TL;DR
- OPPO is getting ready to launch its Watch X2 in February.
- A company executive just teased blood pressure monitoring for the Watch X2.
- While OnePlus watches have so far not offered the feature, a Watch 3 based on this OPPO model could finally change that.
A good smartwatch tracks all kinds of fitness data, from basics like counting your steps, to measuring heart rate and even blood oxygen saturation. And when we’re out shopping for a new one, being one of the first watches on the block with some new sensor tech, capable of recording personal data that other watches can’t, is a major selling point. Today we’re learning about what could be one of the next members to join the still-very-exclusive club of smartwatches that can measure blood pressure, as we get a little teaser about the OPPO Watch X2.
Right now, accurately measuring blood pressure with a device the size of a smartwatch is still a pretty tough nut to crack, and just getting any reading at all can require the use of multiple sensors all working in concert. Some try a miniaturized version of the more traditional approach, like the HUAWEI WATCH D2 and its inflating band. Then there are companies like Samsung that use simpler sensor hardware, but require you to regularly recalibrate with an external blood pressure cuff. Even the next-generation Apple Watch could arrive with blood pressure support.
This week, OPPO Product Manager Zhou Yibao shared an anecdote on Chinese social site Weibo about getting an alert on the OPPO Watch X2 concerning his blood pressure. Running the image he provides through Google Translate, we can see that the wearable has been monitoring his blood pressure trends over the course of a couple weeks, and now flags a “suspected risk” alert for a late-afternoon BP spike:
If you’re wondering why it’s remotely worth getting excited about a new OPPO smartwatch, especially if you’re not in a market primarily served by the brand, remember that this is almost certainly going to be adopted as a future OnePlus smartwatch — presumably the OnePlus Watch 3. The OnePlus Watch 2 arrived without blood pressure monitoring, so this could be potentially be how we see the company pick the feature up.
Of course, when the OPPO Watch X2 makes its proper debut (and the OnePlus Watch 3 after it), we won’t have that goofy plastic case obscuring basically the entirety of the watch’s design — at least that leaves us with plenty to look forward to. And while we’ve similarly got questions about just how accurate this blood pressure system will be, and how onerous it might prove to keep calibrated, this is absolutely the kind of wearable progress we love seeing.
OPPO will formally launch the Watch X2 in February.
