Combines a lot of functionality with a lot of battery life

Review: Oneplus Watch 3 - It's The Best Smartwatch

Oneplus introduced the basic concept a year ago and has now made further improvements.

Erik Mörner

Published 19 February 2025 - 17:05

Betyg Oneplus Watch 3:: 8/10

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I am surprised that not more watch manufacturers have followed Oneplus's example. Here is the strength of Wear OS with Google's apps, the ability to use Spotify and save music offline on the watch, here is voice control and Google Assistant (not Gemini yet) but at the same time significantly better battery life than other Wear OS watches from, for example, Google themselves or Samsung. Compared to the Oneplus Watch 2 that came out a year ago, the news is quite few.

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Oneplus is alone in offering the combination of Wear OS and good battery life thanks to dual processors and operating systems, one powerful and one energy-efficient that takes over when allowed.

Directly from the watch, I can respond to, for example, chat messages with an emoji, with voice recognition or a small on-screen keyboard.

Compared to the Oneplus Watch 2 that came out a year ago, the news is quite few. Watch 3 has the same Snapdragon chip for the more demanding functions, but a new, updated, and energy-efficient chip for the simpler tasks. The battery also has a slightly higher capacity, but it doesn't make big changes in battery life, as we get about four days. However, we do get some new and improved features. In terms of what can be done, many of Garmin's watches have similar characteristics, so the Oneplus Watch is not the only one on the block. Garmin also has Spotify, workout tracking, and even better battery life than Oneplus can boast, but lacks some other things Wear OS offers.

The best of both worlds

Apps like Spotify are available so I can listen to music directly to a pair of headphones on a run without having the phone with me.

The Oneplus Watch 3 is undeniably a watch that combines advanced features with good battery life. In addition to the impressive combination that made us like the Oneplus Watch 2 so much, Oneplus has now also added a number of other features. One such feature is the ability to conduct a thorough health check in just 60 seconds. This comprehensive measurement will come to the watch first in the form of a later software update, so it is not available immediately if you buy the watch now. However, my test unit has received this feature in advance, so I have been able to test it before launch. The health check includes measuring heart rate, ECG, blood oxygen levels, mental health, wrist temperature, vascular stiffness, and sleep quality. The latter, of course, requires you to have worn the watch overnight. Many of these values can also be measured separately. Blood oxygen level and heart rate, for example, can be continuously monitored by the watch, but I find the total health check function useful because it gives me an opportunity to have everything measured at once. The process involves holding a finger against the watch's lower button and then sitting still with the arm resting on a table for a minute. When it's done, I receive a report that can also be forwarded as a PDF file. The watch doesn't always manage to measure all the values. It may complain that I haven't sat still enough, or otherwise, it may still fail to measure some of the values. It usually works, but sometimes I have to try again.

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Better and more comfortable when you sleep

As mentioned, we were very positive about previous watches from Oneplus, both the Oneplus Watch 2 and the cheaper Oneplus Watch 2R. Oneplus themselves are keen to highlight that this Oneplus Watch 3 has improved health monitoring, partly due to new improved sensors and the watch's strap having a new design so it fits more snugly around the wrist. Besides improving the sensors' ability to read your pulse and not be disturbed by incoming light, it also makes the watch feel more comfortable. I notice it especially when I sleep, as the watch is not at all as disturbing as other watches can be. It's barely noticeable and I quickly get used to not even noticing it when I'm about to fall asleep.

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The rotating crown, the larger, upper button on the watch, is both a push button for making selections and a rotating crown that you can turn to scroll through lists or among apps on the screen. The same concept as in the Apple Watch and it works well.

Good precision in measurements

I have tested the watch for almost two weeks and during that time, of course, measured sleep and managed a couple of miles of running training and a dozen other workouts. Throughout the test period, the watch has provided relevant and credible measurement results. I mentioned the Apple Watch and the times I have compared by having the Oneplus Watch 3 and Apple Watch 10 on each arm during a run, they have often signalled the kilometre times to the second simultaneously. Now, the Apple Watch is not a practical competitor to the Oneplus Watch 3 since one only works with iPhone and Oneplus Watch only with Android phones, but health-wise, its sensors are of the same class. Which is a high class. Previously, in challenging situations with skyscrapers where GPS has difficulty finding position, the Apple Watch has beaten the Wear OS watch Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra decisively.

The app that manages settings and health presentation is called Ohealth.

Now I have tested the Oneplus Watch 3 in Stockholm with few really tall skyscrapers, but in a comparative test where I walked four laps around the Hötorgsskraporna at Sergels Torg in Stockholm, both watches generally gave good accuracy, although with mispositioning at the start. This often happens with the Oneplus Watch 3, partly because it needs about half a minute before it signals that it has found its position, and even then, the positioning for the first 50 metres of the workout can be wrong. However, I think the Oneplus Watch 3 is particularly good at detecting workouts, so it asks when I walk if I want to register the workout it noticed I started. The watch is also alert to pause workouts when I need to stop at, for example, a pedestrian crossing.

Four laps around the Hötorgsskraporna to demonstrate the GPS accuracy, here Oneplus Watch 3 on the left and Apple Watch 10 on the right for comparison.

The Oneplus Watch 3 thus has many functions, much thanks to Wear OS, and they combine it with superior battery life compared to other Wear OS watches. Watches from, for example, Garmin still have even better battery life and can offer Spotify, but many of the other Wear OS functions, such as voice assistant, for example, you miss out on with Garmin. However, not all functions on the Oneplus Watch 3 feel completely thought through or desired. One of the new features is the ability to scroll through short video clips on the mobile, but do it from the watch. I try it.

Browse mobile videos remotely. Unclear why.

It involves placing the mobile a bit away from me and leaning it against something, starting TikTok or YouTube Shorts, and then switching videos by swiping on the watch's screen instead of the mobile's. It feels like a pointless feature, as it's much more convenient to actually hold the phone in your hand when watching it. Fortunately, the rest of the features in the Oneplus Watch 3 are both better and more well-thought-out, making it probably the best smartwatch. Oneplus Watch 2R is also a very strong alternative thanks to its lower price and similar functionality, if you want to save some money.

Betyg Oneplus Watch 3:: 8/10

Oneplus Watch 3

Mått: 47,6 x 46,6 x 12 mm
Vikt: 50 gram
Plattform: Dubbla plattformar, Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 + BES2800
Material: Boett i stål, ram i titan, skärm i safirglas
Operativsystem: Google Wear OS 5
Lagring: 32 GB
Skärm: Rund Oled-skärm på 1,5 tum 466 x 466 pixel, 2200 nits
Batteri: 631 mAh
Sensorer: Accelerometer, barometer, gyro, geomagnetisk sensor, ljussensor, optisk pulsmätare, sensor för blodets syrehalt, EKG, handledstemperatur
Fungerar med: Androidmobiler med Android 9 eller senare och Google Mobile Services 23.45.23 eller senare.
Pris: 4199 kr

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Annons: Smarta klockor nu kampanj, från 2390 kr, eller 92 kr/ mån. Komplett.se