I’ve had the $329.99 OnePlus Watch 3 for a number of days, and up to now, this isn’t an Android watch that flips the script. Instead, it’s a narrative about refinement (and taking part in a little bit of catch-up), reasonably than pushing boundaries. And you realize what? If it means a powerful Google / Samsung various with a rotating crown that lastly scrolls, I’m completely positive with that.
On the design entrance, the Watch 3 is sort of much like the OnePlus Watch 2, with a number of key modifications. The OLED show is a smidge bigger and brighter at 2,200 nits, and the bezels are notably smaller, although that’s partially due to a slight design tweak. The display is spiffy to have a look at, particularly with the brand new video watchface the place you’ll be able to add your individual clips. (I, in fact, have uploaded one in every of my cat asking for stomach rubs.) The casing remains to be chrome steel, however there’s a brand new titanium bodily bezel, too. It offers it a extra basic analog look, however in any other case, this isn’t a dramatic change. My large design gripe is that the Watch 3 nonetheless solely is available in a single 47mm measurement. It’s not horrible, however I’ve smaller wrists, and the lug gaps are notable. Offering only one measurement excludes people with smaller wrists from comfortably utilizing the Watch 3, and that seems like a missed alternative.
I’ll forgive OnePlus this oversight now that there’s a correct rotating crown. This time, you’ll be able to truly use it to scroll by way of screens — a baffling omission from the final watch. There are pleasant haptics that go together with it, and whereas this isn’t a groundbreaking addition, it soothes my internal curmudgeon that OnePlus has seen the errors of its methods and now upholds the nerdy wearable covenant {that a} rotating crown should additionally scroll.
Battery life has additionally been improved from 100 hours to 120 hours — or 5 days with common use and the always-on show turned off. Turning on the AOD shortens that to roughly three days. That’s pretty typical for all flagship smartwatches as of late. In a power-saving mode, you’ll be able to rise up to 16 days. OnePlus says it’s managed to stuff a bigger 631mAh battery within the Watch 3 utilizing the identical silicon nanostack battery because the OnePlus 13. Since it runs Wear OS 5, that ought to add some additional battery mileage. I haven’t been testing the watch lengthy sufficient to definitively touch upon battery life simply but, however I all the time admire quicker charging. You can get a full day’s price in about 10 minutes.
OnePlus says it modified the sensor format and made tweaks to the supplies to enhance monitoring accuracy. Speaking of sensors, the Watch 3 provides one for wrist temperature, an eight-channel optical coronary heart charge sensor, and a 16-channel blood oxygen sensor. It’s additionally revamped the Global Positioning System with a “round polarized antenna,” which it claims will assist enhance Global Positioning System maps in areas with tall buildings. I’m getting over a chilly, so I haven’t had the possibility to check this on a run but, however I’ll see whether or not it makes a dramatic distinction. Technically, the Watch 3 also can take EKGs, however that performance gained’t be obtainable for customers within the US or Canada. In a briefing, OnePlus spokesperson Spenser Blank mentioned that’s as a result of OnePlus hasn’t obtained FDA clearance however that, for “enterprise causes,” the corporate doesn’t plan on pursuing FDA clearance.
That’s disappointing given among the new well being options. The large one is OnePlus’ 60S Health Check-In, the place you contact the facet button and get a fast scan of your coronary heart charge, blood oxygen ranges, psychological wellness, wrist temperature, sleep high quality, and vascular age. European customers will get EKGs included in Q2 2025. Also new is a vascular well being take a look at, which measures your arterial stiffness. It’s much like a function Oura launched final yr, and it’s meant to gauge your circulatory system’s total state. (Mine is “regular.”)
With the Watch 3, OnePlus is refocusing a bit on sleep monitoring and wellness. The firm says sleep monitoring has been overhauled, and also you’ll now be capable of use the watch to trace loud night breathing patterns to evaluate your respiration disruptions. Stress monitoring has additionally been rebranded as “360 Mind and Body,” and it makes use of coronary heart charge variability, resting coronary heart charge, and exercise depth to approximate the way you’re doing… with emoji. Depending on the way it evaluates your stress, you may get suggestions for guided respiration. I’ve been working a beta model of the OHealth app with these updates, and up to now, I’ve obtained extra insights into sleep monitoring — although I’m not fully offered on the emoji. So far, all I’ve been is roasted for my “reasonable” wellness.
Plenty of these updates are issues different opponents have already got. They simply have a OnePlus twist to them, and it’ll take me some extra time to actually put subtler software program tweaks by way of the testing gauntlet. So far, although, carrying the Watch 3 is a pleasing reminder of how OnePlus has surprisingly emerged as a aggressive various to Samsung and Google. But one change I do know I don’t love is the Watch 3 is $30 costlier than its predecessor — although Blank advised me that the value enhance has nothing to do with tariffs.
The OnePlus Watch 3 is obtainable for preorder beginning as we speak and can start transport on February twenty fifth.
