At IFA 2020, Honor set the stage with some interesting consumer hardware releases. Honor, a Huawei sub-brand, has been steadily increasing its presence in the wearables market, thanks to products such as the Honor MagicWatch2.

The Honor IFA 2020 press conference saw the announcement of a new smartwatch, the Honor Watch GS Pro, and new fitness wearable, the Honor Watch ES.

Here's how they shape up and when you can get your hands on them.

Honor Watch GS Pro

Honor's existing range of smartwatches focuses on the casual wearer, with some sport functionality. The announcement of the Honor Watch GS Pro switches things up, with the new smartwatch focusing on explorers and the tougher challenges of life.

As such, the Honor Watch GS Pro is Honor's "first rugged smartwatch built for urban adventurers." and has over 100 workout modes.

honor watch gs pro ifa 2020

The GS Pro can withstand temperatures up to 70°C and low temperatures to -40°C. Furthermore, it reaches MIL-STD-810G standards (essentially military-grade ruggedness) in 14 key categories, including water resistance, dust ingress, salt ingress, vibration, and shock.

The smartwatch itself features a tidy 1.39-inch AMOLED display, surrounded by a stainless-steel bezel. The body is reinforced polycarbonate fiber, which is available in three colors: Charcoal Black, Marl White, and Camo Blue.

Under the watch face, you'll find a Huawei Kirin A1 processor with a 790mAh battery. Honor claims the battery will last up to 25 days, though this scales down considerably to 100 hours of use in GPS mode. Still, 100 hours in GPS mode is more than enough for a day's hiking or a long-running event.

One cool feature is the GPS capability, including offline route creation. Using Honor's new Route Back tool, the GPS tracking will guide you back to the start of your hike without requiring new GPS input. So, if you lose signal during your hike or event and need to return to the start, you don't have to worry about getting lost.

The Honor Watch GS Pro is launching in European markets in September 2020 and will cost €249.99 (US$290) at launch.

Honor Watch ES

Honor's second wearable announcement at IFA 2020 is the new Honor Watch ES, which has a much stronger focus on sports, training, and monitoring.

The Honor Watch ES features a large 1.64" AMOLED display, with a screen to body ratio of 70 percent. That ratio is 24 percent higher than the nearest competitors, which means you see more of the apps on the device. It also makes it much easier to check your heart rate and messages at a glance. Honor expects the Watch ES to last for up to 10 days on a single battery charge, gaining up to 70 percent capacity on a 30-minute charge.

honor watch es heart rate ifa 2020

The Honor Watch ES uses an ergonomic design, with a very slight arch in the device. The arch helps comfort levels during sport and training exercises. It is 50m water resistant, splash-proof, and fully swim-proof.

Interestingly, the Honor Watch ES features an integrated workout coach. The coach displays workout routines on your Watch ES, with 12 fully animated fitness courses with an additional 95 workout modes with hints and tips.

Another nice feature is the automatic workout recognition. When you start working out, the watch automatically detects the type of workout. A small notification flashes on the screen which allows you to confirm the workout type. However, if you miss the notification, the watch will still track your workout, so you don't miss your vitals.

The Honor Watch ES also features a sleep tracker, stress monitor, menstrual cycle tracker, blood and oxygen level monitors, and more.

The Honor Watch ES will come in three colors, Icelandic White, Meteorite Black, and Coral Pink. The smartwatch is set for a European launch in September and will cost €99.99 (US$116).

Honor Talents

The Honor Watch ES will feature completely customizable watch faces, with extensive widget integration. The customization options are up to you, of course.

Alongside the release of the Watch ES, Honor also announced a competition for budding smartwatch face designs. The competition, Honor Talents, asks you to design and upload your own Honor watch faces for a chance to win up to $11,000. Plus, your design will feature across the Honor watch face store.

The competition opened on September 4 and will end on October 15.

Honor Continues Impressive Wearables Releases

Overall, the Honor Watch GS Pro and Honor Watch ES exemplify the name Honor is carving itself in the wearables market. Releases in previous years have been met with much anticipation along with excellent feedback. Expect the same to continue with these new Honor wearables.