Oppo Watch Free packs a familiar design
Oppo Watch Free is official as of today. It comes packing a design that is a first for Oppo, but one that we’ve seen before.
The company had two variants of Oppo Watch up to now. The original was launched in Asia in the Spring of 2020 it made its global debut that summer. Internationally the Apple Watch lookalike runs WearOS.
Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets
As far as specs, Oppo Watch comes in two size options: a 41mm one with a 1.6 inch AMOLED dual-curved display and a 46mm one with a 1.9 inch screen. Below the surface are a plethora of sensors including an accelerometer, heart rate and built-in GPS. This is coupled with an optional eSIM LTE variant that plays nice with Vodafone/Orange/Celcom. There was also an ECG edition that followed.
All things considered this is a decent timepiece that packs quite a bit of tech in its slim body. The device has received a good reception as indicated by the reviews so far. You can check out the price and availability in your region on Amazon.
In July 2021 Oppo released the second generation of the watch. That one, however, is only currently available in Asia. It comes packing the Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip along with a dual operating system and double the RAM of the original. The sizes are slightly different and the timepiece has the addition of an SpO2 sensor.
Oppo Watch Free – technical specs
Now we have something very different. The latest Oppo watch packs a design that reminds very much of Realme Band 2, Huawei Band 6, Huawei Watch Fit, Honor Watch ES and Honor Band 6. All of these were released over the past year or so.
The main change is the AMOLED display which is now much larger and elongated. It measures 1.64 inches and is protected by 2.5D glass (280 x 456 resolution, DCI-P3 color gamut, and a 326 PPI pixel density). This delivers a wide viewing experience.
The display is housed in a polycarbonate and fiber frame. The underside is made of nylon plastic (PA) and fiber, and there’s a breathable silicone band with a leather texture attached to the whole thing. Unlike its predecessors, Oppo Watch Free has only one size option which is very lightweight (33 grams).
The device is not as feature packed as its predecessors. Under the hood you’ll find a six-axis motion sensor, optical heart rate sensor, optical blood oxygen sensor and ambient light sensor. No GPS but you can tap into your smartphone for those types of readings. As far as sports, Oppo Watch Free keeps tabs on 100 different activities including a novel eSports mode. Only four of these are with auto-tracking: running, walking, rowing (machine), and ellipticals.
Some functionality worth mentioning is notification for abnormally high and low heart rate. Interestingly, the device also has snoring detection courtesy of a built-in microphone as part of its detailed sleep tracking that also includes heart rate variability monitoring.
To help you fall asleep faster Oppo Watch Free has the ability to monitor your pre-bedtime mobile phone usage and generate reports. It can even link up to the mobile phone and put it into sleep mode so that you are not disturbed. At the same time, it makes the interface of the mobile phone gray.
Smart features include music playback control, support for Xiaobu voice assistant and offline voice commands, along with WeChat and Alipay contactless paymenst. The wearable also comes in an NFC iteration that allows you to store multi-city bus cards, subway travel, access control unlocking and more.
The all-important battery life is around two weeks between charges. OPPO says a 5 minute quick top-up is enough to keep the watch going for a full day.
The OPPO Watch Free is available in a choice between Quicksand Gold and Silent Night Black colors. The watch can be purchased in China from September 30th for ¥549 ( around $85). The NFC variant runs ¥50 (around $8) extra.
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