The OnePlus Watch 3 delivers exceptional battery life, lasting up to five days with all features enabled, making it a standout among Wear OS smartwatches. It features a polished design available in two sizes, robust health tracking capabilities, and a dual-chipset power management system. However, it falls short in software update support and lacks certain health features like ECG and menstrual cycle tracking, particularly in the US market. This smartwatch is ideal for users prioritizing battery longevity and fitness metrics over software longevity and comprehensive health monitoring.
Full review
Battery life exceeds five days
The OnePlus Watch 3 delivers on its five-day battery claim under standard usage conditions, with one reviewer noting that after charging to 100% and using all features including sleep tracking and GPS workouts, the device remained functional for over five days. The watch uses a dual-chipset system with the Snapdragon W5 processor handling active app usage while a BES2800 MCU Efficiency chip manages background tasks, optimizing power consumption. This configuration allows for a 631mAh battery capacity, which is 23% larger than the 500mAh battery in the previous model. The device's power management is particularly effective in Smart mode, which requires raise-to-wake screen activation and uses one of OnePlus official watch faces to maintain the full five-day runtime. However, when using an always-on display with a busy watch face, battery life drops closer to three days, though still significantly outperforming most Wear OS competitors who struggle to last three days without entering low-power mode.
Design and build quality
The OnePlus Watch 3 features a substantial stainless steel case with a titanium alloy bezel, weighing 49.7g without strap and 81g with the included fluoro-rubber strap. The watch maintains an asymmetric design with prominent lugs and a rotating crown that supports scrolling and navigation with precise haptics. The display is a 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED panel with 466x466-pixel resolution and maximum brightness of 2,200 nits, surpassing previous models and competing smartwatches. The watch carries an IP68 water resistance rating and 5ATM certification, along with MIL-STD-810H durability testing, though these features are absent in the smaller 43mm version. The sapphire crystal display is a premium feature that resists scratching, while the magnetic charging cradle requires precise alignment, a design choice that some reviewers found inconvenient.
Health and fitness tracking
The OnePlus Watch 3 includes comprehensive health tracking capabilities with an optical pulse oximeter, heart rate monitor, and temperature sensor positioned on the watch's underside. It features fall detection and AI-powered health assessments, along with accurate exercise and sleep tracking. The device supports GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, and light sensor for fitness monitoring. The oHealth app provides solid fitness tracking, though one reviewer noted the absence of a wrist temperature sensor in the smaller 43mm model as a significant downgrade. The watch also includes a built-in speaker and microphone for making calls, though sound quality is described as tinny and microphone quality as average. Sleep tracking is considered solid, and the device's ability to track multiple workouts including hour-long hikes demonstrates its robust fitness capabilities, though the lack of menstrual cycle tracking may be a limitation for some users.
Software experience and connectivity
The OnePlus Watch 3 runs on Wear OS 5 with a dual-processor architecture that splits tasks between the Snapdragon W5 and BES2800 chips to extend battery life. The software experience is described as seamless, with the watch face customization options allowing for both always-on and standard display modes. The device supports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity but lacks LTE capability, requiring a paired smartphone for cellular functions. The interface includes customizable buttons for shortcuts and a rotating crown for navigation, with haptic feedback described as quality-feeling. The watch does not support iOS compatibility or eSIM functionality, limiting its standalone use. The dual-chipset system allows for fast charging and efficient background task handling, though some users may find the software updates limited to three years of support, which is less than some competitors offering up to five years.
Smaller variant differences and compromises
The smaller variant features 2.5D cover glass instead of sapphire crystal, a glossy glass bezel instead of titanium, and a reduced battery capacity of 354mAh, nearly half of the larger model's 631mAh. The strap width is reduced to 18mm, which is less than the standard 20mm or 22mm found on most modern smartwatches, and the device lacks military durability rating (MIL-STD-810H) and wrist temperature sensor. Battery life in the smaller model is estimated at approximately two days with always-on display active, compared to the five-day runtime of the larger version. Despite these cuts, the smaller watch still offers solid performance, fast charging, and a similar set of features, though reviewers noted the overall design feels less premium and more like a 'toy' or non-serious smartwatch, especially at the $300 price point.
Strengths
- +Five-day battery life with all features enabled
- +Sleek and comfortable design with two size options
- +Robust health features including advanced metrics for sports modes
- +Dual chipset system optimizes power consumption with Snapdragon W5 and BES2800 MCU
Watch-outs
- −Only three years of software and security updates
- −Lacks menstrual cycle tracking and ECG functionality in the US
How it compares
The OnePlus Watch 3 delivers five-day battery life, which surpasses the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 11, but it lacks the advanced health features found in the Garmin Venu 4 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. Unlike the Google Pixel Watch 4, it doesn't include built-in Gemini AI, and compared to the Xiaomi Watch 5, it lacks Wear OS 6 integration and smart features like YouTube Music. The Apple Watch SE 3 offers better value with its updated design and speaker capabilities.
Rating sources
Our 4.2 score is the average of the 4 scored reviews above; 8 more reviewed it without printing a score and are not in the average. More about methodology.
