Honor will launch a new smartwatch at the IFA technology show in September — and an internal source at Honor has exclusively revealed more about it to Digital Trends. Seen here are several pieces of concept artwork depicting the new watch, giving us more details about its features, along with the promotional image the company is using to tease the smartwatch.
Honor describes the new model as “a new watch with outdoor sports features,” and the outline of the design makes it look suitably rugged too. The main concept artwork (above) suggests the case will be made of a diamond hard material, which may indicate it’ll be stainless steel with a diamond-like carbon coating. Often used in watchmaking, these coatings provide scratch resistance and improve style too.
The same image hints at the sensors the new watch will have. Expect a compass, a heart rate sensor, and a barometer, among others. These features will keep Honor’s outdoor watch in line with what we expect on similar, WearOS-powered watches today. The watch will also have some artificial intelligence (A.I.) features. The “A.I. Brain Energy” marking is intriguing, and suggests the A.I. will be used to extend the battery life.
A second piece of concept artwork (above) shows the bezel and lugs in more detail. It’s very different from the fashionable, everyday look of Honor’s MagicWatch 2, depicting a heavily textured bezel made from stainless steel. Combine this with the outline of the watch in the promotional image and the Honor watch reminds us of the Mobvoi Ticwatch S2, the Casio Pro Trek WSD-F30 outdoor smartwatch, the Suunto 7, and the G-Shock-style design Amazfit used for its T-Rex outdoor smartwatch. That gives you an idea of the competition Honor faces here.
Both Honor and parent company Huawei are focusing on wearables and smart IoT devices more, as restrictions from the U.S. government have forced it to look outside smartphones and accelerate plans to create its own hardware and software ecosystem. Honor’s smartwatches have impressed in the past, and are often reasonably priced compared to the competition. They do not run Google’s WearOS, but the company’s own software platform. It’s much more energy efficient, and battery life can reach two weeks before needing a recharge.
Honor will officially reveal the new smartwatch September 4, which is the second day of the IFA show in Berlin. Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, IFA will have a small physical event, but the majority of launch events related to the show will be streamed online. In the meantime, Honor’s outdoor watch is one we look forward to hearing more about.
