New OnePlus Watch Appears on Certification Website, Showcasing New Design and Button Layout

OnePlus recently launched its first WearOS-powered smartwatch, the OnePlus Watch 2, but it already seems to be cooking up another one as per a new leak. In February, OnePlus launched its Watch 2, which was powered by two processors and two operating systems, both of which switched seamlessly and delivered better battery life as described in our review. However, a new OnePlus wearable has now been spotted on a certification website in China and it does have some familiarities with the existing model.

A listing on Chinese certification website TENAA even has a picture of the watch in question. The certification for this mysterious OnePlus wearable was issued on May 19 this year and is tagged with the model number OPWW234 by Oppo, which is OnePlus' parent company.

Starting off with the image of the smartwatch supplied for the certification, it clearly shows a OnePlus logo on what appears to be a rather large display (given the size of the pin buckle on the strap). The display does have a bezel, but it appears a bit thinner than the Watch 2 and also has a number of inscriptions on it.

The three-quarter profile of the watch does make it appear a lot slimmer compared to the chunkier OnePlus Watch 2, but this could just be because of the angle the photograph was captured from. This smartwatch (which could be the OnePlus Watch 3) also appears to have two buttons like the OnePlus Watch 2 does, but they both point outwards compared to the second (multifunction) button which pointed downwards thanks to its odd placement. The design of the lugs and the placement of the strap seems similar to what's already available on the outgoing model.

The registered image of the unknown OnePlus smartwatch on TENAA
Photo Credit: TENAA

The listing as expected has no product name, but the basic specifications on the listing suggests that it has a 500mAh battery capacity which is similar to the currently available OnePlus Watch 2 but also packs in LTE radios (via eSIM support) for connectivity which are missing on the current model.

The specifications also hint that the device will be powered by Android, which is a slightly different implementation compared to the OnePlus Watch 2 which utilises both WearOS and RTOS as its operating systems. So, it's unclear if this new smartwatch will go with a dual architecture like the Watch 2.

The watch in question communicates with a smartphone using Bluetooth and also packs Wi-Fi and NFC, as per the listing. It also supports the usual global positioning systems (GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS).

At this moment, it's unclear when this smartwatch will be announced or revealed. But given that it has reached the certification stage, there's a good chance that it will be announced soon. What also remains unclear is its positioning. This watch does pack in cellular connectivity over the existing model so it could be a slightly altered variant of the same and end up getting branded as the OnePlus Watch 2S. If it's a brand new model we could be looking at the OnePlus Watch 3 or an Ultra model, like the one Samsung seems to have in the works.