OnePlus Watch Lite review: The best looking fitness tracker, hands-down

Greatest Costs At this time: Oneplus Watch Lite

£179

The OnePlus Watch Lite charts a brand new path for the smartphone model, one which sees it enter the reasonably priced health tracker area (correctly this time).

Of all of the manufacturers at present working within the Put on OS area, only a few have been capable of increase the bar fairly like OnePlus. Latest entries such because the reasonably priced OnePlus Watch 2R and the flagship OnePlus Watch 3 are specific standouts, with the latter going above and past within the realm of battery life.

With the OnePlus Watch Lite, nevertheless, the model is steering away from the world of Put on OS and trying to seize the sub-£/€200 market with a watch that has all the trimmings of a health tracker and the look of a pricier smartwatch. It’s an attention-grabbing idea and, after spending greater than every week with the gadget, I’m comfortable to say that the gamble has largely paid off.

Design & Construct

• Tremendous slick design
• Simply 8.9mm thick
• 5ATM waterproofing

I’ve spoken to sufficient tech journalists to know that OnePlus’ smartwatch design isn’t for everybody. Personally, I’m a giant fan of the marginally chunkier construct and rugged aesthetic that goes with it, but when you end up within the different camp, I can nearly assure that you just gained’t really feel that method concerning the OnePlus Watch Lite.

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I’ve had the Silver Metal possibility in for overview and it’s simply one of many nicest-looking watches I’ve seen all 12 months. There’s a beautiful shine to the chassis that basically instructions your consideration, and the cream-coloured watch strap with only a sprint of pink stitching close to the face is a very nice contact. 

The watch may be very comfy to put on because the strap feels gentle towards the pores and skin, and the primary physique is simply 8.9mm thick, so it was by no means prone to catching on my sleeve. All of this propagates the phantasm that the OnePlus Watch Lite prices an amazing deal greater than it truly does. Proper off the bat, if you’d like an reasonably priced health tracker that truly appears good – that is a straightforward alternative.

Admittedly, I don’t know that I might say the identical for the Black Metal possibility which, to my eye, appears slightly bit boring and brings again recollections of the dreadful, first-generation OnePlus Watch.

No matter which possibility you go for, nevertheless, the OnePlus Watch Lite has a stable diploma of sturdiness due to IP68 mud and water resistance. The Lite will also be taken for a swim in depths as much as 5ATM so, not like the equally reasonably priced CMF Watch 3 Professional, it’s helpful if swimming is your train of alternative.

By way of buttons, there’s a single rotating crown that may be pressed to open up the primary menu or convey you again to the homescreen. Regardless of preliminary appearances, there isn’t a devoted button on the underside right-hand facet: it’s a sensor designed to accommodate your thumb throughout sure readings.

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Display screen & Audio

• 1.45-inch AMOLED show
• Can attain 3000nits
• Constructed-in mic and speaker for calls

On prime of its design prowess, the OnePlus Watch Lite continues its nice first impression while you boot it up and see the attractive 1.45-inch show. With a reasonably slender bezel and an AMOLED panel, the show affords loads of color to any watch face, and area too – I by no means discovered myself squinting to learn key bits of knowledge.

Below sure situations, the height brightness can attain as much as 3000nits, which is sort of extraordinary for a watch of this value. For context, it was pretty huge information when the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 reached those self same heights earlier this 12 months, however that wearable is sort of double the worth at £319/$349.

With that stage of brightness intact, I didn’t have any points studying the watch open air, which was an enormous win after having that precise downside with the CMF Watch 3 Professional. Though there’s a lot to like about CMF’s equally reasonably priced wearable, I’d argue that the brighter display screen does find yourself making the Watch Lite a greater possibility for out of doors runners who want a transparent take a look at their metrics in actual time, even when it’s important to pay only a bit extra.

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There’s an onboard microphone and speaker, so if you have to take a name on the go and also you don’t need to go looking for your telephone, that possibility is obtainable to you. The audio high quality throughout a name is pretty stable, though I’d at all times want to whip out a pair of earbuds for higher name high quality and privateness too.

Surprisingly sufficient, despite the fact that there are music controls accessible on the Watch Lite, you possibly can’t use the inbuilt speaker to hearken to these tracks on the watch itself. Whereas this isn’t essential characteristic for me, it might need some attraction to others, so it’s price mentioning. By comparability, the characteristic is obtainable on the Apple Watch Collection 11 and a few Garmin watches.

