Apple's iMessage Should Improve Texting to Android and Other Phones

Apple's iMessage Should Improve Texting to Android and Other Phones

Apple's iMessage is getting a major overhaul later this year with iOS 16, but most of these new features, like unsending a message or editing a text, will only work if the person you are texting also has an iPhone. 

Since Apple has full control over its messaging platform, iPhone owners get a consistent experience that works well regardless of the carrier or specific iPhone model. But it's also inadvertently created a long history of separating people into "blue" and "green" bubbles based on whether they're using an iPhone or Android phone. Apple also relies on the dated MMS standard for non-iMessage group chats, which results in a lack of support for modern features like read receipts and higher-quality images.

While social pressures among those that do and do not show up as a blue bubble have been frequently documented, such as in the Wall Street Journal among teens and young people, the much bigger issue revolves around universal communication. There is no single, modern texting standard that works across all phones. Rich Communication Services, or RCS, is the closest alternative that potentially wouldn't require installing yet another chat app. 

While RCS itself is an open standard, the most common way people are using it is within Google's Messages app on Android phones. Google reported at this year's I/O developer conference in May that Google Messages has a half billion monthly active users. The company's investment in both the RCS standard and its Messages app comes after a long history of launchingproprietarytexting apps that did not gain the notoriety of iMessage or Meta's WhatsApp. Google is continuing this proprietary texting strategy alongside its RCS investment, most recently by shutting down its Hangouts app and migrating users into the Google Chat app instead.

RCS supports many iMessage-like features such as typing indicators and read receipts. But its rollout has been fragmented as US phone carriers each separately announced plans to make RCS the default option on most Android phones. While RCS isn't currently interoperable with iOS, Google has built cross-platform message reactions into its texting app to improve how texts from an iPhone appear within Android. Other features that are already in iMessage, such as group chat encryption, are still in development for RCS and Google's Messages app. 

The RCS standard is a step forward in making messaging more uniform across the wide variety of Android devices that exist. But without iOS adoption, its impact on the quality of messaging between Android and iPhones remains limited. 

As one of the biggest players in the mobile phone industry, Apple could make a bigger effort to establish a more consistent texting experience across devices. But the question is whether doing so is in the company's interest. Apple often touts its control over iOS as a selling point for consumers, and shifting away from iMessage could jeopardize that. 

Apple did not respond to CNET's request for comment. When this commentary was originally published, Google pointed CNET to a series of tweets from Hiroshi Lockheimer, its senior vice president for Android. Lockheimer criticizes Apple for using "pressure and bullying" to lock in users in the tweets. 

However, there are a few changes Apple could make to address this issue, similar to the way it brought a limited FaceTime experience to Android and Windows users in iOS 15.

Supporting RCS in Apple's Messages app, even a little bit

Apple should consider bringing RCS support to iOS 16. Apple has a history of adopting open formats after they have spent a few years developing, and RCS already includes many iMessage-like features such as typing indicators, enhanced group chats and encryption.

For instance, Apple did not race into the wireless charging space and instead waited for the Qi standard to reach widespread adoption before integrating it into the iPhone 8 and iPhone X in 2017. It even intended to build its own Qi-based AirPower wireless charger, but instead held back until 2020 to sell its own MagSafe wireless chargers.

Apple doesn't even have to give RCS a full endorsement to make a difference. It could keep non-iPhone messages green and lean on iPhone-exclusive features like Memoji, which uses the iPhone's Face ID to create facial animations, to keep Apple loyalists hooked. But supporting a few key features would go a long way in allowing for a smoother communication experience while keeping a degree of Apple exclusivity.

Apple could also support encryption between messages regardless of the platform, especially since the company positions itself as a consumer privacy advocate. One would reason that this alone should be enough for Apple to embrace RCS. 

Improve how Apple's Messages app sends and receives SMS

Apple's iMessage includes lots of fun animations that are invisible to anyone who isn't using an iPhone in your group chat.

Jason Cipriani/CNET

If supporting RCS is simply not going to happen in iOS, Apple could instead make the most of the limited bandwidth available within SMS and MMS. 

Apple is doing this for at least one feature in the iOS 16 public beta. Within group chats that are being handled over MMS, Apple's Messages app will translate reactions so everyone receives an emoji instead of a text about how someone "Liked" or "Loved" a message. Google's Messages app has similar functionality. 

