OPPO Band Style does the basics right with reliable fitness tracking and all the smart features you expect from a fitness band. It tries to distinguish itself by offering a new kind of band design, but that’s mostly it.
OPPO made its India debut in the smart wearable category last year when it launched the super impressive OPPO Watch ( watch video). This year, OPPO has decided to enter the hotly contested fitness band category by launching the OPPO Band Style. Now, for the uninitiated, Oneplus recently launched the Oneplus Band ( Full Review) in India, which was technically just a rebrand of the OPPO Band that was launched in China. OPPO Band Style is fundamentally the exact same product, with just a little bit of ‘style’ added to make it look different. But is that enough to make it a better product, and more importantly, does it have what it takes to challenge the Mi Bands and the Honor Bands which have been ruling this segment for sometime now. I have been using the OPPO band for about a month now, and here’s everything you need to know in case you’re planning to buy one. The ‘Style’ in OPPO Band Style’s name comes from the fact that it comes with a new kind of strap design. The central plastic module of the OPPO Band sits into a metal-looking frame, which is then connected to the silicon straps. Does it look different? Well, yeah. But does it look stylish or better than other smartbands? I’m not so sure. The entire thing is so tiny, it hardly makes a difference to the aesthetics. I would have loved to see some new funky color options or unique patterned designs here. Anyhoo, there’s also the normal black strap bundled along, which is basically the exact replica of what you get on the Oneplus Band. The design is pretty lightweight overall, and at just 22 grams, you would hardly feel the band on your wrist. Plus it’s waterproof upto 50m, so you can wear it into a shower or into the sea, if and when we are allowed to do that next. One major gripe with the OPPO Band’s design is that it still uses the archaic design of having to eject the central module out of the strap to charge it. That’s just an unnecessary hassle, and we have already seen Honor Bands and Mi bands come with new magnetic chargers since their last gen updates. At the front, you get a 1.1 inch AMOLED display surrounded by considerable bezels all around, which was more or less the nord in fitness band markets until this year. We already have products like the Honor Band 6 and Mi Band 6 offering much larger displays. So nothing really *stylish* here. The screen itself isn’t bad though, it has punchy colors and gets plenty bright even for bright outdoor usage, and you get to select screen brightness from 5 pre-decided levels.
