The OnePlus Watch 3 is a full-featured Wear OS smartwatch with the longest battery life we’ve tested. Priced at $329.99, the OnePlus Watch 3 costs $30 more than its predecessor but adds a wrist temperature sensor, fall detection, and personalized AI insights to help you make sense of your health stats. Some things haven’t improved: The OnePlus Watch 3 only comes in one size, it doesn’t support LTE, and it can’t be used to take an electrocardiogram (ECG) in the US. Nevertheless, its excellent battery life, accurate health monitoring, and attractive design make it one of the most compelling models on the market, though the $199.99 Samsung Galaxy Watch FE offers similar features for a lot less money, so it remains our Editors’ Choice for Android smartwatches.
Design: Big and Classy
The OnePlus Watch 3 is similar in size to the Watch 2 and the $229.99 Watch 2R, and outsizes the larger variants of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 ($299.99) and the Google Pixel Watch 3 ($349). As a big guy, I love how the OnePlus Watch 3 looks on my wrist, but it’s a shame it doesn’t come in a smaller size for those with smaller wrists. Both Samsung and Google offer both large and small versions of their flagship watches, though the budget-minded Galaxy Watch FE only comes in one 40mm case size, which is on the small side.
The Watch 3 maintains its predecessor’s elegant aesthetic while sporting a new tapered, rotating crown and a smaller button on the side of the case. OnePlus sent me the Obsidian Titanium model, but the Watch 3 also comes in Emerald Titanium. Both versions have a stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal display, a titanium alloy bezel surrounding the screen, and a rubber strap. For comparison, the OnePlus Watch 2 also has a stainless steel body but no titanium bezel, while the more affordable Watch 2R has a lightweight aluminum case.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
The OnePlus Watch 3 outweighs its predecessors at 1.75 ounces without the strap and 2.86 ounces with it. The OnePlus Watch 2 is slightly lighter (1.73 ounces and 2.82 ounces, respectively), while the Watch 2R’s aluminum case makes a big difference in helping it cut weight (1.31 ounces and 2.08 ounces).
The screen on the OnePlus Watch 3 outshines that of its predecessors with a maximum brightness of 2,200 nits, up from 1,000 nits. That spec also compares favorably with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and the Google Pixel Watch 3, both of which reach 2,000 nits.
The AMOLED touch screen gets a size bump to 1.5 inches (from 1.4 inches on the OnePlus Watch 2) while retaining the same 466-by-466-pixel resolution and variable refresh rate from 1 to 60Hz. The display looks good in a variety of lighting conditions, and can easily be read in direct sunlight.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
In terms of durability, the third-gen model matches the Watch 2 with an IP68 weather-resistance rating, a 5ATM water rating (it can survive at a depth of 164 feet), and a MIL-STD-810H certification, meaning it can endure extreme temperature changes, blowing sand, and other environmental stressors such as vibration and shock. The Galaxy Watch FE has the same set of durability ratings, while the Watch 2R lacks military certification.
Compatibility and Features: Keeping Up With the Androids
Like other Wear OS smartwatches, the OnePlus Watch 3 works exclusively with Android phones and requires a handset running Android 9.0 or newer. Like the Pixel and Galaxy Watches, the Watch 3 reserves some features for first-party phones. When paired with a OnePlus handset, you can use the Watch 3 to play and pause videos on your phone, and as a camera shutter to take photos.
In terms of connectivity, the Watch 3 is still limited to Bluetooth, whereas competing watches from Samsung and Google offer optional LTE for an added fee. For instance, the Galaxy Watch FE is available with LTE for an additional $50.
The bottom of the Watch 3 contains a sensor array, charging contacts, and notches to release the straps. It features an eight-channel optical heart rate sensor and a 16-channel blood oxygen (SpO2) sensor, in addition to an accelerometer, barometer, geomagnetic sensor, gyroscope, light sensor, and wrist temperature sensor, the last of which is a new addition for the Watch 3.
On the health front, the Watch 3 also adds fall detection and holistic AI insights with a score that updates dynamically throughout the day. After you wear it for 30 days, the Watch 3 will also assess long-term heart rate and sleep trends.
