I'm definitely a smartwatch guy. I've been wearing them for years and I've embraced every update, enhancement and new feature along the way. So much so that nowadays if I'm reviewing a wearable that doesn't offer a wide selection of the latest tricks, it'll lose my attention pretty fast.

My minimum requirements?

Two-way interaction: I need to be able to reply to messages and emails as well as just read them.

Contactless payment: I need to be able to leave my phone at home when I'm walking the dog and still be able to pay for a coffee while I'm out.

One-touch shortcuts: This is a bit precious, but once you've had the ability to fire off your favourite workout with a single button press, it's hard to go back.

Reliable media controls: This is a complicated one and I'll come back to it.

Clear display in all conditions: Rain or shine, inside or out, day or night, sunglasses or not - you must always be able to read your watch at a glance.

And obviously all that health and fitness tracking carry-on is important too.

Here's the thing; get most of that stuff right and you'll probably reduce the time you spend on your actual phone by minutes - if not hours - a day.

Wouldn't it be great if you could get all that in a watch that actually looks stylish too?

When it comes to shaking up the duopoly of mobile tech in New Zealand, Oppo has made a bit of a habit of it, consistently turning out stylish phones with genuine flagship photo performance and unmatched charging abilities.

But it's been almost four years since I last trialled an Oppo watch. As we all know, four years is a long time in tech. Has Oppo managed to lift its smartwatch game accordingly?

If the Oppo Watch X is anything to go by, the answer is definitely yes.

Available in Mars Brown (with silver stainless steel case) or Platinum Black (with dark stainless steel case) the Watch X has a classic style to it. Although the bands are made of a substance known as "fluororubber," they look like leather from a distance, yet they're far more comfortable and totally waterproof.

The Sapphire Crystal Glass covering the 1.43-inch AMOLED display is extremely tough. I'm famous for bashing up my watches due to my congenital klutziness. In fact, I managed to put a big scratch in my first Oppo Watch back in 2020 within about five minutes of putting it on. Not this time. 

In fact, when it comes to durability, the Oppo Watch X stacks up toe-to-toe with other so-called "Ultra" smartwatches on the market. It carries an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, can handle depths of up to 5ATM in pressure and also carries the 810H Military Standard which means it can withstand extreme temperatures and mountainous heights.

All while looking more like a fashion piece than something from an army surplus store.

The first thing to catch my eye was the unusual right-hand housing for the two side buttons, ergonomically positioned for use with thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand and yes, one of these is indeed a programmable "Quick Action Button." 

Although fairly large, the Watch X is quite curvy in its design, with the band sloping away smoothly from the face. The result is it doesn't feel at all bulky or unwieldy which makes it a fantastic device to wear to bed for sleep-tracking.

Of course, the real key to a reliable sleep-tracking wearable is battery life - no point wearing something to bed that needs charging every night. This is an area where Oppo (as usual) has not just matched but has exceeded what other manufacturers are offering. I'll get two, if not three days use from the Watch X without any power-saving settings on. Better still, it doesn't take long to charge, using the supplied magnetic puck. (This connects to a standard USB-C cable, by the way, just to make things as easy as possible) So I tend to just pop the watch on for a quick top-up at some point during the day then wear it all night for sleep tracking and its silent, vibrating alarm - meaning less partner disturbance, always a priority.

It isn't just sleep the Watch X is keeping an eye on - also heart rate, blood oxygen, snoring risk and breathing rate. All this info appears in a daily report you can access on the watch itself, or in even more detail on Oppo's OHealth app, the app you'll need to download in order to pair the Watch X with your phone.

When it comes to activity tracking and sports training, there are more than 100 sports modes - from running, cycling and swimming to badminton, ski-ing and various gym machines. There are plenty of metrics to delve into here too... pace, cadence, aerobic training effect, recovery time - you can even assess your running posture.

And being a Wear OS device, you have access to a whole world of other apps if the native fitness monitoring isn't what you're used to.

Personally, I really like the way everything is clearly set out on screen - especially when walking or running outside. The large, AMOLED display is easy to see - even in bright sunlight wearing sunglasses - and the layout is quite customisable. For example. If you're more interested in steps and calories burned, you can move those into place instead of duration or average pace.

Just as with the sleep-tracking, you can immediately access your workout scores on the watch itself or do a deep-dive in the OHealth app - including a GPS-created route of your run/cycle/walk etc.

But it's the smart stuff that impressed me the most about the Watch X; rich notifications including thumbnails from my security cameras. Google Wallet set up in no time for contactless payments. The ability to reply to texts, emails, Messenger and WhatsApp, right from the watch itself. And yes, a media controller that will start, stop, fast-forward and rewind my podcasts without having to open my phone.

The only thing missing here is an LTE version I can load with its own eSIM so it can take calls and connect to the network without having to be paired with my phone via Bluetooth.

Style, comfort, durability, sleep, health and exercise tracking and yes, two-way interaction with messaging and email apps - every area in which I expected to be slightly disappointed I came away rather impressed instead. And as for battery life, this is definitely the longest lasting watch with this many premium features I've worn yet.

Best of all, it doesn't have to be paired with an Oppo phone - any Android device will do.

At NZ$599.00, the Watch X is not the cheapest contender in the New Zealand smartwatch market but it's definitely a contender. It's a comfortable, elegant wearable that ticks just about every box.

Click here for more information and pricing on the Oppo Watch X.