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Vue lecture

Huawei Watch D3 Review: A Game Changer for On-Wrist Blood Pressure Monitoring

PROS:


  • Cuff-style blood pressure reading with 24-hour ambulatory monitoring

  • Quiet measurement that didn’t disturb my sleep

  • Streamlined ensign and comfortable everyday fit

  • Good battery life

  • Comprehensive health and fitness tracking alongside everyday smartwatch features

CONS:


  • Limited third-party app selection

  • Not suitable for swimming or showering

RATINGS:

AESTHETICS
ERGONOMICS
PERFORMANCE
SUSTAINABILITY / REPAIRABILITY
VALUE FOR MONEY

EDITOR'S QUOTE:

The Huawei Watch D3 pairs quiet blood pressure monitoring with everyday comfort and style.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a major cause of premature death worldwide and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and kidney damage. Nearly half of U.S. adults have it, according to the CDC. Yet it often causes no noticeable symptoms, so feeling fine does not necessarily mean your blood pressure is where it should be.

The Huawei Watch D3 puts blood pressure measurement on your wrist, using an inflatable airbag built into the strap and offering scheduled readings throughout the day and night. That sounds like a recipe for a bulky, rather clinical accessory, but the watch I received looks nothing of the sort. More importantly, it is comfortable enough that I was happy to keep wearing it, including overnight. Huawei has squeezed some unusual hardware into a familiar package, and after living with it, I am impressed by how little fuss it adds to my day.

Designer: Huawei

Aesthetics

Huawei has made the Watch D3 surprisingly discreet, and that is one of its biggest design strengths. This is a health-focused smartwatch with more going on under the surface than most, yet it does not look overly technical or awkwardly bulky. Instead, it comes across as clean, polished, and easy to wear, which helps it feel like a proper everyday smartwatch rather than a specialist device.

Visually, it sits somewhere between the clean familiarity of an Apple Watch and the more assertive presence of an Apple Watch Ultra, giving it a look that feels both familiar and slightly more rugged. Huawei offers the Watch D3 in three color options: White, Black, and Mocha Gold. I received the Mocha Gold version, and it gives the watch a warmer, slightly more elevated look than the other finishes. The rectangular-shaped case is paired with a color-matched fluoroelastomer strap, which also houses the airbag used for blood pressure measurement.

Ergonomics

For a smartwatch with a tiny airbag tucked into its strap, the Watch D3 is surprisingly easy to wear. On paper, it is not a small device at 1.83 x 1.61 x 0.44 inches, but it never feels ungainly or overengineered once it is actually on your wrist. The 1.92-inch rectangular display fits well and doesn’t overwhelm the wrist, keeping the overall look streamlined. Huawei has also trimmed the thickness down from 0.52 inches on the Watch D2 to 0.44 inches here, and that slimming makes a real difference. The D3 feels less like a specialist gadget and more like a smartwatch you can throw on in the morning without a second thought.

In practice, the bigger surprise is how quickly it stops feeling unusual. The Watch D3 feels like an ordinary smartwatch on the wrist in the best possible sense. The strap is inevitably thicker than a conventional smartwatch band because it contains the inflatable airbag, but I never found it cumbersome. If anything, that unusual construction fades into the background faster than expected, which is not something I would have assumed before wearing it.

The weight helps here too. At around 1.41 ounces without the strap, the Watch D3 feels substantial enough to come across as a proper piece of hardware, but not heavy enough to become annoying over the course of a full day. Fit matters more on the Watch D3 than it does on a typical smartwatch. Huawei accounts for that with a paper measuring guide and two strap sizes. A watch built around blood pressure readings needs to fit properly, and the D3 feels better for that extra attention.

Performance

Blood pressure monitoring is the main reason to consider the Watch D3, but what surprised me first was how quiet it is. It makes virtually no sound during a reading, with the increasing pressure around my wrist providing the only obvious sign that anything is happening. The sensation is noticeable, as you would expect from an inflatable strap, but the process feels discreet enough that taking a reading does not become a bother.

