COLMI P85 vs P86: Horizontal Screen vs Curved Screen — Which Is More Useful?
The COLMI P85 and P86 sit at exactly the same £45 price point with essentially the same AMOLED display technology underneath, yet they look and feel genuinely quite different on the wrist thanks to two distinct and deliberate display design approaches — one horizontal, one curved. This isn't a case of one being a straightforward upgrade over the other in the usual sense; it's a genuine design fork worth understanding properly before you choose between them.
The Core Difference: Screen Shape and Orientation
The COLMI P85 uses a horizontal AMOLED display, meaning the screen is oriented in landscape rather than the portrait orientation almost every other smartwatch, COLMI's included, defaults to. The COLMI P86 instead uses a curved AMOLED panel that follows the natural curve of your wrist, keeping the more conventional portrait-style layout most people are already used to from other smartwatches. Both are genuinely distinctive choices within COLMI's range rather than standard rectangular or circular faces.
Why a Horizontal Display Is Unusual
Almost every smartwatch currently on the market, regardless of brand or price point, uses a portrait or circular display, so the P85's landscape orientation is a genuinely uncommon design choice worth understanding properly before buying. The practical upside is that landscape orientation suits certain types of content unusually well — a wider format gives more natural room for longer notification text without excessive wrapping, and some watch face designs make creative use of the wider canvas for laid-out information like weather, steps, and heart rate side by side rather than stacked vertically.
The Trade-off With Horizontal Orientation
The honest downside is that a horizontal display sits differently against the natural shape of your wrist and forearm than the vertical orientation your eyes are more used to scanning quickly, and some users find it takes a short adjustment period to read at a glance as naturally as a conventional vertical layout. It's also a less common format across the broader watch face ecosystem, meaning fewer third-party or community watch face designs are built specifically with this orientation in mind compared to the more standard portrait layouts most designers default to.
Why a Curved Display Feels More Premium
The COLMI P86's curved AMOLED panel wraps gently around the wrist rather than sitting as a flat rectangle on top of it, which many people find both more comfortable against the skin and more visually distinctive — curved displays are typically associated with premium smartwatches at considerably higher price points, so getting one at £45 is a genuine standout feature for the P86 specifically. The curve also means the display edges blend more naturally into the case, giving a more seamless, integrated look than a flat panel.
Practical Readability Comparison
For glanceable information — checking the time quickly, or reading a short notification preview — the P86's conventional portrait orientation is generally the more immediately intuitive of the two options, simply because it matches the reading pattern most people are already deeply used to from years of using phones and other watches. The P85's horizontal layout rewards a bit of familiarity but can feel genuinely refreshing once you're used to it, particularly for viewing wider data like step graphs or longer text.
Battery Life
The COLMI P86 carries a clearly stated 12-day battery rating, putting it among the longer-lasting options in COLMI's AMOLED range. COLMI doesn't headline a distinct battery figure for the P85 in the same specific way, though it sits within the same general multi-day range typical of the AMOLED P-series rather than being a notable outlier in either direction. If battery life specifically is a deciding factor between the two, the P86's explicitly stated 12-day rating gives it a clearer, more confidently comparable edge on paper.
Comparison Table
| Feature | COLMI P85 | COLMI P86 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | £45 | £45 |
| Display type | AMOLED, horizontal orientation | AMOLED, curved |
| Battery life | Multi-day (unspecified headline figure) | 12 days (stated) |
| Design feel | Distinctive, unconventional layout | Premium, wrist-conforming curve |
| Watch face variety | More limited (less common format) | Broader (standard orientation) |
| Sports modes | 100+ | 100+ |
Who Should Choose the P85
If you specifically want something that looks and feels different from every other smartwatch you've seen — a genuine conversation-starter design choice rather than a conventional layout — the P85's horizontal display delivers that distinctiveness in a way few other budget watches attempt. It particularly suits anyone who values individuality in their wearable's appearance over matching the most common, expected format.
Who Should Choose the P86
If you want the more premium-feeling curved display experience with a conventional, immediately intuitive layout and a clearly stated 12-day battery figure to plan around, the P86 is the safer, more broadly appealing choice of the two. For most buyers who haven't specifically sought out a horizontal watch, the P86's familiar orientation combined with its distinctive curve is likely to feel like the more comfortable everyday choice.
Watch Face Customisation Differences
Because the P86 uses a standard portrait orientation, it draws from the same broad library of watch faces available across most of COLMI's range within Da Fit. The P85's horizontal format necessarily uses a more curated, purpose-built set of faces designed specifically for its landscape layout, which means fewer total options but each one specifically tailored to make good use of the wider format rather than being a generic face awkwardly adapted to fit.
Strap and Comfort Considerations
Both models use COLMI's standard strap system throughout, so day-to-day wearing comfort is broadly comparable between the two overall — the meaningful comfort difference comes from the curved display itself on the P86, which some people find sits more naturally against the wrist's own curve than a flat panel does, regardless of orientation.
