Huawei Previews Slimmer Blood Pressure Watch D3 and FreeBuds Neo

Huawei has published its first official teasers for two upcoming devices that the company will show at its global event in Munich. One is the Huawei Watch D3, the third generation of its blood pressure smartwatch, and the other is a pair of wireless earbuds called Huawei FreeBuds Neo. The change the manufacturer highlights concerns the watch: the case is noticeably slimmer, whereas earlier models in the series stayed bulky because of the miniature pump and inflatable bladder built into the strap.

A slimmer case and a bigger screen

The Watch D3 keeps the rectangular case with a rotating crown and a separate button below it, but Huawei shows the device from the side in its teaser to make the reduced thickness obvious. The case has shed the most bulk around the section that houses the blood pressure hardware, and the edges are more rounded. For reference, the Watch D2 measured 13.3 mm thick.

Alongside the slimmer case, Huawei promises softer straps and frames the update as an attempt to make all-day wear more comfortable.

The company also mentions a bigger screen without saying what it is comparing against: the Watch D2 already had a 1.82-inch display. Promotional images show the watch in at least two finishes, and one of the watch faces displays systolic and diastolic values, a blood pressure graph and heart rate.

Blood pressure remains the main function

What separates the D series from other smartwatches is that it does not estimate blood pressure with optical sensors but measures it the way a household monitor does. The strap houses a miniature pump and an inflatable bladder, and the reading is calculated using the oscillometric method. The Watch D2 could also run ambulatory monitoring, taking scheduled readings across a 24-hour period, though Huawei has not yet explained whether anything in that mechanism has changed on the D3.

Huawei says the Watch D3 has received CE-MDR certification in Europe, which means the company continues to treat the D series as a medical device rather than a regular watch with an estimated blood pressure metric.

Before the teaser, the Watch D3 had already turned up in an Indonesian certification database under two model numbers, RIV-B10 and RIV-B11, and the paperwork does not explain how the two differ. The RIV-B10 number also appears in a completed clinical study sponsored by Huawei: 158 adults took part, and readings from the wrist-worn device were compared against a mercury sphygmomanometer under the ISO 81060-2 validation standard. No results have been published.

FreeBuds Neo: only the case is shown

The second device in the announcement, the Huawei FreeBuds Neo, is barely shown at all. The buds themselves never appear on screen, so the only clue is the charging case, which has a wide rounded shape very close to that of the FreeBuds 6i. The company has not provided any technical details yet.

Specifications

• Model numbers: RIV-B10 and RIV-B11 (per certification records)
• Display: rectangular; according to Huawei, larger than on the previous model (size not stated)
• Case: slimmer than the Watch D2 (13.3 mm); exact dimensions not announced
• Controls: rotating crown and a separate button
• Blood pressure measurement: inflatable bladder in the strap, oscillometric method
• Certification: CE-MDR (Europe)
• Color: light gold with a white strap, rose gold with a brown strap