This week, 27th September to be more precise, Huawei Mobile South Africa, held a launch event for the Watch GT 4 series in Johannesburg.

The new series of smartwatches, which features a 46mm and 41mm model, were revealed to the assembled media, as the devices went up for pre-order starting at R6 999 before they go on sale on 6th October locally.

We were fortunate enough to be attending said event, and were seeded a 46mm Watch GT 4 for review.

Specifically the Rainforest Green option, which features a watch strap that is made in part with recycled ocean-bound materials. This model is also a little unique as it features a bezel detailing that’s designed to resemble the look of a fully fledged chronograph like Omega’s Seamaster for example.

We’ll have a review for the device published sometime in October, so keep an eye out for it, but in the interim we thought we’d share our initial thoughts on the latest wearable from Huawei.

The first thing we need to note is that the 46mm model is quite different to the 41mm one. Apart from dimensions, the design of the actual watch bodies are not the same. Here, the larger 46mm option features what Huawei calls the octagonal design, which is a little chunkier than the slimmer profile of the 41mm flavour.

There is a good degree of ruggedness to the smartwatch too, and the clean metal finish certainly helps to add to the chronograph aesthetic that Huawei is aiming for.

Other nice touches include the rotating crown on the side of the watch, which is used as the power button, backwards navigation, and when turned, for zooming in and out of the content displayed on the watch face. It’s a trick that Huawei picked up from Apple, and while it works as advertised, it would be nice to have a more tactile feel to it.

As for the fit of the watch, despite being large at 46mm, it sits neatly on the wrist and does not feel cumbersome at all. We would, however, have preferred for an additional longer watch strap to be included in the box, as the one fitted on the Watch GT 4 does not leave a lot of room once secured into position.

The final elements we’ll touch on are the display and operating system. On the former, the 1.43″ AMOLED screen is crisp and bright (466×466), event at the lower settings. It also works well outdoors, and despite the dimensions, even smaller data and content is legible on the screen.

As for the operating system, HarmonyOS looks a bit better and more focused on this latest wearable. Navigation feels intuitive, although the app cluster screen still feels congested. Other than that, pairing via iOS worked a treat, and notifications across applications are being sent to the watch without fuss.

All in all, the first impressions of the Huawei Watch GT 4 are solid. That said, with the brand’s lineup of smartwatches already quite wide and impressive, it will be interesting to see whether the Watch GT 4 can grab as much attention as other recent wearables from Huawei.