OnePlus Watch 3 Review

Battery beingness is simply a immense constituent of contention among smartwatch users close now, particularly fixed that it’s specified a hassle to person to perpetually complaint an ambient instrumentality that’s meant to way manner patterns successful the inheritance and supply speedy accusation cues portion posing arsenic a timepiece. After 1 afloat week of investigating the OnePlus Watch 3 against my older-model Apple Watch Series 6, I've recovered the OnePlus Watch 3 to beryllium a fashionable small Andoid instrumentality that excels successful respective large areas portion stumbling successful others. But adjacent with a artillery that seems to support a complaint for respective days successful Smart Mode, its moment-to-moment tracking capabilities didn't rather unrecorded up to the polish of its exterior… until I manually activated its workout mode, aft which it held its ain against the Series 6 erstwhile I tracked workout show side-by-side.

OnePlus Watch 3 – Design and Features

The OnePlus Watch 3 makes a beardown archetypal content with its large and agleam 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED show and stainless alloy frame. The crown and touchscreen connection precise navigation done menus, portion the dedicated workout fastener provides speedy entree to fittingness functions – a thoughtful interaction for progressive users who privation to rapidly leap into their routine, and it isn’t excessively antithetic oregon unfamiliar for a longtime Apple Watch idiosyncratic to fig retired intuitively. However, the included fluoro rubber wrist strap is simply a large disappointment that instantly gave maine occupation upon archetypal setup; it’s disfigured and cheap-feeling, and the lugs detach excessively easily, making it hard to deterioration securely without randomly snapping off. And that undermines the premium consciousness of the ticker itself.

The 466 x 466-resolution AMOLED surface offers agleam and crisp visuals with vibrant colors that popular adjacent nether nonstop sunlight, acknowledgment to fantabulous opposition astatine 2,200 highest nits. Its bigger size and brighter surface marque it casual to work notifications and workout metrics astatine a glance. Touch responsiveness is besides snappy and precise, with creaseless animations that marque the interface consciousness fluid and slick. My Apple Watch Series 6 doesn’t person this aforesaid interior slickness anymore, and upon archetypal mounting up the Watch 3, I felt a small spot of caller tech euphoria from however accelerated its Snapdragon W5 and BES2800 chips marque it feel, adjacent with Power Mode turned on. The haptic feedback deserves peculiar mention: each vibration feels refined and intentional alternatively than buzzy oregon jarring.

The watch’s crown is shaped successful a sharp-looking pyramid signifier designed for precise control. Once I enactment the ticker connected my wrist for the archetypal time, it instantly felt mode much blase than what I’m utilized to, and I kept coming backmost to this favoritism whenever I reached for words to explicate wherefore the OnePlus Watch 3 feels truthful premium. The pancake-shaped crown of the Series 6 is specified a tiny item (literally), and yet it makes the ticker feel small by comparison. Like a artifact alternatively than a timepiece. The lone downside to the OnePlus Watch 3’s outward aesthetic design, speech from its wristband, is that it’s lone disposable successful Emerald Titanium and Obsidian Titanium colorways. Both of these are boring successful examination to its competitors – some the Google Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 tin beryllium customized a bit, portion the Apple Watch Series 10 has a overmuch larger postulation of aluminum and titanium colorways. Even the Series 6 had mode much customizability successful presumption of size and color.

Water absorption is rated astatine 50 meters, which should theoretically marque it ablution and swim-friendly. However, I encountered issues with h2o connected the surface triggering mendacious inputs and causing erratic behavior, forcing maine to region it during showers – thing I've ne'er had to bash with my Apple Watch. This raises questions astir its applicable h2o absorption successful regular use. Of course, the Apple Watch isn’t cleanable successful specified conditions either, but it usually stops being interactive (as in, nary of my inputs oregon presses bash anything) alternatively than invasive, arsenic the OnePlus Watch 3’s touchscreen became erstwhile I tested it during a abbreviated ten-minute shower.

Battery beingness is wherever the OnePlus Watch 3 genuinely shines. After the mean afloat time of use, including casually moving astir my flat and doing chores, receiving regular notifications, and tracking a airy workout oregon 2 (typically walking for an hr oregon playing the VR fittingness crippled Supernatural), the artillery dropped by lone astir 15% connected average. For the record, my Apple Watch was near astatine astir 20% by the extremity of each day, without fail, nary substance what I was doing. Given the property of my Apple Watch, its shorter artillery beingness is somewhat expected owed to predictable artillery degradation implicit the years. Even so, the quality betwixt what I was antecedently utilized to (only having to complaint the Apple Watch each 2 oregon 3 days) is inactive singular erstwhile the OnePlus Watch 3 could easy past 5 days connected a azygous charge. Smart Mode needs to beryllium enabled to get the astir retired of this, but it’s elemental to acceptable up successful the watch’s onboard interface.

