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OnePlus presents its first smartwatch

23/3/2021

The OnePlus Watch is the Chinese manufacturers first smartwatch. It's supposed to stand out among its varied competitors with its sleek design, battery life and high-quality design.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus introduces its first wearable; a smartwatch called OnePlus Watch. It's minimalist, round and picks up the look of a traditional watch with a hand-polished smooth bow on the side of the case. The case is 46 millimetres long, made of stainless steel and has domed glass.

In addition to a normal Classic Edition, the smartwatch will also be released in a Cobalt Limited Edition. That housing is made of a cobalt alloy that is said to be twice as hard and corrosion-resistant as conventional stainless steel. Further, it has a sapphire crystal with a Mohs rating of 9, which is the second-highest level. This should not only make the display exceptionally scratch resistant, but also brighter.

Like other smart watches, the OnePlus Watch can be used to display and answer notifications or make phone calls. It also plays music via Bluetooth and has 4 GB of internal storage if this is to be done without streaming. However, only 2 GB can actually be used. Those who own a OnePlus TV can operate it with the watch. The watch even detects if you've fallen asleep in front of the TV and can turn it off independently.

The OnePlus Watch withstands a pressure of 5 bars and is dust-proof according to IP68 and protected against permanent submersion in water. An integrated GPS is also included. Thus, the thing also tracks your workout independently of your smartphone. When exercising, it automatically detects what workout you are doing and gives you information on heart rate, distance, calories, speed or SWOLF efficiency when swimming. Also included are blood oxygen saturation monitoring, stress detection, breathing training, rapid heart rate alerts and sedentary exercise reminders.

The battery of the OnePlus Watch has 402 mAh and is supposed to have enough energy for one day of use after only five minutes on. A full charge takes around 40 minutes and should last up to two weeks with sustained use. Particularly active users should be able to expect a week. Unfortunately, we don't yet know whether the operating system will be Wear OS or something proprietary.

The new smartwatch will be available in Europe from 159 euros. Availability will be announced in the coming weeks. Also unveiled was the new flagship smartphone OnePlus 9 Pro, available now. My colleague Jan has already put it to the test.

Update from March 24, 2021, 4:20 p.m.

The time has come; the flood gates are open. The Classic Edition OnePlus Watch can now be ordered. You can expect your delivery by mid-April. Unfortunately, there are still no confirmed statements regarding the operating system OnePlus will use. If it turns out to be Wear OS, battery life will hardly be as high as specified. If it uses anything else – according to theverge.com a real-time operating system will be used – the app variety will at best be questionable.