In my ten plus years of testing smartwatches, I’ve by no means needed to actively attempt to drain a battery. That modified after I strapped on the $330 OnePlus Watch 3. Five days into my battery check, after charging it to 100%, this watch was nonetheless going sturdy; monitoring my sleep, runs and vitals with out lacking a beat.I’ll admit that the Watch 3 did not take advantage of favorable first impression, with its clearly masculine design and outsized display screen that virtually swallowed up my normal-sized wrist. I half-expected to write down it off as simply one other mid-range smartwatch destined to gather mud in a drawer. But it seems, I’m prepared to miss a couple of issues like the dimensions and lack of ECG performance for distinctive battery life.
8.5/ 10 SCORE OnePlus Watch 3 Pros
5-day battery life with all options enabled
Sleek snug design
Customizable buttons as shortcuts Advanced metrics for choose sports activities modes
Cons
Single measurement choice is just too massive for small wrists
Only two years of software program and safety updates
Lacks menstrual cycle monitoring
ECG shouldn’t be out there within the US or Canada
No LTE model or iOS compatibility
Four years after its shaky debut, OnePlus’ underdog smartwatch has matured into a real competitor to Samsung and Pixel watches, delivering one of the best battery life I’ve ever examined on a Wear OS system—all whereas packing stable well being options right into a subdued and stylish (albeit massive) design.Battery life takes heart stage It took over 5 days for me to see this pop up on my OnePlus Watch 3. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETUnlike the unique $160 OnePlus Watch and final 12 months’s $180 Watch 2R, whose essential draw was affordability, the Watch 3 shifts the main target from value to efficiency. With its $330 price ticket, OnePlus is positioning it as a premium flagship system, competing straight with equally priced Wear OS watches just like the Google Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. What actually units it aside is its battery that is bigger than its predecessor at 631mAh (vs 500mAh on the Watch 2).The Watch 3 makes use of a twin chipset system to separate up duties and optimize energy consumption and get much more out of its massive battery. The Snapdragon W5 processor focuses on powering app utilization, whereas the BES2800 MCU Efficiency chip handles background duties that do not use as a lot energy. Though skeptical at first, my two weeks of testing confirmed that the OnePlus Watch 3 actually delivers on its five-day battery declare. I did three GPS exercises, one in every of which was an hour and a half hike, and 6 full nights of sleep monitoring. Even its fiercest Wear OS opponents would wrestle to final three days with out resorting to utilizing a low energy mode that strips the watch of its ‘sensible’ options and turns it right into a glorified digital clock. The solely caveat with the Watch 3 is that it stays on the default “Smart mode” to attain the total 5 days. This mode has a raise-to-wake display screen and requires utilizing one in every of OnePlus’ official watch faces. I sometimes want an always-on show with a busier watch face full of my most-used issues and shortcuts which might possible convey the battery life nearer to a few days – nonetheless a feat contemplating how shiny the display screen is, even in dormant mode.When I first began testing the watch, I made the error of choosing a non-OnePlus watch face with a 3 out of three score on the battery drain scale and nonetheless managed to squeeze in 4 days value of cost. While I have not examined the declare but, OnePlus says the watch could make it to 16 days in “Power Save” leaving it principally as a devoted health tracker somewhat than a full-featured smartwatch. Of course everybody has a unique model of what “normal” use is, and whenever you lastly cost it, the Watch 3 goes from zero to 100% in just below an hour. Polished design, with one large oversight The OnePlus Watch 3 solely is available in a single measurement. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETThe OnePlus Watch 3 has a glossy chrome steel design with a rotating crown that has an easy-to-grip texture making it easy to show. There’s a slim titanium bezel framing the display screen that is paying homage to the outdated rotating bezels on the early Samsung watches that I liked. Sadly this one does not transfer, 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. Objectively, this can be a handsome watch. But as a girl with an average-sized wrist, this watch feels large and clearly not designed with me in thoughts. I do not want a rose gold body and a shiny pink band, I simply want it had extra inclusive sizing choices and perhaps a traditional gold choice. The watch is available in a black or silver end, with interchangeable rubber watch bands in moss inexperienced, black or Nordic blue that scream “made for men.” If the Watch 3’s measurement and bands had been its solely exclusion of feminine illustration, I would be capable of write it off. But it is lacking another characteristic I’ve come to count on on a smartwatch: menstrual monitoring.Robust well being options, minus interval monitoring The OnePlus Watch 3 is full of sensor to trace your coronary heart charge, blood oxygen ranges and even sleep. