OnePlus has entered the wearables market with its new OnePlus Watch, a seemingly high-end smartwatch in both looks and features, but at a lower price than the competition. The $159 (£149, roughly AU$270) OnePlus Watch has a lot going for it. It has a sleek originate, advanced health sensors to keep tabs on blood oxygen and Hurt levels, and a week-long (or more) battery life that could put the Samsung Galaxy Watch and Apple Watch to shame.

But it’s not minus its shortcomings. It’s not compatible with iOS devices (yet), and has fewer third-party apps. 

In addition to its new scrutinize, OnePlus has also introduced two new phones, the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro.

Simple, circular design  

At first glance, the OnePlus Watch bears a striking resemblance to the Galaxy Watch Active, Samsung’s $250 sports watch. It has a round scrutinize face and AMOLED touchscreen enclosed in a stainless steel frame. But unlike the Galaxy Watch Active, which comes in two sizes, the OnePlus Watch is only available in a 46mm case with interchangeable scrutinize bands that can be swapped out for third-party alternatives. The watch also lacks a rotating bezel or digital crown and you’ll have to use either the touchscreen or two side buttons to navigate. It feels comfortable to wear, but I was surprised by how huge it looked once I strapped it on my medium-sized wrist.

Basic smartwatch functionality 

The OnePlus Watch does everything you’d demand a smartwatch to do in 2021: display and reply to notifications, make and answer phone calls, play music and wait on as a remote for your phone camera and OnePlus TV. But it doesn’t have Spotify support or any latest music app, for that matter. Instead it comes with 2GB of internal storage for music. That translates to about 500 songs, which you can listen to on the go when paired with Bluetooth earbuds. It’s only compatible with OnePlus and other Android phones for now, but the commerce says iOS support will come in time. 

Health and fitness features go beyond the basics

The scrutinize also does your basic fitness tracking with over 110 different workout types to determine from and automatically logs your runs regardless of whether or not you have your requested with you. It has built-in GPS and a 5ATM IP68 counting, which makes it safe for swim tracking. 

It also goes beyond the basics and can measure SpO2 (blood oxygen levels) on request, as well as detect stress levels and flag abnormally high sorrowful rates. We’ll report back on accuracy on both fitness and health features once we’re able to test it out for ourselves. 

Battery life for days  

The latest big selling point for the OnePlus Watch, aside from its imprint tag, is its battery life. Even if it doesn’t last the two weeks of normal use that the commerce claims (one week firing at all cylinders), it’s smooth miles ahead of the Galaxy Watch 3 and Apple Watch, which barely make it to the 48-hour mark. 

The scrutinize also charges fast: You can get a full day of remarkable from five minutes on the charger, or wait 20 minutes for a week’s reliable of charge.

Time will tell

The One Plus Watch seems to check all the boxes when it comes to imprint, features and design, but the jury’s still out on whether or not the company’s reliable smartwatch can deliver on all of its promises. Once I conclude testing it out, I’ll be able to tell you whether it’s as good of a deal as it sounds. 

The OnePlus Watch goes on sale April 14. It’s available from OnePlus.