A new OnePlus smartwatch just appeared, but what is it?

Ben Schoon | Jun 10 2024 - 9:35 am PT

The OnePlus Watch 2 launched earlier this year as a huge redemption for the company’s smartwatch ambitions and, now, another one has appeared.

Spotted by 91Mobiles, a certification in India’s BIS has appeared for a new OnePlus Watch model. It carries the model number OPWWE234, which is roughly in line with the OnePlus Watch 2 which had the model number OPWWE231.

The extremely close model numbers suggest that this is a very similar product, with 91Mobiles speculating that it could be a “OnePlus Watch 3” powered by a new Snapdragon processor. That seems highly unlikely, though, given the existing Watch 2 only launched less than four months ago.

The listing doesn’t reveal much about the product, but does show a battery capacity of 500 mAh. That’s identical to the Watch 2.

So what could this be?

There are a lot of possibilities. Assuming it’s not a direct sequel which, again, seems extremely unlikely, I think there are two likely scenarios. One, this could be a variant of the OnePlus Watch 2 that tries to cut costs, perhaps by removing the dual-chip solution and just running as a normal Wear OS smartwatch. Alternatively, it could go in the exact opposite direction, going all-in on the RTOS and making it an even cheaper, albeit way less capable, option.

Whatever the case, we’ll probably find out soon given the timing of the listing going live.