This spring, Huawei unveiled its most advanced smartwatch yet – the Huawei Watch Ultimate – featuring an innovative “liquid metal” case (zirconium alloy, “better than titanium and steel”), a gorgeous large screen, 110-meter water immersion, and diving computer functions. We tested this watch in detail, and you can read the review here. The model impressed us with its high price of $1000+, but… the company did not stop there and presented an even more expensive version – Huawei Watch Ultimate Design costing about $3000. We managed to get acquainted with this incredible novelty and share our impressions.
I usually think it’s silly to describe the shape, color, and all the elements that can be found on the box of any gadget. It goes to the closet or straight to the trash anyway, and it doesn’t affect our decision to choose a particular device. But the case of Huawei Watch Ultimate Design is a different story. This is a status device for wealthy people. That’s why it looks cool, starting with the packaging. Here’s a short unboxing video:
The watch comes in a bulky cardboard box, in which you will find a box made of eco-leather. This box with suede interior contains the watch itself – beautiful!
Under the watch are two suede boxes with accessories. In one of them you will find spare polymer straps, more practical for active pastimes. As in the case of the regular Ultimate series watches, it has a super-long part for putting on a diving suit. There is also a white cloth for wiping the watch, and 4 additional segments for the metal strap.
The second mini-box contains a short instruction manual and a charger (a wireless “pill”). The charger is ordinary, plastic, and does not fit into the overall style of the watch. Also, its connector is a regular USB, although it could have been switched to USB-C by now. However, this is not critical.
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The basic Watch Ultimate is available in two versions: black Expedition Black with a polymer strap and silver Voyage Blue with a metal strap. Now they’ve been joined by the Design version, Huawei’s first ever smartwatch with 18-karat gold..
The watch case is made of the same “liquid metal” based on zirconium, the keys are titanium, and all this with 18-carat gold inserts containing 75% of this precious metal.
“The bezel of the watch is made of nanoceramics and contains six gold inserts. The scale on the bezel is gold-plated using the physical vapor deposition (PVD) method and then laser engraved three times with a resolution of 5 microns to obtain a flawless texture. The effect is achieved by adding gold in the process of vacuum ion sputtering in the gravure printing technique. It sounds complicated, but it looks impressive.
But whether it is beautiful or not is a matter of taste. Some of my friends argued that so much gold is unnecessary kitsch and will only appeal to Arab sheiks. Someone else said that Huawei Watch Ultimate Design looks luxurious and chic. In any case, you need to understand that a $3000 gadget is not for everyone. And if someone decides to buy it, then no one will doubt the choice of such a person. They can afford it, and that’s fine.
Interestingly, you can change the length of the strap (by 17.4 mm, or almost 2 cm) without even disassembling it into elements – simply by sliding a part into a special groove in the clasp. The official photo shows how it works better:
The watch is huge and heavy, which is not surprising, because the regular Watch Ultimate is also huge. It’s definitely not for women, although I tried it on and am ready to show you:
And here’s a comparison with my Galaxy Watch 5 44 mm:
The case allows the gadget to withstand extreme pressure at depths of up to 110 meters (10 atmospheres). The device complies with the ISO 22810 water resistance standard and has been tested according to the EN13319 standard for diving equipment.
I have only one complaint about all this beauty: gold is a soft metal (and there’s nothing you can do about it), so it easily collects scratches. And a watch is a device worn on the wrist, which, for obvious reasons, can also be scratched. So, in close-ups, the flaws are striking. Unless you take your watch to be polished from time to time.
And yet (perhaps not for nothing that a wipe cloth was included) the watch case easily collects fingerprints. Well, let’s say that the shine of real 18-carat gold is so beautiful that we simply won’t notice these shortcomings.
Read alsо: Huawei Watch Ultimate review: Top smartwatch and competitor for Apple Watch Ultra
Everything is the same as in other models of the series. The Huawei Watch Ultimate has the largest 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED display among all the brand’s watches – an energy-efficient display that supports refresh rates from 1 Hz to 60 Hz. The screen has a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits, so it remains readable even in bright sunlight. At the same time, it does not blind the eyes in the dark either, as the automatic brightness control works perfectly.
As with other Huawei watches, there is an AoD mode, and the watch faces have special versions adapted for display within the “always active screen”. Thanks to the minimum refresh rate of 1 Hz, Huawei Watch Ultimate provides energy savings when using AoD.
There are a lot of dials; for the gold version of the Watch Ultimate, a special one was created – gold, of course, with a world map on the screen and an imitation of a watch movement. It looks interesting.
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The manufacturer does not provide information about the “filling”, so I can only say that Watch Ultimate works quickly, smoothly, without delays. The built-in memory for downloading music is 4 GB.
