablet

For “young students, university students and creatives”, Huawei also launched a new tablet in Dubai, called Huawei MatePad 11.5″S, which will be available in early June. This device also stands out for its extreme portability: it weighs 510 grams and is only 6.2 millimeters thick.