The new OnePlus Watch 3 is a tough but stylish Android timepiece with added smarts

Android-based smartwatches continue to evolve in sophistication. The new OnePlus Watch 3 has now launched, a premium smartwatch that promises to deliver a raft of health-based data thanks to its advanced suite of sensors. Running Google’s Wear OS 5, the Watch 3 improves on its predecessor in terms of battery life and perceived quality, but I suspect the key selling point will be the ability yourself across a wide spread of activities.

With two different finishes, Emerald Titanium and Obsidian Titanium, as well as a stainless-steel body, sapphire crystal display and titanium bezel, the Watch 3 is firmly focused on the higher end of the market.

In terms of price, it sits between the Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series 10, but although OnePlus offers a range of different strap designs it can’t compete with Apple’s suite of accessories.

In common with most Android smartwatches, the Watch 3 feels large on the wrist, especially smaller ones, although the device’s weight, metal case and thick rubber strap give it a pleasing feeling of solidity. Water resistance offers enough protection for swimming, although sea swimmers should ensure salt is washed off after each dip.

That toughness comes in handy when you consider the watch can support over 100 different sports modes, with a new GPS chip designed to make tracking more precise and accurate.

Supported sports include, according to the literature, running, walking, cycling, swimming, hiking, skiing, tennis, badminton, table tennis, soccer, basketball, boxing, and yoga. These days, simple location data isn’t enough, and the core of Watch 3 is its health tracking capabilities.

While some medical professionals suggest you take the results offered by even the most sophisticated fitness devices with a grain of salt, OnePlus is pushing the role of its algorithmic blend of analysis that combines info from the various sensors, from the GPS to a photoplethysmography sensor that takes care of heart rate and blood flow through illuminating skin on the rest and calculating differences in the way light is absorbed.

All of this data is parcelled up and analysed, with a couple of new one stop features to help you decode them. The first is 360 Mind and Body, which presents a continuously updated assessment of your mental state, based on your various metrics and activity levels.

If you’re dipping low, then there are relaxation programmes on offer. Happily, I was told my ‘mind and body are fully at ease’ most of the time, which correlated relatively well with reality during the time of test.

Fitness enthusiasts with a yen for more data will find much to dig into here. Another innovation is the 60S Health Check-In, which gives you a ‘detailed health report’ in just under a minute thanks to a side finger sensor. This flagged a ‘low risk of arterial stiffness’, the cure for which seemed to be to live, eat and sleep a little bit better.

As I said, a wristwatch, however smart, is no substitute for a proper medical exam. Despite the sophistication of OnePlus’s technology and the quality of its packaging, the Watch 3 still has functionality that still hasn’t been signed off: the electrocardiogram function won’t be online until Q3 of this year.

Health concerns aside, the Watch 3 works exceptionally well. There’s a good selection of clean, minimal dials, some with added skeuomorphic cogs and springs for the more literal minded. Battery life is also pretty impressive, with a ‘power saver’ mode that offers over two weeks of use. In regular, everyday use you should get five days out of the watch and those who can’t keep their hands off the apps and screen will see at least three days of power. A day’s worth of battery power can be added in 10 minutes of charge time.

Google’s Wear OS 5 offers cut down but capable versions of many key apps, from Gmail to Citymapper, along with streaming services and Google Wallet for payments and boarding passes. All of these can be accessed via the new rotating crown, which adds another layer of control for scrolling and selecting.

All in all, the OnePlus Watch 3 impressed, especially its seamless Android integration, long battery life and raft of sensors. Time will tell as to whether smartwatches can fulfil their promise of highly accurate health monitoring. For now, if you’re active, data driven and in search of a smartwatch, Watch 3 makes a compelling case.

OnePlus Watch 3, £319. Additional watch straps are £34.99, and charging base is £29.99, OnePlus.com, @OnePlus_Europe