In this connected world we live in, it becomes quite important to get timely updates – but it isn’t always easy or safe to pull your smartphone out in the open. Especially not with smartphone prices these days.
That’s why the smartwatch has grown over the years to fit people’s needs. We always thought that portable power had to be expensive. I still remember bulky no-name smartwatches with keyboards back in the day. You could make calls on them, but they were never really practical. Then in the mid-2010s, we finally got relatively compact designs, but their battery life would only span a day or two at most. The technology at the time just wasn’t efficient enough to keep them going for longer, so they’d eventually fall back into the average person’s closet and never be seen again. It didn’t help that screen and processor tech wasn’t where it is today.
Thankfully, portable technology has progressed tremendously. Smartwatches have finally transcended fashion and novelty to ingrain itself into people’s lifestyles. I, among many others, have chosen to daily drive a smartwatch and reserve the more sophisticated timepieces for weekends or events. While smartwatches won’t ever be investment pieces, the value of having the “right” one makes your life so much easier.
So does the OPPO Watch S deserve time on your wrist?
Design and Construction
The OPPO Watch S we have here features a simple, rounded, “Phantom Black” design. It’s definitely targeted towards the minimalists out there. The bezels don’t feel intrusive at all, discreetly resting on its stainless steel frame. A side-note though: there are two other colors: “Silver Gleam” and “Air Silver,” which come with colorful straps as well. On those versions of the watch, some may be more prominent due to the color.
On the upper right side is a textured crown. It’s easy to toggle and help the Watch S look more like a regular watch than a digital one. As expected, you can spin or press it.
The only other interactive texture is a “button” on the lower right. Funnily enough, I spent a few minutes trying to press it – “if button, why no go down?” After some ooga-boogaing, I realized that it’s an electrode sensor for the watch’s health functions.
Overall, it’s a subdued design that emanates a balance of practicality and quiet elegance.
The OPPO Watch S is also comfortable on the wrist. It’s only 8.9mm thin, preventing it from feeling blocky. I have a very pronounced bone in that area that some watches hit, leading to annoying pains with movement – but I never felt that with the Watch S. It also hides its weight well and can be used as a wearable around-the-clock.
Considering the do-everything nature of the OPPO Watch S, I’m happy to report that it has a 5-ATM water resistance rating and IP68 water/dust resistance. This is both for work and play, such as the sports/workout modes I’ll get into later.
Display
What’s the point of a smartwatch if you can only use it in ideal conditions?
I like to travel and did a lot of sports (before a recent injury). A lot of my activities are outdoors in direct sunlight. Thankfully, the OPPO Watch S’ display can reach up to 3,000 nits of brightness. I never struggled to check the watch face even when I was out and about during midday. Sure, the watch won’t sustain that high nit count the whole time you’re using it, but it worked out perfectly fine for my (and most people’s) use cases.
Content is sharp on the 1.46-inch display with 464×464 resolution. There’s no pixel-pinching here. To add to that, the onscreen tones are what we’d come to expect from a premium AMOLED panel: deep blacks and colors that just pop out at you.
OS, Apps, and UI
The OPPO Watch S runs on the company’s own watch operating system, ColorOS. The hardware found in the smartwatch ensures that sifting through the watch’s various menus and modes is a lag-free experience.
It does all the things you’d expect from a modern-day smartwatch without breaking a sweat. You can even choose from a library of watch faces. I swear, you won’t be left lacking for choice here. As expected, there are free options, but there are paid ones as well. Standard smartwatch fare.
Other interesting (but not groundbreaking) features include camera/music control, calls, messaging, and a feature where you can swipe down on the watch to go to the next Instagram Reel / TikTok on your phone. It’s a doomscroll enabler.
Now let’s get into the meat and potatoes: health and fitness tracking. The OPPO Watch S comes fully stacked with health sensors, ranging from an 8-channel heart rate sensor, 16-channel blood oxygen sensor, wrist temperature sensor, and even ECG support in certain regions. It can track stuff like heart rate, sleep, stress levels, and others. You can even share the data with your primary care physician.
Its aforementioned water resistance also means the tracking can continue even while you’re swimming. There are 100+ workout modes to cater to almost every sport in existence. Dual-band GPS is also present to give reliable readings of kilometes ran or biking distances. There’s even running posture analysis too (but I couldn’t test this as I can’t run right now).
Admittedly, while the sports tracking will be perfectly satisfactory for casual athletes, it still won’t replace a dedicated training device.
Connectivity and Battery Life
All the information can be relayed to your very own smartphone via Bluetooth 5.2 technology. NFC is also present, but features employing it might be more scarce.
Even if this is an OPPO, the Watch S will connect to any Android or iOS device. A fun fact: the Watch S also has dual-phone pairing so you can receive notifications from two phones on the same watch. So both your work and personal notifications (if you’re the type to have one phone for each), can be configured to pop up (or not to, after work hours!)
It’s fun watching all your vital health metrics displayed on your device like a biological control panel. You can see the drastic differences in your resting and active statistics, making sure that you don’t reach dangerous levels while playing your sports of choice.
The device will keep trudging along for 10 days max, 7 days typical. At least that’s what OPPO advertises, but we saw a more realistic battery life of around 5-6 days. This is with real-life scenarios: certain stints pushing it to max brightness, using high-power watch faces, and not turning off Bluetooth or other connectivity options.
When it runs out of juice, a quick 10-minute charge can give you another day of life.
Final Thoughts
The OPPO Watch S is a great smartwatch for those who want tons of functionality without breaking the bank. Its comfort when worn, adequate battery life, superb display, and sufficient processing power overall lead to a pleasant day-to-day experience.
It might not be the best in any field per se, but it’s a well-rounded jack-of-all-trades I’d recommend to anyone looking for a daily smartwatch.
The OPPO Watch S is currently listed on the site for a price of PHP 8,999. You can check it out here.