There are medical credentials behind the feature, too. According to Huawei, the Watch D3’s blood pressure measurement has obtained NMPA medical device registration in China and CE certification under the European Union’s Medical Device Regulation, commonly called CE-MDR.

The Watch D3 also supports ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or ABPM, which schedules repeated measurements over a 24-hour period, including while you sleep. Rather than giving you one isolated reading, it builds a record of how your blood pressure changes throughout the day and night. Huawei Health brings those results together into a report showing daytime, nighttime, and overall averages, which you can save or share with your doctor.

That does not mean you can forget about the process entirely. During waking hours, you still need to pause, keep still, and hold the watch at heart level, following the positioning instructions. You can adjust the measurement schedule rather than stick with the default intervals. Overnight, the watch takes readings automatically without requiring you to assume the daytime posture. Thankfully, those nighttime readings did not bother me or wake me up.

There is also a dedicated feature for measuring blood pressure before and after six workout types, covering indoor and outdoor running, walking, and cycling. You take an initial reading before starting, then begin another measurement within two minutes of finishing. There is a reason those changes are worth studying. Research using clinical exercise tests has linked certain blood pressure responses during exercise and recovery with a higher risk of developing hypertension or experiencing cardiovascular events later on.

Beyond blood pressure, the D3 covers heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen saturation, and skin temperature, with ECG available in supported regions. Fitness tracking is solid too, with more than 80 workout modes. It works well as an everyday companion for keeping an eye on activity, workouts, and daily movement without making every walk feel like homework.

The everyday smartwatch features are more familiar. The D3 runs HarmonyOS and works with both Android and iOS, although the experience is not identical across the two platforms. Bluetooth calling and music playback are supported, but the limited third-party app selection leaves less room to expand beyond the built-in tools.

With a compatible Android phone, you can respond to supported messages using quick replies or the on-screen keyboard. Message replies are not supported when the watch is paired with an iPhone, which is worth knowing before you buy. Offline maps are available for supported models, while NFC payment support depends on your region and the available payment service. Having NFC hardware does not automatically mean it will work with your usual cards.

Battery life has been good in my use, too. Huawei quotes up to six days under typical conditions, dropping to around one day with ABPM enabled. My typical-use results were close to that six-day claim, while I comfortably passed a day with ambulatory monitoring enabled. Measurement frequency matters here, since Huawei’s ABPM battery test uses 15-minute intervals, so your results may differ depending on your settings.

Charging speed is okay rather than especially quick, but outside ABPM sessions, I was not constantly looking for the charger. The supplied charger uses a USB-C rather than USB-A, which is a welcome change. That is one less reason to keep an older USB-A power adapter around.

Sustainability

The Watch D3 has an IP68 rating, but that is not an invitation to take it swimming or into the shower. Huawei advises against both because of the air openings used by the blood pressure system. The watch is not water- or dust-resistant while taking a measurement, so those openings need to stay clean and dry. It requires a little more care around water than you might expect from an everyday smartwatch.

The strap feels durable, although Huawei does not provide wear-test figures to put that impression into context. It is removable, so a tear would not necessarily mean replacing the whole watch, provided Huawei makes compatible replacement straps available. That is useful for keeping the D3 in service, but the broader sustainability picture remains unclear. I would have liked more information about recycled materials, repair options, and long-term software support.

Value

The Watch D3 costs £399.99 (roughly $533) in the UK and €449 (roughly $505) in Europe, so it is not exactly an impulse purchase. Whether that feels expensive depends on what you want from your watch. The D3’s appeal is having cuff-style blood pressure readings and 24-hour ambulatory monitoring in something you can wear throughout the day and overnight.

If those are features you will use regularly, the price becomes easier to justify, especially given how comfortable I found it. I am also impressed by how streamlined the whole package feels, considering the specialized hardware tucked inside the watch and strap. You are getting more than an extra health metric on a screen, without having to wear something that feels like medical equipment. If you mostly want notifications and workout tracking, though, I would be less inclined to pay for blood pressure hardware that rarely gets used.

