Earlier this year, OnePlus launched a new smartwatch. Over the past few weeks, we have been using this watch and in this review, we share our opinion of the OnePlus Watch 3.
OnePlus Watch 3
As mentioned, OnePlus introduced the Watch 3 at the beginning of this year. Yet, it was later discovered that the back of the watch had a spelling error on it. As a result, this watch is not yet on sale, even our test sample features this spelling error. Is that a reason to halt sales as a result? At least for OnePlus it is, the brand wants to bring the perfect WearOS watch to market.
In the packaging
OnePlus delivers the watch in a square box that looks very stylish. Inside the box we find below the watch itself, a charging cable, cradle and some paperwork in the form of a safety guide and a quick start guide. We have the one with the green straps, a black one is also available.
In use
Compared to the previous OnePlus Watch 2, the screen of the 3 is slightly larger. In this watch, the manufacturer has used a dual chip namely the Snapdragon W5 and a BES2800BP MCU. Both chips should ensure optimal power consumption. In addition, OnePlus has deployed its new battery technology that you may know from the OnePlus 13, which smartphone has great battery life as you have read in our OnePlus 13 review. Would that matter for this watch too?
In daily use, it is a fine watch that is easy to read in all conditions. The watch also responds nicely to input and to buttons like the crown and the button on the right side. That button takes you quickly to the "training" menu, which you use to start a walk, bike ride or other sports activity. Double tapping opens your wallet, Google Wallet does require a screen lock.
Again, the Watch 3 is IP68 certified with a maximum pressure of 5ATM, so you can take a dive without any problems. The measurements on your health seem to be very accurate. It can track your sleep, measure your heart rate, saturation throughout the day and even take ECG movies. The latter is also part of a 60-second check, in which the watch uses all its sensors to determine your health. The measurements are akin to the "Fitness Age" section on Garmin watches. With the main difference being that OnePlus is more focused on heart health.
In addition, the watch measures stiffness in your arteries and displays wrist temperature. You can also use the watch to log your emotional state and give insight into your stress levels.
Of course, you can also equip the Watch 3 with your own apps, for which 32GB of storage is available. Through the Play Store, you will find app like Spotify so you can play music through the watch but also useful apps like Komoot or Strava.
Whereas with smartwatches you sometimes hear that the battery disappoints, that is absolutely not the case with this OnePlus Watch 3. OnePlus claims that the watch lasts five days and in practice this certainly turns out to be the case. Of course, that does depend on how many notifications you receive and how often you use the activity tracker. With an hour of charging, the watch is ready for another week. The power-saving mode offers up to 16 days of battery life, handy if you don't have a charger nearby for a while.
Ohealth app
The app that lets you pair the watch and view all your health data gives you all the information at a glance. Also, pairing via this application is pretty quick. Besides Google Fit, the app can also share with Strava and Health Connect. Changes can be found there though, the stress graph has been merged into "Wellness tracking". Whether you like the display of the data is personal.
Review
The OnePlus Watch 3 is a particularly successful WearOS watch, which is a fine companion thanks to its long battery and fast operation. So does such a spelling error on the back matter? Actually no, because all the good the watch has to offer is on the front. At the time of writing, you can pre-order the watch, with delivery expected 10 April 2025. The Watch 3 has a recommended retail price of 349 euros, although you can sometimes find it cheaper at some shops already.
You can buy the OnePlus Watch 3 at Coolblue, MediaMarkt and at Bol.com.
OnePlus Watch 3
