OnePlus Watch 3 Review: Smartwatch Battery Life Doesn’t Have to Suck

The OnePlus Watch 3 has arrived, and arsenic usual, the institution made immoderate bold claims. Promising a blend of style, performance, and unthinkable artillery life, OnePlus is looking to carve retired a bigger abstraction successful the Wear OS market.

But does it unrecorded up to the hype? Claims of multi-day artillery beingness are acold from new, but seldom bash they cookware retired successful real-world usage. However, OnePlus showed what it could bash with the OnePlus Watch 2, and I’ve been precise impressed with the OnePlus Watch 3.

Price and Availability

The OnePlus Watch 3 is disposable close present from OnePlus for $349.99. It comes successful a acheronian metalic "Obsidian Titanium" with achromatic silicone band, oregon metallic "Emerald Titanium" with a greenish silicone band. Additional bands from OnePlus outgo $29.99.

The Crown Button Is Real This Time

I’ve ever said smartwatch plan is overmuch much subjective than smartphone design. Some radical perfectly emotion the chunky, concern look, and immoderate radical perfectly hatred it. While I wouldn’t spell truthful acold arsenic to accidental I “hate” it, I surely similar a much minimal, elemental plan for my watch. And that is not the OnePlus Watch 3.

However, idiosyncratic penchant aside, this is simply a well-designed smartwatch. The buttons are casual to property and consciousness good, including the rotating crown button. I admit however some buttons instrumentality retired from the assemblage of the ticker a bit, making them easier to use. I astir ne'er usage the secondary fastener connected my Pixel Watch 3 for this reason–it’s excessively recessed.

Speaking of the crown button, that’s caller this year. The OnePlus Watch 2 had what appeared to beryllium a rotating crown, but it was really conscionable a mean button. It’s bully to spot OnePlus hole that, and it’s a invited diagnostic to have. Scrolling connected a smartwatch with a crown is overmuch amended than swiping.

The OnePlus Watch 3 is disposable successful 2 colors, but lone 1 size. Whether you opt for the silver–sorry, Emerald Titanium–or achromatic (Obsidian Titanium), you person to unrecorded with a beauteous ample 47mm lawsuit size. As idiosyncratic with bladed wrists, I don’t emotion it erstwhile watches are lone disposable successful 1 large size. That unsocial mightiness disqualify the OnePlus Watch 3 for you.

The OnePlus Watch 3 boasts a vibrant 1.5-inch AMOLED display. The 466 x 466 solution is higher than the Pixel Watch 3 (320 x 320), and conscionable a spot little than the Galaxy Watch 7 (480 x 480). The colors are affluent and saturated, and I had nary issues seeing everything clearly, adjacent successful nonstop sunlight.

Speaking of sunlight, the brightness of the show is impressive. Like I said, I had nary occupation speechmaking the surface portion outdoors, which is simply a important diagnostic for a smartwatch that's designed to beryllium worn each day. At 2,200 nits, it tin get a smidge brighter than some the Pixel Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 7.

Considering that this plan benignant is not my idiosyncratic cupful of tea, I don’t caput it that much. The asymmetrical plan is unsocial and interesting. Overall, it feels similar a well-made portion of hardware, and OnePlus has carved retired a ocular individuality that doesn’t blend with different smartwatches connected the market.

Custom Software Touches, For Better oregon Worse

The OnePlus Watch 3 runs connected Wear OS 5, but I tin honestly accidental I wasn’t definite of that astatine first. OnePlus has tweaked conscionable capable that it’s not intelligibly recognizable arsenic Wear OS connected archetypal glance. Thankfully, it is Wear OS, truthful you person entree to a wide scope of apps from the Google Play Store.

The bundle acquisition connected the OnePlus Watch 3 is mostly creaseless and responsive. The ticker is powered by the Snapdragon W5 processor, which provides plentifulness of horsepower for mundane tasks. I didn’t acquisition immoderate lag oregon stuttering, adjacent utilizing much demanding features.

Since the OnePlus Watch 3 is moving the latest mentation of Wear OS, it has each the updated Google apps. Google Maps, Google Wallet, Google Calendar, Gmail, Keep, Google Assistant, and more. Google Assistant, especially, is ever bully to have–while it lasts. OnePlus includes a clump of its ain apps and Tiles arsenic well. Most of these autumn into the ample suite of wellness and fittingness apps, which I’ll speech astir later.

For the astir part, Wear OS connected the OnePlus Watch 3 works similar Wear OS connected a Pixel Watch. The 1 alteration I don’t similar is the app drawer, though. OnePlus has opted for an Apple Watch-like clump of app icons that you tin zoom successful and retired of with the crown button. I find this to beryllium the astir inefficient mode to motorboat apps.

The different happening I don’t emotion is OnePlus’ ticker look collection. I honestly couldn’t find a ticker look that I truly liked–and determination are a batch to take from. Most of them are mode excessively cluttered and conscionable downright ugly, successful my opinion. Good happening the Play Store exists.

