The Huawei Watch Ultimate offers features for monitoring swimming activities, but its capabilities differ between pool and open water environments.
Pool Swimming:
For pool swimming, the watch can track various swimming metrics such as distance, swimming time, strokes, and stroke rate. However, it does not automatically detect laps in the same way some specialized swim watches do. Users need to manually select the "Pool swim" mode to ensure accurate tracking. The watch records data like average SWOLF (a measure of swimming efficiency), which can be useful for analyzing performance[8].
Open Water Swimming:
In open water, the Huawei Watch Ultimate uses GPS to track swimming routes and distances. However, GPS signals can be affected by factors such as water surface reflections and weather conditions, which may lead to inaccuracies. To improve accuracy, users should enable the "Open water swim" mode before starting and ensure the watch is occasionally above water to receive GPS signals. This mode is best suited for strokes like freestyle, where the watch can periodically receive GPS signals[7].
Overall, while the Huawei Watch Ultimate can monitor swimming in both environments, its open water tracking relies heavily on GPS availability, which can be less reliable compared to pool settings. For precise lap tracking in pools, users might need to manually log laps or use additional features available in the watch's software.
Citations:
[1] https://www.galaxus.at/en/page/the-huawei-watch-ultimate-is-designed-to-meet-even-the-most-extreme-requirements-27071
[2] https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/smartwatches/1418577/huawei-watch-ultimate-review
[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7MaeZ_YOe4
[4] https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/11/suunto-amoled-review.html
[5] https://www.stuff.tv/review/huawei-watch-ultimate-review/
[6] https://m.gsmarena.com/newscomm-58259.php
[7] https://consumer.huawei.com/en/support/content/en-us00733978/
[8] https://consumer.huawei.com/ph/support/content/en-us00753184/
[9] https://root-nation.com/en/gadgets-en/wearables-en/en-huawei-watch-ultimate-design-review/