From September 18th to 20th, Huawei Connect 2025 was held in Shanghai. At the conference, Wang Tao, Executive Director of Huawei, shared the latest developments of HiLink (Huawei’s wireless connectivity technology).
Wang Tao stated that HiLink, with its leading technology and user experience, has attracted over 1,200 partners to jointly build standards and ecosystems, achieving a user base of over 100 million devices. Through the synergy of HiLink and HarmonyOS (Huawei’s operating system), a smart interconnection platform for the Internet of Things (IoT) is being created.
From smart homes and consumer electronics to smart transportation, HiLink, with its advantages of high bandwidth, low latency, strong anti-interference, precise positioning, and integrated sensing, is constantly enhancing user experience and revealing a new future of intelligent connectivity.
HiLink Technology: Leading the Way in All-Scenario Smart Experiences
HiLink Sensing 2.0
In the smart home field, HiLink SLP, with its integrated sensing design, is driving the evolution of home appliances towards greater intelligence and user-friendliness. Recently, Hisense Air Conditioning, in collaboration with HiSilicon, launched China’s first smart air conditioner with HiLink SLP technology — the Hisense U6. The HiLink SLP solution boasts high-precision sensing capabilities, detecting human presence within 6 meters with an accuracy of ±0.3 meters. With its superior anti-interference performance, it maintains stable operation with zero false alarms in complex home environments. It also supports local area network (LAN) connectivity for multiple devices and sensors, as well as OTA (over-the-air) updates, significantly improving convenience and energy efficiency.
Powered by HiLink’s integrated sensing technology, the Hisense U6 air conditioner can quickly detect human presence within 1.5 seconds without compromising privacy. It intelligently implements personalized airflow strategies such as “airflow follows movement, avoids direct airflow, gentle breeze when near, and energy-saving mode when away,” providing precise airflow control within a 6-meter range. Combined with AI airflow control algorithms, it offers a personalized user experience. It can also accurately detect when no one is present and automatically switch to energy-saving mode, saving users energy. Starlink Car Key
As a fourth-generation digital car key, Starlink technology utilizes phase difference and time-of-flight (TOF) measurements to calculate distance, achieving positioning accuracy far superior to traditional Bluetooth solutions — with positioning accuracy improved by more than 5 times and unlocking/locking response accuracy improved by more than 6 times.
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With a smartphone or smartwatch that supports the StarLink digital car key technology, the welcome lights automatically illuminate when the user approaches the vehicle within 10 meters; and the doors unlock instantly when the user is within 3 meters, completely eliminating the awkwardness of traditional Bluetooth digital car keys with inaccurate positioning and slow response times. After use, the system automatically locks the doors when the user is more than 8 meters away, requiring no manual operation — truly seamless entry and exit.
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In terms of market adoption, several high-end smart vehicles have already adopted StarLink digital car key technology since 2025, including the AITO M9 2025 model, AITO M8, XJ S9 Extended Range, ZUANJIE S800, and Dongfeng Mengshi M817. GAC Toyota has also officially announced that its second domestically developed model, the Zeekr 007, will come standard with StarLink digital car key technology when it launches in the first quarter of 2026.
Furthermore, more than a dozen major automakers are accelerating the integration and deployment of StarLink digital car key technology, indicating that this technology is moving from early adoption in high-end vehicles to mainstream adoption, gaining industry-wide recognition and entering the mainstream consumer market. This will create a smarter, smoother, and more reliable keyless driving experience for users, officially ushering in the “StarLink era of digital car keys.”
In terms of the ecosystem, Huawei has already completed its StarLink digital car key deployment: the newly released Pura 80 series and Mate XTs smartphones, as well as the world’s first smartwatch supporting StarLink digital car keys — the Huawei WATCH 5 — all fully support this technology. According to plans, all future Huawei smartphones will come standard with StarLink capabilities; and existing Huawei smartphones, including the Pura X and Mate 70 series, can activate the StarLink digital car key function by upgrading to HarmonyOS 6.0.
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