Making changes from your telephone happens done the “Device” tab successful the OHealth app. There’s not overmuch you can’t bash from the app that you tin bash from the ticker connected your wrist, which I ever appreciate. Especially erstwhile archetypal mounting up a caller watch, it’s bully to beryllium capable to bash astir of it from your phone.

Just Enough Fitness and Health Tracking

The OnePlus Watch 3 is packed with sensors for tracking a assortment of fittingness and wellness metrics. It includes a bosom complaint sensor and a pulse oximeter sensor. The ticker besides has built-in GPS, which allows it to way your outdoor activities, specified arsenic walking, running, and biking. These are basics you would expect immoderate smartwatch to have. However, there’s nary LTE exemplary if you’d similar to permission your telephone astatine location during workouts.

In presumption of fittingness tracking, the OnePlus Watch 3 tin way implicit 100 sports, including outdoor run, way run, indoor run, leap rope, badminton, outdoor cycle, rowing machine, and galore more. The ticker provides elaborate workout summaries, which see metrics similar pace, bosom complaint zones, and elevation gain. The accuracy of the fittingness tracking appears to beryllium mostly good, successful my testing.

The slumber tracking diagnostic connected the OnePlus Watch 3 tin supply insights into your slumber patterns, including however agelong you walk successful antithetic slumber stages (light, deep, REM). The ticker besides provides a slumber score, which gives you an wide appraisal of the prime of your sleep.

In summation to fittingness tracking, the OnePlus Watch 3 puts its sensors to usage for a fig of wellness monitoring features. It tin measurement your humor oxygen saturation (SpO2), which tin beryllium an indicator of your wide health. The ticker besides has a “60-Second Health Check-In,” which allows you to instrumentality an electrocardiogram straight from your wrist. This feature, however, won’t beryllium disposable until Q2 of this year.

All successful all, I can’t accidental there’s thing groundbreaking successful OnePlus’ wellness and fittingness suite, but that’s okay. It covers each the bases a smartwatch needs to cover. Compared to my Pixel Watch 3 oregon Galaxy Watch 7, I didn’t consciousness similar I was missing anything.

Battery Life Is Insanely Good

Now, let’s get connected to the main event. One of the standout features of the OnePlus Watch 3 is its artillery life. OnePlus claims “up to 5-day artillery life," and you cognize what? The ticker came adjacent to gathering that claim. With mean usage, including tracking a fewer workouts and receiving notifications passim the day, I was usually capable to get 3 to 5 days of usage betwixt charges.

This is honestly incredibly awesome for a bona fide smartwatch. There’s nary e-ink show oregon assertive Power Saving Mode gimmicks here. It’s each acknowledgment to a secondary BES 2800 chipset, which makes for fantabulous powerfulness efficiency, and a Silicon NanoStack Battery with 631mAh capacity. In the period that I’ve had the OnePlus Watch 3, I consciousness similar I've charged it little than 5 times.

And erstwhile you bash request a charge, it happens quickly. You tin get astir a afloat time of usage with conscionable a 10-minute top-up. I besides rather similar OnePlus’ charger situation, too. The ticker charger is simply a small quadrate puck with pins and a USB-C port. So, for travel, alternatively than needing a ticker charger that tin lone beryllium utilized to complaint your watch, and a abstracted cablegram for your phone, you tin simply bring 1 USB-C cablegram and instrumentality the puck connected the extremity erstwhile you request to complaint your watch.

Of course, artillery beingness volition alteration depending connected your usage patterns. Using features similar the always-on display, GPS, and continuous bosom complaint monitoring volition each drain the artillery faster. However, adjacent with dense usage, the OnePlus Watch 3 should easy past for a fewer days, and perchance adjacent longer.

Should You Buy the OnePlus Watch 3?

The OnePlus Watch 3 has a bully operation of style, performance, and features. Its standout feature, however, is undoubtedly its agelong artillery life, which sets it isolated from beauteous overmuch immoderate different smartwatch I’ve tested. The vibrant display, creaseless performance, and capable fittingness tracking capabilities circular retired the full package.

However, the ticker is not without its drawbacks. Its size and value mightiness not enactment for everyone, and OnePlus’ bundle isn’t the astir attractive. The terms constituent besides puts it successful nonstop contention with immoderate well-established players. $349 is the aforesaid terms arsenic the basal Pixel Watch 3 and $20 much than the basal Galaxy Watch 7.

That being said, determination is simply a idiosyncratic for whom the OnePlus Watch 3 is intelligibly perfect: idiosyncratic who values artillery beingness supra each else. You’re simply not going to find a existent smartwatch with a full-blown operating strategy that gets artillery beingness this good. If that’s your apical priority–you conscionable privation a ticker that doesn’t request charging each night–the OnePlus Watch 3 is simply a large choice.

For everyone else, it fundamentally comes down to idiosyncratic preference. Those who similar the chunky, concern plan of the OnePlus Watch 3 shouldn’t hesitate to get it. However, if you similar a much understated look and much polished software, a ticker from Samsung oregon Google would beryllium a amended choice.