I’ve been testing the $330 OnePlus Watch 3 for 48 hours and have discovered it to be, thus far, a powerhouse smartwatch wrapped in a smooth, understated design. OnePlus goals to compete with its Android rivals by providing a strong set of well being and health options, and the promise to blow all of them away with a five-day battery life beneath regular use.Having heard related guarantees about smartwatch batteries earlier than, I used to be skeptical. Companies typically hype up battery life, solely to bury within the superb print that it requires power-saving mode — stripping away “smart” options and turning the watch into nothing greater than a glorified digital clock. I used to be pleasantly shocked that the default settings on the Watch 3 embody full use of all its options, minus the always-on show, which I might usually activate.The solely change I made was swapping the analogue-style watch face for one which displayed battery life at a look, together with exercise shortcuts, climate and health monitoring. Big mistake. Turns out, I had unknowingly picked one of many worst offenders — a degree three out of three on the Wear OS battery drain scale.During my first two days with the Watch 3, I used it to obtain textual content and e-mail notifications, monitor an hour-long outside run with GPS, log an indoor power exercise and monitor two nights of sleep. As a outcome, the Watch 3’s battery dropped to 50% throughout the first 48 hours. While it would not fairly hit the promised 5 days, I ought to nonetheless get 4 full days of battery life from the Watch 3 on a single cost — spectacular, contemplating most Android smartwatches battle to final three. For my full evaluation, I’ll change to a lower-power watch face to see if I can push it to OnePlus’ five-day declare.There’s much more to unpack with the Watch 3, and thus far, I’m pleasantly shocked. Battery life takes middle stage The Watch 3’s finest function, after two days of testing, is its battery life. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETOnePlus’ declare to fame initially was delivering high quality units at extra inexpensive costs than high-end opponents like Samsung and Google. And the Watch 3, the fourth from the Chinese firm, goals to shake up a few of that custom.Unlike the unique $160 OnePlus Watch and final 12 months’s $180 Watch 2R, whose low costs had been the principle attraction, the Watch 3 prioritizes its extra premium attraction over a low value. OnePlus needs the Watch 3 to be a premium flagship gadget, placing it in direct competitors with different Watch OS units just like the Google Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. What might set it aside, if it delivers, is its battery life.OnePlus claims the Watch 3 can final 5 days on its default settings. That’s because of a big 631mAh battery and a dual-chipset system that makes use of its Snapdragon W5 processor to deal with powering app utilization, whereas its BES2800 MCU Efficiency chip handles low-powered background duties. In my first two days, I used to be impressed with the Watch 3’s battery life, regardless of my selection of utilizing a battery thirsty watch face. It’s value noting that the Watch 3 has an extremely power-saving mode, which OnePlus claims can last as long as 16 days on a full cost.Design upgrades and interface This is what the OnePlus Watch 3 seems like proper out of the field. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETThe OnePlus Watch 3 retains the smooth stainless-steel design of its predecessor, with some notable upgrades. It has a rotating crown with an easy-to-grip texture and a titanium bezel surrounding the display screen — harking back to the rotating bezels on the early Samsung watches that I beloved. This one is thinner and stays in place, however I like the way it elevates the design, making it look much less like an enormous round 1.5-inch AMOLED show strapped to my wrist. The display screen is vivid and simple to see even in direct daylight. The watch is available in silver or black, with rubber straps which are snug to put on all day and night time.The Watch 3 runs on Wear OS 5, with further OnePlus design and options, just like the OHealth app that you will must obtain in your telephone to entry the watch’s full vary of well being monitoring options. The interface of Watch 3 feels a bit sluggish, with a slight lag in response time. It’s laborious to inform whether or not it is a Wear OS challenge or if it is the precise watch however navigation is not completely seamless — although it did enhance as I obtained extra acquainted with the buttons and gestures.The interface is not significantly intuitive both — some settings, like exercise views, require digging by way of menus (a recognized Wear OS challenge). I additionally had hassle organising my account within the OHealth app and syncing it with my Google well being knowledge. This could also be as a consequence of utilizing a developer model of the app, nevertheless it’s cumbersome nonetheless. Accessing all my well being knowledge by way of the OHealth app hasn’t been too unhealthy, because of its visible, user-friendly interface.Health and health options Here’s the OnePlus Watch 3 subsequent to a OnePlus 13 with the OHealth app open. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETOnePlus’ funding in well being and wellness is clear on this watch. In addition to fundamentals like coronary heart price and energy, it measures extra nuanced well being metrics, like cardiovascular well being, SPO2, wrist temperature and basic well-being (which incorporates emotional and stress ranges), although not with out some caveats. None of those options are FDA-approved, that means they are not meant for use as medical-grade knowledge. Additionally, the ECG function is not out there within the US or Canada. The Watch 3 additionally lacks menstrual well being monitoring — an oversight, in my view — particularly since wrist temperature monitoring, now commonplace on its primary rivals, could possibly be extraordinarily helpful for ovulation monitoring.The Watch 3 additionally debuts a 60-second well being check-in, a function that checks all of your vitals in a single spot by urgent your finger on the watch’s backside button. My first well being check-in was regarding and displayed a crimson exclamation mark with the phrase “abnormal” subsequent to it. Upon additional inspection, it seems all my vitals had been in vary, nevertheless it was my sleep rating that was skewing the outcomes. I’ll admit, my sleep habits aren’t nice, partly as a consequence of my one-year-old daughter, however I’d argue that I no less than deserve a passing grade. In phrases of health, the OnePlus Watch 3 covers all of the fundamentals, with greater than 100 completely different sports activities modes, six of which it detects mechanically: operating, strolling, rowing, elliptical machine, biking and swimming. It additionally affords a “professional” mode for 11 sports activities that retains tabs of extra nuanced metrics associated to that sport. For runners, it tracks kind and foot steadiness, whereas for tennis gamers, it measures swing pace and stroke. While it could be overkill for many, as a runner who just lately discovered easy methods to leverage coronary heart price zones to accentuate exercises, I’m excited to nerd out on these further metrics.Another key function for outside sports activities fans is its dual-frequency GPS monitoring system, which OnePlus claims can place you precisely even in difficult environments, similar to crowded cities surrounded by excessive rises. I reside in a wholly completely different surroundings, extra sheep than skyscrapers, so I have never been capable of totally take a look at this declare. It did place me completely on my common path run by way of oak timber and vineyards.With an IP69 score, the OnePlus Watch 3 can also be waterproof as much as 50 meters.Everything ElseI plan to dive deeper over the subsequent few days and take a look at among the Watch 3’s different options for my full evaluation. But for now, if battery life is on the high of your wishlist for a smartwatch, as it’s mine, that is one Android smartwatch that is undoubtedly value contemplating. The OnePlus Watch 3 is now out there for presale by way of OnePlus’s web site, with an official launch date set for February 25.
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