Huawei Harmony OS Event Highlights | Check out new devices unveiled by Huawei

Huawei recently concluded its mega HarmonyOS event. The launch of HarmonyOS 2.0 comes amidst US sanctions (Enforced in 2019) that have been responsible for decimating the company’s smartphone business in the global market. The company hosted a massive HarmonyOS event where it showcased the new operating system with a heap of new devices running on HarmonyOS 2.0.

While Huawei did reveal two watches and two tablets that run HarmonyOS, we were yet to see a smartphone with the new OS. However, Huawei has said that it is aiming to roll out HarmonyOS to around 100 devices, switching them from Android to HarmonyOS 2.0. The initial rollout will only happen in China, with users in the West still having to wait.

An initial Chinese rollout makes more sense as apps in China don’t require Google Play Services. Wang Chenglu, President of Huawei Consumer Business Group's software department, said that Huawei is aiming to have HarmonyOS rolled out on 200 million smartphones and 100 million third-party smart devices by the year-end.

The first of the many devices announced running on HarmonyOS 2.0 was the Huawei Watch 3 and Huawei Watch 3 Pro. The new Huawei smartwatches feature a premium build with 1.43-inch AMOLED displays. The Huawei Watch 3 is priced at CNY 2,599 (Roughly Rs 30,000), while the Watch 3 Pro costs CNY 3,300 (Roughly Rs 38,000). The Pro model features a titanium build as well as better battery life and comes with more features.

The Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 and MatePad Pro 10.8 were the first of the tablets to run HarmonyOS 2.0. The MatePad Pro 12.6 boasts a 12.6-inch OLED display with a 2560x1600-pixel resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. The 10.8 model has an IPS LCD panel but opts for a 120Hz refresh rate. The MatePad Pro 12.6 uses the Kirin 9000E chipset, while the smaller 10.8-inch variant opts for a Snapdragon 870 SoC. The Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 will retail for €799 (Roughly Rs 71,050), while the price of the MatePad Pro 10.8 isn’t available just yet.

While the Huawei MatePad Pro 12.6 and MatePad Pro 10.8 occupy a space in a more premium range, the MatePad 11 is a more affordable HarmonyOS 2.0 tablet. The MatePad 11 sports a 10.95-inch LCD panel with a 2,560 x 1,600-pixel resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The tablet is also powered by the Snapdragon 865 SoC paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The MatePad Pro 11 packs a 7,250 mAh and sports 22.5W fast charging. The MatePad 11 will retail for €399 (Roughly Rs 35,500) in Europe.

The Chinese tech giant also announced Huawei M-Pencil (2nd generation) with a platinum-coated pen nib as well as the Huawei Smart Magnetic Keyboard for the new tablets. The new M-Pencil is equipped with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, supports tilt writing, and has 9ms latency. It offers up to 10 hours of working time and can be magnetically attached to the tablets.

The Huawei MateView GT is a 34-inch monitor with an LCD panel and a 21:9 aspect ratio. The monitor features a 3,440 x 1,440-pixel resolution with a 1500R curvature. The MateView GT boasts a 165Hz refresh rate with a typical brightness of 350 nits and a 4000:1 contrast ratio. The monitor supports HDR10, 90 percent DCI-P3 coverage, and 121 percent sRGB coverage. It also has a built-in soundbar with stereo speakers, 2x 2.5W.

Huawei also announced a monitor for content creation. The Huawei MateView boasts a 28.2-inch IPS LCD panel with a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 3,840 x 2,560-pixel resolution. The monitor features 500 nits of typical brightness and a DisplayHDR 400 certification. The MateView supports 10-bit color depth, 98 percent DCI-P3 and 100 percent sRGB coverage.

Lastly, Huawei also announced the FreeBuds 4 TWC earbuds that come with active noise cancellation and updated touch controls. The earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity and multi-device support as well as a total of 22 hours of playback with the charging case. They are IPX4 splash resistant and comes in wired and wireless charging versions for £130 and £150, respectively. The FreeBuds 4 pack 14.3mm dynamic drivers and also feature a low latency mode for gaming. For more details on all the new products, head on over to the link.