Perhaps when photos and videos are sent over MMS, which was never designed for the multi-lens cameras on modern phones, Apple's Messages app could proactively suggest sending an iCloud link instead of a grungy compressed picture. This could work similarly to a feature currently available in Google Photos that allows users to select multiple photos and generate a web link to share with your friends or family members. 

And, similar to how Apple recently brought a version of FaceTime to the web for Android and Windows users, maybe it could create a version of iMessage that is viewable on the web. This could benefit its existing iPhone customers who would like to access iMessage from a Windows PC or Chromebook, while also allowing Android phone owners to view messages and other shared content the same way an iPhone user would. This idea would still be annoying for Android users, but it's better than receiving texts out of order during fast-flowing group chats. 

Build iMessage for Android

One of the most surprising revelations from last year's Apple v. Epic trial was that Apple had discussed building an iMessage client for Android back in 2013. But Apple executives passed on the idea over concerns about the competition. The possibility of Google buying WhatsApp worried Apple, and the company also feared that bringing iMessage to Android could make it easier for iPhone owners to switch to Google's phone platform, as the WSJ story pointed out. 

But much has changed in the years since, including Facebook's purchase of WhatsApp instead of Google. Although Apple has opened up some of its products like FaceTime, it also relies on its services to lock in iPhone customers.

On the other hand, bringing iMessage to Android could instead draw more customers to Apple's iPhone ecosystem. It's a strategy that worked way back in the 2000s, when launching iTunes on Windows considerably increased the customer base for Apple's music store. Sure, it might convince some iPhone customers to jump ship and switch to Android. But it could also help Apple reach a wider audience by exposing Android users to its products and services.

---

Source

Tags:

• Apple S Imessage Should Improve Texting To Android And Iphone
• Apple S Imessage Should Improve Texting To Android And Google
• Apple S Imessage Should Improve Texting To Android And Watch
• Apple S Imessage Should Improve Texting To Android And Robot
• Apple S Imessage Should Improve Texting To A Cell
• Apple S Imessage Should Improve Texting Ability
• Apple Imessage App
• Apple Imessage Stickers
• Apple Support
• Apple Stock
• Apple Support Phone Number
• Apple Store Appointment

The iPhone at 15: How Apple's Phone Became the Center of Your Life

The iPhone at 15: How Apple's Phone Became the Center of Your Life

This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Apple's most popular product.

What's happening

On June 29, 2007, the first iPhone went on sale. A decade and a half later what defines the iPhone has shifted away from just design and hardware specs to dozens of Apple-centric features and services.

Why it matters

For better or worse, the iPhone has become home to our photos, music, conversations, ideas, games, identity, work, social media, shopping, keys and money. It will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Today marks 15 years since the first iPhone went on sale. When Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone he wryly hyped it as three revolutionary products: an iPod, a phone and an internet communicator. The first iPhone only came in one size and the only decision you had was whether to get 4GB of storage or 8GB. As far as carriers, only AT&T supported Apple's first phone in the US.

At the time, the idea of carrying an iPhone instead of a flip phone and an iPod was enough to convince some people to buy one. For others like me, the iPhone's main appeal was the touchscreen, which seemed unreal and futuristic. 

"From the very beginning, one of the unique things about [the] iPhone was that we wanted to fuse together software, services and hardware to create a simple, powerful kind of magical experience," said Bob Borchers, Apple's vice president for product marketing. "And with the original iPhone, it was that interaction of multitouch and pinch to zoom, where you started to see that come together."

Fifteen years later, Apple sells eight different models of iPhone, five of which have launched in the past 10 months. There is at least one version that works with pretty much every major phone carrier in the world. The iPhone is available in an array of colors, finishes, sizes and storage options that now top out at 1TB. And while the screen is where most of the magic happens, it's no longer the main appeal of the iPhone.

Over the past decade and a half, what defines the iPhone has shifted away from just design and hardware specs. Instead, the iPhone and iOS have become a gateway into Apple services and features like iMessage, FaceTime, Siri, Apple Music, Apple Pay, top-of-the-line cameras and apps like Uber, TikTok, Twitter and WhatsApp. For better or worse, the iPhone has become home to our photos, music, conversations, ideas, games, identity, work, social media, shopping, keys and money.

In 2022, the iPhone continues to extend beyond its svelte metal-and-glass chassis into the world around us. It's the backbone for products like the Apple Watch and AirPods, and will likely play a role in future Apple products like rumored AR glasses.

