Huawei Watch 4 now in PH, priced

Pioneering the new standard for wearable health and connectivity solutions, Huawei is proud to announce the launch of the Huawei Watch 4, a groundbreaking smartwatch device that takes health monitoring, sports, and lifestyle technology into a new arena with eSim technology that can operate independently even without being tethered to a phone. It is set to create the ultimate personal companion on your wrist available starting this February 23, 2024.

The Huawei Watch 4 will be available starting February 23 for its first sales price of PhP 22,999 with a free Huawei Sound Joy speaker worth PHP 6,999.

Your complete personal health companion complete with health monitoring capabilities

The Huawei Watch 4 offers comprehensive health monitoring capabilities, including ECG analysis and PPG arrhythmia analysis for continuous A-fib and premature beats screening.

It is the only smartwatch equipped with a high-performance ECG sensor module, keeping track of cardiac rhythm, atrial fibrillation, and premature atrial contractions, providing users with timely alerts of major heart health-related risks. Additionally, the watch features arterial stiffness detection, enabling pro-level screening for arteriosclerosis and offering tips to improve cardiovascular health.

The Huawei Watch 4 also introduces the first-ever Respiratory Spectrum Analysis algorithm, allowing users to monitor respiratory health based on cough patterns. With this innovative feature, users can detect early signs of lung function impairment.

With its 8-channel optical heart rate sensor featuring TruSeen 5.0+ heart rate monitoring and advanced sleep monitoring with Huawei TruSleep 3.0, which detects the user’s duration of sleep and presents the comprehensive sleep structure of sleep and naps, it can accurately report sleep and wake patterns that can go with your alarm. The feature also includes analysis of light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, and awake hours.

Access in real-time your health insights to stay on top of your game

The One-Click Health Glance function provides users with easy-to-understand health reports, measuring seven different health indicators all at once. By utilizing quick multiple health indicators, users can assess various health data items simultaneously, including ECG, heart rate, SpO2, arterial stiffness, stress levels, skin temperature, and respiratory check.

The entire process takes just 60 seconds, generating a micro-physical examination report for users to reference and share.

To truly push the limits of smart technology, The Huawei Watch 4 supports Health Trends, allowing users to track medium and long-term changes in various health indicators, such as sleep duration, stress levels, resting heart rate, and blood oxygen. This feature enables users to develop healthier lifestyles by providing personalized insight, and through the Health Community function, users can connect with family members and friends to share health updates and receive alerts regarding abnormal readings.

Inspired design, better experience: Everything in one smartwatch

Users can now enjoy standalone functionality on their smartwatches, allowing them to receive calls, texts, and access apps even when their smartphones are out of reach. With Huawei Watch 4’s fresh UX design in a magazine-style layout, users get an easier viewing of data and active apps, with an upgraded eSIM for independent calls and messaging. — no need to bring a phone all the time

The Independent eSIM feature on the Huawei Watch 4 liberates users from the constraints of their smartphones, offering unparalleled freedom and connectivity. Whether you’re on a run, at the gym, or simply on the go, you can stay connected and accessible at all times, ensuring that you never miss an important call or message again.

In addition to its standalone functionality, the Huawei Watch 4 also boasts seamless integration with a variety of popular apps, including Spotify, GCash, Strava, WISH FM, Adidas Running and more.

With Spotify, users can enjoy their favorite podcasts and music tracks directly from their wrist, while Strava provides comprehensive tracking and analysis for running and other exercises, empowering users to achieve their fitness goals with ease. Potential consumers can expect to explore safe and secure ways to pay with their Huawei Watch 4 using GCash QRs in the near future.

Furthermore, the Huawei Watch 4 offers an intelligent and intuitive user experience, compatible with both iOS and Android devices. Its fresh new interactions, including open apps and quick bar access based on users’ habits, ensure a seamless and personalized experience for every user.

Enhance your fitness routine with a selection of more than 100 sports modes

With over 100 different sports modes, including running, cycling, swimming, and golf, the Huawei Watch 4 provides professional sports assessments and suggestions to help users better understand the effects of exercise. The watch offers personalized training plans based on users’ physical conditions and running history, empowering them to maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve their athletic performance.

The upgraded Activity Rings function visualizes users’ exercise goals and progress, providing recommendations based on age, gender, weight, and height. The function also summarizes weekly achievements and recommends new goals, encouraging users to develop healthy exercise habits.

Cutting-edge design aesthetics that provide an enhanced user experience

 Huawei Watch 4 features a touch of elegance and durability to withstand daily wear. Huawei Watch 4 comes with Black Stainless Steel Case design, with 3D curved glass that brings streamlined aesthetics for a futuristic style.

With tactile feedback and enhanced responsiveness, the rotatable crown offers users an interactive touch experience like never before, allowing seamless navigation and control of various functions with ease.

Crafted with precision and attention to detail, the Huawei Watch 4 features a slim and lightweight design, providing users with ultimate comfort and style. Additionally, the  offers a variety of themed watch faces, catering to different preferences and lifestyles.

The Huawei Watch 4 also introduces new smart interactions for a smarter experience, including the Huawei Assistant TODAY function, Service Widgets, and seamless communication capabilities. With an ultra-smooth user experience, enhanced sensitivity, and quick application launch, the Huawei Watch 4 redefines convenience and efficiency in smartwatch technology.

Powered by the intelligent dual-core architecture 2.0, the Huawei Watch 4 delivers a seamless and powerful user experience while minimizing power consumption. With the dual mode for strong performance and long-lasting battery life, users can enjoy up to 14 days of battery life in Ultra-Long Battery Life mode, ensuring worry-free usage during long trips.

The watch supports wireless SuperCharge, providing users a convenient and fast-charging experience. Equipped with a multi-dimensional heat dissipation system, the Huawei Watch 4  ensures optimal comfort and performance even during intensive activities.

