By KBC Associate 
Introduction and unboxing
Few remember the original OnePlus Watch, but many loved the OnePlus Watch 2 for its impressive asymmetric case design. It remains this reviewer’s favorite watch design alongside Huawei’s Watch GT 5 with its angled case. The OnePlus Watch 2 was also among the most long-lasting Wear OS watches around, thanks to its dual architecture – two processors, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, running Wear OS, and a custom BES2700BP, running a watered-down real-time OS to get the best endurance out of its 500 mAh battery. Coupled with the long list of features, the OnePlus Watch 2 is a fan favorite even a year on from its release.
But the OnePlus Watch 2 wasn’t consistent in its health tracking, and OnePlus’s OHealth app was rudimentary and unpolished to say the least.
Here’s where the OnePlus Watch 3 comes in – it further improved the design by trimming the bezels, resulting in a larger circular display. It’s also bumped the battery capacity by 23%. And it’s now a much more reliable tracker.
The retail package hasn’t changed – you get the OnePlus Watch 3, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and a detachable four-pin magnetic charging cradle (with a USB-C port). We prefer magnetic cradles/pucks that don’t require alignment when charging, like the Huawei Watch GT or Galaxy Watch chargers. The OnePlus Watch 3 requires you to mind how you attach it.
The OnePlus Watch 3 is $350/€300/£300, but there are regular discounts on OnePlus’s website (you also get a choice of a free second fluoro-rubber strap or charger). You have a choice of Obsidian Titanium (with a dark grey case and black strap) and Emerald Titanium (bright silver case and green strap). The Watch 3 is available in a single 46mm size and in a Bluetooth and Wi-Fi option (there’s no eSIM).
Design and build quality
The OnePlus Watch 3 is a stunner. It combines a classic round look with prominent lugs with an asymmetric right edge that doesn’t put the design off balance, but makes it feel stronger and more prominent.
The watch body weighs 49.7g, add in the strap and it goes up to 81g. The case weight alone is substantial for a smartwatch – heavier than most, though Samsung’s last Classic model even heavier.
The case is made of stainless steel, while the dial is a brushed titanium – you can have each in either silver or black. The display isn’t recessed under the dial, but that’s fine, because it’s a sapphire crystal piece that’s unlikely to scratch.
The OnePlus Watch 3 is very durable. It has MIL-STD-810H certification for a bunch of tests – low-pressure altitude, high temperature (70°C/158°F), low temperature (-40°C/-104°F), temperature shock, solar radiation, rain, humidity and heat, salt spray, sand and dust, immersion, vibration, impact, fluid contamination, acidic atmosphere, and ice accumulation and freezing rain. The watch is also IP68 and 5ATM rated.
The buttons look identical to last year, but the 2 o’clock crown’s rotation is now usable for scrolling and navigating the OS with very precise and quality-feeling haptics backing it.
The crown is also a button.
The second button sits very flush with the frame of the watch. It opens up the workout menu.
You might remember the whole “Meda in China” fiasco, where OnePlus initially released the Watch 3 with the misspelled inscription on the underside and had to pull it off the market to fix the issue.
Ours is one such flawed unit, but it’s otherwise a fully functional unit.
The optical pulse oximeter, heart rate, and temperature sensor are all on the underside of the watch.
It’s also where the four pins for the magnetic charging are located.
The OnePlus Watch 3 has built-in speaker and microphone, so you can make calls on it (no eSIM so it needs to be connected to your phone). I wouldn’t recommend the experience, however. Sound is tinny, and the microphone quality is only average.
The Watch 3’s lug width is 22mm – a standard and the ideal size for this type of watch. Xiaomi and Huawei also default to 22mm, only Samsung seems to use 20mm for its bigger watches.
The fluoro-rubber strap is a high-quality one. I also like the green color. There’s also Black and Nordic Blue to choose from. There’s no OnePlus Red, which is a terrible oversight!
The display of the OnePlus Watch 3 is gorgeous. It measures 1.5 inches, and it’s an LTPO AMOLED panel with a 466x466px resolution. It’s a tad bigger than the 1.43-inch on the previous model, and has twice the brightness at 2,200 nits.
There are a lot of high-quality watch faces to choose from. Naturally, being Wear OS, you can download many popular watch face apps like Facer or Pujie.
Each preloaded OnePlus watch face has its own Always-on display counterpart, which is nice. The AOD screen even has some color, though that’s not rare nowadays.
