The Apple Watch 5 is a high quality smartwatch, but it’s a quality you really have to fork out the cash for. Getting the same kind of features on a cheaper device would be pretty much the ideal situation, and this seems to be exactly what Oppo is doing.
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A leak from Chinese social network Weibo posted by GSMArena told us that the Oppo Watch, which already looks quite similar to the Apple Watch, is borrowing some of its best features too. This was then confirmed by the launch event Oppo held today, during which it unveiled the Watch, which also happens to be its first smartwatch (via GSMArena).
Among the key features is the in-built ECG sensor. This is something the Apple has been using since the Apple Watch 4, but now here it is on a much cheaper watch, bringing its increased reliability at monitoring your heart rate with it. With the ECG to keep an eye on your cardiovascular health, sleep tracking, and VOOC fast-charging tech that promises a 50% charge in 17 minutes, the Oppo Watch mounts a serious challenge to the Apple Watch.
It’s already been noted how similar the two smartwatches look. Other than the Apple Watch having a crown and the Oppo Watch using two buttons instead, you could easily mistake one for the other physically. The software is quite different though, as Oppo is using Google’s Wear OS combined with its own Color OS to run its Watch, while Apple has its proprietary Watch OS with its many associated features.
There are some other hardware differences if you look closer. The Oppo Watch uses a curved OLED display, either a 1.6-inch (41mm) or 1.9-inch (46mm) model, with a black or copper housing and a choice of different colored straps
The Oppo Watch will go on sale in China on March 24, although international availability isn’t confirmed at this point in time, and for some bizarre reason it didn't appear at the launch event for Oppo's Find X2 smartphone as was thought to be the plan. The larger watch will cost 1,999 yuan ($288/£221 converted) while the smaller version will cost 1,499 yuan ($216/£166 converted). For comparison, the cheapest Apple Watch 5 goes for $399/£399, while the Series 3, which lacks a few features including the ECG reader, costs $199/£199.
