Huawei’s next smartwatch could run Samsung’s Tizen instead of Android Wear

By Christian de Looper September 28, 2016

huawei watch tizen 350 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It looks like Huawei may be preparing to abandon Android Wear — at least for a device or two. Recent reports indicate that the company is experimenting with using Samsung’s Tizen operating system on its next smartwatch.

It makes sense that Huawei would be working on a new watch — the company launched its first watch over a year ago, and since then has remained pretty quiet about the future of its wearable department. What is interesting, however, is the shift away from Android. According to a recent report, Huawei has been collaborating with Samsung to bring Tizen to the next Huawei watch.

So why the switch? Apparently Huawei is looking for an Android alternative because Google reportedly hasn’t been very collaborative with the company when it comes to Android Wear.

The move would be a first for Tizen, which has so far remained solely on Samsung-built devices, and mostly on Samsung smartwatches. While young, Tizen has proven itself as a very functional operating system — especially on the impressive Gear S2 and Gear S3 smartwatches.

Still, official confirmation of the collaboration has yet to take place. According to a Samsung spokesperson, the company “has not officially received any request for such collaboration from Huawei yet.” That doesn’t mean that there isn’t any unofficial collaboration though, and it’s possible that Huawei is simply testing Tizen on a watch by itself for now, especially considering the fact that Tizen is an open-source operating system.

It’s important to keep in mind that these are just rumors at this point — it’s totally possible that Huawei will in fact unveil another Android Wear device at some point in the near future. Expect to hear more about Huawei’s wearable plans in upcoming months.

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Christian de Looper

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Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…

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