The OPPO Watch is a beautiful Apple Watch clone, and it's launching globally

OPPO unveiled its flagship smartwatch last March, but it was only released in China and ran a proprietary operating system. Now, the OPPO Watch is launching globally, and it’s very different from the China-only version.

For starters, the OPPO Watch is running Wear OS, Google’s smartwatch operating system. That means it has access to thousands of apps, watch faces, and comes with direct access to Google Fit.

OPPO is releasing two OPPO Watch models for global markets (notably the UK and India): a 46mm LTE-capable version and a 41mm Wi-Fi-only version. The 41mm version’s rear surface is made only of plastic, while the 46mm models also feature ceramic. The smaller version also has a 3ATM water resistance rating, while the larger model gets a 5ATM rating.

I don’t want to harp on this too much anymore (mostly because I’ve already done so), but despite the OPPO Watch being a downright beautiful piece of hardware, I think a lot of people will be turned away from its Apple Watch-copying design. These watches are nearly identical, although the OPPO Watch doesn’t have the nice rotatable crown like Apple’s watch does.

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There are other spec differences between the two sizes. The 41mm version comes with a smaller 1.6-inch AMOLED display with a lower 320 x 360 resolution. The bigger version has a 1.9-inch screen and a higher 402 x 476 resolution. Both have curved displays on the left and right sides. We usually don’t like waterfall displays on smartphones, but we don’t think it will cause any usability issues on a smartwatch.

OPPO was also able to fit a larger battery into the 46mm variant — this version has a 430mAh battery, which OPPO claims will last 30 hours with normal use or 21 days in power saving mode. The smaller OPPO Watch has a 300mAh cell, which will last 24 hours with normal use or 14 days in power saving mode.

Performance should be pretty good, no matter which version you buy. The OPPO Watch is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset, though it doesn’t have the newest 4100 chip. That should be just fine — we’ve used the 3100 Qualcomm chip on most 2019 smartwatches and haven’t found any major performance issues. It’s also backed by 1GB of RAM, which should be more than enough to handle Wear OS.

OPPO included another chip on the OPPO Watch to help with battery life. In smartwatch mode, the OPPO Watch uses the Snapdragon chip. For less processor-intensive tasks, the watch switches to the power-saving Apollo 3 chipset, which OPPO claims will result in a better balance between high performance and energy efficiency.

And finally, fitness. The OPPO Watch comes with built-in GPS + GLONASS and an always-on optical heart rate sensor. It can track a variety of activities with Google Fit, and OPPO included five workout modes with voice coaching: fitness run, fat burn run, outdoor walk, outdoor cycling, and swimming.

OPPO Watch specs

OPPO Watch pricing and availability

The Wear OS-powered OPPO Watch is being released in select markets starting today, July 31. It goes on sale in India starting August 10 priced at Rs. 14,990 (~$200) and Rs. 19,990 (~$269) for the 41mm and 46mm versions, respectively. Meanwhile, smartwatch fans in the UK can pick up the 46mm version for £369 (~$484) from October or the 41mm from September 3 for £229 (~$300).

As for colors, the 41mm model comes in Black or Glossy Gold and the 46mm version is available in Black, Silver, or Rose Gold.

There’s no word on whether or not it’ll be sold directly in the US. Regardless, importing one shouldn’t be too difficult, and the LTE bands will likely work with US carriers.

The OPPO Watch looks good overall, but there are some obvious things that might turn people away — the Apple design cues, the lack of a rotatable dial, and the missing Snapdragon 4100 SoC are the big offenders. We’ll get one in for review soon, though, so stay tuned for more OPPO Watch coverage in the next couple weeks.