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OnePlus Watch 3: One minute review
Writing this OnePlus Watch 3 review, I was struck by how much smaller of a leap we’ve seen from the OnePlus Watch 2 to the OnePlus Watch 3, compared to the leap the Watch 2 made from the original. The first OnePlus Watch was considered bad by every metric, but the OnePlus Watch 2 was a spectacular improvement in every way.
The OnePlus Watch 3 has much less work to do, iterating on an already successful design. Like the OnePlus Watch 2, it’s got the look of a classic dress watch with its outer casing and bezel, now upgraded from stainless steel to titanium. Its AMOLED display is now comprised of 2D sapphire crystal for improved durability, and its battery life has been extended from the OnePlus Watch 2’s 100 hours to 120 hours, beating rivals like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra for longevity.
As a Wear OS watch experience, functionally it performs as smoothly and as well as any Wear OS watch I’ve yet used, including the Google Pixel Watch 3. It’s an option most Android phone users should consider, and it’s sure to make its way into our best Android watches list in future.
Watch On
Its usability is vastly improved by the addition of a rotating digital crown, which allows for easier scrolling and navigation, especially during sweaty workouts where the touchscreen would be harder (or grosser, at least) to use.
It tracks runs well enough on-wrist, and accurately monitors sleep stages, although one night’s sleep score differed by 20 points compared to my Samsung Galaxy Ring. I experienced a few niggling issues with tracking swims, especially around stroke detection, but it should be fine for the layperson looking for a rough approximation of their training load. It’s unlikely triathletes will be using the OnePlus Watch 3 over any of the watches in our best running watches list.
My main gripe is the watch’s size: at the time of writing the initial early review, I said I would have loved to see OnePlus bring out a second, smaller model for those with smaller wrists. Many people, including a lot of women, will find it’s just too big and heavy for daily wear. However, during my testing, OnePlus published the news there would be a second, smaller size along with LTE capabilities for future models, and my fears were dispelled. When viewed in a vacuum, this original, larger OnePlus Watch 3 is a powerful, robust daily driver with modern health tools and a timeless look.
OnePlus Watch 3: Specifications
Component | OnePlus Watch 3 |
Price | $499 / £269.99 / AU$TBC |
Dimensions | 46.6mm x 47.6mm x 11mm |
Weight | 81g with strap |
Case/bezel | Titanium / Stainless steel |
Display | AMOLED 1.5-inch LTPO flexible display |
GPS | Dual-frequency GPS |
Battery life | Up to 120 hours (smartwatch) |
Connection | Bluetooth |
Water resistant | 5ATM |
OnePlus Watch 3: price and availability
- $499 in the US
- £269 in the UK
- A victim of recent tariff changes
The OnePlus Watch 3 is available to buy now from OnePlus in the UK and the US. Since its initial launch, the price has changed in both territories, and we’ve got good and bad news.
The UK version of this smartwatch is now just £269, a full £50 cheaper than the initial launch price and a move that makes the OnePlus Watch 3 a much more enticing buy.
Unfortunately, the US price has rocketed as a result of tariffs, and now costs $499 instead of the $329 we were expecting.
That makes the OnePlus Watch 3 hugely more expensive than the Pixel Watch 3 and puts it into Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra territory. Samsung’s rugged watch can routinely be found for less than $500.
OnePlus Watch 3: Design
- Sumptuous screen
- Rotating crown
- Very chunky
As mentioned, the OnePlus Watch 3 shares many design similarities with the OnePlus Watch 2. However, there are a few changes both under the hood and, erm, over it. The watch still runs Wear OS 5 on its Snapdragon W5 chipset, but it also runs a second operating system, RTOS, powered by a new BES2800 MCU chip.
By switching from Wear OS to the low-power RTOS, the OnePlus Watch 3 is able to extend its battery life. In conjunction with the new chip, a bigger 631mAh battery means the Watch 3 lasts up to 120 hours, compared with the older model’s 100 hours.
The shape and design of the OnePlus Watch 3 are very similar to the Watch 2. At 46.6mm x 47.6mm x 11mm, not including the thickness of the sensor, our model is a hefty watch at 81g including strap. It might look like a timeless metal dress watch, which helps, but the sheer size of it will be off-putting to a lot of people. Thank goodness a smaller model is on the way.
However, its size does mean it’s packing a lovely big screen. Its 2D sapphire crystal and buttery-smooth AMOLED puts out 2,000 nits, the same brightness as the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The big screen makes reading messages and notifications a pleasure rather than an annoyance, doubly so thanks to the other big new addition: a rotating digital crown.
Pressing the crown takes you back to the main menu, and its wheel is used for scrolling, while the side button starts workouts. Coupled with the touchscreen, it’s all very intuitive, and a design that will be familiar to users of the best Apple Watches.
OnePlus Watch 3: Features
- 60-second heart health check-in
- New ECG functionality
- Dual-frequency GPS
As well as the rotating digital crown, tougher new screen and bezel, and longer battery life, there are software features aplenty, both new and recurring. The beauty of Android watches is that you can stuff them full of third-party apps, and it’s the same case here. I’ve already got Strava, Spotify, AllTrails, Audible… all my usual suspects. You can access plenty of watch faces too.
