What you need to know
- Oppo Watch will be announced on March 6.
- It looks very, very familiar.
- There's no Digital Crown, at least.
Android phone maker Oppo has teased the upcoming announcement of its new wearable, called Oppo Watch. And as that name might suggest, it appears to borrow heavily from a popular wearable. The market leader, in fact. Arguably the only smartwatch anyone is buying. What is it they say about imitation and flattery?
In case it isn't obvious enough yet, I'm talking about Apple Watch.
It's time to say hello to #OPPOWatch. 👀
Unveiled at the #OPPOFindX2 Launch Event March 6, 10.30am CET. ⏰ pic.twitter.com/IwbOJnHoygIt's time to say hello to #OPPOWatch. 👀
Unveiled at the #OPPOFindX2 Launch Event March 6, 10.30am CET. ⏰ pic.twitter.com/IwbOJnHoyg— OPPO (@oppo) March 2, 2020March 2, 2020
The new wearable is set to be announced alongside the Oppo Find X2 which is an Android phone that our friends at Android Central know much more about. But it's that watch that caught my attention for obvious reasons.
Taking a closer look at Oppo Watch it's clear that there have been some design cues taken from Apple Watch. The curved display and what appears to be a very similar finish to the body of the watch are familiar. The Sport-Band-type affair is slightly different in the way it fastens when compared with Apple's offering, but it's still eerily similar. But there's no Digital Crown – instead, we have two side buttons as noted by The Verge.
Oppo executive Brian Shen showed off another look at the display along with a watch face that looks nice and clean. But again, it screams Apple Watch.
Here's another look at the forthcoming OPPO Watch. 👀 The curved screen and 3D glass will be a game changer. 🤓 pic.twitter.com/ozbl9BXNZqHere's another look at the forthcoming OPPO Watch. 👀 The curved screen and 3D glass will be a game changer. 🤓 pic.twitter.com/ozbl9BXNZq— Brian Shen (@BrianShenYiRen) February 17, 2020February 17, 2020
Borrowing heavily from Apple's designs isn't anything new in the Android world and Samsung and Huawei are already masters at doing that. But this appears to be the closest thing yet to an Apple Watch in the Android world. And as much as I wish companies would go their own way, I'm intrigued to see how this thing turns out when we get to see it for real. All eyes on Android Central for that come March 6, then!
Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.
Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.