It also serves as the foundation for Apple's digital services, which have become an increasingly important factor to differentiate the iPhone from competing mobile devices. These services have evolved rapidly in recent years along with the iPhone.

Find My, which started as a tool in 2010 for locating a lost iPhone, has grown into a network for finding Apple devices and pretty much anything you can attach one of Apple's tiny AirTag trackers to. Some products, like VanMoof's S3 bike, even have built-in Find My support, eliminating the need to add an AirTag entirely. As of 2021, Apple's Find My network had hundreds of millions of devices, most of which were iPhones.

Just weeks ago at WWDC, Apple's annual software developers conference, the company announced iOS 16 with expansions to its nearly decade-old Wallet app and Apple Pay service. Essentially, Apple wants to make your physical wallet obsolete. There's also a new feature called Apple Pay Later that lets you split the cost of an Apple Pay purchase into four equal payments spread over six weeks, with zero interest and no fees. It's done entirely through your iPhone.

The 2022 iPhone SE is nearly identical to the 2020 version but gets more durable glass, 5G and the A15 Bionic chip that debuted in the iPhone 13.

Kevin Heinz/CNET

In fact, you need an iPhone to access or use most of these services. Keep in mind that, for years, the iPhone's premium price made it inaccessible to many, and that's still true of Apple's top-of-the-line iPhone Pro models. The recently upgraded iPhone SE gives Apple the opportunity to expand the iPhone's reach even further. It's the purest example of what defines an iPhone in 2022. The SE blends the body of an iPhone 8 with the glass and processor from the iPhone 13. At $429, it's currently the most affordable way to get people into Apple experiences.

I spoke with Borchers ahead of the iPhone SE launch in March about the phone and why Apple added an A15 Bionic chip to it.

"It's actually a really easy decision to put as much capability as we can in today, in order to invest in and create opportunities for those future experiences. It's something that distinguishes us from others," said Borchers.

No other phone maker takes this approach. It would be like Samsung using the body of its Galaxy S8 and putting the Galaxy S22's processing power inside. The upcoming Pixel 6A will be the first budget Android phone that uses the same processor, Google's Tensor chip, as the flagship Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Of course, Google isn't putting it into the body of Pixel 2 and instead is introducing a new design.

It makes sense that Apple's cheapest phone has the same processor as its most expensive: It's all about giving people access to Apple experiences. For example, if you buy an iPhone SE, you can use the Live Text feature in iOS 15 to grab text with your camera or copy it from a photo. And while the 2016 and 2020 versions of the iPhone SE sold well, it seems the 2022 version isn't breaking any sales records yet. Apple doesn't disclose a specific model breakdown of how many iPhones it sells, but analyst Ming-Chi Kuo lowered his shipping estimates for the iPhone SE (2022) by 10 million. The lower demand could be an effect of rising inflation and the fact that the 2022 and 2020 versions of the iPhone SE look identical.

The SE showcases how iOS and Apple Silicon become the bedrock for everything you do on your iPhone. Obviously, not every model in Apple's iPhone lineup is equal. More expensive phones like the iPhone 13 Pro come with a contemporary design, high refresh-rate screens, larger camera sensors and tools like the U1 ultrawideband chip and lidar.

These extra perks mean you can use your iPhone in more ways. For example, if you've got the right car, you can unlock it and start it with your iPhone. Borscher describes moments like these as "automagic," meaning it just works. The same way a pair of AirPods can switch from your iPhone to your Mac for watching a video, or the way you can unlock your Mac using your Apple Watch.

Apple first introduced AirPods in 2017 with the release of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, which lacked a physical headphone jack. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

Such growth has consequences. Antitrust concerns over the app store and mobile payments, debates about screen time, Apple's contentious dealings with the FBI, criticism that all these services are part of a strategy to lock people into Apple's ecosystem and, more recently, privacy questions over AirTags are just some of the concerns that have grown alongside the iPhone's meteoric success. There are even questions as to whether Apple can launch another product line that is even half as successful as the iPhone. My CNET colleague and Apple reporter Ian Sherr points out that products like the Apple Watch and AirPods are lucrative lar gely because of their connection to the iPhone.

Over 15 years, the iPhone has become ubiquitous and helped Apple become a nearly $3 trillion company. The next iteration of the phone, likely called the iPhone 14, is expected to launch this September. It will no doubt run on iOS 16 and have the newest version of Apple's A-series processor and will continue to support the Apple experience. As for the long-term, my colleague Lisa Eadicicco thinks the most important part of future iPhones will be how it works with everything around it.