The OnePlus Watch 3 comes in a single 47mm case size. It’s a big watch and best suited for above averagely sized wrists.
This reviewer loved the fit of the OnePlus Watch 3. It may very well be the most comfortable big smartwatch I’ve ever tried. I daily drive a Galaxy Watch6 Classic, which is an almost identical size to the OnePlus Watch 3, but the fit isn’t nearly as good.
The lugs on the Watch 3 are ever so slightly contoured to the wrist, which in turn shapes the fluoro-rubber strap to fit more snugly.
Dual-engine and Wear OS, Fitness and sleep tracking, battery life
The OnePlus Watch 3 continues in its predecessor’s footsteps of offering a two operating systems with two different processors to run them. Essentially, you’re getting the full-fledged Wear OS with the 4nm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 and a custom real-time OS, running OnePlus’s own BES2800 low-power processor.
You can leave the Watch 3 in Smart Mode, which will determine which OS to use depending on the battery you have left, or force the watch into Power Saver mode. You won’t notice much of a visual difference in the UI (though text is bigger), but many functions are now disabled – some watch faces disappear, some apps don’t work – basically, you get notifications, fitness tracking, Bluetooth connection, calls, alarms, and messages.
The OnePlus Watch 3 is a breeze to operate. A press on the crown brings up the apps screen, a press on the second button opens up the Workouts screen, scroll left or right for the various widgets you have set up, swipe from the bottom for notifications, and swipe from the top to get your quick toggles.
As you’d expect, there are over 100 sports and workout modes supported. 11 of these are “professional” with unique metrics, such as tracking swing speed for tennis. The watch will automatically detect activities such as running, walking, rowing machine, elliptical, cycling, and swimming.
The watch also supports the L1+L5 bands for GPS, and accuracy was excellent. I used the Watch 3 for a few runs in tandem with the Huawei Watch Fit 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic and found it consistent (with the more accurate Huawei).
The running screen shows key information better than the other two, with a notable heart rate reading and pace.
Running
I also wore the watch to bed while testing it for this review. I can’t attest to the watch’s readings in a scientific way, but it is consistent with my other two watches (again, the OnePlus is more in line with the Huawei Watch Fit 2, which is generally better at sleep tracking than Samsung’s watch).
You get a detailed analysis of your sleep stages, breathing rate, and blood oxygen during sleep, skin temperature, and you can opt to track your snoring with the help of your smartphone.
Sleep tracking
Battery life is the best this editor has experienced on a Wear OS watch. I got four days of full use with the OnePlus Watch 3 – that means an active Always-On Display, notifications, a daily workout, two runs, and sleep tracking at night. That’s mightily impressive!
I can get two out of my Galaxy Watch6 Classic with the same use!
Then, when it’s time to charge, the OnePlus Watch 3 can do it in less than an hour!
Conclusion
There’s little to complain about with tech these days. It seems we’ve hit somewhat of a golden age with advancements in both technology and manufacturing. But even in these hard-to-fault times, some products stand out from the pack. The OnePlus Watch 3 is a notable product in just every aspect.
It may very well have the best battery on a Wear OS wearable, and it’s the prettiest and most comfortable this editor has tried. It’s also built to the highest standard – stainless steel, titanium, sapphire, the lot!
On the other hand, the OnePlus Watch 3 isn’t exactly cheap – it’s normally €349/£319 but is often discounted down to €299/£269. For comparison, the Pixel Watch 3 45mm will set you back €369 (€469 with 4G LTE), the Galaxy Watch Ultra is €469 (with LTE), while the Galaxy Watch6 Classic is normally €449 but can be found for significantly less on third-party dealers (€240 on Amazon).
The OnePlus Watch 3 doesn’t give up ground to either of these watches, and you could make the argument that it even beats them.
But enough about specs and materials – a watch is as personal a choice as perfume. It’s a more subjective thing to choose. A timepiece needs to have the right style for you. The OnePlus Watch 3 is stylish and beautiful beyond a simple smartwatch. If you like it as much as I do, go out there and see it for yourself!
Pros
- Very well made – titanium bezel, stainless steel crown, sapphire display
- A beautiful design – comes in black or silver
- Rotating crown now functional
- Excellent display
- Pretty take on Wear OS
- Exemplary battery life
Cons
- It’s a big watch
- It’s not cheap
- Charger needs you to align the pins
- No SIM connectivity option