New Delhi, March 1 With more and more Ind showing interest in wearable devices, the Chinese smartphone maker HONOR has introduced MagicWatch 2 to bring some competition for the smartwatch players like Apple and Samsung here.
Bringing MagicWatch 2 series, Huawei's sub-brand HONOR has taken a giant leap in the wearable industry.
Powered by Kirin A1 chipset, MagicWatch 2 brings fast processing, fitness tracking and yet less power consumption.
The HONOR MagicWatch 2 comes in two variants (42mm) for Rs 11,999 and (46mm) variant for Rs 12,999.
The MagicWatch 2 (46mm) is available for Rs 12,999 (Charcoal Black variant) and Rs 14,999 for the Flax Brown variant.
We reviewed the 46mm 'Charcoal Black' variant for a week. Let's see how it fared.
The overall look and design of Honor MagicWatch 2 are quite impressive and attractive as the smartwatch is lightweight and it looked gorgeous on the wrist.
This multi-tasking smartwatch is 10mm thick and can track heartbeat, helps in listening to your favourite songs and allows users to make or receive Bluetooth calls through headphones or with the built-in speaker and mic easily.
The Honor MagicWatch 2 is made of 316L stainless steel and has a 1.39-in (46mm) AMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 454x454 at 326 PPI and has an 800 NIT brightness.
The touchscreen features higher resolution and worked smoothly and we didn't find any problem while using it.
With light display and dial, the smartwatch was easy to operate even in bright light. Packed with a 455mAh battery, the smartwatch lasted for eight days on a single charge.
The device has two buttons placed on the right side. The upper side button is to select built-in apps while the other is for health tracking and workouts.
As you swipe down, you will see quick options such as, do not disturb, showtime, find my phone, alarms, and setting.
When you swipe up, you'll find recent notifications. The back houses the charging pins and the heart-rate sensor.
This smartwatch brings you fast processing, precision in health and fitness tracking and health improvement suggestions.
The smartwatch has 15 sports tracking modes, which include eight outdoor sports such as running, walking, climbing, hiking trail running, cycling, open water, triathlon, and seven indoor sports.
The device is also supported by 13 professional indoor and outdoor running courses from beginner to advanced levels.
Equipped with enhanced fitness tracking features, the device worked very fast, accurately and smoothly during work out sessions.
Built-in apps, including Weather, Alarm, Timer, Find My Phone, Showtime and Flashlight were easy to operate and it added extra charm to the smartwatch.
With 50m water-resistance and all-new 'Huawei TruSeen' 3.5, MagicWatch 2 can also track your swimming performance and monitors heart rate.
Equipped with Kirin A1, the chipset integrates an advanced Bluetooth processing unit, a powerful audio processing unit, an ultra-low power consumption application processor and a separate power management unit.
The device also provides 4GB internal storage of which 2GB can be used for music storage, allowing up to 500 songs.
Additionally, the smartwatch has a sleep tracking feature and "Huawei TruRelax" which helps track your stress levels and suggest breathing exercises to ease it.
Overall, the HONOR MagicWatch 2, worked very well and while using it we didn't see any issues both indoors and outdoors.
Conclusion: With an attractive design, display and long-lasting battery the HONOR MagicWatch 2 can be a good option in the budget segment. Priced at just Rs 12,999, this smartwatch has provided premium features that can make a serious dent to big smartwatch players.
(Bharat Upadhyay can be reached at bharat.u@.in)
( With inputs from IANS )