Huawei has announced the launch of the HUAWEI WATCH FIT Special Edition, a fashionable and lightweight smartwatch for the active and adventurous youth, and HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2, the wireless earbuds that offer everything you need at an attractive price. The HUAWEI WATCH FIT Special Edition features a large 1.64-inch AMOLED square screen, resulting in a screen-to-body ratio of 70%, making the watch spectacular to look at from any angle.

The exciting thing about the HUAWEI WATCH FIT Special Edition is that it works seamlessly with both iOS and Android smartphones. So, it doesn’t matter what kind of phone you use; you can still enjoy the wholesome features of this amazing fashionable wearable. HUAWEI WATCH FIT Special Edition supports fast charging, enabling you to use it for two days with just five minutes of charging and fully charge it in just 45 minutes.

In addition, the watch supports up to 9 days of battery life, up to 6 days for normal use, and up to 3 days for AOD mode. The new watch packs a wide range of health and fitness features at a wallet-friendly price, including respiratory monitoring, heart rate tracking, and more. The HUAWEI WATCH FIT Special Edition is available in Starry Black, Nebula Pink and Forest Green for AED329 from Huawei Experience stores, e-shop and select retailers across UAE.

Whether you are listening to music, watching videos, or making calls, the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2 will deliver an exceptional audio experience with long battery life, a lightweight and compact design, fast charging and more. With the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2, you can enjoy up to 40 hours of music playback with a fully charged charging case. The earbuds themselves can last for 9 hours on a single charge.

And if you ever need a quick boost of power, you can get 3 hours of music playback with just a 10-minute charge. What’s more, these earbuds work seamlessly with Android and iOS devices as well. The HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2 is IP54-rated for water and dust resistance. Whether you are working out at the gym, jogging in the park, or commuting in the rain, you can use these earbuds without any worries.

The HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 2 will be available from available starting from August 25th in Isle Blue and Ceramic White for AED179 from Huawei Experience stores, e-shop and select retailers across UAE.

Fitbit has been a part of my daily routine for years now. I have been using the Fitbit Charge 5 since November 2021 and I have been more than happy with the device. The company recently announced a slew of new devices, one of which was the Versa 4. So when the company sent me the Versa 4 for review, I immediately switched over to it. I have been using the Versa 4 for a month and in this review, I will explain why the Versa 4 shines.

In terms of design, build quality, and even some of the features, the Fitbit Versa 4 is very similar to the Sense 2. While Fitbit was purchased by Google, the company is still using Fitbit’s Fitbit OS instead of the Wear OS 3. The Fitbit Versa 4 comes with a nice-looking touchscreen AMOLED display on the top that measures 1.58 inches, very similar to the one found on the Sense 2. In addition, both watches offer the same resolution of 336-by-336 pixels.

Furthermore, the Versa 4 and the Sense 2 come packed with 4GB of storage, and support for wireless technologies such as Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and NFC. In terms of sensors, both of them accompany a gyroscope, an ambient light sensor, a heart rate sensor, a barometer, GPS, and a compass. There, however, are two sensors missing on the Versa 4 – the EDA sensor and the ECG sensor – both of which are available on the Sense 2.

The Versa 3 features a haptic button – Fitbit this time around has changed that. The Fitbit Versa 4 now comes with a side-mounted physical button, which I think is far better than the haptic button used in the predecessor. According to Fitbit, it will be easier for users to use a physical button, especially when they’re sweaty after an hour or two’s worth of exercise.

In terms of colour options, you can choose from Black / Graphite Aluminum, Waterfall Blue / Platinum Aluminum, Pink Sand / Copper Rose Aluminum, and Beet Juice / Copper Rose Aluminum. The variant we received for this review was the Waterfall Blue / Platinum Aluminum version. The watch is very handsome to look at and it certainly has a heft to it, pointing at the top-notch build quality.

