Vivo launches its second-gen Watch as an eSIM-enabled wearable with a dual-chipset system

Vivo has launched its Watch 2, thus adding to the choice of round-faced smartwatches with AMOLED displays out there. In this instance, the screen in question is a 1.43-inch panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and a pixel density of 476. It is found in one type of case, as opposed to the multiple options offered in its predecessor.

Vivo has also chosen to refine the color choices in this Watch 2: it comes in either black or silver, the latter of which has the option of a white band in addition to the black of the former. Its front panel does have a noticeable bezel, although the OEM has more or less rationalized its presence with an original dot-matrix pattern.

Then again, Vivo has striven to make its proprietary OS as dark-themed as possible so as to camuflage this gap between the flattened screen and the CNC-cut edge of its chassis. Internally, the OEM asserts the  Watch 2 has a "dual-chip" platform, although neither are named or outlined in terms of specs.

However, it is known that one of them is an auxiliary "communications" chip that handles the functions suggested by this name in order to conserve battery life. Vivo claims that this set-up allows the Watch 2 to stay on for up to 7 days between charges.

A Watch 2 user can spend this time working out or training, in water included thanks to the new wearable's 50m water-resistance rating, even with its new inbuilt speaker. It allows the resulting health-tracking data, as well as that for all-day heart rate-; SpO2; all-day calorie-, and sleep-tracking, to be synced to WeChat in a new partnership with this app.

The Vivo Watch 2 also supports navigation via Baidu; taxi route and progress monitoring; music from the cloud through the service Himalaya, and, of course, independent voice calls using an activated eSIM.

This feature also enables standalone mobile data, meaning a user can interact with Vivo's AI assistant Jovi without a paired phone. 

Finally, the wearable also has NFC for on-watch travel passes and so on. This new panel of specs does push the Vivo Watch 2 up to 1,299 yuan (~US$203) on its release.

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