Qualcomm announced its latest Wear OS chipsets in July this year: the W5 Gen 1 and W5+ Gen 1. Both SoCs are a massive upgrade over their predecessor and give Wear OS a fighting chance against the Apple Watch for the first time in years. Oppo was quick to confirm that it would be the first to launch a W5 Gen 1 smartwatch on the market, with a leak indicating the wearable would have an Apple Watch-y design. The Chinese smartphone maker has officially taken the wraps off the Oppo Watch 3 in China, with a claimed battery life of up to four days.
Oppo’s 2022 smartwatch lineup consists of two models: the Watch 3 and the Watch 3 Pro (via GSMArena). Both wearables feature a 5ATM-certified aluminum chassis with easily replaceable bands. Qualcomm’s W5 Gen 1 chip is ticking inside them. Unlike the W5+ Gen 1, the non-plus model lacks a low-power coprocessor, which is handled by Oppo’s Apollo 4 Plus chip.
While the best Android smartwatches feature a circular display, the Oppo Watch 3 takes design inspiration from the Apple Watch. It has a rectangular chassis housing a 1.75-inch AMOLED panel with 3D glass on top and a rotating crown on the right. Other specs include 1GB RAM, a 400mAh battery, 32GB storage, Bluetooth 5.0, eSIM support, NFC, and 100+ workout tracking modes. A 400mAh battery powers the watch, which can seemingly last up to four days. This can be extended to ten days when the watch is used in light mode. A full charge takes around 60 minutes, while a 10-minute top-up will allow the wearable to last for a day.
The Oppo Watch 3 Pro lives up to its ‘Pro’ moniker with a bigger 1.91-inch AMOLED LTPO display—a first for a wearable. The superior display tech also allows the watch to support Always-on Display. It packs a massive 550mAh battery for a claimed battery life of up to five days. With LTE, the battery life drops to four days, while in light mode, the smartwatch can last up to 15 days. Despite the larger battery, the company says topping up the cell takes just over an hour.
Both smartwatches house an array of sensors, including an accelerometer, gyroscope, optical heart rate monitor, SpO2, ECG, barometric, and ambient light sensor. They are already up for preorder in China and will go on sale starting August 19. Prices for the Oppo Watch 3 start at CNY 1,499 (~$220), with the Pro model carrying a CNY 1,899 (~$275) price tag.
In China, the Oppo Watch 3 lineup runs on proprietary software. If it makes its way to other international markets, it should run Wear OS 3, which could lead to its battery life taking a hit.
