OnePlus Watch Lite Review: The Best-Looking Fitness Tracker, Hands-Down

Finest Costs At the moment: Oneplus Watch Lite

£179

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

Of all of the manufacturers presently working within the Put on OS house, only a few have been capable of elevate the bar fairly like OnePlus. Current entries such because the inexpensive OnePlus Watch 2R and the flagship OnePlus Watch 3 are explicit standouts, with the latter going above and past within the realm of battery life.

With the OnePlus Watch Lite, nonetheless, 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 per week with the machine, I’m blissful 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 simply received’t really feel that approach concerning the OnePlus Watch Lite.

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

The watch could be very snug to put on because the strap feels gentle in opposition to the pores and skin, and the principle physique is simply 8.9mm thick, so it was by no means susceptible to catching on my sleeve. All of this propagates the phantasm that the OnePlus Watch Lite prices an important deal greater than it really does. Proper off the bat, if you would like an inexpensive health tracker that really seems to be good – that is a simple alternative.

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

No matter which possibility you go for, nonetheless, the OnePlus Watch Lite has a stable diploma of sturdiness due to IP68 mud and water resistance. The Lite may also be taken for a swim in depths as much as 5ATM so, in contrast to the equally inexpensive 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 principle menu or convey you again to the homescreen. Regardless of preliminary appearances, there isn’t a devoted button on the underside right-hand aspect: it’s a sensor designed to accommodate your thumb throughout sure readings.

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Display & 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 slim bezel and an AMOLED panel, the show affords loads of color to any watch face, and house too – I by no means discovered myself squinting to learn key bits of knowledge.

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

With that stage of brightness intact, I didn’t have any points studying the watch outside, which was an enormous win after having that precise drawback with the CMF Watch 3 Professional. Though there’s lots to like about CMF’s equally inexpensive wearable, I might argue that the brighter display does find yourself making the Watch Lite a greater possibility for outside runners who want a transparent have 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 it is advisable to take a name on the go and also you don’t need to go looking for your cellphone, that possibility is on the market to you. The audio high quality throughout a name is pretty stable, though I might all the time favor to whip out a pair of earbuds for higher name high quality and privateness too.

Unusually sufficient, although there are music controls obtainable on the Watch Lite, you may’t use the inbuilt speaker to take heed to these tracks on the watch itself. Whereas this isn’t vital characteristic for me, it may need some enchantment to others, so it’s value mentioning. By comparability, the characteristic is on the market on the Apple Watch Collection 11 and a few Garmin watches.

Software program & Options

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

I’ll be utterly trustworthy – earlier than the OnePlus Watch Lite arrived and I slapped it on my wrist, I had incorrectly assumed that the machine would function a method to convey Put on OS to a less expensive worth 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 paying homage to one thing Huawei may need put collectively. It took a short time to regulate however I’ve come to understand what the Watch Lite is, moderately 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 sensible options, together with calendar entry and utilizing the watch to set off your cellphone’s digicam shutter, however not far more past this.

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There’s NFC onboard, though it’s not used for contactless funds. As an alternative, it may well solely be used for sensible locks, which seems like a missed alternative. What’s much more weird is the power 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 cellphone at a time, however for everybody else, the explosion of dual-SIM telephones has executed away with the necessity to carry a second, separate work cellphone, so this seems like an odd allocation of assets.

I do admire OnePlus considering exterior of the field on this one, however I might have a lot most well-liked to see that spotlight paid into giving the Watch Lite entry to NFC funds.

Fortunately, there’s so much to love concerning the watch face library supplied through the OHealth app. There’s a great mixture of vibrant, fashionable choices and loads of analogue-style watch faces so, relying in your eye for fashion, you may nearly actually discover a assortment that works for you. The OS can be very easy in operation, with the watch feeling responsive to each contact of the show.

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For all that you simply get right here, £179/€179 seems like a good worth however any greater than that and I might have a difficulty. In spite of everything, the Apple Watch SE 3 and even previous-generation Samsung Galaxy Watches might be discovered for not that far more and provide much better sensible options, together with third-party app assist.

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 reminiscent of energy coaching and outside working, in addition to the power to trace sports activities together with soccer and pickleball. Not like 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 simply’re not a whole novice to the world of health.

If you happen to’re going to the fitness center for the primary time, with none prior expertise, then Garmin’s wearables and the very best Fitbits might be higher choices for supplying you with recommendation on the place to start out.

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

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

If you happen to favor to do your working outside, you’ll be glad to know that there’s dual-band GPS monitoring on this machine, and on common it solely took seven seconds to determine 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 have a look at your pores and skin temperature, blood oxygen ranges, resting coronary heart price and extra.

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

Despite the fact that 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 file an extended sleep length 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 best way to enhance your circadian rhythm.

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

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Talking of the OHealth app, nonetheless, I do very a lot admire its general design. On the homepage, all the key areas of curiosity are labelled clearly with useful widgets, so you may see info 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 during which the OnePlus Watch Lite wants completely no notes is the battery life. To provide them credit score, earlier OnePlus Watches have been already recognized for his or her battery longevity however the Watch Lite kicks issues up a notch.

You possibly can rise up to 10 days of use between expenses, which is great 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 every day. It’s honest to say that’s not how I take advantage of 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 powerful diploma of longevity and it undoubtedly signifies that if in case you have a weekend away and overlook to convey the charger, it received’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 fearful about it turning into indifferent the second I walked away.

Worth & Availability

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

Within the territories the place it’s obtainable, the Watch Lite is now the most cost effective machine in OnePlus’ wearable line-up, sat under the OnePlus Watch 2R (£249/$229.99) and the OnePlus Watch 3 (£319/$349.99). It’s value mentioning that the Watch 2R has, every so often, fallen to a worth that’s both the identical or barely cheaper than the Watch Lite’s RRP, so it’s value 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 machine doesn’t price that rather more at £219/$249 and has a far better array of sensible options (though it may well’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 machine 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 machine that’s good for individuals who like the thought of getting a health tracker however would moderately have the extra refined look of a typical smartwatch.

Admittedly, with out entry to third-party apps, the OnePlus Watch Lite received’t be a must-buy for some, notably in opposition to pretty inexpensive smartwatches together with the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE and the Apple Watch SE 3, however for many who don’t need to be slowed down by sensible options, there’s so much 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 snug to put on, the OnePlus Watch Lite seems like an important step ahead for health trackers at massive. Though the CMF Watch 3 Professional can be a legitimate 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