Few months after releasing a smartwatch, OPPO has stepped into the fitness band industry. With the OPPO Band, the company has decided to give a tough competition for the current market-dominating Honor Band, Mi Band, and Fitbit Inspire.
Despite being new, the OPPO band has a lot to offer and might be better than the audience-loved Mi band 5 in many aspects including the oximeter sensor.
OPPO has released three versions in China and we can expect a global release anytime now.
Related Article: OPPO Band Fashion: Everything You Need To Know
Let’s have an in-depth look at the OPPO band. After reading this you can decide to go for it or not. I have tried to include the smallest of features that the band will feature.
Design
The OPPO band comes in three different variants, OPPO BAND, Oppo Band Fashion, and Oppo band EVA. Each of them has noticeable variations in design and some slight feature differences.
The regular OPPO band has a TPU(Thermoplastic Polyurethane) strap and has a plastic casing to it. This version comes with black and pink color options that you can choose from.
The Fashion and EVA variants come with a floating strap design surrounded by stainless steel. The whole strap is again made up of TPU. The Fashion version comes in Starry Sky Black and Quicksand Gold colors. The EVA is a variant of the Oppo Fashion band whose design is inspired by the anime Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Display
All three variants have similar displays. It has a 1.1” inch AMOLED display with 126 x 294-pixel resolution. The display comes preloaded with 5 watch faces but you can later choose more options from those available in the support app. The support app provides at least 160 watch faces to choose from. A 2.5D curved glass screen protects the display.
The Single Point Touch Screen covers 100% of the DCI P3 color gamut. The brightness is similar to that of Mi Band 5 which is measured at 400 nits. This allows you maximum visibility under broad daylight too.
Sensors
The OPPO bad contains a wide range of sensors to precisely track your activities and even sleep. The g-sensor, heart rate monitor, blood oxygen monitor(SPO2 sensor) are the major sensors inside this device. I will discuss these sensors in detail in the sections below.
Connectivity
The band features Bluetooth 5.0 version. This is the main connection media in the band. The band neither has Wifi, a sim slot nor a USB port.
The Fashion and EVA version features the NFC connectivity supporting ALI-PAY.
Battery
The band features a 100 mAh battery and the company claims that a full charge lasts for around 14 days. This is truly remarkable considering the smaller battery size as compared to Mi Band5.
To charge the band, you must remove the watch head from the strap and connect it to a charging cradle. The cradle can charge the band from 0-100% within 90 minutes. It would have been better if OPPO used the convenient charging method featured in Mi Band 5 which allows you to directly charge your band using magnetic pins.
Compatibility
The band uses the Apollo chip 3 which is the same processor in the Oppo smartwatch. The band is compatible with devices that run Android 6.0 or above and IOS 10.0 or above. You will need a companion app named OPPO Health App which is currently only available in China.
Features
Check out all the amazing features that this fitness band has offered. Some of the features are too good for a band of this low price.
12 Different Sports Modes
Oppo band allows you to keep track of outdoor running, cycling, walking, indoor cycling, indoor running, fat loss running, free training, badminton, swimming, rowing, elliptical machine, and workout. The band measures The band keeps track of distance traveled, steps, average speed, calories burnt, elevation change, and the intensity of your workout. All these factors are important in helping you analyze your workout or recreational activities and implement further plans.
SpO2 sensor
The continuous blood glucose monitoring function is of great significance for the detection of respiratory disorders, cardiovascular, and other diseases. You can measure your blood’s oxygen level for 480 minutes straight and get 28,800.
This sensor has two LEDs with different light wavelengths — one red and one infrared. Blood with higher oxygen content absorbs more infrared light and vice versa. This allows the SPO2 sensor to quickly and non-invasively detect oxygen levels in the blood.
Heart Rate Monitor
The OPPO band provides continuous heart rate tracking and sleep monitoring with analysis and sleep improvement plans. You can also turn on the heart rate monitor during workout sessions. I personally recommend it for sleep monitoring.
All your sleep stats and plans are updated in the companion mobile app.
NFC Payment
In the Fashion and EVA versions, OPPO has featured an NFC payment system. It supports Alipay scan and 270+ city subways and buses are unobstructed in China. I don’t think we will be able to see this feature in the global versions.
App Notification & Alert
When connected to your phone via Bluetooth or the companion app (OPPO health App), the band shows a message and call notifications. Although we cannot make a call or receive it directly through the band, this notifying feature really comes in handy.
You can also choose other apps from your phone using your companion app to get notifications from them.
Find My Phone
Under the tools section, you will notice a “search phone” section. After pressing this option, your phone will start ringing and you will easily locate it. Be sure to connect your band and the phone before using this feature.
This feature can be highly useful for all those clumsy people. You can always easily locate your phone in public places or even in your home when you have misplaced it.
Miscellaneous
Under the tool section, the band allows you to control the music from your phone, set a timer, stopwatch, alarm, and know the weather. The health app allows you to select which features you want to display on the band.
From the settings menu, you can choose different brightness levels. Here you can also increase or decrease the time when the display is on.
Also Read: Xiaomi Mi Band 4C vs. Oppo Band: Which One’s Better?
OPPO Band Specs
| Screen size | 1.1″ inch |
| Resolution | 126 x 294-pixel resolution |
| Memory | 16 MB |
| Water Resistance | 5ATM; 50 M depth |
| Weight | 10.3 gm |
| CPU | Apollo 3 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Battery | 100mAh |
| Full Charge Time | 90 minutes lasts up to 14 days |
| Versions | OPPO BAND, OPPO BAND FASHION, OPPO BAND EVA |
| Compatibility | Android 6.0+ & iOS 10.0+ |
| Features | heart rate, SPO2 monitoring, weather update, app notification & alert, music control, find my phone, 12 sports activities |
Price
The three versions of the band are only launched in China. Amid all the Covid-19 happenings, I don’t think OPPO going to launch it internationally any time soon. Here is the price of the different versions in the Chinese market.
| Version | Price In China |
| OPPO BAND | 199 Yuan ($28) |
| OPPO BAND FASHION | 249 Yuan ($35) |
| OPPO BAND EVA | 299 Yuan ($42) |
Conclusion
All in all, the OPPO band is completely worth trying. The accurate SPO2 sensor and 12 sports tracker are something that every fitness band should provide. If you are a fitness freak and tech enthusiast then the OPPO band won’t disappoint you at all. The fact that all these features come at such a cheap price is truly amazing.
I think I have covered all the important information regarding the OPPO band.
