Just for disclosure, I was given this Watch by Huawei for testing purposes. They haven't asked me to review it, and they don't have any influence over my review. All they have asked is that I report any issues I have to them. This is my honest and fair opinion.
Physical Observations
I got the black with the black link band and really like the look. I'm not doing unboxing videos as there are a million of them. I'm going to focus on what I like and don't like about the Huatch in particular and Wear in general.
I have had my Huawei Watch (Huatch) for two weeks now. I was hesitant getting the black on black for fear of it wearing off or chipping. Even though I prefer nicer watches I'm not very gentle with them. I put them on after my shower in the morning and don't take them off until I go to bed. No matter what I'm doing, I don't consider the watch. I have treated the Huatch the same way, which includes everything from daily tasks like washing my hands or dishes to doing my fall cleanup (raking leaves, cleaning gutters, etc.). There have been no adverse affects by both moisture or scratches. I think the sapphire display is probably harder than anything I've had on a watch before, so I have little concern about that scratching beyond what I would expect with any other watch.
Usability and experience.
Well, this is where I was at first underwhelmed, but also why I waited two weeks to do a write up. This is my first wear experience, so I didn't know what my expectations were. Out of the box I was very underwhelmed. The watch aspects of it (Huawei watch faces not withstanding, but more on that later) we fine, but I was struggling to find the utility. It was only after letting the Huatch become a part of my life for a while as well as few apps (e.g.Bring for shopping lists) does that utility start to come through. It can't be understated how much it reduces the phone out of pocket time.
Oh, and being King of the remote using it to control Chromecast streaming.
I can't believe how clear and crisp the screen is. Just having time, date, watch battery level, phone battery level, and weather all included on an elegant watch face that if you look quick is just as nice as an expensive Citizen or Seiko. I was in a Kay Jeweler recently and compared it so some of the premier watches on display and it really isn't any larger than some of the Movados and the watch faces are similar. The biggest difference is depth perception, the Huatch obviously doesn't have that relative to a premier mechanical watch face.
Overall, the battery life is more than adequate. I can take it off the charger at 5AM and put it back on at 10PM with 25-50% to spare. Especially after the first few days of use. I did have a couple of one off issues, one being an inexplicable drain of 60% in an hour with no obvious culprit and the other some fairly significant drain using navigation. I don't expect I'll be using it for navigation much so not major issues.
Huawei improvements
I thought out of the box the Huawei watch faces looked great, but after using a few aftermarket faces from Play I soured on the OEM ones pretty quickly. In fact, I haven't used a stock face for more than a few minutes since I purchased my first face. I've become a real fan of the faces from these two developers and have purchased multiple (many???) from each.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Zuhanden
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=thema
What those developers have in common, and where I think Huawei missed a real opportunity, are the customization features for the faces. That includes changing various color elements as well as choosing what information appears in various sub-dials in the face. It gives each individual face near infinite permutations so that anyone can make it their own. Here are some of the faces I've used most.
Wear Improvements
The Wear app for your phone (what enables synchronization to the Huatch) seems less than complete. It doesn't really help manage what apps are installed on the watch. Simply put, if you install an app from Play with a wear component. It will eventually show up on the app. If you uninstall it, it will go away. You don't really know when it will sync, and every time I've used the manual re-sync button I've needed to reboot both my phone and the Huatch, so I've learned to just be patient. The only way to see what is installed on the Huatch is to check the Huatch storage and it will show there. That whole aspect just seems incomplete, but that is on Wear, not Huawei.
Conclusion
I have really taken to this over the last two weeks and would find myself missing it if it was gone. I am curious long term how it holds up, and whether the battery will ultimately be replaceable. But for now, I'm really happy.
Physical Observations
I got the black with the black link band and really like the look. I'm not doing unboxing videos as there are a million of them. I'm going to focus on what I like and don't like about the Huatch in particular and Wear in general.
I have had my Huawei Watch (Huatch) for two weeks now. I was hesitant getting the black on black for fear of it wearing off or chipping. Even though I prefer nicer watches I'm not very gentle with them. I put them on after my shower in the morning and don't take them off until I go to bed. No matter what I'm doing, I don't consider the watch. I have treated the Huatch the same way, which includes everything from daily tasks like washing my hands or dishes to doing my fall cleanup (raking leaves, cleaning gutters, etc.). There have been no adverse affects by both moisture or scratches. I think the sapphire display is probably harder than anything I've had on a watch before, so I have little concern about that scratching beyond what I would expect with any other watch.
Usability and experience.
Well, this is where I was at first underwhelmed, but also why I waited two weeks to do a write up. This is my first wear experience, so I didn't know what my expectations were. Out of the box I was very underwhelmed. The watch aspects of it (Huawei watch faces not withstanding, but more on that later) we fine, but I was struggling to find the utility. It was only after letting the Huatch become a part of my life for a while as well as few apps (e.g.Bring for shopping lists) does that utility start to come through. It can't be understated how much it reduces the phone out of pocket time.
Oh, and being King of the remote using it to control Chromecast streaming.
I can't believe how clear and crisp the screen is. Just having time, date, watch battery level, phone battery level, and weather all included on an elegant watch face that if you look quick is just as nice as an expensive Citizen or Seiko. I was in a Kay Jeweler recently and compared it so some of the premier watches on display and it really isn't any larger than some of the Movados and the watch faces are similar. The biggest difference is depth perception, the Huatch obviously doesn't have that relative to a premier mechanical watch face.
Overall, the battery life is more than adequate. I can take it off the charger at 5AM and put it back on at 10PM with 25-50% to spare. Especially after the first few days of use. I did have a couple of one off issues, one being an inexplicable drain of 60% in an hour with no obvious culprit and the other some fairly significant drain using navigation. I don't expect I'll be using it for navigation much so not major issues.
Huawei improvements
I thought out of the box the Huawei watch faces looked great, but after using a few aftermarket faces from Play I soured on the OEM ones pretty quickly. In fact, I haven't used a stock face for more than a few minutes since I purchased my first face. I've become a real fan of the faces from these two developers and have purchased multiple (many???) from each.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Zuhanden
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=thema
What those developers have in common, and where I think Huawei missed a real opportunity, are the customization features for the faces. That includes changing various color elements as well as choosing what information appears in various sub-dials in the face. It gives each individual face near infinite permutations so that anyone can make it their own. Here are some of the faces I've used most.
Wear Improvements
The Wear app for your phone (what enables synchronization to the Huatch) seems less than complete. It doesn't really help manage what apps are installed on the watch. Simply put, if you install an app from Play with a wear component. It will eventually show up on the app. If you uninstall it, it will go away. You don't really know when it will sync, and every time I've used the manual re-sync button I've needed to reboot both my phone and the Huatch, so I've learned to just be patient. The only way to see what is installed on the Huatch is to check the Huatch storage and it will show there. That whole aspect just seems incomplete, but that is on Wear, not Huawei.
Conclusion
I have really taken to this over the last two weeks and would find myself missing it if it was gone. I am curious long term how it holds up, and whether the battery will ultimately be replaceable. But for now, I'm really happy.