Verdict

The Watch D3 impressed me most by making its unusual hardware so easy to live with. Blood pressure readings are quiet, the strap never felt cumbersome, and overnight measurements did not wake me up. Battery life was good, too, particularly outside ambulatory monitoring sessions. I never felt I was putting up with an awkward gadget just to use its blood pressure features.

I would still like a broader selection of third-party apps and clearer information about repair options and long-term support. The price also makes more sense if blood pressure monitoring will be a regular habit rather than an occasional curiosity. It is a tool to use alongside professional care, not a reason to diagnose yourself or change medication based on your readings. With that understood, the D3 earns my recommendation for combining useful blood pressure features with the comfort and discretion of an everyday smartwatch.

The post Huawei Watch D3 Review: A Game Changer for On-Wrist Blood Pressure Monitoring first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Garmin’s New Watches Go 320 Hours Without Dying on You

The most frustrating moment for a sports watch to fail is when you need it most: halfway through a long route with no easy way to recharge, or standing over a golf shot on an unfamiliar course with no clear sense of the distance. Garmin’s Enduro 4 and Approach S72 tackle different versions of that problem. One is built to keep working deep into an adventure. The other puts more useful information within reach before and after every swing.

They make an interesting pair because neither treats design as decoration. The Enduro 4 favors battery life, low weight and quick access to maps. The Approach S72 gives golfers a brighter, more visual way to understand the course and their game. Both have premium materials and comfortable fabric bands, but their real appeal is how those choices serve the person wearing them.

Designer: Garmin

Garmin Enduro

For the Enduro 4, battery life is the headline. Garmin rates it for up to 320 hours in activity mode or up to 90 days in smartwatch mode, with solar charging under the conditions behind those estimates. That is a meaningful promise for someone planning an ultramarathon, a backpacking trip or several days away from an outlet. I would still treat those numbers as best-case figures, but the design priority is clear: spend less time managing the watch and more time moving.

Its 51mm case is substantial, yet Garmin says the watch weighs 66 grams. A titanium bezel and scratch-resistant Power Sapphire lens bring durability, while a fiber-reinforced polymer case helps keep the weight down. The 1.4-inch MIP display is less showy than a vivid AMOLED screen, but paired with the solar lens, it suits a watch built around endurance. The fabric band and white-and-red LED flashlight are thoughtful details for long days that may turn into nights.

The improvements are not limited to how long the watch lasts. Garmin says the Enduro 4 has 50% more RAM than the Enduro 3 and map panning that is 30% faster. Grade-adjusted pace tools offer a better way to judge effort on hills, while stamina features help athletes see how their endurance changes during training. Garmin Epic can group activities across multiple days. Together, those features address a familiar problem: plenty of data, but not always enough context to use it.

Garmin Approach S72

The Approach S72 takes the opposite visual approach. Available in 43mm and 47mm sizes, it has a bright AMOLED display, a titanium bezel, a sapphire lens and a lightweight ComfortFit fabric band. I like the choice of two sizes here. A golf watch needs enough screen space to make a hole legible at a glance, but it also has to feel comfortable through a round and look at home afterward.

Its most intriguing idea is connecting golf performance to what is happening with the player. The watch can show heart-rate trends alongside a completed round, while swing metrics include hand speed, backswing length and wrist rotation. On the driving range, golfers can log practice sessions rather than leaving that work outside their broader activity record. None of this guarantees a lower score, but it could make practice feel more purposeful than guessing which part of a swing went wrong.

The course tools are more immediate. Green reading uses contour data to help golfers judge a line on select courses, while aerial imagery provides a clearer look at the hole ahead. Post-round putting analytics can reveal tendencies in speed, direction and make rate. These are the features that could save a few uncertain decisions during play, then give someone a specific thing to work on afterward. Some require a Garmin Golf membership, a detail worth checking before buying.

Battery life matters here, too, though on a different scale. Garmin rates the 47mm S72 for up to 20 hours of golf activity or 16 days in smartwatch mode; the 43mm model is rated for up to 15 hours and 10 days, respectively. Add heart-rate, stress and sleep tracking, and it becomes easier to see why Garmin designed this as an everyday watch rather than a device you pull out only for tee time.