Software program & Options

• No Put on OS
• Primary good options
• Twin-phone connectivity

I’ll be utterly sincere – earlier than the OnePlus Watch Lite arrived and I slapped it on my wrist, I had incorrectly assumed that the gadget would function a way to convey Put on OS to a less expensive value level, not too dissimilar to the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE. You possibly can think about my shock then when I discovered an working system that felt harking back to one thing Huawei might need put collectively. It took a short time to regulate however I’ve come to understand what the Watch Lite is, relatively than what it’s not.

As an alternative, the Watch Lite feels extra akin to a health tracker in smartwatch clothes, with a UI that’s fairly accessible because it’s not slowed down by integrations with wider ecosystems. There are a handful of good options, together with calendar entry and utilizing the watch to set off your telephone’s digicam shutter, however not rather more past this.

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There’s NFC onboard, though it’s not used for contactless funds. As an alternative, it might probably solely be used for good locks, which looks like a missed alternative. What’s much more weird is the flexibility to connect with a couple of smartphone which, for the lifetime of me, I can’t fairly wrap my head round.

The characteristic is considerably useful for tech journalists who have a tendency to hold round a couple of telephone at a time, however for everybody else, the explosion of dual-SIM telephones has completed away with the necessity to carry a second, separate work telephone, so this looks like an odd allocation of assets.

I do admire OnePlus considering outdoors of the field on this one, however I’d have a lot most popular to see that spotlight paid into giving the Watch Lite entry to NFC funds.

Fortunately, there’s lots to love concerning the watch face library supplied by way of the OHealth app. There’s a very good mixture of vibrant, fashionable choices and loads of analogue-style watch faces so, relying in your eye for type, you possibly can nearly definitely discover a assortment that works for you. The OS can also be very clean in operation, with the watch feeling responsive to each contact of the show.

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For all that you just get right here, £179/€179 looks like a good value however any greater than that and I’d have a problem. In spite of everything, the Apple Watch SE 3 and even previous-generation Samsung Galaxy Watches will be discovered for not that rather more and provide much better good options, together with third-party app help.

Health & Well being Monitoring

• Wonderful coronary heart price monitoring
• Twin-band GPS
• Many health-focused metrics

That is the place the OnePlus Watch Lite actually stands out. As I discussed earlier than, the Lite has ambitions as a health tracker as opposed a typical smartwatch and as such, OnePlus has loaded the wearable with tons of options designed to maintain you locked in with how your physique is feeling at any given time.

By way of exercises, there’s a stable assortment right here, with staples comparable to energy coaching and out of doors operating, in addition to the flexibility to trace sports activities together with soccer and pickleball. In contrast to the CMF Watch 3 Professional or equally priced Garmin Forerunner watches, there isn’t any kind of teaching on board, so there’s an expectation that you just’re not a whole novice to the world of health.

When you’re going to the fitness center for the primary time, with none prior expertise, then Garmin’s wearables and the most effective Fitbits will be higher choices for providing you with recommendation on the place to begin.

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Nevertheless, I used to be very a lot impressed with the accuracy of the guts price knowledge that the Watch Lite was capable of gather. When utilizing the watch alongside the chest-worn Garmin HRM 600 throughout two treadmill exercises, the Watch Lite was solely ever 1BPM off the typical and peak charges captured by Garmin’s gadget.

That’s as small a distinction as you will get, and it meant that I might depend on the Watch Lite for a practical concept of how my physique reacted to every run.

When you want to do your operating open air, you’ll be glad to know that there’s dual-band GPS monitoring on this gadget, and on common it solely took seven seconds to ascertain a connection, which was then safe all through.

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Not too dissimilar to the Physique Composition characteristic from Samsung Galaxy Watches, the Watch Lite boasts a holistic check-in in your well being often known as a 60s Wellbeing Overview. This characteristic engages all sensors without delay to present you a take a look at your pores and skin temperature, blood oxygen ranges, resting coronary heart price and extra.

All of it works rapidly, and it may be useful for those who’re feeling unwell as it could show you how to to zone in on any components that may point out what’s taking place. The presence of a temperature sensor additionally implies that the Watch Lite can be utilized to trace your ovulation cycle.

Though sleep efficiency is recorded with the Watch Lite, I’d prefer to see the characteristic expanded upon with a successor. Not solely did it handle to report an extended sleep period than the Whoop Strap 4.0, however the breakdown within the accompanying OHealth app doesn’t go far sufficient when it comes to providing sensible recommendation on the right way to enhance your circadian rhythm.