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETIt’s an enormous miss that OnePlus did not embrace menstrual monitoring on the Watch 3. Menstrual monitoring is now a normal characteristic in newer Apple Watch and Garmin smartwatches. The Watch 3 has just about each different well being characteristic together with temperature monitoring, which can be utilized to assist establish a girl’s ovulation window. Oversight apart, it is clear that OnePlus is investing closely in well being monitoring. Beyond fundamental coronary heart charge and sleep information, the watch measures extra superior metrics like cardiovascular well being, blood oxygen ranges, wrist temperature, and total well-being, together with emotional and stress ranges. It additionally options an electrocardiogram (ECG), although as of publication, OnePlus has not sought FDA approval, that means the characteristic won’t be lively within the US or Canada.While not medical-grade, OnePlus claims that the Watch 3’s well being metrics are extra correct than in earlier fashions, because of upgraded sensors, refined algorithms, and improved cowl glass over the again sensors for clearer readings.The Watch 3 additionally debuts a 60-second well being check-in, a characteristic that checks all of your vitals without delay by urgent your finger on the watch’s backside button to create a circuit. My first well being check-in was regarding and displayed a pink exclamation mark with the phrase “abnormal” subsequent to it. It seems that each one my vitals had been in vary, however my sleep rating was so low that it skewed the outcomes. Battery life is a sport changer for sleep monitoring While not outstanding on this watch face, the Watch 3’s greatest characteristic is its battery life. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETAs a low-key sleep monitoring hater, I by no means realized simply how a lot battery life factored into my frustration. As a father or mother of younger youngsters, I already know I’m not getting sufficient sleep and seeing a foul sleep report very first thing within the morning simply units me up for a day of dragging and self-pity. I really feel the identical manner about wellness checks. Not having to take off the look ahead to 5 consecutive days made me extra inclined to trace my sleep, and I could have even discovered a factor or two about my sleep patterns. The Watch 3’s lengthy battery let me collapse into mattress on the finish of the day with out worrying whether or not my watch had sufficient cost to final via the night time. The watch even tracked my sleep on night time six, regardless of being right down to 10% battery in “Power save” mode. The watch additionally has an choice to watch SpO2 (blood oxygen ranges) and respiration patterns throughout sleep to assist establish extra critical respiration points, however it’ll drain the battery sooner and must be activated manually from both the watch or the cell app.According to a latest interview from Wareable, OnePlus is already within the strategy of looking for FDA approval for sleep apnea detection which can make the additional battery drain worthwhile.A worthy health companion to place you thru the paces The Watch 3 can assist over 100 several types of exercises. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETIn 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 robotically: operating, strolling, rowing, elliptical machine, biking, and swimming. It additionally gives a “professional” mode for 11 sports activities that maintain tabs of extra nuanced metrics associated to that sport. For runners it is issues like type and foot stability, and for tennis gamers it is swing velocity and stroke. While it could be overkill for many, as a runner who lately discovered learn how to leverage coronary heart charge zones to accentuate exercises, I used to be excited to nerd out on the extra metrics. I used it throughout my common three-mile run and discovered that whereas I’ve glorious stability between my proper and left toes, my floor contact time (how lengthy my foot stays on the bottom) and vertical oscillation (how a lot I bounce) may use some enchancment to make my runs extra environment friendly and fewer injury-prone. The app supplies context for the extra information, but it surely be overwhelming, and it’s a must to dig round for a definition of every