Oppo is a household name in India and its smartphones are quite popular among consumers. But recently, the company expanded vigorously into other products, such as TWS and wearables. Well, the Oppo Watch is something worth all the attention and praise as it has managed to get most things right. Here's our comprehensive review of the Oppo Watch, which has made all the waves across the industry.
Oppo Watch 46mm, one sent to us for review, is priced at Rs 19,990 in India and comes in black and gold colours (we got the former). At first glance, Oppo Watch looks like an Apple Watch clone. But it is in the details where Oppo Watch stands apart. Even the spec-sheet is a lot different from what Apple has to offer, offering fewer features which is justified by the lower price tag. Let's dive right in.
Design and Display
Oppo Watch has a spectacular design, reminiscent of the Apple Watch. The display is larger, brighter and curved on both sides to accommodate more content into the tiny yet large screen. The rubber strap is comfortable and it doesn't cause discomfort even while wearing it all the time. There's a ceramic back, which is soft on the skin while ensuring durability. The 1.6-inch AMOLED display has excellent viewing angles, and is quite bright even under outdoor sunlight.
The touch screen display has two physical buttons on the right. The bottom button launches Oppo's workout app, but it can be remapped to anything you like. Finally, there's a 3ATM water resistance rating, which meant we didn't have to worry about removing it in rains. Overall, Oppo Watch is one of the best-looking smartwatches powered by Android Wear OS.
Performance and UI
Oppo Watch is powered by Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB onboard storage. But Oppo uses its own ColorOS layer on top, which makes all the difference. It has some easy gestures, clean UI, and you'll get used to it in no time.
For instance, swipe right to access Google Assistant, swipe left to see activity tracking in Tiles, heart rate and workout statistics. Swiping down to see the quick settings menu and swipe up for notifications. This is as simple as things can be.
When you hit the top physical button, an app tray opens up. The animations are so smooth, it's almost as good as WatchOS. Almost. We did not experience any lags or issues, notifications sync in real-time and it works as a true extension of your phone.
Not all smartwatches have got the software as good as Oppo Watch. So kudos to that.
Tracking and fitness
Oppo Watch has got heart rate, sleep, steps, workout, and daily activity tracking. We compared the heart rate data against Apple Watch 6 and both gave similar results. The sleep tracking is also pretty accurate, providing detailed statistics of light and deep sleep, The Watch does not record REM sleep or heart rate while asleep, which we found something Oppo could have offered.
It is interesting to see various workout modes, such as running, cycling and swimming. While running, we were able to get pace, heart rate and calories burned - all in one place. But we suspect the accuracy of certain statistics to be a bit out of place. (read: pace).
We weren't able to get swimming statistics, but the watch shows length count, average pace, calorie burn and duration in real-time. The data accuracy is questionable but it is comparable to other smartwatches.
Battery life
Oppo Watch battery is one of the biggest USP. The Watch can last well over a day. With GPS turned on, the battery might deplete faster, but it is not by a huge margin. On any day, it can last a whole day - tracking activities, heart rate, etc. It's not exactly the battery life that is impressive, it is the fast-charging that makes the difference. But if you're really looking to extend the battery life, opt for the power saving mode to make sure it goes on for days on a single charge. Unlike what you might think, the power saving still counts steps, shows notifications and monitors heart rate.
Oppo Watch supports VOOC flash charge, which boosts 30 percent in 15 minutes and can fully charge the smartwatch in a little over an hour.
Verdict
Oppo Watch has excellent design, great fit, and comfort and doesn't look like it has cut corners in any way. The WearOS-based ColorOS is the single reason why Oppo Watch is better than most smartwatches out there. The overall quality of the watch is impressive and it is also priced right, making it easy to recommend to anyone who wants the perfect Android-powered smartwatch.
