OnePlus Watch 3 First Look: Who’s It For? And Is It Worth It?

OnePlus has trailed a few steps short of making a smartwatch that truly competes with the Wear OS heavy-hitters. Well? Did they finally do it? – you’re not alone in that thought. This OnePlus Watch 3 review aims to quickly break it down.

Let’s outline key overarching aspects of the OnePlus Watch 3 to see if they make it a compelling option for Android users and other shoppers in the market for a smartwatch that looks traditional but is every bit as smart as its competition.

Design and Display

A good judge of a product’s quality is how it feels in the hand. Basically, the OnePlus Watch 3’s first impressions are down right pleasant; sleek simple lines, lightweight build, rotating crown, and a slim brushed steel body make for a more upscale experience that delivers, whether you are dressing up for work or headed out for a run.

Additionally, the display makes use of AMOLED technology to give you a 1.5-inch real estate of high contrasts and full vibrant colors; it also gets plenty bright – enough to be comfortably visible outdoors. OnePlus finally added a rotating crown that makes scrolling feel a bit more natural and akin with the likes of the Apple Watch.

Yes, 2 Brains

OnePlus literally said (or wrote) – “Two brains are better than one”. How? Well, the OnePlus Watch 3 sports what OnePlus calls a Dual-Engine Architecture. This system powers the 2 processing chips that work hand-in-hand in performance and battery life delivery. The goal? You guessed it (or maybe didn’t) – optimal power management.

To seal the deal, OnePlus adopted the same battery technology that is embedded in their OnePlus 13 Smartphone – all in all, that’s smart way to leverage, especially when exploring new territory. The cherry on top? OnePlus Watch 3 launched with Google’s Wear OS 5 pre-installed. A huge part of that is the Google Assistant you get right out of the box, plus Google Maps and Google Wallet.

The Brawns

• A Monday to Friday battery life based on a usage scenario that mainly involves AOD (Always-On Display) off, 6.5 hours sleep monitoring/day, and 30 minutes/day GPS activity.
• 3 days battery life with a more intensive usage scenario; running more apps and syncing data with your phone, listening to music via Bluetooth and your display always on for about 12 hours a day.
• Functional health tracking features that can track your emotional state, heart health, blood oxygen, and sleep quality.
• GPS precision that is optimized to find your location whether you are running on city sidewalks or trailblazing the beaten path.

If you want a superior user interface with quick app launches, instant notifications, smooth navigation and glitch-free operation in the Wear OS world, you would most of the time have to give up battery life. Looking at the major projections OnePlus had for the OnePlus Watch 3, it’s clear again that they had performance and battery life at the top of their list.

Good Value?

At launch, the OnePlus Watch 3 cost $499 in the US and $449 in Canada. The price was later reduced to $349 in the US; Canada’s pricing is pretty much unchanged.

Even though the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is currently on sale for $250 – $300 CAD on various platforms, I would still find it difficult to recommend a usage time maxed out at 30 hours with AOD on.

Google’s Pixel Watch 3 on the other hand, would be the near perfect wearable to pair seamlessly with an Android smartphone for obvious reasons, but has an even worse battery life on paper than the Galaxy Watch 7 (24 hours with AOD on). It’s also currently the priciest of the bunch at $479.99 CAD, so yeah – that only makes it harder to recommend.

Bottom Line

In my time with the OnePlus Watch 3, I have come to appreciate the premium execution (look, feel, and build), the smooth interface, and the long-lasting battery life the most – in my experience with smartwatches, you cannot have those statements in the same sentence without literally breaking the bank.

OnePlus is Measuring Up

The battery life lives well up to their projections. I have gotten 5 full days in normal smartwatch mode with AOD on and no GPS workouts recorded. With AOD on and 30 minutes/day GPS activities, I was still able to get 3 days up to the evening of the third day. Usage and results will vary between individuals but it mostly aligned with my expectations.

Their bet on this new dual-engine architecture seems to have paid off by letting them cram more health, fitness, and productivity tech into that slim body without compromising battery life the way others have.

OnePlus however, does need to up their market game a bit to make this smartwatch more accessible on more platforms in the North American market. Otherwise, it will not get the attention it so deserves.

The Ideal User

Let’s cut my rambling and get back to the questions – is it worth it? I’d say absolutely! We are basically looking at a smartwatch that integrates well with your smartphone, packs in health and fitness novelty features, can run for a full work week on a single charge, and feels every bit Android as the next flagship wearable – all on your wrist, without burning a hole in your wallet.

Who is the OnePlus Watch 3 for? Let’s resolve that query by looking at these questions;

• Do you want a smartwatch that looks and feels a bit more like a premium traditional timepiece?
• Are you looking for good Google integration and the Google Assistant?
• Are you an AOD user and tired of charging your smartwatch every night?
• Do you want a reasonably priced Android smartwatch that gets most features right?

If your answer is YES to all of these questions, then the OnePlus Watch 3 might just be the next best Wear OS wearable for you.

There you have it! I hope this quick read helped you edge closer to your decision on the OnePlus Watch 3. Have a few thoughts? Leave a comment! I’d be happy to hear from you.