For people looking for an Android smartwatch that isn’t made by a certain South Korean manufacturer, a lot of people might suggest a Pixel Watch, but not me. My first recommendation would be the latest OnePlus Watch, especially after the brand moved to Wear OS.
The OnePlus Watch 3 is next in line and we expect to see it next year, though the release date isn’t known at the moment. However, it should be relatively close, as we’ve already gotten one leak that exposes a pretty major design change that will be coming—the OnePlus Watch 3 will be getting a rotating crown.
The OnePlus Watch 3 Will Adopt A Rotating Crown For A Better User Experience
One thing that dying out in the world of Android smartwatches is rotating pieces. Whether it is a rotating bezel as we saw with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic or the rotating crown that the Apple Watch series has. These features make navigating on such a small touch screen so much easier, since using your giant finger on a 1.4-inch display might not be that accurate.
The OnePlus Watch series is one of my favorite smartwatches to look at from the bleachers, so a new OnePlus Watch 3 leak definitely gets me excited. Thanks to Smartprix, we now have a fresh one.
If you take a look at OnePlus Watch 2, you’ll notice that it has that offset crown that’s just begging to be rotated, but even if you try, it won’t budge. It’s merely a button. However, it seems the company has decided to switch that up in 2025, with the OnePlus Watch 3 maintaining a very similar design, with a switch to a rotating crown being a major change. There’s definitely no downside to a rotating crown and I think users are going to like it.
What Specifications Can We Expect From The OnePlus Watch 3?
Spec-wise, we know the bare minimum about the OnePlus Watch 3. For one, it should come with the same Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage as its predecessor. Wear OS 5 and RTOS should be around, and the battery will certainly be at least as large as its predecessor’s 500mAh—some leaks say 648mAh is the number though.
The biggest potential change is that the OnePlus Watch 3 might be available in an LTE model for the first time. For those who like their watches to have cellular connectivity, that’ll be a big win.
OnePlus’ New Smartwatch Could Launch Alongside The OnePlus 13 Series But Don’t Hold Your Breath
Leaks are nice and all, but the one question you might be craving to have answered is, when exactly is the OnePlus Watch 3 going to be unveiled in the first place. The only thing that’s certain for now is that it is going to be next year, though there’s too little left of 2024 for us to have even thought it’d be that close.
The OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R are both going to launch on January 7th, 2025, so that presents a very cozy opportunity for the OnePlus Watch 3 to be unveiled. However, that seems unlikely. We’ve seen leaks relating to the launch of those phones, and while we know we’ll see the OnePlus Buds Pro 3 show up in a new colorway, there’s no indication of any other accessories.