metric. I used to be additionally left eager for extra actionable suggestions for bettering my stats.The One Plus Watch 3’s coronary heart charge monitoring stored up with my Polar chest strap (the gold normal for athletes), with a lag of only a second or two and a one level distinction in common coronary heart charge between the chest strap and the watch. Heart charge serves as a baseline for most of the health metrics on the Watch 3. However, as soon as I began operating uphill and inching nearer to my most coronary heart charge, I observed that lag time elevated to about 25 seconds between what the chest strap was exhibiting (on my telephone) and the quantity on my wrist. I attempted tightening the band, but it surely solely helped briefly. By the tip of my exercise, the watch confirmed that I had stayed in my peak coronary heart charge zone for 19 seconds, whereas the chest strap recorded me on this zone for about three and a half minutes. On the left are two screenshots from the OHealth app exhibiting what my Watch 3 tracked throughout a run. On the fitting are two screenshots from the Polar app exhibiting what my chest strap coronary heart charge monitor tracked. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETThe lag might be partially as a result of sensor’s proximity to the center (versus the wrist). Sweat and arm motion may additionally intervene with an correct learn — an issue for many smartwatches. Whatever the case, coronary heart charge accuracy might be a problem for those who use it for for high-intensity sports activities or extra critical coaching. You’re nonetheless higher off utilizing a chest strap.Another key characteristic for outside sports activities lovers is its dual-frequency GPS monitoring system, which OnePlus claims can place you precisely even in difficult environments, corresponding to crowded cities surrounded by excessive rises. I reside in a rural setting that is extra sheep than skyscrapers, so I have not been capable of absolutely check this declare. It did place me completely on my hour and a half hike via oak bushes and vineyards.With an IP69 score, the OnePlus Watch 3 can be water resistant as much as 50 meters.Weighed down by Wear OS and restricted updates Here’s the OnePlus Watch 3 subsequent to a OnePlus 13 with the OHealth app open. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETThe Watch 3 runs on Wear OS 5, with a couple of extra OnePlus design and navigation options. You can customise the rotating crown and aspect button as shortcuts, however every thing else will really feel like a normal Wear OS watch full of no matter apps you have downloaded. The interface of the Watch 3 feels sluggish, with a slight lag in response time, although it grew to become simpler to make use of as I bought extra conversant in the swipe and faucet instructions. The UI is not precisely intuitive, both. For instance, the battery icon exhibits the remaining cost however does not allow you to change to “Smart” or “Power Save” mode which after some trial and error I discovered hidden behind what seems to be like an infinity icon. There are additionally 3 ways to entry the exercise display screen, however solely a type of methods will assist you to add a exercise kind (via the checklist of apps). This could also be extra of a Wear OS navigation concern than a OnePlus drawback, but it surely’s nonetheless cumbersome.Additionally, you will must obtain the separate OHealth app to your telephone to entry the watch’s full vary of well being monitoring options. The app itself is visually interesting and intuitive, however the setup wasn’t seamless. It took a number of tries to sync with my Google Health information. It’s value noting nevertheless that I used to be utilizing a builders model of the OHealth app, so setup could also be smoother on the general public model.The greatest draw back of the OnePlus Watch 3, nevertheless, is that it solely ensures two years of software program and safety updates, whereas a few of its opponents like Samsung supply as much as 5. This means the watch, regardless of its spectacular battery life, may turn into out of date a lot sooner.Solid battery life and options tip the size Here’s the Watch 3 being charged. Vanessa Hand Orellana/CNETIf you are on the lookout for a watch with a smaller footprint or a extra female design, then the OnePlus Watch 3 is probably not your greatest guess. But if battery life is on the high of your wishlist, that is one Android smartwatch that is undoubtedly value contemplating. The OnePlus Watch 3 is a premium smartwatch at a mid-range value level that checks practically all of the bins for well being and health options, and outlasts most opponents with regards to battery life – simply not with regards to software program updates. The OnePlus Watch 3 is now out there for $330 on the OnePlus web site.