With a lot more focus on health technology, Huawei has expanded its wearable technology, partnering with a gold medal-winning Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge to make running a part of their customers’ daily activity.
The Chinese company unveiled its latest innovations at its global product launch event in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday.
Running watches
The company marked a return to professional running watches, after a five-year hiatus, with the debut of the all-new Huawei Watch GT Runner 2.
The Watch GT Runner 2 is being marketed at roughly half the price of some high-end competitors while offering similar or superior GPS.
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Marathon mode
The Huawei Watch GT Runner 2 has an ‘Intelligent Marathon Mode’ which is a specialised race management tool that is said to act as a virtual coach and also offers dynamic pace guidance, hydration and refuelling reminders, and real-time pacer data to keep you on track for your target finish time.
Huawei also wants to merge AI-powered precision with the human pursuit of performance and wellbeing, reinforced by its partnership with Kipchoge.
“Running is about much more than running fast,” said Kipchoge. “I believe running is the most beautiful activity at all levels.”
The event also showcased the Huawei Watch Ultimate 2, Mate 80 Pro, MatePad Mini, FreeBuds Pro 5 and Band 11 Series.
Mate 80 Pro
On the mobile front, the Mate 80 Pro officially returned the brand’s flagship series to global markets with a Kirin 9030 Pro chip and durable Kunlun Glass, while the FreeBuds Pro 5 introduced a first-of-its-kind dual-engine AI noise cancellation for audio.
Huawei will be hoping that the Mate 80 Pro has more of an impact following a number of new high-specced options that were announced in recent days, including the Honor Magic 8 Pro, which looks almost identical to the Huawei flagship and the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra.
Other products
The line-up was rounded out by a new Green Edition of the premium Watch Ultimate 2, a portable MatePad Mini tablet, and the entry-level Band 11, signalling a major push to recapture international market share through high-end hardware innovation.
Availability and pricing
In terms of local availability and pricing, Huawei South Africa did not share details following the launch of the new products.
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