OnePlus Watch is the corporate’s first smartwatch, and quite a lot of Android customers have been trying ahead to it. The OnePlus Watch has a round dial with an AMOLED show, and SpO2 monitoring which is a must have function in these instances. However, the shocker for many individuals when this watch launched was that it doesn’t run Google’s WearOS as lots of people had been anticipating it to. So how does the OnePlus Watch stack up in opposition to the competitors? Should this be the watch you decide? I’ll attempt to reply these questions on this assessment.
OnePlus Watch value in India
The OnePlus Watch is priced at Rs. 14,999 in India. There may even quickly be a OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition, which is predicted to be priced larger however we do not have an official value or launch date but. While the internals of those two variants are the identical, the exteriors might be completely different in just a few ways in which I’ll elaborate on later.
OnePlus Watch design
Most smartwatches can be found with both of two dial shapes, a sq. or a circle. While the sq. (or “squircle”) form has been popularised by the Apple Watch, there are individuals who favor a round dial because it resembles a standard watch. OnePlus has chosen the latter, and the result’s an enormous 46mm round dial set in a case that’s made out of chrome steel. The case seems and feels premium and is obtainable in two color finishes, Midnight Black and Moonlight Silver.
The OnePlus Watch has a 1.39-inch AMOLED show and skinny bezels that had been exhausting to identify on my Midnight Black unit. There is 2.5D curved glass on high of the show, which rises barely above the rim of the case. The general design seems clear and there are two buttons on the suitable facet. The button on high has OnePlus engraved on it whereas the opposite is obvious.
The OnePlus Watch has sensors and charging contact factors on the underside
Turn the OnePlus Watch over and you will discover that the underside is made out of plastic. It homes a number of sensors in addition to the charging contact factors. There’s a speaker port on the left facet and a microphone gap on the suitable. The case lugs prolong outward and are suitable with all normal 22mm straps. OnePlus provides a high-quality fluoroelastomer strap with the usual OnePlus Watch. I wore the look ahead to over two weeks and by no means skilled pores and skin irritation. These straps have a pin and tuck design similar to the Apple Watch, which I discovered to be handy and reassuring. You can take away the strap with none instruments and exchange it with some other 22mm strap of your selection.
The OnePlus Watch alone, even with out an connected strap, weighs about 45gms and that weight is certainly noticeable when worn. OnePlus solely presents a single 46mm dial dimension, which could look large in your wrist when you have small arms. The watch can be comparatively thick, and there is a probability you would possibly brush it in opposition to one thing when strolling or simply transferring your arms. I did knock the watch into just a few door frames by accident whereas utilizing it, however fortunately, it did not decide a single scratch in the course of the assessment interval.
If you need higher construct high quality, that’s the place the OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition is available in. The case of this variant is made out of a Cobalt alloy as a substitute of chrome steel, and it has a gold end. It additionally has sapphire glass defending the show, which is claimed to supply higher scratch resistance. OnePlus ships two straps with the Cobalt Limited Edition, a fluoroelastomer strap similar to the usual one which comes with the OnePlus Watch, and an extra vegan leather-based strap with a butterfly buckle.
The OnePlus Watch makes use of a charger with pogo pins to high up its 402mAh battery. In true OnePlus style, there may be quick charging on this watch. The OnePlus Watch can be IP68 rated for mud and water resistance, and the corporate says it could additionally deal with as much as 5ATM of stress.
OnePlus Watch specs and software program
When leaks concerning the OnePlus Watch first surfaced, I used to be speculating that it could run Google’s WearOS and sport the Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor. If you had been additionally anticipating one thing comparable, effectively that is not the case. The OnePlus Watch runs a customized Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) and never WearOS. Interestingly, it has three discrete processors, every assigned a distinct perform. As per a discussion board submit by a OnePlus Product supervisor, the OnePlus Watch makes use of a mix of ST32, Apollo 3, and Cypress chips. These are answerable for driving the show, low-power utilization, and communications respectively.
The OnePlus Watch has an accelerometer, ambient gentle sensor, gyroscope, geomagnetic sensor, barometer, blood oxygen sensor, and coronary heart charge sensor. There is help for Bluetooth 5, NFC, and 4 satellite tv for pc navigation techniques. You get 4GB of storage so you possibly can retailer just a few audio tracks on the OnePlus Watch for offline listening. Pairing the watch with a pair of Bluetooth headphones is feasible so you possibly can depart your smartphone behind when heading out for a run.
OnePlus Health app syncs with the OnePlus Watch to show health knowledge
You can pair the OnePlus Watch with an Android smartphone working Android 6.0 and above. However, there isn’t a help for iPhones but, which barely limits the potential person base for the smartwatch for now. The OnePlus Health App is required to set the smartwatch up. I discovered the smartphone pairing course of to be quite simple, and as soon as the OnePlus Watch was linked it by no means dropped the connection until my smartphone was out of vary.