On condition that such a characteristic is now commonplace in most watches from competing manufacturers, it might be nice to see that introduced into the combination.

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Talking of the OHealth app, nevertheless, I do very a lot admire its total design. On the homepage, all the key areas of curiosity are labelled clearly with useful widgets, so you possibly can see data at a look with out diving deeper.

Battery Life & Charging

• As much as 10 days per cost
• Round 5 days of intensive use
• Charging to full takes 67 minutes

One space by which the OnePlus Watch Lite wants completely no notes is the battery life. To offer them credit score, earlier OnePlus Watches have been already identified for his or her battery longevity however the Watch Lite kicks issues up a notch.

You possibly can stand up to 10 days of use between expenses, which is fantastic for those who’re coming from a smartwatch that must be charged each single day. In fact, reaching that peak requires a sure stage of restraint when it comes to how you employ it each day. It’s truthful to say that’s not how I exploit a smartwatch.

When placing the OnePlus Watch Lite by my typical use case, which concerned toggling the always-on show, monitoring two exercises and receiving a good quantity of notifications, the watch was capable of get from 6pm on a Friday to round midnight on Wednesday the next week.

That’s a formidable diploma of longevity and it undoubtedly implies that you probably have a weekend away and overlook to convey the charger, it gained’t be any trigger for concern.

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On the subject of charging, it doesn’t take lengthy for the OnePlus Watch Lite to get again to full well being. From a useless battery, it solely took 67 minutes for the OnePlus Watch Lite to succeed in 100% however for those who’re in a rush you’ll be glad to know that it additionally reached 71% after simply half-hour, which is greater than sufficient to see you thru just a few days.

The included charging puck additionally establishes a stable connection when in use, and I used to be by no means frightened about it changing into indifferent the second I walked away.

Worth & Availability

The OnePlus Watch Lite launched in Europe and the UK on 17 December, accessible in Black Metal and Silver Metal colourways, each at the price of £179/€179 by way of the official OnePlus Retailer. On the time of this overview, OnePlus hasn’t introduced any plans to convey the Watch Lite to the US or Australia.

Within the territories the place it’s accessible, the Watch Lite is now the most cost effective gadget in OnePlus’ wearable line-up, sat under the OnePlus Watch 2R (£249/$229.99) and the OnePlus Watch 3 (£319/$349.99). It’s price mentioning that the Watch 2R has, occasionally, fallen to a value that’s both the identical or barely cheaper than the Watch Lite’s RRP, so it’s price checking to see if it’s on provide earlier than committing to a purchase order.

The Apple Watch SE 3 would be the largest competitor for iPhone customers because the gadget doesn’t value that rather more at £219/$249 and has a far higher array of good options (though it might probably’t compete on battery life).

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There’s additionally the Fitbit Cost 6, which can be a extra tempting different to people who need to spend even much less due to a price ticket of £139.99/$159.95. Not solely is Fitbit’s OS higher fitted to newcomers to the world of health, the gadget additionally boasts Google Pay performance, which is useful for fast funds on the go.

Must you purchase the OnePlus Watch Lite?

Regardless of my preliminary shock over the OnePlus Watch Lite ditching Put on OS in favour of an in-house, fitness-focused working system, I’ve come to understand the watch as a stable gadget that’s good for individuals who like the thought of getting a health tracker however would relatively have the extra refined look of a typical smartwatch.

Admittedly, with out entry to third-party apps, the OnePlus Watch Lite gained’t be a must-buy for some, significantly towards pretty reasonably priced smartwatches together with the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE and the Apple Watch SE 3, however for individuals who don’t need to be slowed down by good options, there’s lots to love right here.

With a battery lifetime of as much as 10-days and a vivid AMOLED show, to not point out a construct that’s very comfy to put on, the OnePlus Watch Lite looks like an amazing step ahead for health trackers at massive. Though the CMF Watch 3 Professional can also be a sound possibility for anybody who needs to spend even much less, I’d argue that the Watch Lite is definitely worth the uptick at checkout due to its waterproof construct and the array of well being monitoring options onboard.

Specs

• 44.98 x 44.98 x 8.9mm
• 59g (35g with out the watch strap)
• 1.46-inch show
• AMOLED
• 3000nits peak brightness
• Twin-band GPS
• 10-day battery life
• Bluetooth 5.2
• NFC (restricted)
• Twin-phone connectivity
• Temperature sensor