What you need to know:
- OPPO Watch 3 is now official in China.
- The smartwatch is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5 platform.
- OPPO is introducing two variants: a standard model and a Pro version for the first time.
OPPO isn't known for its wearables, but the Chinese manufacturer has started paying attention to this category in the last two years. The first-gen OPPO Watch was a standout offering, and it was one of the best budget Wear OS smartwatches available.
For 2022, OPPO is introducing the Watch 3 series. There are two models, the Watch 3 and the Watch 3 Pro. Both smartwatches have a premium design and are made out of aluminum, and are sold with either fluororubber or leather bands.
The standard Watch 3 has a 1.75-inch AMOLED screen with a 3D glass layer, and the rectangular design looks rather striking. It has a 400mAh battery and is touted to last up to four days with daily use — if the real-world numbers are anywhere close to that figure, it will be among the best Android smartwatches by default. The Galaxy Watch 4 doesn't last more than two days with medium use, so this is a notable achievement.
The reason for this is down to the fact that both models are powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon W5 platform. OPPO initially stated that they were powered by the Snapdragon Wear 5100, but has clarified that it is the W5. The 4nm design is designed to deliver 2x better efficiency for the same workloads, and that ties in with the stellar battery figures quoted by OPPO.
As for the Watch 3 Pro, it has a large 1.91-inch AMOLED screen, and interestingly, it gets LTPO tech, allowing the smartwatch to dynamically change the refresh. It also has a 3D curved glass layer, and a 500mAh battery with a touted five-day battery life. Both smartwatches get fast charging — this is OPPO after all — with a 10-minute charge delivering usage of up to 24 hours, and a full charge taking 60 minutes.
Both models have the same suite of sensors, including a heart rate sensor, pulse oximeter, and in a first for the manufacturer, ECG. You also get eSIM connectivity, built-in GPS, and both devices come with 5ATM water resistance as standard. On the storage side, there's 32GB of internal storage, and 1GB of RAM on both smartwatches.
Because the launch is limited to China at the moment, the OPPO Watch 3 comes with ColorOS Watch 5.0. There's no telling if the smartwatches will run Wear OS when they launch globally, or if they'll even make their way outside China. OPPO has confirmed that there isn't a plan to launch these smartwatches globally for now, so like last year's model, they're limited to the Chinese market. I'll share further details should that change.