---

Source

Tags:

• The Iphone At 15 How Apple S Phone Became The Center Of Your Mind
• The Iphone At 15 How Apple S Phone Became The Center Of Your Being
• The Iphone At 15 How Apple S Phone Number
• The Iphone At 15 How Apple Pay
• Is The Iphone 13 Water proof
• When Did The Iphone 8 Come Out
• Who Invented The Iphone
• How Big Is The Iphone 12 Mini

Acer S5-391-9880 review: Acer S5-391-9880

Acer S5-391-9880 review: Acer S5-391-9880

It was back in January, at CES 2012, that we first saw the $1,399 13-inch Acer Aspire S5 ultrabook. Of course, if you remember the S5 from CES, you'll recall its most unique feature -- a tiny motorized door at the back of the bottom panel that opens at the touch of a button, revealing a ports-and-connections block, including HDMI and Thunderbolt (making this one of only a handful of Thunderbolt laptops). Acer calls this the MagicFlip I/O Port.

It's certainly clever, and it earns points for originality and engineering. But call me crazy, I'd prefer to have my USB ports sitting right on the side of the laptop, easy to access without having to push a button and wait.

Another potential issue is that the MagicFlip is just one more mechanical part to potentially break down (but note that it has worked perfectly fine in the CNET Labs for several days and dozens of activations). If, for whatever reason, it gets stuck or stops working, you're sitting on a laptop with very limited connectivity. Especially in a thin, light ultrabook, having fewer moving parts is better -- hence the move to SSD storage over spinning-platter hard drives.

That said, the motorized port door is not even the most noteworthy thing about the S5, nor its biggest selling point. Even compared with other 13-inch ultrabooks, this system is incredibly thin and light. It weighs only 2.6 pounds (without its power adapter), and is 15mm thick at its thickest point (tapering to 11mm at the front).

That makes the 13-inch MacBook Airlook and feel a bit chunky in comparison, which is no easy task. Acer also manages to work in an Intel Core i7 CPU (but no discrete graphics, sorry), so it's certainly powerful enough for everyday use.

At $1,399, this is scraping the high end of the ultrabook market, and I'm not sure even the extreme portability justifies the price, but it's certainly tempting -- this is a laptop that's simply fun to use.

What I'd love to see is a version of the S5 that stays as thin and light, but skips the gimmicky motorized flap, perhaps adding a millimeter or two to fit in the USB and HDMI ports. The MagicFlip can't be an inexpensive part to include. Dropping it might allow Acer to bring the price down closer to $1,000, where it would be much harder to resist.

Price as reviewed	$1,399
Processor	1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U
Memory	4GB, 1333MHz DDR3
Hard drive	256GB SSD (128GB x2, RAID 0)
Chipset	Intel HM77
Graphics	Intel HD4000
Operating System	Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD)	9.8 x 2.6 inches
Height	0.43-0.59 inches
Screen size (diagonal)	13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter	2.6/3.3 pounds
Category	13-inch

In a matte-black brushed metal, the Acer Aspire S5 looks and feels sophisticated, if anonymous. Only a small chrome Acer logo on the back of the lid gives away your laptop's provenance. The system is so light, at barely 2.6 pounds, that the metal body (aluminum and magnesium) helps it feel more substantial and secure.

The look is very minimalist, as you'd expect from a laptop without visible ports. Besides the keyboard and touch pad, only the button to activate the MagicFlip door sits on the keyboard tray -- a tiny sliver-style power button is relegated to the left side panel, along with an SD card slot.

The keyboard makes good use of the available real estate, leaving little dead space around it. The keys are island-style, flat-topped and widely spaced, but a little on the shallow side. The stiff construction helps with typing, as there's absolutely zero flex, even under heavy use.

The one serious shortcoming here is that the keyboard is not backlit. For a $1,400 laptop, even one as thin as this, that's simply unacceptable. Less seriously, a few keys, such as Tab and Caps Lock, are on the small side, and the multimedia function keys are spread around haphazardly. You'll have to press Fn+Arrow Up and Fn+Arrow Down to raise and lower the volume, but Fn+F8 to mute -- that's an entirely different area of the keyboard.

The large click-pad-style touch pad isn't as responsive as you'd find on a MacBook, but the multitouch gestures worked well, including the all-important two-finger scroll.