Neither watch is trying to do everything for everyone. The Enduro 4 makes the strongest case for people whose plans regularly outlast ordinary battery life; the S72 is for golfers who want clearer decisions and better feedback. What connects them is a useful design principle: the best sports technology should reduce the little uncertainties that distract you from the activity you came to enjoy.

The post Garmin’s New Watches Go 320 Hours Without Dying on You first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Mobvoi TicNote smartwatch has one button, and it’s built to remember what you often forget

I know you will relate to one of these telltale moments. A meeting ends, someone gives you three useful details, and by the time you reach your desk, only one remains. The same thing happens after an interview, a doctor’s appointment, a lecture, or when someone rattles off directions while you’re already trying to keep up. We like to think we remember conversations better than we actually do.

Mobvoi’s TicNote Watch is designed to cover that very human failure. Instead of asking you to open an app, find a recorder, or reach for your phone, it gives the watch a dedicated physical recording button. Press and hold it to start recording. The recording can happen without a phone and even works offline. To me, the idea seems pretty interesting for capturing my team’s briefing.

Designer: Mobvoi

Mobvoi TicNote does the heavy lifting for you

 

Most smartwatches are defined by everything they can do. Notifications, workouts, calls, apps, payments, music, health tracking – the list keeps getting longer. TicNote Watch is different though, as its most important interaction is deliberately narrow. Just press a button and remember what just happened. That makes the hardware control more interesting than it might initially seem. There is something satisfying about a product that behaves more like a lighter, a film camera’s shutter, or a staple gun than another miniature touchscreen computer. The action is physical and doesn’t require you to navigate an interface while somebody is still talking.

In a world where dedicated controls have increasingly disappeared behind glass, putting one back on the wrist becomes a design statement. This smartwatch isn’t trying to make every interaction smarter; rather, it aims to make one interaction nearly impossible to mess up. The double-press gesture adds a smaller version of the same idea, letting users capture a quick thought of up to 60 seconds.

Simple input, surprisingly busy output

What happens after the button press is where the AI kicks in. TicNote Watch can transcribe conversations on the wrist, with live text supporting 17 languages, and users can tap to highlight important statements while a conversation is happening. Once the recording ends, the system can generate an AI summary and mind map. The intended audience for the wearable can be a journalist leaving an interview, a recruiter moving between candidates, a consultant bouncing between meetings, or a graduate student sitting through a campus lecture. For someone spending much of the day listening rather than typing, removing the act of note-taking can be genuinely useful.

There is, however, an obvious social wrinkle. A recorder that lives on your wrist is easy to reach for, but that doesn’t mean everyone around you will be comfortable being recorded. Consent and workplace etiquette matter, particularly in meetings or shared spaces. Mobvoi also claims more than 24 hours of continuous recording and up to 200 hours of local storage, so this isn’t unlimited memory in literal terms. At $249, with a limited-time introductory price of $199, TicNote Watch isn’t really competing on how many smartwatch features it can squeeze onto your wrist. It is built around a premise that doesn’t try to replace your phone, your notebook, and your entire day.

 

The post Mobvoi TicNote smartwatch has one button, and it’s built to remember what you often forget first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Huawei Watch GT 7 Pro Review: Refined, Not Reinvented

Verdict 3.8 out of 5 Average of 5 criteria
Aesthetics
4.0 out of 5
Ergonomics
4.0 out of 5
Performance
4.0 out of 5
Sustainability / Repairability
3.0 out of 5
Value for money
4.0 out of 5

What works

  • Distinctive octagonal design with a premium look
  • Strong battery life
  • Bright, sharp AMOLED display
  • Board health and fitness tracking

What doesn't

  • Limited third-party app support
  • Proprietary pinned strap design
The Watch GT 7 Pro 46mm shows Huawei sticking to a proven formula and sharpening it further. It is not a bold leap, but it is a confident and well-rounded one.

Huawei has spent the last few years turning wearables into one of the strongest parts of its consumer business. The company has performed especially well in China, with that momentum also carrying into overseas markets. As a result, Huawei has grown into one of the biggest names in smartwatches, offering a lineup that covers different styles, price points, and user needs.

