Diabetes remains one of the world’s fastest-growing health challenges, with millions of people living with the condition without knowing it. Catching the warning signs early can make a real difference, and Huawei says its new smartwatch feature is designed to help by quietly flagging potential diabetes risk using the kind of health data your watch already tracks.
How Huawei uses PPG to assess diabetes risk
At the heart of Huawei’s diabetes risk feature is photoplethysmography, or PPG. It is a non-invasive optical method that tracks tiny changes in blood flow just beneath the skin.
If that sounds familiar, it is because many smartwatches, including the Huawei Watch 5, already rely on PPG to monitor heart rate and blood oxygen levels. Huawei is now taking those same signals and analysing them for patterns that may be linked to diabetes risk.
You will have to wear the watch regularly for anywhere between 3 to 14 days. During that time, the watch continuously gathers cardiovascular data from the wrist. The Diabetes Risk app then sorts the results into low, medium, or high-risk categories.
If you fall into the medium or high-risk group, the app will tell you to consult a healthcare professional for proper medical testing.
To validate the system, Huawei has partnered with Dubai Health to study how well the watch-based results compare with hospital tests such as fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, and OGTT.
However, Huawei is also careful to stress that this feature is not a medical device. It is meant to raise awareness and encourage early action, not diagnose diabetes.
Other smartwatch makers are chasing similar health insights
Huawei is not alone in this race. Apple is exploring AI-powered tools to predict structural heart diseases using data from future Apple Watch models, while Samsung is working on features that can detect early signs of dementia.
For now, Huawei’s diabetes risk feature is available on the Huawei Watch GT 6 Pro via an OTA software update, with plans to expand support to additional smartwatch models.
While it does not replace clinical diagnosis, consumer wearables are steadily becoming an important tool for spotting health risks early.