Huawei continues to change the game and lead the charge in blurring the lines of fashion and tech with the Huawei Watch Ultimate – the pinnacle of their wearable creation. We’ve seen the brand shake the market when they first offered the Huawei Watch, a smartwatch that acknowledges the time-honored practice of watchmaking while weaving in digital solutions for the modern world. This reverence to horology is seemed perfected with the Huawei Watch Ultimate – especially with the Voyage Blue Edition.
Priced at a staggering Php 45,990, the Huawei Watch Ultimate Voyage Blue Edition is the most expensive Huawei Watch in the Philippine market to date (because just a few weeks after the official release of the smart watch locally, the brand announced a Gold Edition that has an SRP of around 2000 Euros).
So, is the Huawei Watch Ultimate Voyage Blue Edition worth the price of a flagship phone? After using the device for close to a month now, we’re ready to give our verdict.
Geek-sthetic
Building upon the iterations from past generation, the Huawei Watch Ultimate’s design clearly establishes the brand as a serious contender within the mid-range watch market segment (yes, 46,000 Pesos is still considered as a mid-range price). The 48mm dial makes this the biggest Huawei Watch to date and the weight of 76g makes this their heaviest.
Despite the heft, the watch is embellished in the most premium of materials starting with the zirconian-based liquid metal case which is said to be 2x tougher than titanium. The bezels are rendered in nanocrystalline ceramic for exceptional sheen and the this is also the material used on the watches’ rear for a smoother, more comfortable touch. The watch display utilizes a flat sapphire glass versus a more rounded one found in previous Huawei Watches. All-in-all the Huawei Watch Ultimate is designed for tougher conditions and roughing around and about. The materials chosen protects the watch from the usual wear and tear, scratches and chipping when used whether above ground or below sea levels.
For the Blue Voyage Edition of the Huawei Watch Ultimate, the bezel design opted for more conventional marking with a larger font size to indicate the time – a stark contrast from the Expedition Black Edition with compass markings and degrees. I personally like the markings on the Voyage Blue more as it contrast well with the deep blue colorway, oddly reminding me of Omega Seamaster designs.
Aside from the overall color motif of steel and blue, what sets the Voyage Blue apart from the Expedition Black is the inclusion of an alternate Titanium Band. While I would have preferred it to be a Jubilee band of alternating matte and shiny chrome finish, I get the decision to go for a more standard approach. Aside from visually making the bands seem bigger, each titanium lug have individual quick release mechanism for easy wrist adjustment. No need to go to a watch specialist to have your device fitted to your arm. The entire kit also houses extra lugs if you have enormously big wrists. Rounding things off, the band is beautifully finished with a pristine butterfly deployant clasp.
For more rugged usage, the Huawei Watch Ultimate Voyage Blue Edition comes with a sturdy Blue HMBR strap in both standard sizing and a longer one for diving which apparently you out around your ankles.
This is the band I’m using most of the time to lessen the weight on my wrist and to add a pop of blue further.
Side-by-side comparison with Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro (left) and Huawei Watch Ultimate Voyage Blue Edition (right).
Personally, the overall design aesthetic of the Watch Ultimate is one of the primary reasons to get this. It is exquisite, bold, and a definite head turner – something that even seasoned watch collectors would most likely take notice of.
Sports & Health
Or course being a smartwatch, aside from keeping the time, one of the primary functions of the Huawei Watch Ultimate is how accurate it can track all your health signals. From constant heartrate monitoring to blood oxygen levels and even ECG reporting, Huawei has pooled together all its health tracking expertise from past watches and distills it with this smartwatch powerhouse.
With 10ATM pressure resistant (100 meters), you can bring the watch to the depths of the ocean or atop various mountain ranges. For seasoned divers, the Huawei Watch Ultimate has various diving tracking scenarios from free diving to scuba. It can track depth (and notify you if you beyond a certain level), PO2 levels, GF (Gradient Factors) and a whole lot of technical tracking methods.
The watch also has a proprietary Expedition mode that triggers when you press the adjacent button to the left of the watch face. The expedition mode optimizes the watch to track certain factors like altitude, blood Oxygen levels, open the compass and other useful navigational trackers.
