Ever since their introduction, I have found smartwatches to be a piece of tech that, while not essential, serve a useful purpose in day-to-day life. I also have found my time trying to find the “perfect” smartwatch to be a similar story to that of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in the sense that it is a very love/hate relationship with them. I will find myself either loving some features or hating others with no real middle ground.
Into their 3rd generation, OnePlus has just introduced their new OnePlus Watch 3, looking to compete with other more flagship-level smartwatches on the market while being offered at a very competitive price. This year offers a heavy emphasis on health tracking, which, for someone with health issues, could be quite beneficial. That being said, will it have what it takes to become a perfect smartwatch for me? Or will it fall into the same place many watches of previous years have and end up sitting in a drawer collecting dust?
For me, some of the main aspects I find myself wanting most out of a smartwatch come into the following categories: appearance/comfort, battery life, durability and feature set. In this review, we will dig into each aspect to see if the OnePlus Watch 3 not only meets my needs but also whether or not it will be a watch worth investing in.
Starting off the list, we will be looking at the overall appearance and comfort of the watch. After all, what good is a watch if it doesn’t look or feel good on your wrist? Many smartwatches tend to look fairly similar, with circular or boxy screens, strapped to your wrist with generally cheaper looking or feeling silicone straps.
The OnePlus breaks this trend by looking more like a traditional timepiece with minute markers around the outer titanium rim of the watch with a metal-built body. The body itself is a mix of brushed and polished stainless steel that not only looks stunning but gives off a very classy and almost elegant-looking appearance.
Along the right side is a rotating crown that can be used to scroll through menus and lists or pressed to perform a wide range of tasks. Below that is an additional button that can also be used to perform a range of tasks, programmable by the end user. I certainly found myself appreciating this as I didn’t feel like I was being locked down by what the manufacturer wanted them to do.
The strap is made of rubber, which, in my days of wearing the OnePlus Watch 3, felt quite comfortable, even after long wear sessions or sweating. Other watches I have worn with silicone straps would begin to irritate my wrists to the point of needing to remove the watch or wanting to find different material straps to continue wearing them.
Many days I would often forget I was even wearing the watch because it felt so light on my wrists. One minor gripe, however, is the overall size of the OnePlus Watch 3. For those with larger wrists, the watch will look perfectly fine, although, on my smaller wrists, the watch tended to look rather massive. Ladies, you may also find yourself in a similar predicament in this aspect. A smaller size option could be beneficial in this regard, like how other companies offer smaller sizes for their audiences.
Next, we move on to battery life. This has almost always been an aspect I find many smartwatches lack and will often turn me off from wanting to use them. The last thing I want is to have to remember to charge my watch daily or every other day, along with the other list of devices I need to charge regularly. Plus, if I go away for more than a night, I have to remember yet another cable to charge my watch.
“The strap is made of rubber, which, in my days of wearing the OnePlus Watch 3, felt quite comfortable, even after long wear sessions or sweating.”
In my several days of testing, I was able to get over five days of usage, which I was rather surprised by. While I am by no means a power user of my smartwatch, I do receive numerous notifications per day and use regular heart monitoring and other features of the watch throughout the day. This may not compete with my battery-sipping Garmin Instinct 2, which manages to get nearly a month per charge, but it certainly blows my old Google Pixel Watch, with its measly day or two of battery life, out of the water.
OnePlus is claiming the Watch 3 will deliver up to five days of regular usage or up to 16 days in power saving mode, which I find more than acceptable for a smartwatch. I do wish more companies would aim for battery life of, at the very least, this range.
Charging is accomplished through a conventional magnetic charger; however, OnePlus has improved this compared to other companies by making it a compact block that incorporates USB C into it, making it easily possible to slip into a bag or pocket and requiring one less cable in my tech kit. When time constraints prevent a full charge, true to OnePlus, a quick charge of only 10 minutes will get the OnePlus Watch 3 a full day of use, meaning you can easily charge up for a few minutes while getting ready or commuting and potentially be ready to wear your watch for days to come.
Durability is another aspect I can’t live without on a smartwatch. As a truck driver by profession, my watches and tech are often subjected to some of the worst weather conditions and abuse. Whether it be rain, snow, or just getting bumped around while working, I need to know my watch can take a beating and keep on ticking without worrying about it breaking. Sure, you can always get a case or protection for your watch, but that adds extra weight and bulk to what could be an otherwise gorgeous timepiece.
“When time constraints prevent a full charge, true to OnePlus, a quick charge of only 10 minutes will get the OnePlus Watch 3 a full day of use…”
OnePlus doesn’t disappoint in this aspect either, giving the OnePlus Watch 3 MIL-STD 810H, IP68 and 5ATM ratings, meaning that it should withstand most of life’s rough moments and even handle water better than much of its competition. In my testing, I absolutely found this to be the case and was delighted to see that I didn’t have to worry as much about the overall watch condition as I had expected.
My Google Pixel Watch 1 I owned previously always left me uneasy and often got scratched up in my day to day uses. While it never did break, I feel confident that the OnePlus Watch 3 will survive and come out handling the abuse even better, being built with a tough sapphire crystal glass. While I would potentially like to see a slightly larger lip around the screen to prevent some accidental bumps against the screen, a screen protector could prove useful in this regard.
Finally, we come to what everyone always looks at when it comes to smartwatches: their features and health tracking. I am pleased to say that once again, OnePlus has done a remarkable job in making sure the Watch 3 can tackle a wide range of tasks and can monitor your health to ensure you can live your life to its fullest.
As someone with a heart condition, the OnePlus Watch 3 offering enhanced heart monitoring is something I greatly appreciate, as I could feel safe knowing my watch will alert me if something is going on inside my body that I may not realize right away. From abnormalities to irregular beats, the Watch 3 kept a close eye on everything going on.
“As someone with a heart condition, the OnePlus Watch 3 offering enhanced heart monitoring is something I greatly appreciate…”
While sleeping, not only did the OnePlus Watch 3 monitor my sleeping patterns, but it could also track potential breathing problems while doing so, something I have not previously seen in competitors. In as little as 60 seconds, the Watch 3 will simultaneously evaluate a handful of different health factors and give you a report on how your overall health appears to be, helping you stay informed whenever needed.
One thing to note is for North American users, OnePlus did not receive any official certification for ECG analysis, so users will not be able to track that on their watch. Users will still be able to get other health factors included in their report, though, making the Watch 3 a valuable piece of tech for anyone trying to monitor their health.
Of course, the OnePlus Watch 3 still utilizes Wear OS 5, so you will still be able to do your regular slew of smartwatch-related tasks with ease, whether it be checking and replying to messages, checking the weather or even tapping your wrist against a POS machine to pay for your morning coffee and breakfast.
I have found my time with the OnePlus Watch 3 to be quite reliable and competent, and it has become almost essential in my day-to-day life. The ability to monitor my heart condition with just a few taps while additionally being able to monitor other health conditions for days on end without needing a charge has proven to be very beneficial to me.
The addition of being very comfortable and classy makes it stand out from the crowd without looking overly geeky or techy, like many other smartwatches tend to do. Is it my ideal and perfect watch? That is tough to say. However, the OnePlus Watch 3 gets more right than it does wrong, and for that, I say it comes closer to being perfect than any previous watch I have used.