OPPO Watch 2 hands-on: Subtle changes in appearance, dual system as the highlight

      Last year, OPPO launched its first smartwatch product. At that time, among a number of domestic smartwatch products, it was one of the few products that could be described as "exquisite".

　　16 months later, OPPO Watch 2 is here. The external changes are not big, but the internal changes are significant.

　　Appearance: Overall consistent with the previous generation

　　The appearance is not significantly different from the previous generation, so it is less amazing for those who have used the previous generation. It still uses OPPO's iconic 3D screen design, which is officially called 3D hyperbolic borderless screen. The advantage is that it can achieve a wider field of view in the same area, and a visual experience that is almost borderless on the left and right.

OPPO Watch 2

　　It’s just that the lower border is a little wider than the upper one, which can be seen when the dial is not black, and it feels a little uncomfortable.

　　The strap buckle has changed, and it is no longer so fruity. In addition, it is particularly emphasized that although the interface looks similar, the straps of the two watches are not universal. OPPO's structural engineers squeezed out space in the gap between the buckle connector and increased the battery life of OPPO Watch 2 by 20%. From this point of view, I personally think that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages (after all, OPPO's straps are not as expensive as Apple's, right...)

OPPO Watch 2 Straps

　　There are three versions of the OPPO Watch 2 series, namely OPPO Watch 2 46mm, which supports eSIM, which is the review unit we have; OPPO Watch 2 42mm and OPPO Watch 2 42mm Bluetooth version.

Ours is the 46mm version

　　The overall appearance is very similar to the previous generation, with more internal upgrades. The configuration is upgraded to Qualcomm 4100 chip + Apollo 4s. The former is the flagship chip in the field of smart watches; the latter is a representative solution for non-smart watches. OPPO said it was jointly developed with Ambiq (the manufacturer of Apollo).

The watch faces of the full smart mode and light smart mode are very similar

There is actually not much difference in the light smart mode

　　In this regard, the idea of ​​OPPO Watch 2 is consistent with the previous generation, and it completely inherits the "Dual Engine Hybrid" of the previous generation. But the difference is that the experience of this product has been qualitatively improved compared with the previous generation.

　　The dual-engine hybrid is the biggest highlight

　　OPPO is not the only company that wants to put two chips or two systems into a watch, of course, for the sake of battery life. This is the biggest pain point for smart watches.

　　This is also what users who have transitioned from traditional watches to smart watches care about the most. At present, without a breakthrough in battery technology, the actual "fully smart" watches basically have a battery life of about 1-2 days; Huawei was the first to figure this out and made the watchGT. This type of product is not strictly speaking a smart watch, but just a bracelet with a larger screen, but it is very popular. Because the battery life is very long, more than 10 days is basically no problem. In addition, because smart watches do not actually have many third-party apps like mobile phones, users buy them and the battery life is 1 day, and they basically use functions such as fitness and notifications.

　　As for OPPO, it actually thought of a different solution from the beginning, which required both battery life and full intelligence, so it came up with a dual-chip dual system. The first generation is called "dual mode" and the second generation is called "UDDE Dual Engine Hybrid".

The two modes can be switched by the side button, and the switching speed is faster than expected

　　The name hybrid reflects a similar idea to that in the automotive industry.

　　There is no need to say too much about Qualcomm 4100. Some smart watches have already used it. In fact, the low power consumption of the dual-engine hybrid is the characteristic of OPPO watches. It is officially called "light smart mode", not the energy-saving mode like Apple Watch that can only tell time.

　　“The light smart mode doesn’t look much different from the full-power mode, with watch faces, sports functions, messages, and even health monitoring functions, and it also supports a battery life of up to 16 days.

　　In other words, this watch, in light smart mode, is basically the same idea as Xiaomi color or Huawei watchGT, but the menu is smoother and the interface is the same as the full smart mode. The difference is that as long as you want, it can switch back to the specifications similar to the full smart mode such as AW, and the functions are more complete.

　　At present, in addition to AW, many similar smart watches have similar dual-interface concepts, but none of them do it as well as OPPO. This is very rare.

Charging is done by contact, but only in this way can the watch version of "flash charging" be realized

　　In terms of charging, OPPO Watch 2 also inherits the fast charging tradition of the green factory. Although it is still contact charging instead of wireless charging, it is precisely because of this that it can achieve fast charging. The specific data is: OPPO Watch 2 46mm (eSIM) fast charging is about 10 minutes, enough for 24 hours; OPPO Watch 2 (42mm), fast charging is 15 minutes, enough for 24 hours.

　　Their charging current is about 5V/1.5A and 1A, and it takes 60 minutes to fully charge. This data is improved compared to the 75 minutes of the first generation OPPO Watch.

　　Watch and mobile phone cooperation

　　In terms of intelligence, OPPO officially claims that it is compatible with more than 50 apps, but this is not the point. We think what is more important is the linkage between the watch and the phone, and the reasonable division of labor.