The Bluetooth version is 5.2. There is also NFC, but it’s useless – you can’t use Huawei Watch for contactless payments. There is no version with eSIM either, which is a big disappointment, because the more budget-friendly Huawei Watch 4 has support for this technology.
There is a microphone and speaker, which means that the watch can be used as a headset for hands-free communication. It’s handy if you don’t have your phone at hand or it’s inconvenient to get it, for example, while cycling or running.
You can connect the watch to your phone using the Huawei Health app. You’ll find all the data collected by the sensors and be able to customize the watch. Read more in the Watch Ultimate review.
Ultimate Design watches run on HarmonyOS 3. The system is smooth, beautiful, comfortable, but somewhat stripped down. For example, the choice of third-party software is extremely scarce, and you cannot respond to messages using the keyboard – only with emoticons or blanks.
The golden version of the watch is no different from the regular one in terms of software, only all the icons are the same color – gold. It might be stylish, but I didn’t like it – it’s hard to tell them apart at first. And additionally installed applications will stand out from the overall look.
Otherwise, we have the most advanced watch for monitoring health and activity. There are more than 100 training modes, automatic tracking of some of them, creation of training plans and a virtual coach, reminders of good habits. TruSeen 5.0+ sensors allow for continuous monitoring of heart rate, oxygenation (SpO2), stress levels, and even assess the risk of atherosclerosis. If you dare to sleep in such a large watch, Huawei TruSleep 3.0 technology is at your service to track your sleep quality in detail with tips on how to correct and improve it. The watch can also take an ECG and records skin temperature.
Special features of the Watch Ultimate include an expedition mode (for enthusiasts of very active recreation with long battery life) and operation as a diving computer (4 modes, control of decompression, heart rate and SpO2 levels, maintenance of depth, ascent rate, water temperature).
Let me remind you that the set includes a polymer strap that is more practical for activities, as well as an elongated part of it for putting on a diving suit. You can read more about all this in my Huawei Watch Ultimate review.
Read alsо: Review of Huawei Watch D with pressure measurement function
The large case made it possible to accommodate a 530 mAh battery: according to the manufacturer, the watch can live up to two weeks without recharging during normal use. If you’re a very active user, you’ll still get at least 8 days of operation.
The company described what “normal” and “active” use means on its website in the section on Watch Ultimate specifications. In short, normal mode means a few calls, some GPS training, some music via Bluetooth, constant heart rate and sleep tracking, and notifications. Active mode is mostly the same, but more time is devoted to GPS training and the active screen.
The Ultimate model has a new way to manage energy saving that depends on activity. For more details, see the picture, but in short, the watch adapts the tracking of your indicators and functions (even GPS ranges) so that you receive only the information you need, and the watch lives as long as possible. Therefore, Watch Ultimate will easily help you cope with marathons, air races and other extreme activities up to running or riding up to a maximum of 168 km and a maximum of 75 hours!
How many hours will the watch work for you? Everything is individual. It depends on how often you train, whether you have GPS active or not, whether you receive calls from the watch, whether you receive a lot of notifications, whether you use the built-in apps and how much, and so on.
In any case, the Watch Ultimate has a solid advantage over competitors like the Apple Watch Ultra and Google Pixel Watch, which can barely last 1.5-2 days. Huawei will provide a maximum of two weeks of operation! Even if you turn out to be a super-active user, they will definitely last more than 2-3 days.
When I tested the Watch Ultimate, the battery lasted an average of 12-14 days. The gold version is about the same.
The watch is charged by a wireless charging tablet that comes with the kit. There’s no power adapter, but any smartphone charger will do. Charging from zero to 25% takes 10 minutes, from zero to 100% – 60 minutes. If necessary, the watch can be “recharged” from a smartphone that supports reverse wireless charging.
Read alsо: Huawei Watch Fit 2 Review: Stylish and Hi-Tech
Huawei Watch Ultimate Design is the gold version of the most advanced watch to date, the Huawei Watch Ultimate. Not just imitation gold or gold plating, but real 18-carat gold. Very expensive (~$3000) and, of course, not for everyone, but for wealthy people who want to emphasize their capabilities and status.
This is perhaps the only watch of its kind on the market – exquisite from a jewelry point of view and at the same time stuffed with features from the inside. Once upon a time (2015-2016), Apple Watch Gold 18k was released in an 18-karat gold case and with a price of more than $10000, but it did not gain much success. And their design is still more causal and sporty.
The pros and cons are about the same as the regular version of the Watch Ultimate. The design and materials are great, the screens are gorgeous, the OS is fast and smooth, the sensors are advanced, the battery is capacious, and the operating time is long. But, unfortunately, you still can’t pay with the watch (and even the penny Mi Band can do it), the software has some simplifications, and there is no version with eSIM.
Do you know anyone who can afford such a watch? Share in the comments!
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