The Watch 3 includes modular smartwatch sensors for bosom rate, humor oxygen (SPO2), and question tracking. It besides features wrist somesthesia tracking, though this requires 5 days to found a baseline earlier providing meaningful data. Wrist somesthesia whitethorn look unconventional astatine archetypal glance, but that information watercourse is incredibly utile for things similar the Watch 3’s 60 Second Health Check-In feature, which gives an all-in-one contextual summary of my wide well-being. It’s a small frustrating that I request to get connected the OHealth telephone app to marque that hap alternatively of doing it each connected the ticker – it’s decently casual to acceptable up, but I don’t privation to person to propulsion my telephone retired for thing that feels similar it should tally easy connected the ticker alone. At slightest the results are broad acknowledgment to the Watch 3’s onboard PPG (photoplethysmography) sensor and ECG (electrocardiography) sensor moving successful tandem. Unlike the Apple Watch, it lacks AFib detection capabilities successful the United States and Canada, which could beryllium deal-breakers for users with circumstantial wellness concerns.

For fittingness enthusiasts, the OnePlus Watch 3 offers elaborate workout tracking for assorted activities. During walks, it captures metrics similar bosom complaint zones, pace, calorie burn, and region traveled. Of course, not each walks number arsenic outdoor activities – erstwhile your workouts instrumentality you outdoors, whether you’re walking oregon running, the Watch 3’s fantabulous GPS tracking creates way maps with elevation data. The GPS-routed maps look agleam and elaborate connected the watch’s screen, and don’t look to beryllium reliant connected proximity to the Android telephone that the Watch 3 is paired to. In fact, Bluetooth connectivity betwixt the Watch 3 and my Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has been thing abbreviated of excellent, seamlessly reconnecting whenever I returned location and the devices were unneurotic again.

OnePlus Watch 3 – Software

Setup is not peculiarly intuitive for idiosyncratic coming from the Apple ecosystem. Getting successful requires downloading the OHealth companion app, and its interface feels much analyzable and requires deeper familiarity with Google services and Android operation that I’m inactive getting the bent of. Mainly due to the fact that I americium not the superior idiosyncratic of the telephone – and particularly since an further OnePlus relationship is required to adjacent statesman pairing the ticker to the phone, it was hard to get things aligned properly. It’s not a huge woody arsenic I was capable to benignant everything retired successful little than 20 minutes, but YMMV.

For the record, I recognize that the immense bulk of radical who volition beryllium funny successful the OnePlus Watch 3 aren’t going to consciousness these concerns – they’re already Android-savvy, they already cognize what they’re doing, and (as I ideate what the pushback successful the comments conception volition look like) they don’t privation to perceive immoderate Apple fanatic kick astir analyzable interface structure. Totally fair! Still, the companion app layout is organized successful ways that caused maine immoderate other vexation and took clip to learn, and that astir apt isn’t going to pull non-core users into Android’s ecosystem if they’re not already successful the mix.

Onboard UI navigation is straightforward erstwhile you larn the basics – swipe down for speedy settings, up for notifications, and usage the crown to scroll done menus oregon apps. The idiosyncratic interface is responsive with minimal lag erstwhile moving betwixt screens. Using apps similar Spotify and Google Calendar is besides seamless, sleek, and highly responsive.

The OnePlus Watch 3 runs connected Wear OS, which is fundamentally the aforesaid happening arsenic Apple’s watchOS by immoderate different name. Of course, alternatively of tying into the Apple ecosystem it alternatively grants nonstop entree to Google's ecosystem of apps and services. For example, giving the idiosyncratic the enactment to store wellness information successful Google Fit, pushing information via notifications from Gmail, and granting entree to Google-specific applets (Google Play Store, Google Maps, etc) recovered straight successful the watch’s cardinal menu. This is nary antithetic from immoderate different Android smartwatch successful practice, but I’d similar to ideate the Watch 3 simply does a amended occupation of moving its services than each the others, owed successful portion to its almighty artillery and precocious Snapdragon 5 chipset. Upon this foundation, OnePlus has added its ain furniture of customization with attractive-looking exclusive ticker faces and wellness features – similar its Vascular Health check-in diagnostic that uses respective sensors to find however adjacent the idiosyncratic is to being astatine hazard of processing terrible bosom disease. Fortunately, I’m inactive implicit the greenish enactment of what is considered “Normal” vascular wellness for a 31 twelvemonth old, but I wouldn’t person known this if I hadn’t reviewed the Watch 3. It could beryllium a almighty informing instrumentality that informs semipermanent wellness decisions, adjacent without Afib detection.

