We saw OPPO release what looked unashamedly like an Apple Watch clone earlier this year but it was not released widely outside of China. That Android OS fork smartwatch has now been updated with a new and improved version for Western markets, this time running Wear OS.
The new OPPO Watch, which we were told earlier this year by OPPO Australian MD is coming to Australia, comings in either a 46mm or 41mm variant with the front a rectangle with a dual-curved flexible AMOLED display. There are various colour combinations with colour availability varying by region and at this stage we are unsure just which versions Australia will receive.
The 46mm variant is available in black and Glossy Gold colours while the 41mm version will arrive in black, Pink Gold and Silver Mist. There are of course interchangeable bands for the smartwatch to allow you to change up the appearance.
The display is designed to make the colours pop, just as they do on the OPPO Find X2 Pro with 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut. Running Wear OS it supports all the usual Wear OS features including message notifications and replying, mobile payments, Google Assistant control and locate your phone functionality.
As is the want in 2020 it also includes full exercise tracking with 24-hour heart rate monitoring available. This is achieved with four optical sensors on the rear of the watch apparently arranged for maximum accuracy — the watch will vibrate if it notices anything untoward. We will certainly be putting that through its paces.
Software-wise OPPO have included their own app for your phone to help you manage your watchface and more — they even have an AI functionality that allows you to take a photo with your phone and the app will make a watchface to match your outfit. Sounds neat but we’ll reserve judgement until we see it in operation.
Inside the watch is a dual chipset setup to allow for longer battery life through the use of both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 and Ambiq Micro’s energy-efficient Apollo3 Wireless SoC. This is designed to give you up to 36 hours of battery life in Smart Mode and 21 days in power saver mode. There is also 1GB of RAM paired with 8GB of storage to ensure smooth operation.
Of course OPPO have included some form of VOOC with the ability to charge the 430mAh battery (200mAh in the 41mm) for 15 minutes to get all day power or charge it from 0-100 percent in just 75 minutes. Water proofing is included with the OPPO Watch 46mm water resistant to 50 meters, and the 41mm (Wi-Fi) water resistant to 30 meters.
Full local availability and pricing is unknown but in India the 46mm version will set you back 19,990 INR (AU$390) and the 41mm version 14,990 INR (AU$290). We will place a call into the folks at OPPO to check in on local availability and pricing and will update you when we find out more.
This looks to be a great watch at an affordable price. Would you be interested in this given its similarity to another certain watch in appearance?
I’ll be interested to see if the major carriers in Australia support the LTE version on their networks as they currently do for Samsung and Apple.
This looks like a somewhat interesting implementation but cant get over the fact that this is apple watch clone and have been let down too many times by wear os. As Bush once said ” fool me once shame on……..shame on you, fool me you can’t get fooled again.
India pricing if replicated here would see a huge demand.
There’s going to be unreasonable mark ups by retailers here better if importing.
I don’t get it why people call all square watches not made by Apple, clones or knockoffs. Any *square* watch with rounded edges will always look similar to Apple. I have a Fitbit Versa 2. It *also* looks like an Apple watch!
Hey Scott – do you know if Wear OS watches with LTE and GPS support Maps Location Sharing (or any other app that does the same) without the phone present? Looking for a solution for my father so we can find him if he gets lost
that sounds like a good use case. Have not used an LTE watch but will find out for you.
Cheers mate. We just want to be able to call/sms him and maybe find him (he has a Pixel 2 but sometimes finds it too bulky and leaves it at home, he’s getting old and forgetful, we don’t want to lose him on the ninth hole lol!)
I used imported Lg Urbane 2nd LTE edition, was using with all prepaid sims without any issue till 2019. strap was broken(where the LTE bands are hidden). was looking to but a LTE watch for myself with wearOS. but only option tight now is PicwatchPro LTE unlocked from firstclasswatches online store, but not sure if it will work in australia….might have to wait for oppo launch
And were you able to track the GPS location from another phone when the watch was on its own? What app, Maps?
never tried it, but u can use google findmyphone. it will track using 4g or wifi.
I considered that but the Google support article says that the watch must be connected to the phone or it will just give you the last location they were connected, which is pretty useless and kind of defeats the purpose if you have an LTE watch
https://support.google.com/wearos/answer/9377785?hl=en
Hey Scott – don’t suppose you ever got an answer from them did you?
Not aware of any Wear OS watches that do this but there are others that do. Look up TCL Movetime watches – they’d be great for this. Designed for kids but no reason you couldn’t use it for your parents too