The strap used on the Versa 4 is a silicone Infinity band variant, while Fitbit also offers some premium watchstraps, including options such as sports straps, woven leather bands, Horween leather bands, woven bands, Hook & Loop bands, Pendleton woven bands, and even a vegan leather option. So, there’s a multitude of options to choose from, if you would like to personalise the Versa 4 to your liking.

The Versa 4 counts steps, measures your heart rate, tracks your sleep pattern, tracks your SpO2 levels, tracks elevation using an altimeter, and can also deliver high and low heart rate notifications. The only things missing in the Versa 4 when compared with the Sense 2, as mentioned earlier, are an EDA Scan app for stress management and an ECG app for heart rhythm assessment.

The Versa 4 also tracks your mindfulness, manages stress, offers a readiness score, tracks your exercise, tracks health metrics, and so on.

And if you are using Fitbit Premium, you get a lot more stats and advice based on the logged numbers, such as snore and noise detection while sleeping, sleep profile, wellness report, recipe inspiration, video workouts, and more. The Versa 4 also offers Alexa as the voice assistant of choice and Fitbit Pay, which can be managed through the Fitbit app.

The battery life is also very good on the Fitbit Versa 4. On a single charge, we were able to clock a week’s worth of battery life, which is amazing. In addition, you can also perform quick replies to messages and the watch also supports Google Assistant, Maps, and the revamped Google Wallet, which is coming soon. As with previous Fitbit watches, iOS support is also present with integration provided by the Fitbit app.

For a price of AED 999, the Fitbit Versa 4 is not just a capable fitness tracker that offers a boatload of features and does an amazing job at tracking your health. The Fitbit Versa 4 thus comes across as highly recommended.

Price: AED 999

When it comes to smartwatches, there is a multitude available on the market. Astrum is a new entrant in the local market, being distributed by Tradeling, and it offers a wide range of products including the Astrum Smart Watch M5 reviewed here.

The M5 is a fitness tracker that comes packed with features that you usually associate with premium smartwatches. This includes heart rate monitoring, sleep monitoring, sports modes, blood oxygen monitoring, and so on.

The packaging of the smartwatch is very minimal – inside, you get the M5 smartwatch, along with the charging cable attached to a magnetic cradle, and a user manual. The smartwatch is very lightweight and comes with a skin-friendly silicone watch strap.

On the face of the smartwatch, you will find a 1.69-inch touchscreen. The screen is quite bright enough to be used outdoors under direct sunlight and is quite colourful, too. The touch sensitivity is on point and the user interface is good. There is just one button on the right edge of the dial, which when pressed, wakes up the display.

Swiping up will take you to the main menu, from where you can choose the sports modes and the watch faces; check out the messages; use the smartwatch as the camera shutter button, and use the find your phone function. In addition, you can perform breathing exercises, measure the blood oxygen level, use the stopwatch and countdown, and get into the Settings menu.

Once out of the box, in order to connect the smartwatch to your phone, you need to download a third-party app called CoolWear. This app is available for both Android and iOS devices. Once the app is downloaded, follow the onscreen instructions to set up the smartwatch – it barely takes minutes to get started.

The user interface is quite easy and intuitive to use, though isn’t as polished as many affordable smartwatches out there on the market. The M5 smartwatch works in conjunction with the CoolWear app to log all the stats such as step count, heart rate, blood oxygen level, sleep pattern, and so on.

The M5 is IP68 rated for water resistance. This means that the watch can be worn while jogging in the occasional rain or doing the dishes. However IP68 rating does not take water pressure into account. Hence, be extra careful when using the smartwatch during aquatic activities such as swimming.

Sports modes include running, walking, cycling, climbing, basketball, football, swimming, badminton, yoga, and skipping. We fully charged the device before using it and after daily use for almost a week, we still had around 35% of the battery remaining, which is good.

For a wholesale price of AED 87 (for a minimum of 3-4 units purchased), the Astrum Smart Watch M5 comes across as a value-for-money device.

Price: AED 87 each (for a minimum of 3-4 units)