By Sourabh Kulesh,

New Delhi : As smartwatches slowly gain traction and begin to make an impact globally — including in India — Chinese technology firm Huawei has now launched WATCH 2.

The Huawei WATCH 2 comes in Sports (4G) and classic variants, providing users more connectivity options. The Rs 29,999 device is available in black and has features that will compel you to ditch your smartphone.

Let’s see what works for the device that competes with LG Watch Sport, Samsung Gear 3 and Apple Watch 2.

Introduced earlier this year at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the smartwatch inherits the classic design of the original Huawei WATCH, with improvements in each category.

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, the device runs Android Wear 2.0 platform and comes with built-in GPS and a heart rate detection system as well.

The high-quality plastic finish dial is complemented by a sweat-proof silicon strap that can be removed to insert a SIM for connectivity. The wearable has a round dial with two function buttons.

To make the device work efficiently, users need to install the ‘Android Wear’, ‘Huawei Wear’ and ‘Health’ apps.

Once synched with a smartphone, the top right button opens contact list, alarm, settings and torch, among other menus.

A user can use these to set up reminders, track fitness regime and even call and text people in the contact list.

The device sets up a connection via bluetooth and screens your smartphone’s basic functions on the display.

The second button on top right brings up detailed menus under the “Workout” section through which a user can set and track fitness goals.

A user can also check activities via sensors that allow the wearable to gather data including distance, speed and steps, among others.

The device has several in-built watch faces. Swipe right or left and the display will show you watch face options. To go back to previous menu, users can swipe right.

For settings menu, swipe down, and to see updates, pull up the notification bar by swiping up.

The feature-laden smartwatch also lets a user talk through it. When connected via bluetooth, users can pick calls, reject them and even send SMSes from the device. No need to reach out for the phone when you have the WATCH 2 on your wrist!

The device also shows you SMS and WhatsApp messages on the display and you can choose to reply from the watch itself.

If you don’t want to connect your device with your smartphone, you can put a SIM in WATCH 2 and make calls from it. Since you have already signed in with your Google account, you will get all your contacts in the smartwatch itself.

With Huawei WATCH 2, a user can speak to Google Assistant and send a message to his or her contact.

Once you play songs in your smartphone while driving, you won’t need to pick the phone and change the track. You can do it in the watch itself.

Not only that, users can stay connected on social media via WiFi. The device has 4GB in-built storage, enabling users to download several applications in the watch itself.

WATCH 2 gave a day’s battery life when connected to the smartphone and recorded our daily routine.

What doesn’t work?

While several fitness bands and watches have USB 2.0 charging ports, WATCH 2 has a charger that can only work with the device. So you have to carry the charger with you.

Conclusion: Huawei WATCH 2 is a great option for people as well as fitness freaks who want to stay connected when away from phones.

(Sourabh Kulesh can be contacted at sourabh.k@ians.in)

—IANS