The Galaxy Watch 7 has a similar holistic health score, but it remains static for each 24-hour period, while the Galaxy Watch FE doesn’t offer any AI-based health assessments. The Pixel Watch 3 has the most comprehensive set of holistic health scores with a daily Cardio Load assessment, a Readiness Score, and a specific Training Load recommendation for how much you should work out that day.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
The Watch 3 has the sensors to take an ECG, but that feature isn’t enabled in the US as the company didn’t get FDA approval. All recent Galaxy Watches and the Pixel Watch 3 let you take an ECG. Recent Galaxy Watches also have a unique ability to measure body composition similar to a smart scale, a feature we haven’t seen on competing wearables.
For workouts, the Watch 3 can track over 100 different types of exercise, with pro sport modes for 11 different activities. With the pro sport modes, it can capture specific details such as swing speed for tennis. It can automatically detect six workouts: cycling, elliptical machine, rowing machine, running, swimming, and walking. The Watch 3 can track your location during outdoor activities with a dual-frequency GPS that’s tailored to reduce distortion from nearby buildings and trees.
As part of an over-the-air software update slated to roll out in March, OnePlus says you’ll be able to hold your finger on the lower button of the watch for a 60-second health check that may or may not take an ECG into account depending on your location. It otherwise assesses blood oxygen levels, heart rate, mental wellness, vascular age, and wrist temperature.
At launch, you can already take a separate assessment focused on vascular health. I tried the 60-second vascular health assessment, which called my arterial stiffness Normal and told me to continue to follow a balanced diet.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
In addition to its many health-related features, the Watch 3 uses Google’s Wear OS 5 software, giving it access to a wide range of apps and lifestyle features. The Galaxy Watch 7 and the Pixel Watch 3 have the same software and the same available apps for the most part, including popular third-party options like Alltrails, Audible, Komoot, Spotify, Strava, and more, as well as access to the Google Play store and the normal set of Google options like Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Wallet.
Battery Life: Class-Leading Longevity
The OnePlus Watch 3 stands apart from other Wear OS watches and even the Apple Watch Series 10 with its exceptional battery life. It lasted just over four days, a total of 98 hours, on a single charge with its always-on display enabled, more than double the time of current flagship smartwatches from other companies—and that’s with a few optional, battery-draining features enabled, such as respiration and SpO2 monitoring during sleep.
According to official OnePlus estimates, the Watch 3 promises 120 hours (5 days) of battery life in its default smart mode with the always-on display turned off, or 16 days in power-saving mode. Based on our testing, that first figure looks like an underestimate, given that the Watch 3 almost matched it with the always-on display turned on.
For comparison, with similar settings and use, the Galaxy Watch FE lasted 27 hours, the Galaxy Watch 7 lasted 28 hours, the Pixel Watch 3 lasted 46.5 hours, and the Apple Watch Series 10 lasted 36 hours in our battery tests. In other words, with those watches, you can expect one to two days of use on a charge with the always-on display enabled. The OnePlus Watch 3 also outlasts the OnePlus Watch 2 and the 2R, both of which powered through around three days on a charge in our tests under similar conditions.
The improvement makes sense, given that the Watch 3 has a 631mAh battery, up from 500mAh last generation. A unique dual-engine architecture also helps the OnePlus Watch 3 achieve its class-leading battery life. It has a Snapdragon W5 chip to run Wear OS, its associated apps, and other power-hungry features. When not using one of those features, the hybrid engine switches to running a simple RTOS software for basic functions and background tasks on a power-saving BES2800 chip. The OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R use the same hybrid system, but with the older and less efficient BES2700 chip.
In practice, the three OnePlus smartwatches I’ve tested with this hybrid architecture have never shown any lag in controls or responsiveness. They open and run apps seamlessly and deliver notifications promptly.
The Watch 3 retains its predecessor’s fast charging capabilities, and OnePlus says it should allow for a full day of use after just 10 minutes on the charger. It took a snappy 48 minutes to go from completely empty to fully charged in my testing.
Setup and App Controls: Simple and Organized
The OnePlus Watch 3 ships with its band already installed, and the box includes a charging pad that magnetically attaches to the contacts on the back of the watch, a charging cord but no power adapter, and an instruction manual. To get started, plug in the OnePlus Watch 3 to boot it up for the first time for setup.
Next, download the OHealth app (available on Android) and follow the instructions to add and pair your device. During setup, it will give you the option to set it up for yourself or a child. The app asks which wrist you plan to wear the watch on so it can accurately track your activity, and then prompts you to sign into your Google account to set up services like Google Assistant. After that, it presents a list of recommended apps to download and offers a brief walkthrough.
