Huawei Watch Ultimate 2 Gets HarmonyOS 6.1 Update

Huawei Quietly Rolls Out HarmonyOS 6.1 for Premium Smartwatches

Huawei has begun rolling out the HarmonyOS 6.1 public beta to its flagship HUAWEI WATCH Ultimate 2 and the luxury ULTIMATE DESIGN edition. The update, spotted on Huawei's official website, brings a suite of new watch faces, a nap-tracking feature, and deeper smartphone integration.

The upgrade targets Huawei's most premium wearable lineup, signaling the company's continued push to refine its smartwatch ecosystem even as it competes with Apple Watch Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Watch in the high-end segment.

New Watch Faces Add Personality and Customization

The HarmonyOS 6.1 update introduces 2 new watch faces designed to blend fun with elegance:

• 'Dance Star' watch face — Features 3 animated virtual pets named 'Hanhan,' 'Tiaotiao,' and 'Heihe.' The characters react with unique animations when users tap the display, play music, wake the screen, or charge the watch. Users can freely switch between pet characters and customize the face layout.
• 'Starry Dream' watch face — Offers swappable decorative backgrounds and customizable function widgets, giving users a more personalized aesthetic on their wrist.

These additions show Huawei leaning into the expressive, personality-driven watch face trend that Apple and Google have also embraced in recent WatchOS and Wear OS updates.

Nap Tracking and Smarter Phone Integration

Beyond aesthetics, HarmonyOS 6.1 delivers meaningful health and connectivity upgrades. A new nap summary feature now records short daytime rest periods and fragmented sleep sessions, generating a dedicated rest report so users can better understand their recovery habits.

The update also enhances phone-watch collaboration with a notable quality-of-life improvement: the connected smartphone can now display the watch's battery status, including low-battery and fully-charged notifications. This reduces the need to physically check the watch during charging.

Key update highlights at a glance:

• 2 new customizable watch faces with interactive animations
• Nap and fragmented sleep tracking with summary reports
• Phone-side battery status display for the watch
• Enhanced cross-device collaboration between watch and phone

What This Means for Huawei's Wearable Strategy

The HarmonyOS 6.1 rollout is currently in public beta, meaning broader availability should follow in the coming weeks. Huawei has been steadily expanding HarmonyOS support across its device portfolio, and smartwatches remain a critical piece of that ecosystem puzzle.

Huawei's WATCH Ultimate 2, which launched as a direct competitor to the $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2, continues to receive feature updates that narrow the software gap with Western rivals. The ULTIMATE DESIGN variant — a luxury gold edition — targets ultra-premium buyers in markets where Huawei maintains strong brand presence.

For users outside China, availability of HarmonyOS 6.1 features may vary by region. Huawei has not yet confirmed a global rollout timeline for this update.