The OnePlus Health app is the dashboard for all of your health knowledge and you too can make modifications to sure gadget settings proper from the app. It even helps you to change watch faces and obtain new ones. You can have a digital or analog watch face, however weirdly, I could not set a digital watch face within the 12-hour format; solely the 24-hour time format was out there. You even have the choice to create your personal customized watch face utilizing your pictures. This app is required to switch songs out of your smartphone to the OnePlus Watch.
OnePlus Watch efficiency and battery life
The OnePlus Watch has a quite simple UI which makes navigating simple. Swiping up from the watch face provides entry to pending notifications, and a swipe down helps you to entry fast toggles. You can even faucet and maintain on the watch face to alter it. I may learn notifications on the watch simply however may solely reply utilizing predefined fast reply templates, which is not excellent.
The OnePlus Watch didn’t have an always-on show functionality at first, however this was rolled out as part of a software program replace shortly after its launch. You can allow this from the watch itself and choose from 4 faces. The OnePlus Watch additionally has an ambient gentle sensor that may alter display screen brightness routinely.
I discovered the OnePlus Watch to be aggressive with energy saving. The display screen would go off rapidly after I used to be performed glancing at it. The auto-brightness adjustment was additionally aggressive, and the default brightness is a bit low. You do have the choice to extend it, which I did.
OnePlus Watch tracks sleep precisely and reveals detailed info within the app
The OnePlus Watch can observe exercises, coronary heart charge, stress, SpO2, and sleep. I examined the look ahead to near a month to see the way it performs. To verify the accuracy of the heart-rate sensor I in contrast its readings in opposition to these of an Apple Watch SE. I discovered the guts charge readings to be virtually the identical on each gadgets more often than not. However, coronary heart charge monitoring accuracy was inconsistent whereas figuring out.
To take a look at step monitoring accuracy, I counted 1,000 steps as I walked, however the OnePlus Watch underreported this as 930 steps. I additionally wore the OnePlus Watch together with the Apple Watch SE (Review) to trace my exercise for the whole day. The Apple Watch measured 2,056 steps whereas the OnePlus Watch measured 1,532 steps on the identical day.
For SpO2 monitoring, I examined the OnePlus Watch in opposition to a Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and obtained the identical readings. I normally obtained SpO2 readings between 96 % and -98 %, which is inside the suitable vary for a wholesome particular person.
Sleep monitoring was correct on the OnePlus Watch and matched with what the Apple Watch SE was in a position to document. In the OnePlus Health app, you get a breakdown for Deep sleep, Light Sleep, and Awake durations. It additionally reveals details about the best period of every sleeping section. Another function that the OnePlus Watch has is SpO2 monitoring throughout sleep. This function is disabled by default because it’s heavy on the battery. If enabled, the app reveals the bottom SpO2 stage recorded throughout sleep, which was 90 % (Normal) in my case.
The OnePlus Watch has a speaker and you’ll take calls on it
Finally, you possibly can take calls on the OnePlus Watch utilizing its speaker and microphone. The speaker quantity is ample if you happen to elevate the watch to your ear. My callers did point out that I sounded a bit distant.
Battery life on the OnePlus Watch was superb, and it lasted me about 12 days on a single cost. This was with WhatsApp notifications enabled and indoor exercises being tracked. If you do not observe exercises that usually and use the OnePlus Watch purely for notifications, you need to have the ability to obtain the two-week battery life that OnePlus guarantees. Battery life will differ if you happen to observe SpO2 ranges and coronary heart charge very often. With the always-on show enabled on the OnePlus Watch, battery life was slashed in half for nearly the identical use. If you allow SpO2 monitoring throughout sleep, anticipate the battery life to dip additional.
Fast charging has been a function fairly often related to OnePlus telephones, and the OnePlus Watch is supplied with what the corporate calls Warp Charge. The OnePlus Watch obtained to twenty % in simply 5 minutes, which must be sufficient for a full day even with my form of utilization. The watch obtained to 55 % in 20 minutes, and charging it fully took 53 minutes. Thanks to quick charging and good battery life, you will not actually have to fret about working out of juice on the OnePlus Watch.
Verdict
The OnePlus Watch was a extremely anticipated product, however it has turned out to be anticlimactic. It doesn’t run WearOS so you do not get Google’s ecosystem and a big assortment of apps. Functionality is proscribed, and this gadget works extra like a wise notifier than a smartwatch. Good battery life, correct sleep monitoring, and SpO2 monitoring are some things moving into favour of the OnePlus Watch. However step monitoring and coronary heart charge monitoring throughout exercises had been inconsistent.
If you might be searching for a smartwatch to trace health, the Amazfit GTR 2e is likely to be a greater various, and it is even priced decrease. Alternatively, if you’re searching for a smartwatch working Google’s Wear OS, then the Oppo Watch 46mm (Review) could possibly be price contemplating too.