First among the new stuff is the 60-second health check-in. When you press your finger on the all-in-one sensor button, the OnePlus Watch 3 measures heart rate, conducts an electrocardiograph scan (which will be available later in the year), tracks blood oxygen levels, mental wellness, wrist temperature, sleep quality, and a new metric called ‘vascular age’, which is similar to Garmin’s Fitness Age but specifically tailored to heart health.
A big emphasis is placed on heart health, with vascular elasticity metrics and the new ECG functionality working together to create benchmarks based on age. Essentially, the OnePlus Watch 3 can give you a rough idea of how “old” your heart is in comparison to the rest of your body. If you’re in your thirties but very fit, you might have the heart of a 25-year-old for example, whereas someone out-of-shape might have a heart edging towards their forties. However, the ECG functionality is unavailable in the US due to FDA clearance problems.
GPS is now dual-frequency for additional accuracy. The Watch’s basic workout app supports over 100 different sports modes, but only 11 of these offer ‘professional modes’ or unique metrics, such as running. The rest are nice-to-haves for instant input into your digital training diary.
OnePlus Watch 3: Performance
- Solid battery life
- Feature-packed and versatile
- Workout and sleep tracking are good, but some minor nitpicks
For a week, I tested the OnePlus Watch 3, using its exercise tracking, sleep tracking, third-party apps, and many of its health tools. Just like the OnePlus Watch 2, the switch between its dual operating systems is unnoticeable and seamless – it’s just a background operation to maximize battery life. Battery is a big selling point, and the watch delivers: during our tests, we found it lasted for around four-and-a-half days with multiple battery-sucking GPS workouts, well within expectations.
I liked using the watch. The snap-on, snap-off band attachment mechanism was dead easy – a nice change from many other mainstream smartwatches I could name (cough, Apple, cough). The watch was bigger and heavier than I was used to, even though I often wear chunky Garmins, but it looked great on my wrist, especially with a more classic-looking analog watch face, and I got a few compliments.
It tracked my sleep stages well, matching up with little difference to the measurements taken by my Samsung Galaxy Ring. Where the differences lie are not in data collection, but in data interpretation – OnePlus marked my sleep score as 74 compared to the Samsung Galaxy Ring’s 94, claiming that I didn’t get enough deep sleep even though the Samsung Galaxy Ring thought I did. A quick hunt around confirmed that Samsung had the right of it – OHealth claimed 17% was “a low percentage of deep sleep” in an 8hr, 40min period – even though the Sleep Foundation recommends that a healthy amount of deep sleep is up to 20%.
I found a few other small niggles throughout the week, notably swim tracking. The OnePlus Watch 3 only had a minimum pool size of 20 meters on the Pool Swim workout profile, and the hotel pool I used on my business trip was a paltry 10. It tracked my front crawl strokes very well, but didn’t map my breaststroke particularly well at all – I ended up manually counting them and checking them against the watch every two lengths.
It mapped my runs very well, with as much accuracy as the Apple Watch Ultra or best Garmin watches, with plenty of granular information and some lovely graphical displays. It’s a really solid running watch, and I’ve reviewed enough of them to know. It’s a shame this performance is slightly lacking in other areas.
OnePlus Watch 3: Scorecard
C ategory | Comment | Score |
Value | Excellent price for a premium-feeling smartwatch | 4/5 |
Design | Big, beautiful and timeless. Great screen. | 4.5/5 |
Features | All the usual features you’d expect from a top-tier Wear OS watch, | 4/5 |
Performance | A few niggles in some niche areas of data collection / interpretation | 3.5/5 |
Total | Absolutely one of the best true Wear OS watches out right now – for now. | 4/5 |
OnePlus Watch 3 – Should I buy?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider
Component | OnePlus Watch 3 | Google Pixel Watch 3 | Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (44mm) |
Price | $499.99 / £269.99 / AU$TBC | From $399 / £349 / AU$579 | $329.99/ £319 / AU$599 (starting) |
Dimensions | 46.6mm x 47.6mm x 11mm | 41 x 41 x 12.3mm / 45 x 45 x 12.3mm | 44.4mm x 44.4mm x 9.7mm |
Weight | 81g with strap | 31g / 37g without straps | 33.8g |
Case/bezel | Titanium / Stainless steel | Recycled aluminum | Armor Aluminum |
Display | AMOLED 1.5-inch LTPO flexible display | 320ppi always-on display AMOLED | 1.4-inch Super AMOLED Always-On display |
GPS | Dual-frequency GPS | GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Beidou, QZSS | GPS L1+L5, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo |
Battery life | Up to 120 hours (smartwatch) | 36 hours with battery saver enabled, 24 hours always-on display | Up to 28 hours |
Connection | Bluetooth | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE | Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi with optional LTE |
Water resistant | 5ATM | WR50, IP68 | 5ATM |
How I tested
I used the OnePlus Watch 3 for around ten days, allowing the battery to drain down multiple times and testing it during runs, swims, and walks. I used features such as the blood oxygen sensor, ECG functionality, third-party apps, and sleep tracking, comparing its metrics with the Samsung Galaxy Ring.
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