After a disappointing first generation, the OnePlus Watch 2 really turned things around. With the second generation, OnePlus produced a wearable that can comfortably sit alongside the best Android smartwatches with a stylish design, solid fitness tracking and a battery life that can be measured in days rather than hours.
An FCC filing has already revealed that the OnePlus Watch 3 is on the way, but now SmartPrix has revealed some new details about the wearable via the leakers Chunvn and Yogesh Brar.
The biggest change, the sources claim, is the introduction of a rotating digital crown that can be used as an additional way to control the watch alongside the touch screen, likely for scrolling and app selection.
A new way to navigate?
Hopefully that’s based on inside information and not just a logical leap from the attached images. Because although the pictures show a nicely textured crown, like the one on the Apple Watch, it’s important to remember that the OnePlus Watch 2 also had a crown that rotated — it just didn’t do anything, making it the smartwatch equivalent of a fidget spinner.
This was a bit of a mystery at the time — was it a bug? Would extra functionality be added with time? No, it turns out — the twisty crown was purely for durability.
“The crown does not have any function on the device,” OnePlus told The Verge. “The crown rotating when moved leads to the button being more durable than if it was rigid, especially during impacts.”
That said, the crown on the OnePlus Watch 3 does appear to be more textured than its predecessor, suggesting it’s intended to be twisted, and if it’s going to rotate for durability, you may as well add some functionality to it too.
If it ain’t broke…
As you’ll have no doubt noticed from the picture, design-wise the watch hasn’t changed all that much. That isn’t really a problem: The OnePlus Watch 2 is a handsome wearable, and in any case, the Apple Watch design has barely moved in a whole decade, so it would be unfair to suggest OnePlus needs to mix things up every generation.
But the specs on the inside, SmartPrix reports, are pretty familiar too. We’re looking at a watch powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Gen 1, supported by 2GB RAM, and packing 32GB of onboard storage. The battery will be “500mAh+” — which could be massively selling it short, given the FCC listing pegged it at 631mAh.
So far, so familiar, but there are two other possible improvements on the way. The first is an “enhanced heart rate sensor suite” that will apparently include ECG functionality with the caveat that availability will be geographically limited, dependent on local laws.
Additionally, OnePlus is apparently “exploring” the possibility of adding LTE connectivity. This would allow the watch to have full functionality even if you leave your smartphone at home — something that's especially appealing to runners and hikers.
The site claims that the OnePlus Watch 3 is set to launch globally in the first quarter of 2025, meaning at some point between January and March. With that in mind, it seems extremely likely that it’ll at least get a mention at the OnePlus 13 launch event scheduled for January 7.
