You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out where Huawei got the inspiration for its latest announcement Watch Ultimate. This is clearly Huawei’s not-so-subtle answer to the Apple Watch Ultra, and now, we know the similarity extends to the price tag as well. Starting tomorrow, the Ultimate will go on sale in the UK and Europe for €749 / £700 for the “expedition black” colorway and €899 / £800 for the voyage blue version.
If you missed the Watch Ultimate news, it’s probably because the company currently has no plans to launch the device in the US. (The ban on Huawei still kicks in in 2023.) While the company once had a decent position in the wearables market, the ban has since limited its reach to US audiences for all but most dedicated users. That said, here’s a quick rundown of the features.
Each of these is a feature that Apple introduced with the Ultra, but to be fair, the Ultimate is different enough that you can’t call it a complete knock it down That is at least evident in the design, which is closer to traditional mechanical watches. There are also differences within the specs and materials. The Watch Ultimate, for example, uses a “zirconium-based liquid metal case” that it claims is 4.5 times stronger and 2.5 times harder than stainless steel. It’s not titanium, unlike the Ultra, but the implication of extreme ruggedness is the same. (It’s also, obviously, not liquid.) Both have nanotech ceramic bezels and sapphire glass on the LTPO OLED display.
Huawei is also keen to one-up Apple in several areas. Like the Ultra, the Watch Ultimate is EN13319-certified, which is the standard for diving equipment. But while Apple doesn’t recommend dives beyond 40 meters, Huawei says the Watch Ultimate can go down to 110 meters and supports technical and free dives in addition to recreational dives.
Battery life is also longer. Huawei claims the Watch Ultimate can get up to two weeks on a charge, though it didn’t go into what parameters it used to arrive at that estimate. As always with smartwatches, your battery mileage will vary with use. That said, Huawei notes that users can go from zero to 100 percent battery in 60 minutes and 25 percent in 10 minutes.
Huawei’s proprietary OS doesn’t have the most robust app ecosystem, but there are some improvements on that front as well. Huawei says users can now use third-party Strava, Komoot, and Runtastic integrations. Nope quite a bit it’s like having an app on your wrist, but it makes sharing data between those services easier.
Regardless of how you feel about Huawei, the Watch Ultimate is the closest competitor to the Apple Watch Ultra in a smartwatch — at least on paper. Garmin has a few options, like the Epix 2 and Fenix 7 lineup, but those are more rugged fitness watches than aspirational luxury smartwatches. It would be nice if everyone had more options on that front, but if you’re in the US, there’s no official way to get the watch through US retailers. If not, you’ll probably have to wait to see what Samsung and other watchmakers have with Wear OS.