OnePlus has confirmed that it will finally launch its latest smartwatch, the OnePlus Watch 3, on 18 February. However, OnePlus may only be launching the upcoming smartwatch in the US to begin with, as the company’s India division has yet to make an official announcement.
For context: OnePlus launched its Watch 2 at MWC last year, and it was immediately available in India, along with many other countries. Notably, the OnePlus Watch 3 was rumoured to be making its debut during the launch of the OnePlus 13 series last month, and while that leak didn’t exactly pan out, the smartwatch is still making an appearance earlier than expected.
OnePlus Watch 3: All we know so far
OnePlus has confirmed that the Watch 3 will be powered by the same Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 processor as its predecessor, but it will now come with a new BES2800MCU chip to help save battery life.
Additionally, OnePlus is adding a Silicon Carbon battery technology to the Watch 3 (just like the OnePlus 13), which has led to an increase in battery capacity from 500mAh to 631mAh. Furthermore, the brand claims that the Watch 3 will support 120 hours of battery life, compared to 100 hours last year.
OnePlus has also confirmed that it will be fixing a major problem with the Watch 2, where the rotating crown, while present, was nothing more than a showpiece. The company says (via Techradar) that did ‘hear calls from our community to develop the rotating crown to offer functionality and an alternative way to navigate the device.’
“With the ability to both press and rotate, the rotating crown makes navigating through apps and menus efficient and intuitive – and ultimately the user experience even better.” Celina Shi, OnePlus Chief Marketing Officer for Europe told Techradar.
The Watch 3 will come in two colourways: Emerald Titanium and Obsidian Titanium. The new smartwatch will go on sale in US, Canada, and other markets across Europe from 18 February.