The big design feature on the Aspire S5 is the MagicFlip. Hit the button on the upper right of the keyboard tray, and the motor (loudly) whirs to life, pushing the port flap open, and lifting the entire rear edge of the laptop up. It actually makes for a decent ergonomic kickstand if you need a slightly higher angle for comfortable typing.

Of course, very few laptops have all their ports on the back edge, because it's often simply more convenient to have them on one of the sides, but it's not a deal breaker. Smartly, the port door will not close if it detects something plugged into one of the two USB 3.0 ports, or the HDMI or Thunderbolt ports. And, if you close the lid while the MagicFlip door is open, the door will close itself after a few seconds (provided nothing is plugged in).

That said, every single person I showed the Aspire S5 to asked exactly the same question: "What do you do when the door breaks down?" While I didn't have any trouble with the MagicFlip door while testing the Aspire S5, it's still a legitimate question. Adding extra motors and moving parts is always a bit of a roll of the dice, especially in highly portable devices that stand a good chance of being knocked around regularly.

Many PC makers have bitten the bullet over the past couple of years, and stopped loading up their desktops with preinstalled bloatware and ad-ware icons. Acer must have not gotten the memo. Preloaded desktop icons for eBay and Netflix don't feel right on a $1,400 laptop; you'll also find desktop links for Nook, Skype, McAfee, and a half-dozen Acer-branded products and services.

Some of those icons point to Acer's oddly named clear.fi media management software, which is perfectly usable, but unless you plan on going all-Acer, all the time, you may not want to take the time required to learn a new set of proprietary software.

The 13-inch display has a native resolution of 1,366x768 pixels, another area where the system's features don't live up to its high price. For $1,399, I'd expect at least a 1,600x900-pixel display. The screen itself looks very good when viewed straight on, but off-axis viewing deteriorated quickly. While the display isn't covered in edge-to-edge glass, I liked the look achieved by the thin, brushed-metal bezel around it.

The built-in stereo speakers, positioned on the far left and right sides of the bottom panel, were thin-sounding, as one would expect from such a small laptop, but fine for casual media consumption.

	Acer Aspire S5	Average for category [13-inch]
Video	HDMI, VGA (via included adaptor), DisplayPort (via Thunderbolt)	VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio	Stereo speakers, headphone jack	Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data	2 USB 3.0, SD card reader	2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 3.0, SD card reader
Networking	Ethernet (via USB dongle), 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth	Ethernet, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional mobile broadband
Optical drive	None	DVD burner

With such a thin laptop, you've got to choose what ports and connections to include carefully. The MagicFlip port compartment has limited room, but I think Acer made mostly the right call in including twin USB 3.0 ports and HDMI. The Thunderbolt port is a bit of a high-end gimmick right now, if only because there are so few accessories that support it. But, it's nice to see someone other than Apple try out this still newish technology.

The trade-off, of course, is that some common connections, such as an Ethernet jack or VGA video output, get relegated to external dongles. I'm generally fine with that, even for the Ethernet jack, but you should consider your exact needs (for example, I recently ran into someone who needed a thin laptop with a VGA output, because she was always connecting to older projectors).

Simply looking at a laptop's size is no longer a reliable indicator of what sort of processor you're going to find in there. This model, despite being the slimmest ultrabook currently available, packs in a new third-generation Intel Core i7 CPU. It's the ultra-low voltage version of the Core i7, but it's still more than powerful enough for all but the most demanding users. Thanks to the fast CPU and solid-state hard drive, applications launched quickly, and the system even booted up and resumed from sleep very quickly.

Discrete graphics have turned up in a small handful of ultrabooks, but not here. That means you'll have to rely on the basic Intel HD4000 graphics, which is fine for casual games and playing HD video, but not much more.

Ultrabooks are supposed to emphasize best-in-breed battery life, thanks to efficient CPUs and SSD drives. Unfortunately, this is one area where the S5 falls down a bit. With an Intel Core i7 CPU, a motorized port door to power, and very little room in its slim chassis for a battery, it's perhaps not all that surprising that the system only ran for 4 hours and 37 minutes on our video-playback battery-drain test. Sony's Vaio T ultrabook ran for an hour longer and a 13-inch MacBook Air about 3 hours longer as a comparison.

