Huawei Watch 3 incoming with Harmony OS on board
A new Huawei smartwatch is on the way, according to a pair of new rumors.
New leaks have alleged the company is working on a Huawei Watch 3, continuing the brand that ended in 2017.
A tipster on Weibo – spotted by Huawei Central – has alleged the new Huawei Watch 3 will run Harmony OS and boast eSIM support.
Those that remember their smartwatch history will recall the original Huawei Watch and Watch 2 ran Wear OS. However, it seems that the new device will run Harmony OS.
Huawei announced Harmony OS back in 2019, its own proprietary operating system, and talked of smartwatches running on the new software. It’s been borne out of its ban on using Android for its smartphones, as part of the on-going US trade dispute.
At the back end of 2020, there was some speculation that Huawei intended to launch a Harmony OS-packing smartwatch, but unnamed sources then pointed to a 2021 release.
It seems the Huawei Watch 3 could be that device – and thanks to another Twitter user, we may have an idea what the UI may look like:
Hongmeng os UI design becomes more suitable for a round dial.#HUAWEIWatch3Serieshttps://t.co/v7WZVssQQYpic.twitter.com/TpLL9qLJQi
— Teme (特米)(@RODENT950) April 5, 2021
(@RODENT950) A big part of the idea for Harmony OS is around apps, and providing a seamless experience across Huawei phones and wearables. Developers can build one app that across Huawei devices, which could entice big brands to develop a Huawei-based version of their Android or iOS app.
The company has also spoken about seamlessly handing off phone functions to the watch via Harmony OS, such as starting music playback on your smartphone, before leaving it at home and continuing the experience on the smartwatch.
This would be a boost to those using Huawei’s own handsets (there’s plenty of users in China), but also ordinary smartwatch users, who would have more third party apps to choose from.
So here’s the confusion. Over the past two years Huawei has been using the Watch GT brand, and has launched the Huawei Watch GT2, GT 2e and GT Pro. And it’s been successful – and globally Huawei has found itself in second place to Apple in smartwatch shipments, thanks to a strong performance in China.
The Huawei Watch GT2 range uses LiteOS – but Harmony OS is different.
The company has recently allowed third party app development for LiteOS – but it only has one pilot app at the moment. Lite OS has also not received any updates since 2018, so it seems that it was simply a stop gap until Harmony OS was ready for prime time.
But Harmony OS has big boots to fill. The Huawei Watch GT2 range has delivered some top-notch health features, great performance and superb two week battery life. We hope that a move to Harmony OS doesn’t jeopardize longevity.
So when could we see the device land? Well, there’s a rumored launch of the Huawei P50 smartphone in June, which is also set to run Harmony OS. A reasonable guess would be then – but we’ll keep you posted.
