Amidst unveiling its Amazfit GTS and Amazfit GTR smartwatches and Stratos 3 sports watch, Huami revealed that it is also planning to launch a smartwatch with a curved display.
The Amazfit X is being referred to as a concept for now, with some of its elements still subject to change. It features a prominent curved touchscreen and is apparently slated to hit the market in some form in 2020.
Read more: Best smartwatch to buy right now
The X includes no physical buttons on the band or face. Instead, Huami says it has hidden “electronic” buttons to the side of the display, which we’d assume are going to be the capacitive kind. That display is sized at 2.07 inches, with a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch (PPI). That sounds a decent display considering its curved form factor, with exactly the same PPI on paper as the Apple Watch Series 4.
Huami says the manufacturing process to produce a reliable curved display like this is unsurprisingly involved. The metal body of the watch is subjected to 700-degree heat – and we’re talking Celsius, here. It’s slowly shaped into the required curvature, which Huami says is inspired by new moons. In lieu of a curved motherboard, which doesn’t exist yet, Huami’s split one into three segments in the watch’s internals.
For a concept watch, Huami had plenty of details to supply about the Amazfit X, even as far as its battery. It’ll house a 220mAh battery, which will also be curved, and should manage 7 days of life between charges. It’s also promising 430 nits of brightness, which doesn’t sound all that impressive.
Curved smartwatches are no longer outlandish ideas – the Nubia Alpha, unveiled earlier this year, is just one example of the ways that smartwatch designs are being moulded to our wrists. The Alpha wasn’t exactly the best showcase of a curved smartwatch you’d actually want to wear, so maybe Huami’s effort will do a better job when it lands next year.
This article was originally posted on Wareable.com