Speaking of tracking, the Huawei Watch Ultimate has a built in GPS so it doesn’t have to rely on your phone all the time (or at all). In fact, the Watch can also hook up to various satellites for more accurate pinpointing.
At this level, Huawei spared no expense at ensuring you get the most accurate navigation and health tracking possible.
Can it track your exercise? Which one of the 100 different exercises on the watch ultimate are we talking about? 😅
Everyday Reliability
You can rotate the crown to zoom-in on a particular widget
While the watch was built for more extreme activities like diving and mountaineering, the Huawei Watch Ultimate makes for a great piece of everyday urban accessory. Aside from the usual health and steps tracker, the watch can also pick up so many notifications on your various messaging and email applications. Ever since I turned on notifications for various messaging apps, I have been looking at my wrist more than before. Which is sometimes good since I can easily weed out notifications that are just noise and those that need my immediate attention.
Set quick reply templates via your Huawei Health App
While you can’t type on the Huawei Watch Ultimate’s 1.5” LTPO AMOLRD screen, you can customize various pre-written answers like a simple Yes, No YAAAS Kween, and the likes and execute it with just a quick tap.
Battery life is amazing as well. I turned on almost all notifications on the Watch Ultimate (save for an always-on screen display), and brought it to our recent Tokyo Game Show 2023 coverage in Japan.
For 10 days, with so much notification, walking, health and sleep tracking, the watch consumed only about 65-70% battery. On average the watch can survive about 14 days of use but I thought it would last less considering, again, all the notifications bring pushed to my watch.
If there’s one drawback of the Huawei Watch Ultimate, it would be the initial setup phase of the watch. You see, you’ll need a Huawei Health app in order to maximize and really use all the functions of the Watch Ultimate. Huawei Health only being available within Huawei’s AppGallery means you have 5o download the store first via your mobile web browser. Then there’s crafting your Huawei ID and then downloading some workaround apps since Huawei is still banned from integrating with Google Services.
The functions grow less if you’re hooking the watch to your iPhone.
But aside from those minor hiccups, once you’ve set everything up, the watch should work like, well, clockwork.
Geek Lifestyle Recommendation
So is the Huawei Watch Ultimate worth its Phpn45,990 price tag? In our opinion, it does but probably would be more of value of it’s kept within the 40k price range similar to the price of the original Expedition Black Edition which is at for Php 39,990. The added Titanium band is a nice touch but as I hardly use the strap and opt for the High density blue rubber, it seems like I just wasted around 6k pesos (but that’s a personal preference).
Functionality-wise, the watch should hold well within the next few years given the support that Huawei is throwing at their Smartwatch division. What I can’t wait is when Huawei fully integrates various e-wallets to their wearable system. Imagine paying for products and services via your watch!
The Huawei Watch Ultimate Voyage Blur Edition is currently available in various Huawei concept stores nationwide and online at the Official Huawei Page.
If you feel Php 45,990 is chump-change and want to splurge a whole lot more, wait for the Huawei Ultimate Gold Edition. That one pretty much enters luxury status because of its 2000 Euros price tag and usage of 18-Karat gold.
Watch our unboxing and impression video here:
Huawei Watch Ultimate Voyage Blue Edition Specs:
- 48mm: 48.5 x 48.5 x 13mm
- 1.5” LTPO AMOLED color screen (466×466) with 311 PPI
- 76 g (excluding the strap)
- Case: zirconium-based liquid metal with nanocrystalline ceramic bezels and rear
- Strap: Titanium butterfly clasp, Blue HNBR (Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber) standard and diving size. (3 straps in total)
- Sapphire glass protection
- 14 days total Battery
- Sensors – Accelerometer sensor/ Gyroscope sensor/ Magnetometer sensor/ Optical heart rate sensor/ Barometer sensor/ Temperature Sensor/ Depth Sensor
- Three Buttons: Assist Button, Rotating Crown, Function Button
- IP68 Rated (10 ATM Water Resist)
- NFC/ Bluetooth (2.4 GHz, supports BT5.2 and BR + BLE)
- 8-14 Days Battery Life
- SRP Php 45,990