When you first put on the watch, it gives you a rundown of its controls and features. Tap the crown once from the watch face to open your app list or from any other screen to go back. Double-tap the crown to open your most recently used app, press and hold it for a second to launch Google Assistant, or tap it five times to start an SOS call.
Tap the lower button to open the workouts app, double-tap it to open Google Wallet, or hold it for three seconds to open the power menu. Using the touch screen, you can swipe to scroll and pinch to zoom. Swipe up for notifications, swipe down for the control center, swipe right from the left edge to go back, or swipe left or right to scroll through a customizable list of information tiles.
(Credit: OnePlus/PCMag)
Once set up, you can use the OHealth app to tailor which information tiles show up as you scroll and in which order. Options include Daily Activity, Google Maps, Heart Rate, Sleep, Weather, and Mind and Body for its AI insights. The app also lets you customize some of the button controls, such as what they do on double taps, as well as tailor notifications to your preferences, set step goals, enable automatic workout detection, and more.
The app’s Home page shows an overview of your captured data in cards that you can tap on for more information. The Health tab takes you to generated AI insights, and the Fitness tab shows workout records and details.
Usability: Watch Faces and Insightful AI
You can customize your watch face via the app or touch and hold the watch screen to swipe through available options. One of those options is the new Video Watch Face, which lets you pick a five-second segment from a recorded video stored in Google Photos and set it as your background.
While the Video Watch Face sounds cool, I didn’t find it to be as well integrated as the personalized watch faces Apple introduced in its watchOS 11 software. With that feature, you can pick a few photos, and Apple’s software focuses on the subject of each one and crops the photos to integrate it with the displayed time for a cohesive look. And since you can pick multiple photos for the feature, you can see a new one every time you raise your wrist.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
In theory, the OnePlus feature should be cooler since it’s video instead of photos, but in practice, the videos aren’t as well integrated and look clunky. You can optionally set the video to loop constantly, which will drastically reduce the battery life. Without automatic looping, it doesn’t automatically play the video when you raise your wrist, instead requiring you to tap the screen to see the five-second clip.
On a more positive note, OnePlus gets a lot right with its AI health insights. The Mind and Body card on the watch provides a wellness score from one to 100 alongside an assessment of your current rating. The score takes into account your recent activity intensity, your current heart rate variability, and your current resting heart rate.
Scrolling down on the score gives you a one-sentence suggestion on how to improve your standing. Scroll further for a graph of your scores throughout the day, followed by a button to launch a breathing exercise if you need help relaxing. In the app, you can see the wellness graphs from previous days, plus your average score from that period, along with your average heart rate variability and resting heart rate.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
My score was a moderate 46 during the heart of my work day, and the app told me that “work and study are important, but breaks matter too!” The assessment on the watch was similar: “Learn to unwind. Stress is only temporary.” I saw on the graph that my wellness was good to excellent early in the morning, likely due to getting a solid night of sleep the night before.
Scrolling back to the previous day, my score stayed in the good range more often, and I ended the day with an average of 59. The day before, I earned a “moderate” score of 40, and the graph indicated I spent a significant chunk of time in the poor range that evening. I believe the poor score was due to my sedentary after-work activity and perhaps the stress caused by an intense and challenging video game session with my buddies.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
I like the fact that the score updates throughout the day, and it anecdotally seems accurate based on my experience. However, the feature could be improved with added context, like activity or stress overlays, to help you see what caused the various dips and raises in the graph. I’d also appreciate more variety in the health recommendations, as I often saw the same advice about taking breaks.
As it stands, I prefer the OnePlus health AI insights to Samsung’s similar wellness score on the Galaxy Watch 7. Both offer a simple value and takeaway while taking into account similar metrics, but the OnePlus Watch 3 updates its score throughout the day. The Pixel Watch 3 is superior to both with its mix of static and dynamic scores that offer more depth of insight.
Exercise Tracking: Accurate and Detailed
OnePlus aims to improve the accuracy of its heart rate readings on the Watch 3 by changing the sensor layout, modifying the design, and updating the algorithm. When tracking exercise, the Watch 3 otherwise matches the capabilities of its predecessors. This isn’t a bad thing, as both the Watch 2 and 2R are capable exercise companions.
