OPPO Watch FCC sighting hints at US launch

By JC Torres/

OPPO made a big splash with its first smartwatch but not all for the right reasons. The OPPO Watch's rich set of features may have been overshadowed by discussions around its uncanny resemblance to the Apple Watch. That might not have been relevant for markets where Apple's products are eclipsed by its Chinese rivals but it will be a different matter entirely when, not if, the OPPO Watch becomes available in global markets, including and especially the US where the Apple Watch's design is pretty much an icon.

Although Apple can't claim a monopoly on square watch designs, things can get a bit murky when or if Apple patented the specific design of the Apple Watch. Fortunately for OPPO, its smartwatch significantly differs from the Apple Watch by lacking a Digital Crown. That one Apple has surely guarded with patents.

Beyond appearances, the OPPO Watch sounds decent enough for a modern smartwatch. At least if you ignore the fact that it runs on a new very old Snapdragon Wear 2500 chipset (the latest is a 3100). It has pretty much the basics of what you'd expect from a smartwatch, plus a somewhat unusual custom Android-based ColorOS Watch platform.

OPPO hinted that the OPPO Watch would launch globally but it never did give any timeline for that. Now the smartwatch has dropped by the FCC, suggesting the US market won't be deprived of this wearable option. Whether it will be available in both sizes or only the 46mm show in the photos below is also still unknown.

The OPPO Watch launched in China last March to the equivalent of $215. The FCC filing points to Amazon as the place to buy this smartwatch when it does become available. The device eSIM but it also remains to be seen if that standalone connectivity feature will be supported in the US as well.

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