Within Huawei’s smartwatch lineup, the GT series is the company’s sports-focused range. The new GT 7 series stays true to that identity, building on the formula that has made the lineup popular. The GT 7 Pro is not a major leap over the GT 6 Pro, but it feels like a more polished and refined take on the same core idea.

Designer: Huawei

Aesthetics

The Watch GT 7 Pro 46mm stays largely in line with the design language of its predecessor, keeping the same sporty character that defined the GT 6 Pro. Its octagonal case continues to give it a distinctive look, helping it stand out from the many conventional round smartwatches on the market. At the same time, Huawei balances that sportier shape with a polished finish, so the watch still feels premium rather than overtly rugged.

The front of the watch keeps that same balance. Its 1.47-inch AMOLED display sits beneath sapphire glass, which adds a more upscale touch while also improving durability for everyday wear. Around the display, Huawei uses 24-hour markings that strengthen the watch’s sporty identity and give the face a more instrument-like look.

Huawei is offering the GT 7 Pro 46mm in yellow, green, and black, and each one gives the watch a distinct personality. The yellow version I received is easily the boldest of the three, pairing a silver case with a black bezel and a bright lime yellow strap. Matching yellow accents around the bezel and on the watch face make it feel the most energetic and overtly sporty of the lineup.

The green version takes a more outdoorsy approach. It keeps the same overall design but swaps in a muted green strap and matching accents, giving the watch a look that feels active without being as loud as the yellow model. The black version, by contrast, is the most understated. With its darker finish and strap combination, it gives the GT 7 Pro a stealthier and more versatile appearance that should appeal to buyers who prefer something cleaner and easier to wear every day.

Ergonomics

Despite its sporty, fairly bold design, the Watch GT 7 Pro 46mm is comfortable to wear for long stretches. At 56g and 11.2mm thick, it has enough presence to feel substantial on the wrist, but it never comes across as overly bulky in daily use. Huawei has also done a good job with weight distribution, which matters more than raw dimensions when you are wearing the watch through workouts, sleep tracking, or a full day out.

The strap has also been revised. Huawei calls it the Easy Cross Strap, and the key change is that the loose end tucks underneath instead of threading through a traditional belt loop. According to Huawei, this makes the watch easier to wear day to day while also creating a snugger fit that can help improve the consistency of health tracking. The elastomer strap feels soft enough for extended wear while still staying secure during exercise. It is detachable and uses a 22mm fitting, but because it is secured with pins, swapping it out is less straightforward than with a standard third-party strap.

Huawei’s control layout is familiar and easy to get used to. The buttons sit within easy reach, and the rotating crown adds a more tactile way to move through menus. That makes the watch feel more natural to use when you are on the move and do not want to rely entirely on touch input. Combined with the curved case and integrated strap design, the GT 7 Pro feels built not just to look sporty, but to wear like it too.

Performance

The Watch GT 7 Pro 46mm features a 1.47-inch AMOLED display, and it is one of the first things that stands out about the watch. Huawei claims a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, and in use the panel looks sharp, bright, and vibrant. Watch faces have plenty of visual punch, while menus and health data remain easy to read at a glance. Huawei has been consistently strong in this area, and that continues here with a screen that feels right at home on a watch in this class.

Out of the box, the GT 7 Pro runs HarmonyOS 6.1 and supports both Android and iOS devices, which immediately makes it more flexible than some ecosystem-bound alternatives. The software itself is easy to navigate, with clean menus, smooth animations, and a layout that does not take long to learn. It is not trying to overwhelm you with complexity, and that works in its favor on a smartwatch that is meant to balance fitness features with everyday usability.

Health and fitness remain at the heart of the experience, which is exactly where the GT series has built much of its appeal. Huawei includes a broad set of tracking features here, covering the usual essentials such as heart rate, sleep, blood oxygen, stress, and workout monitoring, while also adding more unusual tools like the Diabetes Risk Study and Coronary Heart Disease Study. The latter, however, was not available on my test unit during the review period.

