Owning a pair of Bluetooth headphones has become essential if you want to stream music from your smartwatch, and now a new design from Huawei may ensure you always have them on your wrist.
As uncovered by LetsGoDigital, the Chinese company has been granted a patent for a watch that builds two wireless, waterproof earbuds between the bezel and strap, allowing users to make calls and listen to music on the fly.
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As shown in the image below, the headphones tuck into both sides of the bezel, with a spring lock keeping the buds in place. Once clicked, the cap can be removed and the earbuds can be assembled by the user.
Interestingly, the design above also isn't the only potential method for storing earbuds that Huawei is exploring, either. Within the same filing, another sketch shows a design whereby the buds are stored within the watch band in a different way. Instead of fitting around the bezel and into the casing, a module on the underside of the wrist would instead hold the earphones and allow users to pop them out.
It's unknown, obviously, whether either of these ideas will be making it onto a future Huawei smartwatch, but the concept of built-in headphones is certainly an intriguing one - and it could be successful if it doesn't make the overall design too bulky.
We already know the company is working on the Huawei Watch 3, but with its own admission that it's in no rush (and the recent release of the Huawei Watch 2 2018) to release it, whether we see something truly new from the company this year remains to be seen.
However, as we pointed out during our Huawei Watch 3 wish list, when it does happen, we need to see the company do something different in order to seriously challenge the Apple Watch and other Wear rivals. Since we're dealing with a patent here, it's unlikely we'll receive a built-in headphone design like the one detailed above, but it could be exactly the kind of thing that could help separate Huawei from the rest of the crowd.
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Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.