There’s no shortage of Apple Watch lookalikes, but Huawei’s latest square smartwatch has something rather unusual hiding inside its strap.
The new Huawei Watch D3 was unveiled today alongside the Watch GT 7 Series, flagship Watch 6 Series and FreeBuds Neo earbuds, but for me, it’s comfortably the most interesting product of the bunch.
That’s because the D3 can take actual blood pressure measurements using an inflatable airbag built into its strap.
It works much like a conventional cuff, compressing the wrist as an internal pump inflates and deflates the airbag to determine systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
That’s fundamentally different from what Apple currently does, which can identify patterns that may suggest hypertension using its optical heart-rate sensors.
However, they don’t directly measure your blood pressure or give you conventional blood-pressure readings.
Adding Huawei’s system to an Apple Watch would presumably require a substantial rethink of the strap and associated hardware, which is why this could remain one area where the D3 has a considerable advantage.
Huawei has also worked hard to make the technology look less... medical.
While previous iterations looked a bit clunky, the D3 deliberately borrows heavily from Huawei’s much more conventional Watch Fit family, almost fully disguising its special cuff design.
It's 11.3mm thick and weighs 40g, with Huawei shaving 8g and roughly 2mm from its predecessor.
The inflatable strap is narrower too, while the display measures over 1.9 inches and reaches a claimed 3,000 nits.
More than a clever cuff
The Watch D3 supports 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, taking automated readings during the day and while you sleep.
Its blood pressure function has CE marking under the EU Medical Device Regulation.
One of the most interesting additions in this generation is pre- and post-exercise blood pressure measurement.
The watch can now take readings immediately before and shortly after exercise so users can see how their blood pressure responds to exertion.
Huawei says the D3 still manages up to six days of battery life despite housing the pump, while Health Glance can gather up to 11 health indicators in around a minute.
The Watch GT 7 Series is probably the brand's biggest mainstream launch this September.
Huawei has given its sports watch a noticeably more outdoorsy look this year, but some of the cleverest changes are happening under the hood.
A new positioning system combines GPS with the watch’s accelerometer and gyroscope to estimate movement when satellite reception disappears.
Huawei says this can improve route recording through tunnels and tree cover, while also reducing GPS polling during ultra-long activities to save battery.
To boost its snow sport prowess, the GT 7 can now download maps for more than 3,000 ski resorts, track individual turns and even estimate the G-forces generated while carving.
It also adds an indoor skiing mode that relies on onboard motion sensors rather than GPS.
Cyclists gain climb planning, gradient information and warnings when approaching sharp turns too, while Huawei has finally added a Physical Readiness score that factors in metrics including sleep and HRV.
The Watch GT 7 starts at £280 (~$378 / €326 / AU$528), with the GT 7 Pro from £380 (~$512 / €443 / AU$717), and both are available to order from today. The Watch D3 costs £400 (~$540 / €466 / AU$755) and goes on sale on 23 September.
