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Honor pulls its new MagicWatch 2 smartwatch out of a hat

Andy Boxall
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Honor has launched the Honor MagicWatch 2, following a selection of teasers about the smartwatch, and whether it’s really magical to you may depend on if you’ve seen the Huawei Watch GT2, as the heritage is very clear. There are two versions, a 46mm model and a 42mm model, and both are made from 361L stainless steel. They available in four different colors — agate black and sakura gold for the 42mm MagicWatch, and flax brown and charcoal black for the 46mm watch, and have interchangeable straps.

There are some design differences between the two watches, which we’d had hints about after seeing some design drawings of the MagicWatch 2. The 46mm model, apart from being bigger and therefore suited to those who either have larger wrists or like a bolder watch design, has a sporty chronograph look. The 42mm model is simpler and smaller, and although the sakura gold version is obviously aimed at women, the black 42mm MagicWatch 2 looks suitably unisex.

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Design and fitness tracking

If you’re looking at the design and thinking you’ve seen it somewhere before, it’s because from the images it appears to be almost identical to the Huawei Watch GT2, launched earlier this year. The dual button design is unusual, as it moves away from a crown on the right-hand side of the case, potentially increasing comfort for some people. Huawei also makes two versions of the Watch GT2 and calls the smaller 42mm model the Elegant Edition.

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The features are also very similar to Huawei’s watch. Honor promises 14 days of battery life from the 46mm version, considerably more than any smartwatch powered by Google’s WearOS or the Apple Watch Series 5. Despite this, you’re not missing out on many must-have features, certainly in terms of fitness tracking. The heart rate sensor on the back joins 15 different fitness tracking modes, including swimming, plus a selection of guided running courses that work on the street or on the treadmill. Honor’s excellent TruSleep 2.0 technology is inside, which we’ve recently been impressed with on the Honor Band 5, plus the watch will alert you to stress level increases, and heart rate alterations too.

Specs and release

The watch will require the installation of an app on your phone to sync up with it, but do this and you’ll get notifications on your wrist, and even be able to make and receive calls on the watch, as it has a built-in speaker and microphone. It also has its own Bluetooth connection setting, so you can add a set of Bluetooth headphones to it. The internal memory. The MagicWatch 2 has Huawei’s Kirin A1 processor inside and has 2GB of space for you to use too.

The 46mm MagicWatch 2 has a 1.39-inch AMOLED screen with a 454 x 454-pixel resolution on the front and weighs 41 grams, while the 42mm model has a 1.2-inch 390 x 390 AMOLED screen, and weighs just 29 grams. You can change the watch face to suit your style. One thing to note is the 42mm MagicWatch 2’s battery will only last for about seven days.

Honor has not confirmed the price of the watch, when it will be released, or where it will be released at the time of writing. Expect it to be available in the U.K., Europe, and Asia soon though. The 46mm Huawei Watch GT2 costs 200 British pounds, or about $260, so expect the Honor version to be a little cheaper.

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