OnePlus Watch 3 review: stamina and smarts

For the longest time, wearables forced us to choose between great battery life or clever smarts, until the OnePlus Watch 2 delivered both. Now, the OnePlus Watch 3 refines the formula in a bid to be the best smartwatch of 2025.

Before the OnePlus Watch 2, I’d review smartwatches like the Apple Watch Ultra 2, Google Pixel Watch 3, and Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for a few weeks, then switch back to my longer-lasting Huawei Watch GT series with its two-week battery life.

The OnePlus Watch 2 changed that with around four days of battery life in smart mode and two weeks in Power Saver mode, keeping me hooked for months after reviewing it. The OnePlus Watch 3 builds on that with a fully functional rotating crown, a larger, brighter display, a titanium bezel, slightly better battery life, an ECG sensor, and upgraded GPS.

After a month with it, though, I reckon the OnePlus Watch 3 is worth the wait (the launch was pushed to April 2025) even without ECG support (which is currently not supported in the UK or US). That said, it probably isn’t worth an upgrade for existing users, and here’s why.

OnePlus Watch 3 review

Price and availability

The OnePlus Watch 3 is available in one size – 46mm – and two colour options: Emerald Titanium (green strap) and Obsidian Titanium (black strap). Both cost the same, £319/ $329.99, though if you’re reading this before April 15 2025, which is when the watch will start shipping, OnePlus is offering some hefty pre-order discounts.

The Watch 3’s price is higher than the Watch 2’s when it launched at £299/ $299, though with pre-order discounts, you can expect to pay the same or less depending on where you are.

Specifications

• Weight: 49.7g (without strap), 81g (with strap)
• Dimensions: 47.6 x 46.6 x 11.8 mm
• Case: Stainless steel frame with a titanium alloy bezel
• Lens: Sapphire crystal glass
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1/BES2800BP
• Display: 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED, 466 x 466 resolution, peak brightness of 2,200 nits
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.2, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n (dual-band)
• Battery Life: Up to 5 days in Smart Mode; up to 16 days in Power Saver Mode
• Water Resistance: 5 ATM (up to 50 meters) and IP68 rated
• GPS: Dual-frequency (L1+L5) GPS

Design and build quality

The OnePlus Watch 3 looks almost identical to the Watch 2, but a few key upgrades shine through when you hold both side by side. The most obvious is the Watch 3’s smaller bezels, with its 1.5-inch LTPO AMOLED display making it feel fresher than last year’s model. The screen’s a sharp 466 x 466 resolution, beams at up to 2,200 nits for easy viewing in direct sunlight, and the case is slightly more compact.

OnePlus has opted for a premium stainless steel frame with a titanium alloy bezel, giving it a refined look and added durability. I’ve bashed my review device against door frames and used it in the gym four times a week for a month, and it still looks box-fresh. While the Emerald Titanium Watch 3 features a polished silver case, the Titanium Obsidian Watch 3’s case (pictured below) is a polished gunmetal colour, complementing the black strap nicely.

Like its predecessor, the OnePlus Watch 3 is 5 ATM-rated and IP68 dust and water-resistant, so it’s ready for an accidental dunk or a swim. The sapphire crystal glass covering the display is also totally scratch-free a month into use, so in my time with the watch, there’s no need to question its durability.

Practically speaking, the most notable upgrade this year is the rotating crown, which now supports menu navigation and interface scrolling. This really should have been in place on the Watch 2, but it works great, whether scrolling through notifications or zooming in and out of your app grid and the haptics when you rotate it are also satisfying.

The OnePlus Watch 3 is not small, at 47.6 x 46.6 x 11.8 mm, so may be too chunky for some, but it’s no Garmin Enduro 2. At 49.7g without the strap and 81g with it, it has some weight behind it, contributing to its premium feel.

Any fans of strap swapping, the OnePlus Watch 3 supports quick-release interchangeable straps (46mm). However, OnePlus warns that to get the very best health tracking, use a proprietary strap as it sits flush with the case to minimise light leakage from the monitors on its undercarriage.

As for comfort, I had no issues with the Watch 3. Having used the Watch 2 for months when it launched, the Watch 3 is a natural progression, with similar ergonomic touches like the angled, easy-to-press bottom button being very welcome, a comfortable strap and no hairy-wrist tugging.

Performance

The OnePlus Watch 3 is a watch of two halves, Smart, and Power Saver. In Smart mode, the watch offers full Wear OS support and uses the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset. In Power Saver, functionality is paired back to Huawei Watch GT/advanced fitness tracker levels, the watch switches to the BES2800BP chip, but battery life is more than tripled.

What makes the OnePlus Watch 3 more impressive than a watch with two modes, however, is the fact its Smart mode takes advantage of the Power Saving BES2800BP chip, so when you sleep or when the watch is idle, it sips away at the battery by switching to the low-power chip. The fact this feels seamless when in smart mode is excellent, and the two modes sharing the same aesthetic also helps create a sense of unity across the experience.