The OnePlus Watch 3 offers lots of tracked details for running in particular. It tallies calories, duration, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 Max), and pace. Along with your real-time heart rate, it categorizes your pulse into one of five training zones (warm-up, fat burning, endurance, anaerobic, and threshold) to help you gauge how hard you’re working. After a workout, you can see your heart rate charted over the workout, both your average and peak heart rate values, and a graph of how long you spent in each heart rate zone.
The Watch 3 also offers detailed running form analytics, including cadence, ground contact balance, ground contact time, power, and vertical oscillation.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
To test its accuracy, I wore the Watch 3 on a 30-minute run alongside the proven $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2 on my other wrist. During the run, its heart rate readings mostly stayed within three to five beats per minute (bpm) of the Ultra 2. I sprinted in intervals toward the end of the workout to cause a rapid heart rate spike. The Watch 3 was a little slower than the Ultra 2 in detecting my elevated pulse on the first sprint interval, but surprisingly reacted even quicker than Apple’s smartwatch on the second sprint.
After the workout, the Watch 3’s measured distance was about a tenth of a mile too long, and its average heart rate was three bpm lower than Apple’s, but the peak heart rate number matched exactly. All of the form metrics were within a good margin of error.
On a subsequent high-intensity interval training workout (categorized by OnePlus as a Freestyle Workout), the Watch 3 again stayed close to the Ultra 2 when reading my heart rate, generally maintaining a range of roughly plus or minus three to five bpm, and its post-workout graphs accurately reflected my intensity spikes and dips throughout the session. It didn’t offer nearly as much data for this type of workout compared with running, expectedly, simply showing average and highest heart rate, heart rate zones, calories burned, and time elapsed.
The OnePlus Watch 3 shows similar heart rate accuracy to the OnePlus Watch 2, and both fare better than the OnePlus Watch 2R in this regard, as the budget model deviated from Ultra 2’s numbers slightly more in my testing. That said, all usually stayed within a reasonable range and properly represented my heart rate zones, but the OnePlus Watch 3 was quicker to pick up workout heart rate spikes than its predecessors.
The Galaxy Watch FE had no trouble keeping up with heart rate spikes and dips and showed similar accuracy in moment-to-moment and average numbers. The Pixel Watch 3 showed even more precision at heart rate tracking on a 30-minute run, generally staying within one bpm of the Ultra 2.
Sleep Tracking: Still Solid
Like its predecessors, the Watch 3 is an accurate and detailed sleep-sensing device. It measures the duration of your deep, light, and REM sleep stages, and time spent in bed awake. It also gauges your breathing rate and takes all of this data into account to provide a sleep quality score and offer recommendations to improve your shut-eye. In addition, it can measure your SpO2 to assess your risk of breathing problems, and its companion OHealth app can track snoring using the microphone on your phone, a feature that is also available on the Galaxy Watch with a paired Samsung phone.
(Credit: Andrew Gebhart)
I wore it to bed over the course of three nights, once on its own for an anecdotal experience, once while wearing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 on the other wrist, and once while wearing the affordable Samsung Galaxy Fit3 ($69.99) fitness tracker opposite it.
On the first night, the assessment lined up with my experience, and on the other two nights, the data between devices aligned well. OnePlus gave me credit for an extra 17 minutes of sleep than the Ultra 2, and showed one extra minute compared with the Fit3, but those numbers are well within a reasonable margin of error. The sleep charts showing the ebbs and flows of my different sleep phases also aligned well. The listed respiration and heart rate values looked on point, and the OnePlus Watch 3 thankfully didn’t notice any breathing problems during the night.
Verdict: The Longest-Lasting Android Watch Yet
The OnePlus Watch 3 doesn’t stray far from the successful formula established by its predecessors. It provides detailed activity, exercise, and sleep tracking while offering class-leading battery life. The Watch 3 brings a few new features to the table such as AI health assessments and fall detection, but still lacks an LTE option or a smaller case size. The Galaxy Watch FE remains our Editors’ Choice thanks to its similar feature set and more affordable price, but the OnePlus Watch 3 is a stylish alternative worth considering if you want an Android-compatible smartwatch that you don’t need to charge every other day.
Cons
The Bottom Line
The OnePlus Watch 3 catches up to Wear OS competitors with features like AI-powered health assessments and fall detection while offering class-leading battery life.
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About Andrew Gebhart
Senior Analyst, Smart Home and Wearables
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This article was published by WTVG on 2025-02-18 08:00:00
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