 

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Samsung Galaxy S21 Series hands-on, first impressions

01/15/2021

2020 was indeed a year of change. But though these changes separated us physically, it proved that with technology, we can still be connected. And that’s what Samsung is prioritizing this 2021 — bringing the benefit of technology to more people.

We were invited by Samsung Philippines to be one of the first people to see its next-generation flagship phones here in the country. We know you’re already excited to see them so let’s go ahead and take a closer look at the Samsung Galaxy S21 Series!

Design

For this year, we have three members of the Galaxy S21 family. There’s the Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. As always, the higher models have some upgraded features but all generally share the same internals. And as always, they come in different sizes.

The Galaxy S21 is the most compact of the three and comes with a 6.2-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display. The Galaxy S21+ comes at a larger 6.7-inch FullHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display, while the Galaxy S21 Ultra spans widest at 6.8 inches with a sharper WQHD+ panel.

The S21 and S21+ both have dynamic displays that adjust refresh rates between 48Hz-120Hz, but the S21 Ultra goes for a wider range and can accommodate rates between 10-120Hz.

Turn the phone around and you’ll see a new design. The flush camera housing now looks more refined with its curves and flow, as compared to its predecessor and its blocky design. For the rest of its physique, Samsung is bringing new colors to the S21 Series and they all come with a matte finish.

The power button and volume rocker are on the right side. The power button is easily reachable with the thumb, but going for the volume rocker and you’ll need to crawl your grip up for about an inch higher since the placement is a little up there.

This is for the S21+ and S21 Ultra, by the way, since the S21 has just the right size to easily reach both. Additionally, all models from the series are sealed with IP68 certification for water resistance.

Holding the S21 Ultra, there’s a noticeable heft to it especially on the upper half of its body due to the internals and the camera module as well. But overall, it feels nice to the touch and the matte finish effectively repels fingerprints and smudges.

One more thing, Samsung officially says that it decided to remove wired headphones and in-box chargers for the Galaxy S21 in an attempt to promote sustainability. So there you go. No headphones and chargers which sound pretty familiar, don’t you agree?

Camera

In terms of imaging, all models can shoot 8K video with video snap to easily capture ultra-high res photos. They also have a Director’s view feature that comes with Vlogger View which uses both the front and rear cameras at the same time.

The cameras also come with enhanced Portrait Mode, an improved Space Zoom for steadier shots while using their telephoto lenses, and a Super Steady recording in 60fps so you have smooth footage even with handheld shooting.

Now, for the camera setup. Both the Galaxy S21 and S21+ carry a triple shooter system with 12-megapixel ultra-wide, 12-megapixel wide, and a 64-megapixel telephoto lens. Both also have a 10-megapixel front camera to take care of your selfie needs.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has a quad-camera setup consisting of a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, 108-megapixel wide, and dual 10-megapixel telephoto lenses with laser autofocus.

The dual telephoto lenses work together in a way that one is dedicated to midrange zoom and the other for long-range shooting. For selfies, a 40-megapixel front camera is present.

We’ve used them to quickly take sample shots and so far the cameras delivered sharp and detailed photos.

Here are some camera samples but do take note that this is not the final camera version just yet and more refinement will be done for the final units.

As expected, colors are vibrant and picture clarity is on point. Although I’m still not a fan of going all out on its 100x zoom since while the technology is impressive, the quality is still not something that I would use or personally post online.

Selfies look great, though, even with lighting from behind you. And for low light instances, the cameras still deliver quality that doesn’t seem like it was taken in a dimly lit room.

Features

Samsung says the new series now comes with a larger ultrasonic fingerprint sensor to make it easier for users to unlock the device. They also come with stereo speakers by AKG, Samsung DeX for desktop functions on your phone, and an Eye Comfort Shield to lessen eye strain.

The new Galaxy Buds Pro and Galaxy Smart Tag

The S21+ and S21 Ultra one-ups the S21 with their UWB or Ultra-Wideband feature. This wireless communication technology makes it possible to use Samsung’s SmartThings Find and its new Galaxy Smart Tag to locate Galaxy devices even when offline or communicate with your vehicle to perform certain tasks in the future.

And exclusive to the S21 Ultra is the S Pen compatibility for added productivity. The top of the line variant also features Wi-Fi 6E which is said to be 4X faster than normal WiFi.

Internals

Inside, the new Galaxy S21 Series is powered by a 5nm Exynos 2100 processor that promises a 20-percent increase in CPU performance, a 35-percent increase in GPU performance, and an AI that’s twice as efficient and fast than previous versions.

Both the S21 and S21+ have 8GB RAM and a choice of 128GB or 256GB for storage. The S21 Ultra takes this a couple of notches up and offers you either 12GB or 16GB RAM and storage options of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB.

Battery

Of course, battery capacity also comes in different options. There’s a 4000mAh capacity for the S21, 4800mAh for the S21+ and the largest is at 5000mAh for the S21 Ultra.

All devices come with Wireless Powershare so you could top up other compatible devices, Super Fast Charging for wired connectivity, and Fast Wireless Charging.

Final thoughts

With the short time we’ve spent with Samsung’s newest flagship devices, we were able to see that the company is dead set on appealing to those who demand the latest mobile innovations.

With the lineup’s new and more elegant design, an immersive display, pro-grade cameras, and powerful internals, the new Galaxy Series of smartphones is ready to be that premium handset you’re probably looking for.

Pricing for Galaxy S21 5G is at PhP 47,990 and PhP 57,990 for the Galaxy S21+ 5G. Meanwhile, pricing for Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G starts at PhP 69,990 for the 256GB model and PhP 79,990 for the 512GB pre-order-exclusive model

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