Acer includes a standard one-year parts and labor warranty with the Aspire S5. The company has a support Web site and I was able to navigate to a specific support page for the Aspire S5, which included driver downloads and support documents, as well as access to e-mail, chat, and phone support. Annoyingly, Acer won't show you the toll-free support phone number until you enter your laptop's serial number, but the number is 866-695-2237.

The Acer Aspire S5 leans heavily on its motorized port door, but it really doesn't need gimmicks to sell itself. This is the current leader in the arms race for the thinnest officially labeled ultrabook, and has the rare quality of being just plain fun to use. That said, I'd kill for a backlit keyboard.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

System configurations:
Acer Aspire S5-391-9880
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz; 128MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 256GB LITEONIT SSD (2x RAID 0)

Lenovo IdeaPad U310
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz; 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Samsung 5400rpm

Dell XPS 14
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 630M / 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5400rpm

Sony Vaio T13112FXS
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz; 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5400rpm

Asus Zenbook UX32V
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) w/ SP1; 1.9GHz Intel Core i7-3517U; 4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 620M + 64MB (Dedicated) Intel HD 4000; 500GB Hitachi 5400rpm

---

Source

Tags:

• Acer S5 391 9880 Review Acer S5 391 98806
• Acer S5 391 9880 Review Acer S5 391 98800jk600
• Acer S5 391 9880 Review Acer S5 391 Area
• Acer S5 391 9880 Review Acer C720
• Acer S5 391 9880 Review Acer Model
• Acer S5 391 9880710 1
• Acer S5 3910
• Acer S5 391 Area
• Acer S5201m

Oppo wear os watch oppo watch free wear os oppo wear os watch oppo watch 2 review oppo watch free review oppo watch 2 oppo watch 46mm

Oppo Watch review: A great WearOS smartwatch, with a few missing pieces

Oppo Watch review: A great WearOS smartwatch, with a few missing pieces

Like

• Track various sleep cycles
• 5-minute workout suggestions
• Cellular connectivity
• eSIM support

Don't Like

• Disappointing battery life
• Design copies Apple Watch
• Pricey
• Only 5 exercise modes

The Oppo Watch is, as the name suggests, Oppo's flagship smartwatch and the first with Google's Wear OS operating system. Though it still has some room for improvement in terms of battery life and fitness tracking, in my week of wearing it I've been impressed at how well it handles the basics. It has a bright, responsive AMOLED screen, Google Assistant support and even native sleep monitoring. 

Different prices and options to choose from

The Oppo Watch comes in two sizes: 42mm and 46mm, and three variations. The smaller Wi-Fi-only model starts at £229 in the UK (roughly $295 or AU$400) then rises to £329 for the larger versions, which also has a Wi-Fi-only model as well as an LTE one. The LTE version, which comes with an embedded SIM (or "eSIM"), is the one I tested out for this review. And while the Oppo Watch is technically compatible with both Android and iOS, the cellular feature only works with an Android phone and is only supported if you're on the Vodafone, Celron and Orange networks.

An Apple Watch clone

When the Oppo Watch was first unveiled, it drew immediate comparisons to Apple's popular timepiece. Even to someone who reviews tech for a living like myself, it's hard to tell these two apart at first glance. Like the Apple Watch, it has a rectangle display with curved edges and removable silicone straps, and even similar packaging. But the glass on the side has a more pronounced curve, and there are two buttons on the right side in place of the digital crown. In the end, the Oppo Watch is stunning but completely unoriginal, and it's a mind trick to see such a watch running Google-made software.

The watch is made from a mix of aluminum and reinforced glass, with a ceramic back where the heart-rate sensors are located. As I mentioned earlier, it has a crisp AMOLED display that's responsive and easily readable in sunny weather. The straps, meanwhile, are crafted either from rubber or calfskin and can be swapped out for other designs by the company. Because the nubs on Oppo's straps are different from what Apple has, you probably won't find many third-party strap options that will fit this watch. 

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Oppo Watch's battery life isn't enough

Battery longevity is a strong suit in a number of Oppo phones, so I was surprised that this feature didn't carry over to its smartwatch. My unit was equipped with a 430-mAh battery (that's large for a smartwatch) and quoted to last 30 hours on default settings. But when I put the watch through the paces, battery life was disappointing. It only lasted between 15 and 17 hours of mild to moderate use before conking out. Battery life felt especially disappointing on days when I completed workouts with GPS tracking.

