Huawei’s latest smartwatch has a secret inside: a pair of wireless earbuds
The face of the Huawei Watch Buds flips open to reveal hidden earbuds, a neat solution for folks who constantly leave their wireless earbuds at home. | Image: Huawei Central / collage by The VergeIf you’d already seen any...
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If you’d already seen any leaks of the Huawei Watch Buds on the web, then you’d be forgiven for thinking it was some fan-made concept or an early-development product destined to never see the light of day. But, in an announcement on Weibo, Huawei has not only confirmed that the Huawei Watch Buds are a genuine product, but provided a teaser video for us to get a better look (via The Register).
As the name suggests, the Huawei Watch Buds are a pair of earbuds concealed within a smartwatch that looks similar to the Huawei Watch 3. Details are a little sparse so there’s no word yet on what kind of performance or battery life you can expect from either of the products, but the watch itself does appear to be running HarmonyOS.
The earbuds don’t seem to resemble any previous Huawei products, sporting a bare-bones black and silver design. While the concept feels more than a little gimmicky, it could be a neat solution for runners and other sporty folks who don’t want to carry a separate earbud case during a workout. (If they don’t mind the extra bulk on their wrists.)
A December 2nd release date also appeared on the teaser video, but Huawei has since postponed the launch of its Winter 2022 consumer kit for unspecified reasons. Some outlets have speculated that this is to respect the passing of former CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin on November 30th, which has also affected other Chinese product announcements over the last week. Hopefully, we’ll get more details regarding pricing and regional availability later this month.
Addressing the elephant in the room, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to buy this wacky gadget in the US anyway, regardless of its legitimacy. Huawei products have been effectively banned in the country since the company was placed on the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security Entity list in 2019.
