With its Watch Ultimate in zirconium, Huawei attacks the Apple Watch Ultra

Huawei intends to position itself well in the very specific segment of outdoor multisport watches. With his Watch Ultimate, however, he does so with a slightly more horological vision, revealing a watch that is certainly resistant, but above all resolutely premium in its style and materials.

Luxurious and resistant materials

The Huawei Watch Ultimate is indeed positioned in the line of the Watch GT 3 Pro and retains a round format and a metallic finish. No titanium here though, but another equally interesting metal for its strength and corrosion resistance properties. Huawei uses a “zirconium-based liquid metal” for the case of its Watch Ultimate. From the same family as titanium, zirconium is however heavier and looks more like steel. It is usually found in luxury watches.

Available in two versions called Voyage Blue and Expedition Black, the Huawei Watch Ultimate is also adorned with a ceramic bezel and a sapphire crystal, providing good scratch resistance. An important point since the watch is well and truly designed for outdoor sports practices as well as diving.

Dive computer functions

The Watch Ultimate is indeed waterproof to 10 ATM (100 m) and meets ISO 22810 and EN13319 standards (diving equipment). Huawei has equipped it with 4 diving modes for leisure, technical or free use. The watch notably manages decompression stops using a Bühlmann algorithm and sends alerts to ensure the safety of dives. It uses sounds and vibrations for this.

Since a metal strap isn’t exactly suitable for sports, Huawei has designed a hydrogenated nitrile rubber (HNBR) strap for its Watch Ultimate – which comes in addition to the metal strap for the Voyage Blue version.

A watch ready for adventure

For athletes who prefer to stay dry, the Watch Ultimate introduces an “Expedition” mode that Huawei intends for the practice of hiking, camping or even “off-roading in the desert”.

In any case, you shouldn’t get lost, since it also incorporates a dual-frequency multi-GNSS chip (5 satellite systems) and offers a navigation function (trace tracking, return to starting point). However, it does not include maps.

Amoled and ECG

In terms of the display, a 1.5″ Amoled LPTO screen is almost flush with the bezel, revealing only a very thin border. Analogous to the Apple Watch Ultra, a third button appears on the left edge of the The watch is necessarily reminiscent of the “action” button on the Apple watch.

In terms of sensors, we find the same module as on the GT 3 Pro, providing heart rate and SpO2 monitoring, as well as an electrocardiogram (ECG) function.

Question autonomy, Huawei announces up to 2 weeks of operation in classic use and 8 days in intensive use.

Resolutely high-end, the Huawei Watch Ultimate watch reaches new price spheres, the Voyage Blue version being launched at €899.99, while the Expedition Black model is displayed at €749.99.