Fortunately, it does come with some tools to help extend the battery life. According to Oppo, you can get up to 21 days of use by switching on power saver mode on the watch. This restricts many functions of the watch, but you'll still have access to the basics like step count, heart rate functions and alerts for incoming notifications. I haven't had a chance to fully test this feature, but I'll update this review when I do. I did try it once before bedtime, however, when the watch was at 9% and it lasted all throughout the night and even into the next morning. Keep in mind that the larger 46mm smartwatch has a larger battery which may improve runtime, especially with the Wi-Fi model. The smaller 41mm watch, meanwhile, has a 300-mAh battery.

Long battery life is obviously important throughout the day, but it's a necessity when it comes to sleep tracking. Because the Oppo Watch's battery life isn't phenomenal, you'll have to remember to charge it before going to bed or you risk waking up to a dead watch and incomplete sleep data. When the juice did run out, Oppo's VOOC Flash Charging fully revitalized the battery in about an hour. 

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

Oppo Watch has sleep tracking

Tracking my sleep and understanding how much shuteye I need to function at an optimum level is incredibly important to me. Too little or too much sleep affects my mood, productivity and immune system. Because of this, sleep tracking is one of my favorite features on the Oppo Watch.

When I wake up in the morning, it displays the duration of my sleep as well as the quality (light sleep, deep slumber or awake). Oddly, the watch only tracks data between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m., so if you go to sleep before or wake up after that interval it won't register. The watch also doesn't provide any information about REM sleep either, which some of its competitors do. 

Oppo's Watch covers only basic health features

Another one of my favorite aspects of the Oppo Watch is a fitness aid that serves up five-minute workout videos when you've been sitting for an hour. When that happens, you'll receive a push notification nudging you to stand up and get moving. If you agree, a video of a gym instructor appears, guiding you through a series of eight different stretches for a quick pick-me-up. You can choose from various five-minute workouts that are fairly easy to follow if you're working at home.

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

The smartwatch also tracks five different workout routines: fitness run, fat burn run, outdoor walk, outdoor cycling and swimming. That's it. You wont get any more options like yoga, hiking, elliptical or rowing as you would on other smartwatches. This is something to keep in mind especially if you plan on tracking workouts that fall outside of these categories. 

Sareena Dayaram/CNET

I'm also not fully convinced on the accuracy of the GPS readings either. While heart rate numbers seem to be in line with what the Apple Watch Series 5 gave me, there was a noticeable discrepancy with distance tracked between the two watches. Distances tracked on my Oppo Watch were approximately 2-7% longer compared to the Apple Watch which I've also tested on my phone's GPS data. 

The Oppo Watch also has an always-on optical heart rate tracker, that gives you continuous heart rate data during the entire day. You can view all your health and fitness data from the Oppo Watch on the HeyTap Health mobile app from Oppo, available in the Google Play store. It syncs steps, sleep data, heart rate, workouts and daily activity.

But unlike some of its pricier competitors like the Apple Watch Series 6, Fitbit Sense and Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, it doesn't have more advanced health tracking features like an ECG (electrocardiogram), fall detection or oxygen saturation in the blood. 

Oppo Watch runs on two chips

Another interesting aspect of the Oppo Watch is that it's powered by two chips: the Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset and a secondary Ambiq Micro Apollo 3 processor that takes over during low-power tasks and allows for extended (potentially 21-day) battery life. Although the Wear 3100 is a two-year old smartwatch chip from Qualcomm, the watch functioned seamlessly and offered a smooth experience. This is backed up by 1GB of RAM and 8GB of built-in storage to load music.  

For more specs and features, check out our chart below.

Oppo Watch specs

Shape	Rectangle
Watch size	46mm
Materials/Finishes	Aluminum frame, plastic, and ceramic
Display size, resolution	1.91-inch AMOLED screen; 402x476; 326ppi
Always On	Yes
Colors	Black, pale pink
Interchangeable bands	Yes
GPS	Yes
Automatic workout detection	Yes
Compass	No
Altimeter	No
Water resistance	Yes, up to 50m
Calls	Yes
Notifications	Text replies
Microphone	Yes
Speaker	Yes
Voice assistant	Google Assistant
Mobile Payments	Google Pay (NFC)
Sleep tracking	Yes
Period tracking	No
Special features	21-day extended battery life, sleep tracking, eSIM
Compatibility	Android and iOS
Software	Wear OS
Processor	Snapdragon 3100, Ambiq Micro Apollo 3
Connectivity	Cellular option
Price	£229 in the UK (roughly $295 or AU$400)

---

Source