Sports and Fitness Use
Both the P85 and P86 offer the same 100+ sports modes and core health tracking through Da Fit, so there's no meaningful functional difference here. The main consideration during exercise is display readability at a glance mid-activity, where the P86's conventional orientation may feel marginally more natural if you're used to checking stats quickly during a run or workout without needing to consciously adjust to a landscape reading pattern.
Which Sells Better, and Why That's Not the Whole Story
The P86 tends to be the more broadly popular choice between the two, largely because its curved-but-conventional design asks less adjustment from buyers used to standard watch layouts, while still offering something visually distinctive through the curve alone. That doesn't make the P85 the "wrong" choice — it simply means the P85 suits a more specific type of buyer who's actively seeking something different, rather than appealing to the broadest possible audience the way the P86's more familiar layout does.
Our Verdict
If you're unsure which to choose and don't currently have a strong preference either way, the P86 is the safer overall recommendation thanks to its more intuitive layout, broader watch face selection, and clearly stated 12-day battery life figure. Choose the P85 specifically if the horizontal display's novelty and distinctiveness genuinely appeals to you — it's a good watch, just one that asks a bit more deliberate buy-in to its unconventional format than the P86 does.
Where These Design Choices Come From
Curved displays have a longer history in the wider smartwatch and phone market than horizontal ones, having appeared on various premium devices over the years as a way to differentiate a product's physical presence without changing the underlying portrait interaction model. Horizontal, landscape-oriented watch displays are considerably rarer across the industry as a whole, making the P85 a genuinely unusual entrant in this specific respect, regardless of price point — most brands, even at the premium end, have stuck with portrait or circular layouts rather than experimenting with landscape orientation the way COLMI has with the P85.
How Each Looks in Photos and in Person
If how your watch photographs or looks to others matters to you — for social media, or simply personal preference — the two models create genuinely different impressions. The P86's curve catches light attractively from certain angles and reads as a more conventionally premium design language that's immediately recognisable as a smartwatch. The P85's horizontal layout is more likely to prompt a second look or a question from someone unfamiliar with it, precisely because it doesn't match the expected smartwatch silhouette most people are used to seeing.
Which One We're Asked About More Often
In our experience, customers researching the P86 tend to already have a fairly clear idea of what they want — a curved, premium-feeling display in a familiar format — and move to purchase relatively quickly. Customers considering the P85 more often have specific questions about the horizontal format beforehand, which is a reasonable reflection of it being the less common, more unfamiliar design of the two. If you find yourself with genuine open questions about how the P85's layout works in practice, that's a normal part of considering a less conventional design choice, not a sign it's necessarily wrong for you.
Resale and Long-Term Appeal
If you ever plan to pass on or sell a used device, it's worth knowing that more conventional designs like the P86's tend to have broader appeal to a wider pool of potential buyers, simply because they don't require the same explanation or adjustment period the P85's format does. This isn't a reason to avoid the P85 if you genuinely prefer it, but it's a fair practical consideration if resale value or ease of passing the device on to a family member down the line factors into your decision at all.
Setting Up Either Watch for the First Time
Initial setup through Da Fit is identical between the two models in terms of process — pairing, permissions, and account setup — with the only meaningful difference being the watch face selection step, where P85 owners will see the more curated, horizontal-specific face library rather than the broader standard selection. Neither setup process is more complex than the other; the difference is purely in the range of visual customisation available afterward.
A Final Thought Before You Choose
Neither the P85 nor the P86 is objectively the better watch — they represent two genuinely different answers to the same underlying question of how to make a budget AMOLED smartwatch feel distinctive rather than generic. Spend a moment thinking honestly about whether you're the kind of buyer who enjoys standing out with an unconventional format, or whether you'd rather have a more universally familiar layout with a still-distinctive curved finish, and let that guide your choice more than any single spec on the comparison table above.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the P85's horizontal display harder to read than a normal watch?
It takes a short adjustment period for most people, after which it becomes just as readable as a conventional layout, though the very first impression can feel less immediately intuitive than a standard portrait display.
Does the P86's curved display affect durability?
Both models carry the same IP68 water resistance rating and general build durability standards. The curve is a design and comfort feature rather than a durability trade-off.
Which has better battery life, the P85 or P86?
The P86 carries an explicitly stated 12-day rating. The P85 doesn't have a distinctly separate headline figure but sits within the same general multi-day range typical of COLMI's AMOLED P-series.
Can I use the same straps on both the P85 and P86?
Both use COLMI's standard strap attachment system, so straps are generally interchangeable between the two models, though it's worth confirming compatibility for your specific units before purchasing a replacement strap.
Is one of these models newer than the other?
They're best understood as parallel design options released around the same time, rather than one superseding the other — pick based on which display format and design language genuinely suits your preference.
Does the P85's horizontal layout affect how notifications display?
Notification text tends to wrap less awkwardly on the wider horizontal layout compared to a narrower portrait display, which some users find genuinely easier for reading longer messages at a glance.