OPPO Watch – the best all-around Google Wear smartwatch (watch review)

The OPPO watch released in 2020 has outlived many wannabe Android-based smartwatches. Its sheer simplicity, excellent battery life, and very Appleesque Watch styling (it is one of the only squarish OLED) make it still a very useful device.

Yes, a new model is coming soon – the OPPO Watch 2 has been in China since mid-2021 and OPPO Watch Free since September 2021. As they don’t radically depart from the OPPO Watch successful formula, we thought it time to revisit what we feel is still the best Google Wear watch you can get in Australia. Yes, we will report on the new models when or if they get here later, but it is safe to buy V1 as features depend more on Google Wear OS.

Yes, The OPPO Watch is an unashamed Apple knock off – without the walled garden

If you live in the Android world, you are free to use and choose a variety of Apps, music streaming sources, mail clients, browsers, and so much more. Well, Google Wear enables that same freedom in an Apple-like rectangular, OLED, daylight readable screen.

It has all the Google Android phone apps, including

• Gmail, Calendar, Maps, Pay, Phone, Message and Google Assistant
• Streaming is from Spotify, YouTube Music, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Podcast Republic, Metronome and more.
• Health has Fit (health and heart rate), Runtastic, Lifesum, Strava, Pill reminder, Lifesum Food diary, and more.
• Sport includes Hole 19 Golf GPS, Equilab Equestrian Insights, FotMbo football, ViewRange Hiking, and Sports tracking.
• Games: 26 games including Snake, puzzles, flip a coin
• General tools: AccuWeather, Citymapper, Compass, GPS, Calculator, Sound Metre, SOS, Wi-FI manager

And it is a perfect OK Google companion (if the watch has a mic and speaker with OPPO does). Apple deign to let GearOS run on iPhone, but it cripples much functionality – ergo, if you have Apple, it is best to stay in its walled garden.

Having owned Samsung’s excellent round Galaxy Watch4 (and predecessors), rectangular beats a round face every time. It is incredible how much more functional space it gives – albeit that most watch faces are for round watches.

OPPO Watch basic specs OW19W6 (41mm) and OW19W8 (46mm) Wi-Fi version

Website	here
Price	41/46mm $329/409 from Bing Lee
From	OPPO online (41mm or 46mm) – retail stock is scarce
Warranty:	12 months ACL
Country of origin	China
Company	OPPO (Est 2001) is a privately-owned Chinese consumer electronics and mobile communications company headquartered in Dongguan, Guangdong. It is a subsidiary of BBK Electronics Corporation (Est 1995) and OnePlus, Vivo, and Realme (and other brands including VSun, XTC, and IMOO). Its executives and long-term staff own many of the shares.
More	CyberShack OPPO news and reviews

First Impression – huge glass screen

Huge, bright (daylight readable), colourful, rectangular AMOLED screen for maximum real estate. You can read messages (font size is adjustable), and it is not truncated as you see on a round screen. It is tough to with Gorilla/Schott Glass that has resisted scratches very well.

Navigate via swiping up/down, left/right. There are two side buttons – the top is home, and the bottom is a multi-function.

I find the strap difficult. It is a nub/stud/hole style, and it is just not as easy as a clasp. But you will get used to it or buy one of the many available from Alibaba.

It looks so close to an Apple Watch and fits so well on your wrist it can pass for one.

Setup

Too easy. Download Wear OS and accept Google’s privacy terms (Google does not sell your data).

OPPO also asks you to set up an OPPO cloud for backup and accept its privacy terms. As this is only for metadata, you can trust OPPO.

I prefer to use Google Fit (again under Google’s terms), but you can install HeyTap (under its and OPPOs terms. After a while, I deleted the App and stuck to Fit.

Battery

It depends on use and features. With Wi-Fi and BT enabled, it will get 24 hours or more – usually from 8 AM to 10 PM with about 30% left, and GPS reduces that. Charge time is approximately 1.25 hours, with 40% fast charge in 15 minutes.

The only issue is the proprietary magnetic charge base. Buy an extra one if you travel a lot.

Power save mode

I have never needed to use it. Simply put, you reboot into a basic device that uses a different low power processor.

I found that it is easier to simply power down the watch when you don’t need it, and I often get a week or more that way.

IP rating

OPPO quote 3 or 5 ATMs, so you assume it is a diving watch. The fine print explains

OPPO Watch can be worn while swimming in a pool or doing shallow open-water activities but is unsuitable for snorkelling, hot showers, hot springs, saunas, diving, scuba diving, surfing, or other water activities in which the device may come in contact with high-pressure water flow.

I wear it in the pool, at the beach and while working out – its fine for that.

Accuracy

Heart rate is as accurate as the Samsung Watch. Sleep tracking – ditto, but it has an 8 PM to 10 AM time frame. GPS is accurate to within 5 metres.

Health

While it records steps and more in Google Fit, you can select one five OPPO pre-sets

• Fitness run (with or without GPS) and covers goals and stages
• Fat burn run links to the heartbeat for cardio feedback
• Outdoor walk – goals include distance, duration, calories
• Outdoor cycle – ditto but also records speeds
• Swimming – pool length 25/50m, and it records pace and lengths. There is a touch lock to prevent false water touches
• There are also a range of five-minute workouts
• Sleep tracker works between 20:00 and 10:00

Notifications

These often appear on the watch before the phone. You can dictate a message, draw an emoji or pick from suggested responses. There is a mini keyboard that is just ‘usable’.

Google Pay

Excellent but remember to advise your bank to link it to a credit card and the device.

Watch faces

In my original review, I FAILED the selection of watch faces having come from a Samsung round watch. But the more I used it, the more I realised that the standard faces were excellent and all you need.

Speakerphone

I often take calls via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and it is far to say that it is passable. Callers can hear me clearly in quiet areas, but it is hopeless in windy or noisy environments. The speaker is barely loud enough.

Spotify and audio                                                       

It has onboard storage, but you will mainly access playlists and content on the phone. The speaker is not for music. You can SBC pair BT headphones, and the result is surprisingly good volume and a good strong signal.

What it won’t do?

• Falls detection
• ECG

Base specifications OPPO Watch (41/46mm model)

Size/Weight	41.45 x 36.37 x 11.4 x 30.1g or 46 x 39 x 11.35mm x 40g
Screen size	1.6” 360 x 320, 301ppi flat AMOLED or 1.91” 4767 x 402 326ppi curved edge AMOLED – both 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut
Build	41mm Gorilla Glass, 6000-series aluminium frame, plastic back or 46mm Schott Glass, aluminium frame, and ceramic/sapphire crystal back
Colours	41mm – Black, Glossy Gold, Pink Gold, Silver Mist and 46mm Black and Glossy Gold
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 (28 nm) and Adreno 304 GPU
Low power processor	Second chipset for power-saving mode Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Wireless SoC
Battery	300/430mAh battery
Charger	Magnetic charger with USB-A male cable – 5V/1A (41mm) and 5V/1.5A (46mm) -0 $19 each
IP	3/5 ATM water resistance
Ram/Storage	1GB RAM and 8GB eMMC 4.5 storage – holds offline music
Comms	Wi-Fi N, BT 4.2, and A-GPS
OS	Android Wear OS
Band	Fluro-rubber band and proprietary band/case connector
Features	Speaker, Microphone, 3-axis accelerometer, gyro, optical heart rate, e-Compass, barometer, geomagnetic sensor, capacitance sensor, ambient light sensor, NFC.