OPPO is in its fourth year of operation in South Africa, and in that time has released a number of smartphones, including a foldable.

On the mobile device front it has been able to carve a nice place for itself locally within the premium mid-range space, but one area it is still playing catch up in terms of the number of available options is wearables.

That is still the case today, but now the Chinese brand has a fully fledged smartwatch in the market in the form of the OPPO Watch X. With the likes of Huawei and Samsung already several iterations deep, can the OPPO Watch X make an impact?

We spent the past few weeks reviewing the latest smartwatch to find out if it just another smartwatch or one to keep on your radar.

Here’s what we learned.

Subtle and stylish

If you have ever read one of our reviews before, you know we start with design, and on this front we find the Watch X really striking.

The watch face is split in two for all intents and purposes, with the left half a simple round design we spot on most smartwatches these days, while the right half has some interesting angular and curved elements that jut out and house the two navigation buttons of the device.

It is a design that may seem simple from afar, but the closer you get, the more it warrants further inspection. In fact, we’d go as far as to say there are some chronograph-esque qualities for it.

While there certainly are fancier smartwatches out there, this one from OPPO is one of the nicest looking we’ve reviewed in some time.

Looking at the rest of the watch, it has a nice brushed finish to the stainless steel body, and the Tan Brown coloured rubber watch strap is a nice departure from the usual Black ones, although there is such an option available along with a Darker Grey body.

As for the button layout, the pill-shaped one of the two is used for quickly launching into your workout modes, of which there are hundreds to choose from. There is also a dedicated badminton one, but as we did not have a shuttlecock on hand, we could not test it out. The usual running, biking, weightlifting, and swimming are all catered for, however.

The other circular button is for launching the app field, which has a serious Apple Watch look to the UI, although the button does not double as a Digital Crown for adjusting the content on screen, despite being able to turn for some reason. It feels like a missed opportunity to add some interesting interactive elements to Wear OS.

The rest of the OPPO Watch X is par for the course and while we’re initially excited by the design of the smartwatch, there isn’t much else to keep that feeling going.

Gotta love fast charging

We head on to performance, and once again, OPPO has not missed a trick in giving the Watch X all the sensors, connectivity, and components it needs.

In fact, you can scroll through all the key specifications in the table below.

In terms of fitness metrics and heart rate monitoring accuracy, the Watch X is spot on, but the same can be said of many of the offerings in this price bracket.

Where the Watch X stands out is on its fast charging, or VOOC Flash as OPPO terms it. In general, the Watch X was able to muster a little over four days of use, including sleep and stress tracking, before it needed to be charged. This is slightly more than average that Android OEMs’ smartwatches will muster, but even if it cannot get near to what Huawei can deliver, the VOOC Flash is a genuine leveller of the playing field.

10 minutes of charging will give you enough power for a full day, which comes in very handy when battery is low and time to actually charge is too. On top of this, after 60 minutes of charging, the Watch X is back at 100 percent.

This is easily the distinguishing feature of this smartwatch, and certainly the tangible way it was separated itself from the competition.

It’s not all great news, however, as there is one software aspect we need to point out. The first is that it does not work with any iOS device as the OHealth app does not want to play with Apple, which is something even the US-sanctioned Huawei supports. We tried to circumvent this with the Wear OS app only, and still, no dice.

Sure, an Apple fan will likely be going for one of Cupertino’s smartwatch over one from a Chinese brand, but not having support seems truly odd in our books, especially as other Android OEMs do.

Perhaps this is Google getting back at Apple for not supporting Android on the Apple Watch, but if it’s going to do so, do so on the Pixel Watch, not this OPPO one.

The rest of the software experience is great, and on the Watch X, it is supported by solid performing hardware that reacts quickly and never feels sluggish. If you are deep into the Google ecosystem, this smartwatch is great, but if you’re wanting a little leeway, it’s less so.

Final verdict

At R5 999 the OPPO Watch X is a more than solid first foray into smartwatches locally, and in some areas, the new device outperforms several competitors.

The battery life in combination with fast charging in itself is a noteworthy feature, and already places it near the top of options in a similar price bracket. We’re also big fans of the design, craftsmanship, and general performance of this smartwatch.

The lack of support for iOS is a mark against it though, and while it may seem like a niche aspect, it baffles us as to why it simply cannot support all operating systems.

If you own a premium Android smartphone, however, and are looking for a smartwatch to match, the OPPO watch X is well worth considering.

FINAL SCORE: 8.5 OUT OF 10.