Will Oppo come out with a fast-charging smartwatch?

Will Oppo come out with a fast-charging smartwatch?

The Apple watch will go on sale this year after much anticipation and curiosity as to what level of excellence can possibly be tapped to make the smartwatch a hot wearable. One recent distraction, though, is in the form of stories coming from numerous tech sites on Monday that a smartwatch from Oppo might be in the wings and if so it will be a watch that can charge in five minutes. This would not be a trivial feature to promote because of the convenience factor, which might in turn motivate consumers to own something that will not require them to plug it in at night or else.

Oppo, a Chinese company, manages, as Luke Edwards in Pocket-lint phrased it, "to cram high-end specs into relatively affordable smartphones." Edwards said insider sources mentioned on the blog site Weibo said the watch is real and coming soon. Tech site Gizchina.com said on Monday that the Oppo smartwatch "is still very much a rumor, but insiders who have spoken to people at Oppo seem to believe it is real and coming soon." Andi Sykes, founder and editor of Gizchina.com, said, "Personally a five-minute charge time would make all the difference to me." He said his watch needs charging every night but if he forgets to place it in its dock that means he does not get power the next day. "A quick five-minute blast would solve this."

That a VOOC charging station will juice the watch's battery in just five minutes would reflect the general opinion that charging technology appears to be one of the company's strong points. Sykes pointed out that Oppo has made a number of advancements in charging technology. The Find 7 originally launched with their VOOC fast charger and the Oppo N3 saw the introduction of the second generation VOOC tech.

With the much smaller batteries used in smartwatches compared to smartphones, a five-minute charge time for a wearable device is within the bounds of possibility, said Electronista. Jimmy Westenberg in Android Authority said that "The current smartwatches on the market generally have pretty small batteries, only ranging from about 300mAh to 700mAh."

In March last year, Oppo announced its Oppo Find 7 phone with one of its strong features being its rapid charging technology. Oppo noted its rapid prevents overheating. What's more, "Boosting the Find 7's battery life to 75 percent within 30 minutes, the VOOC charger is four times faster than conventional chargers," said the company. In October last year, it announced its N3 phone with a rapid charging system, saying "A 30-minute charge will provide 75 percent battery, and a five-minute charge allows for a two-hour call."

Commenting on the technology SoyaCincau.com, a Malaysia tech site, said, Oppo was in the forefront of rapid smart phone charging.

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