Huawei has talked about its upcoming “next-generation” watch, designed with the involvement of marathon-running legend Eliud Kipchoge.
This is not a huge surprise, given Kipchoge’s partnership with Huawei was announced earlier in January. But this may be the first time it has been linked to a single specific product, which Huawei calls a “next-generation running watch.”
There are zero in-depth specifics on the watch itself, but there are some more details on Kipchoge’s involvement. He is, after all, an inspirational speaker on the topic of running, but his rather philosophical take on the practice doesn’t necessarily transmit to running watch features in a clear way.
Kipchoge’s dsm-firmenich running team is one side of this partnership, Huawei is the other. It consists of elite runners from across the world, and is 10 years old. This isn’t all about Kipchoge, in theory at least.
It would of course be naive to think fitness-focused wearable companies like Garmin, Coros and Suunto do not consider the needs of elite-level runners. This exact sort of consideration has birthed the super shoe, which has dramatically increased the appeal of very expensive running shoes to those who may never run more than 5km at a time.
It would also be naive to think consulting with a running team would actually add much to a design team whose entire job is to work on developing watch features. It does indicate Huawei is likely to have made a significant R&D effort with this upcoming watch, though.
Huawei’s currently vague description of its aims talks of “bridging the gap between high-end functionality and user-friendly design” and that it’s “designed to satisfy the rigorous demands of seasoned runners while remaining accessible to beginners.”
One of the most interesting elements here will be in seeing how Huawei chooses to divert from fitness tracker norms here, and indeed how the watch differs from the Huawei Watch GT models. Huawei’s release refers to the 2021 Runner edition of the watch as an earlier marker of the company’s increased interest in the runner crowd.
This new Huawei runner’s watch will be of limited interest to actual watch shoppers in the U.S. thanks to ongoing restrictions, which have been in place since 2019. If Huawei’s watch is as “next-generation” as promised, though, it could well influence the wearables from other brands.
For now, though, Huawei is leaving its official statement vague and bland.
“By combining Huawei’s expertise in smart wearable technology with the team’s deep performance knowledge, we aim to deliver meaningful insights that benefit not only elite athletes, but runners of all levels around the world,” says Huawei CMO Alex Huang.