On the fitness side, the watch offers more than 100 workout modes, reinforcing its role as a serious sports-focused smartwatch. Huawei has also expanded its support for winter sports, with dedicated indoor and outdoor skiing as well as snowboarding modes. These can track data such as maximum speed, average incline, total descent, and run count, making the watch more useful for users who want something beyond basic activity logging. It also supports downloads for more than 3,000 ski resort maps worldwide, complete with details such as slope names, difficulty ratings, and lift station locations.

Since ski season is still months away where I live, I was not able to test those winter sports features properly. My hands-on time was limited to more routine activities like outdoor walks, yoga, and casual cycling. Even within that narrower scope, the watch performed well. GPS tracking was accurate in my testing, even when I passed under railway bridges and near buildings, where signals can sometimes become less stable.

Battery life is one of the GT 7 Pro’s biggest strengths. Huawei rates it for up to 21 days at the upper end, up to 12 days under typical use, up to 7 days with the always-on display (AOD) enabled, and as much as 51 hours in trail running mode. Those are ambitious figures, but in my time with the watch, its endurance was genuinely impressive.

I took it with me on a nine-day trip after charging it to 100 percent, and by the end of the trip it still had 19 percent battery remaining. During that time, I had all health tracking features on, AOD turned on, and used it for a couple of indoor and outdoor walking sessions as well. That makes the result more impressive, because the watch was not simply sitting idle for most of the trip. In day-to-day use, that kind of endurance makes a real difference, especially on a sports-focused smartwatch where frequent tracking can drain smaller batteries much more quickly.

Charging is handled through a proprietary magnetic wireless charger included in the box, and it is fairly quick. Because of the watch’s shape, though, it does not sit flat on the charger, which can be a mild annoyance in everyday use. It hovers slightly, and I often found myself checking to make sure it was still charging after the initial confirmation screen disappeared. It also feels like time for Huawei to move from USB-A to USB-C, as the included cable already feels a bit dated.

Sustainability

The Watch GT 7 Pro also puts some emphasis on durability. It carries both IP69 and 5ATM ratings, giving it a solid level of protection against dust and water exposure. That makes sense for a watch positioned around sports and outdoor use, where it is more likely to be exposed to sweat, rain, splashes, and more demanding day-to-day conditions.

Huawei also uses sapphire glass over the display, which adds another layer of reassurance. Sapphire is known for its strong scratch resistance, and it also helps the watch feel more premium in the process. Taken together, these details give the GT 7 Pro a tougher, more dependable character without pushing it fully into rugged-watch territory. That said, sustainability is less of a focus, with no clear mention of recycled materials or other environmental measures.

Value

At £379, or roughly $510, the Watch GT 7 Pro is priced like a premium smartwatch, so it has to offer more than just a nice design. For the most part, it does. You are paying for a watch that gets the basics right, with strong battery life, a durable build, a comfortable fit, and a health and fitness feature set that feels broad enough for most users.

The value proposition really comes down to what you want from a smartwatch. If you care most about app support and deeper smart features, there are rivals that make a stronger case. But if your priorities are battery life, fitness tracking, and a watch that looks and feels good on the wrist, the GT 7 Pro makes more sense. It is not a dramatic step up from the GT 6 Pro, so current owners may not feel much pressure to upgrade. Still, for anyone coming from an older device, it feels like a well-rounded package that knows exactly what it is.

Verdict

The Watch GT 7 Pro 46mm is not the kind of upgrade that changes everything, but it does not need to be. Huawei has taken a formula that already worked and polished it further, keeping the GT series focused on the things it has consistently done best. The result is a smartwatch that looks distinctive, wears comfortably, lasts a long time on a charge, and offers more than enough health and fitness features for most users.

It is not without trade-offs. Third-party app support remains limited, and Huawei’s pinned strap design also cuts down your band options compared with a standard 22mm quick-release system. Still, if you want a premium sports-focused watch that feels dependable, lasts well beyond a few days, and fits easily into everyday use, the GT 7 Pro gets a lot right. It is not a radical step forward, but it is a solid and well-rounded one.

The post Huawei Watch GT 7 Pro Review: Refined, Not Reinvented first appeared on Yanko Design.

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