Navigating the watch is silky smooth. There’s 2GB RAM, which helps with basic multi-tasking, such as setting a timer mid-workout, which impressively works across both Smart and Power Saver modes.

For anything that relies on an internet connection, things can take a second while the Bluetooth connection between your Watch 3 and phone catches up or the watch connects to Wi-Fi. Still, for typical day-to-day tasks, notification management, replying to messages with voice input, and activating Google Assistant, everything worked well.

If you don’t mind halving your battery life, the always-on display is easy to see indoors, though it can be a bit trickier in bright environments, but a quick wrist twist fires up the full brightness, and with an ambient light sensor, auto brightness works well.

The OnePlus Watch 3’s fitness tracking covers over 100 workout modes and worked well in my time with it. The GPS was quick to lock on for outdoor jogs and walks, and for gym sessions, the rowing machine and freestyle training modes did a good job of tracking calories burnt and also illustrating what level my heart rate was at, with the warmup, fat-burning, endurance, anaerobic and threshold zones each represented by a colour.

Excellent for casual exercisers, more advanced runners and sportspeople might find the app and health tracking a bit limiting.

Sleep tracking worked well in my month with the watch, displaying a breakdown of sleep stages pretty much as soon as I woke up. To get your sleep score, you need your phone connected to the watch. This highlights the hand-off process from watch to phone when you want to pull up deeper insights or historical data.

On the subject of the OHealth app, it centralises your workout records, plots your walks and runs on a map, and breaks down data visually for easy sharing. The main feature I missed from my Huawei Watch GT 5, Fit 3, and Garmin Enduro 2 was heart rate broadcasting via ANT+ or Bluetooth. For anyone who does HIIT training on a compatible machine, this would have been the icing on the cake, but in every other respect, the OnePlus Watch 3 met my fitness needs.

The watch also includes a Wellness feature, which gives you a score based on resting heart rate, heart rate variability and other factors. This score feels very arbitrary, dropping after a workout (complete with a sad face), and increasing at seemingly random points throughout the day. I ended up hiding the feature as after a month, it just left me confused.

Another minor gripe is that my phone’s pedometer doesn’t sync steps with the watch. Apple Watches and Samsung Galaxy Watches keep steps synced, so it would be great if OnePlus gave the OHealth app access to phone steps so no tracking falls through the cracks. When using my walking pad at a standing desk, the watch doesn’t pick up steps as I’m typing, so I typically put my iPhone or Galaxy in my pocket to fill the gaps. It’s a niche example but still an area where OnePlus falls behind.

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Battery life and charging

Wrapping up with battery life, the OnePlus Watch 3 lasts for days and charges up in minutes, putting competing wearables to shame.

With daily workouts and moderate use, it’s realistic to expect three to four days in Smart mode and two weeks in Power-saver mode. Mix and match modes, and you can switch to Power Saver at 20 per cent battery to comfortably get another three or four days out of it.

OnePlus's smartwatch/fitness tracker approach within a single device was game-changing for the OnePlus Watch 2, and is even better for the Watch 3, making it a winning choice for anyone who travels for work but doesn’t want to pack another charger and if you value sleep tracking but hate having to quickly charge your watch up before hitting the hay, it's a breath of fresh air.

Verdict

Considering OnePlus’s original watch was such a letdown, it’s fantastic to see how far it’s come in two generations, laying down the gauntlet to Apple, Google and Samsung to up their battery life without ditching smarts.

The OnePlus Watch 3 isn’t perfect, but it is a winning balance of style, smarts and battery life, and if you’re anything like me – a casual exerciser who gyms a few times a week and likes taking long walks, dislikes charging their watch all the time, and appreciates having Google Assistant and Android apps on their wrist – it’s the best option currently available.

That said, if you’re after next-level sports tracking or a smaller, lighter watch, you might want to look elsewhere. The ECG function being region-locked and the lack of Bluetooth HR broadcasting are frustrating, and the app’s more limited insights than some more sports-dedicated alternatives might put some off.

But if you can live with its limitations, the OnePlus Watch thing lasts for days, powers up in under an hour, while doing almost everything you’d want from a smartwatch without tethering you to a charger every night.

Also consider

Samsung users may be better served with a Galaxy Watch owing to the tighter integration across Galaxy devices, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7 being obvious choices. This is especially true if you want to get the best out of the Galaxy S25 series’s Now Brief feature.

If you have an iPhone, you’re out of luck as the OnePlus Watch 3 only supports Android, so Apple users should consider a Huawei Watch Fit 3 or Huawei Watch GT 5 if an Apple Watch Ultra or Apple Watch Series 10 are too expensive.

The most obvious alternative for Android users is the Pixel Watch 3, and while its tighter integration into all things Google and more minimalist styling are very attractive, its battery life just can’t compete with the OnePlus Watch 3. Finally, the OnePlus Watch 2 is probably the Watch 3’s most fierce competition, especially in the Nordic Blue colour, which looks fantastic. If you’re happy without a rotating crown, it matches most of the Watch 3’s features while undercutting it.