The Huawei Watch was one of the best of the original batch of Android Wear watches, despite being one of the more expensive options, but now the company is back with two new wearables.
There’s the Huawei Watch 2 as the headline device with LTE baked-in while there's another, presumably cheaper device, called the Huawei Watch 2 Classic.
The Watch 2 Classic is one of the first Android Wear 2.0 devices on the market though, so you may be tempted to grab this option from Huawei for your wrist.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic price and release date
The pricing for the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is still uncertain, but we hope to hear more about how much the wearable will cost very soon.
It launched at MWC 2017 in Barcelona, but the Huawei Watch 2 Classic doesn’t have a clear release date yet.
It is launching in both the US and UK, but there’s no word on whether either this or the Huawei Watch 2 will be coming to Australia.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic design
The design of the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is similar to the original Huawei Watch and the Huawei Watch 2, but there are a few key differences.
It's slightly thinner than the both the other Huawei smartwatches, which is appreciated considering the thickness of Android Wear watches in general. This still isn't a ultra thin device though, so if you have a smaller wrist you may be disappointed with the size of the Watch 2 Classic.
The left edge of the device is emblazoned with the Huawei logo, which looks smart on the side of the wearable and reflects more traditional watches. On the right edge there are two large buttons at the 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock position to help you navigate around the device.
The button at the top will take you back to the home screen of the watch, while the other button is programmed to take you to the fitness features of the device.
If you're not big into fitness, you can reprogram this button a number of other purposes within Android Wear 2.0. Regularly use messaging on your watch? You can instead change the button to open up that app right away and you won't need to scroll through the UI to find it.
The strangest choice is Huawei has decided to employ a design that doesn’t include a crown or a rotating bezel.
Usually a crown or a rotating bezel is how you would navigate on devices such as the Samsung Gear S3 or the Apple Watch 2, but here you'll just be using the screen.
That doesn't feel as intuitive as using a bezel or crown and is a downside of the Watch 2 Classic. In our time using the device we found ourselves trying to turn the bezel of the device to interact with it.
The Watch 2 Classic is IP68 water resistant though, so you’ll be able to get this a little wet without having to worry about it. Huawei hasn't made any swim tracking features obvious on the wearable though, so this isn't a watch to buy if you want to take it in the pool.
The strap that comes with the Watch 2 Classic is leather on the top, but has a coating underneath that means it won't absorb your sweat so you'll be able to go out on a run and still wear the leather option.
It's a very comfortable fit and will suit you well if you're working out or if you're going to a meeting for work.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic display
There’s a 1.2-inch AMOLED display on the Watch 2 Classic that offers a resolution of 390 x 390. It looks great to the eye and offers a clear look at what's going on the Watch 2 Classic.
That equals 326 pixels-per-inch making it easy enough to navigate around the screens of the Watch 2 Classic.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic specs
Inside the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, but Huawei has yet to share whether it's the latest Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor. With our limited time on the device, everything seemed to load quickly and work as sprightly as we’ve seen on other Android Wear devices.
There’s 2GB of on board storage for your music when you’re out and about, but that’s not really all that much considering other the LG Watch Style has 4GB on board and we thought that was limited for music.
You’ll be able to store a few albums on this, but it’s not all that impressive.
Huawei believes the Huawei Watch 2 Classic will last for two days – there’s a 420mAh cell inside, so that’d make sense - while new wearable fast charging tech means it can go from empty to full in less than an hour on charge.
For fitness, the Watch 2 Classic offers up GPS and a heart rate monitor but there's no LTE option so you'll want to have your phone out on a run with you.
Huawei Watch 2 Classic software
There’s Android Wear 2.0 software running on the Watch 2 Classic so you’ll get all of the latest features, including Google Assistant.
We were unable to try it on the devices we tested, but Huawei has assured us the devices will be ready to run Google Assistant and answer your queries at the press of a button upon launch.
Android Pay is also baked into the device and uses the NFC chip so you can easily make payments by tapping your wristwear on a contactless compatible reader in shops.
Early verdict
The Huawei Watch 2 Classic doesn't feel like a major upgrade on the original wearable and feels a lot more limited than the Huawei Watch 2. That said, not everyone wants to be able to take their wearable out without their phone so they won't need the LTE feature.
If you’re a smartwatch lover, the Huawei Watch 2 Classic may be a good wearable to upgrade to if you’re looking for a stylish device, Android Wear 2.0 and you’re not as focused on the fitness features available on the Watch 2.
But if the original Huawei Watch goes down in price, it may be worth your while picking that up instead of waiting for the release of the Watch 2 Classic.
MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Check out all our MWC 2017 coverage here.