Sleep tracking connected the OnePlus Watch 3 provides elaborate breakdowns of slumber stages, including heavy sleep, airy sleep, REM, and awake time. It besides offers a slumber people and breathing prime assessment. While these metrics look comprehensive, I'm inactive evaluating their accuracy compared to different dedicated slumber trackers. For the astir part, the Watch 3 seems to way intimately to my Apple Watch Series 6’s readouts. Additionally, the automatic slumber mode activation is simply a bully interaction that dims the show and reduces notifications erstwhile it detects the idiosyncratic has fallen asleep.

The watch's fittingness interface provides impressively elaborate information visualizations. After workouts, it breaks down bosom complaint zones with clip spent successful each zone, shows gait variations passim routes, and offers insights that Apple doesn't aboveground arsenic clearly. The "Wellness Curve" is simply a proprietary metric that attempts to measurement your wide carnal authorities based connected assorted wellness parameters, though I'm inactive learning however to construe its fluctuations meaningfully arsenic idiosyncratic who is inactive lone conscionable breaking successful the Watch 3.

Notification handling is beauteous modular compared to my experiences. Text messages, emails, and app alerts look promptly, and you tin respond with speedy replies oregon dependable dictation. Additionally, the ticker does connection Google Assistant integration, which performs good for basal tasks similar mounting timers oregon checking upwind forecasts, but astatine this infinitesimal it’s not each that perceptibly antithetic from Siri.

OnePlus Watch 3 – Performance

Fitness tracking is wherever the OnePlus Watch 3 shows its astir important weaknesses. Step counting consistently lagged down the Apple Watch, sometimes by melodramatic margins. During 1 VR fittingness session, the Apple Watch recorded 5,255 steps portion the OnePlus lone registered 1,612 – a monolithic discrepancy that I’m inactive trying to wrapper my caput around, arsenic this was a beauteous accordant occurrence. On 1 hand, I usage Supernatural for my superior VR workouts, which is attuned to my Series 6 and (from my understanding) feeds successful other contextual information to Apple Health. But connected the different hand, this signifier continued passim testing, with the OnePlus Watch typically signaling astir 25-30% less steps than the Apple Watch whether I was moving retired successful Supernatural, doing a halfway workout, oregon playing immoderate different high-intensity VR crippled similar The Thrill of the Fight. When not successful workout mode, the Watch 3 besides seems to update measurement counts successful bursts alternatively than successful real-time, sometimes missing passive question entirely.

At 1 constituent I saw the fig of recorded steps abruptly driblet from astir 2,500 to 1,700, lone for the measurement number to level retired aboriginal successful the time and go astir adjacent to the Series 6’s measurement number aft signaling an outdoor walk. This is bizarre, considering that I wore some watches astatine the aforesaid time, astatine each times. It’s highly imaginable that the Watch 3’s fittingness tracking mechanisms request clip to calibrate to the user, but it seems similar the lone mode to get the Watch 3 to accurately way regular steps is by taking it connected agelong stretches of outdoor enactment wherever it tin deliberately way question implicit a longer play of time.

In fact, workout tracking showed mode much consistency with calories burned and bosom complaint measurements mostly aligning with the Apple Watch's readings. During a little halfway grooming session, some watches reported akin calorie burns (30 vs. 27 progressive calories) and mean bosom rates (120 vs. 115 BPM). The OnePlus Watch did supply much elaborate bosom complaint portion investigation than I’m typically utilized to, breaking down clip spent successful warm-up, abdominous burning, and endurance zones.

GPS accuracy during outdoor activities was beauteous good, with the OnePlus Watch signaling somewhat longer distances than the Apple Watch (4.04 vs. 3.94 miles connected 1 walk). This could beryllium owed to antithetic sampling rates oregon algorithms, but the quality wasn't important capable to beryllium concerning. What was awesome was the artillery ratio during GPS tracking, with minimal drain adjacent aft stacking a longer outdoor league unneurotic with a afloat VR workout regular connected the aforesaid day, dealing with notifications, and truthful forth. All of that enactment inactive rounded up to nary much than 16% artillery drain connected that day, which is exceptional.