Initial Review Of OnePlus Band

OnePlus have radically shifted their priorities from making real good hardware devices to rebranding hardware from its sister company (Oppo).

 There had been a lot of questions hovering around Carl Pei’s ( Co-founder of OnePlus) decision to work on a new hardware venture. On the other hand, Pete Lau founder and CEO of the OnePlus, also took up a new role of Senior Vice President and Chief product experience officer at OPLUS.

OPLUS is a majority shareholder in all three companies for example Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme. It wholly owns Oppo apart from a 74 per cent stake in OnePlus and is a majority holder in Realme too.

Design 

Design is identical with multiple smart bands in the same price category. A dual-tone silicon strap with black on the outside and grey on the inside. A pill-shaped tracker with a 1.1" inch AMOLED touch screen display with a resolution of 126 X 294 pixels. It is responsive which is important since the entire user interface is touch-based. Its sharp, vivid, and bright features are enough to be used outdoors if toggled up to 100 per cent. However, there is no ambient light sensor on the device, so you'll have to manually change the brightness depending on your situation.

It also has IP68 and 5ATM for water and dust resistance, for an average Joe it translates to, that it can be taken out for a swim, shower, or on a rainy day, without worrying about any kind of water damage.

The battery sports a capacity of 100mAh, which compared to its competitor is smaller. However, OnePlus is claiming 14 day’s worth of battery life, based on their controlled environment testing which I highly doubt that the band would last 14 days. To charge it up there's a pogo pin charger included in the box, but it's sort of old-school because every other band has switched to a magnetic charger which is convenient compared to a pogo pin charger.

Sensor, user interface, and health app

There is a blood oxygen sensor, optical heart rate sensor, 3-axis accelerometer, and gyroscope present in the device, which can track and monitor multiple numbers of activity such as sleep, run, walking, cycling.

Navigation is based on swipe gestures. You can have five band faces at a time but there are dozens of faces on the health app to choose from, along with an option where you can use a custom image as your band face.

Health app is identical to Oppo's app, and it does not look like an app designed and developed by OnePlus. 

Conclusion

The OnePlus band looks promising on paper but it's nothing new, it is just a rebranded device from Oppo. However, if you are looking for a fitness band, I would strongly recommend that you at least take a look at Mi Smart Band, which retails at the same price, and pick one based on your preference.

The author is a Tech-Enthusiast and a Blogger