conforms, but does not stand out enough

Few of the smartphone brands are fighting to be on the global podium as the most relevant, the best selling or the most impactful. All of them compete in the mobile telephony market, but they have an ecosystem, more or less vast, which includes, without exception, wearables, whether smartwatches or bracelets.

OPPO is no exception and, while it is true that it does not have a large catalog of these products, it has two clear proposals. One is the OPPO watch, a smart watch that uses Wear OS. The other is the OPPO band, a much cheaper proposition.

This bracelet arrived in Europe at the end of last month and we were able to test it for a week.

• Screen:
  • Size: 1.1 inch.
  • Resolution: 126 x 294 pixels.
  • Technology: AMOLED
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0.
• Drums: 100 mAh.
• Sensors: accelerometer, cardiac sensor, monitoring the level of oxygen in the blood …
• Lester: 10.3 grams.
• sports:
  • Outdoor race.
  • Indoor career.
  • Outdoor cycling.
  • Indoor cycling.
  • Walk in the open air.
  • Race to lose fat.
  • Badminton.
  • Swimming.
  • Locust
  • Rower.
  • Elliptical machine.
  • Yoga.
• Waterproof: 50 ATM.

A slightly different design

One of the aspects in which this bracelet stands out, a bit, from the rest of the models of other brands, is in the design.

The OPPO bracelet uses a silicone bracelet anchored to a very light metal structure, where the technological core is integrated.

This decision makes the bracelet a bit more elegant than the one that comes by default in other bracelets such as the Xiaomi Mi Band. There are alternative bracelets, although they are similar to the silicone bracelets of other bracelets, so it is appreciated that the one that comes into the house is slightly different.

Of course, we’re paying (literally) a price for it, and the cost goes up enough to look better at the Sport version.

Continuous measurement of pulses and SO2

One of the novelties of this bracelet is that it incorporates a continuous measurement of the oxygen saturation in the blood, so we do not have to measure it punctually if we do not want to.

It’s something similar to what is done with the heart pulse, and it’s useful because it allows you to see variations over time. This is possible thanks to a dedicated sensor which is placed in parallel with the heart rate measurement.

The configuration of the bracelet, from personalization to consulting the data collected, is done with the Hey Tap Health application, a compliant application but whose aesthetics are somewhat outdated.

Version:

Author:

Requires

You can change the cover by sliding it from right to left, simply without pressing anything else. It’s odd, but sometimes we’ve accidentally switched between one that looked particularly good and one that didn’t.

One thing that we liked a lot is that when we have the bracelet connected to the mobile and we start to play music, In it, the control interface appears in the foreground, without having to look for it in the options. Hope this shows in other portable devices.

A compliant screen, but with better brightness

OPPO has always used high quality panels in its products and in the OPPO band we have an OLED panel with good resolution, although the interface does not always benefit.

Of course, the default brightness is somewhat low and while we could change it, since we don’t have a light sensor, using it outdoors has been somewhat uncomfortable at times.

A very decent battery

According to the manufacturer, the OPPO Band has an autonomy of 14 days. Our tests show a little less, on the 10-12 days

The only downside here is that the charging cable is very short and looks like it’s meant to be charged on a computer rather than a USB socket.

The OPPO group works well, but does not stand out

The biggest problem with the OPPO Bando isn’t that it doesn’t perform well or is expensive. It is because it does not stand out from the rest of the proposals of other firms. And that, in a market as competitive as this, is dangerous.

• OPPO Band in the official store of the manufacturer: