The OnePlus Watch Lite will do one thing most smartwatches can’t

The OnePlus Watch 3 is one of the best current smartwatches you can buy, so when OnePlus makes another smartwatch, we sit up and take notice.

However, the OnePlus Watch Lite is very different to its acclaimed sibling. Is it still worth our attention? While a lot of it isn't that remarkable, there is one unusual feature that will make it intriguing, once it arrives.

It looks the part

Comfortable too

OnePlus has sensibly followed Samsung’s lead with the Galaxy Watch 8 and made the OnePlus Lite thin and light. It’s 8.9mm thick and 59 grams with the strap, so it slips easily under your cuff, and you soon get used to it on your wrist.

It comes in a single 44mm case size, and it’s fairly large. It’s my 6.5-inch wrist in the photos, and the strap falls almost directly down the side, so don’t expect it to immediately suit small wrists. I really appreciate the use of sapphire crystal over the 1.46-inch AMOLED screen, but it’s plastic over the case back.

You can choose between the silver stainless steel model in out pictures, or a black stainless steel version, matched to either a white or black fluororubber strap. This is very flexible with plenty of adjustability, plus some quick release pins to change it.

The offset rotating crown gives the Watch Lite some visual character, but the lower button isn’t actually a button, but a sensor to enable OnePlus’s 60-second health check. The screen is responsive, but pressing the crown returns a fairly unpleasant click.

New software

Connect more than one phone

The OnePlus Watch Lite’s design is very similar to the OnePlus Watch 3, and that’s a very good thing. It’s more characterful than the Pixel Watch 4, but not quite as fun as the Galaxy Watch 8.

OnePlus has not used Google’s Wear OS for the Watch Lite, and instead has installed its own OxygenOS Watch 7.1 operating system. It’s still controlled with swipes and taps, but to the right are health cards, and to the left a selection of widgets and shortcuts.

Unfortunately, there’s no app store, so you won’t find apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, or Google Maps, or mobile payments. It means the Watch Lite is best suited for health tracking and notifications, rather than anything more in-depth.

One advantage of OnePlus’s own software is the ability to connect to more than one phone at the same time, including iOS. Once connected, notifications will be synced and appear on the smartwatch. A potentially helpful feature for those who have both a personal and a work phone.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, the feature is not available to try but will arrive in a software update. We're keen to try it out, as it's an unusual feature with various possible uses, and would certainly make the Watch Lite stand out.

Health and fitness tracking

60-second health check

The OnePlus Watch Lite tracks heart rate, blood oxygen, wrist temperature, stress, and sleep. Additionally, it has a cycle tracking feature, fall detection, and 100 different sports available to track.

OnePlus’s 60-second wellness check, also seen on its other smartwatches, is also present. Over the 60 seconds, provided you keep your finger on the side-mounted sensor, it gathers data on heart rate, resting heart rate, blood oxygen, vascular age, and arterial stiffness.

The smartwatch connects to the OHealth app on your phone. It’s the same experience as with the OnePlus Watch 3. The app is simple to navigate, and the tile-style design makes it easy to find data at a glance, plus there’s more in-depth information when you tap down into different menus.

What else do you need to know?

Long battery life promised

A 330mAh battery may not sound particularly big, but the simple software and relatively modest feature set means it should return decent usage time. OnePlus promises four days on a single charge with the always-on screen active, and up to a week or even 10 days with more modest use.

It’s recharged with a standard plastic puck in about 90 minutes, plus there’s a 10-minute quick charge for approximately one day’s use.

Joining the stainless steel case and sapphire crystal is an IP68 dust and water resistance, plus the Watch Lite is rated for 5ATM water resistance too.

When can you buy it?

Not in the US

OnePlus won’t release the Watch Lite in the US, but it will be coming to the UK and Europe. It’s an unfortunate decision, as the US is slightly limited on affordable, good-quality smartwatches.

In Europe, the OnePlus Watch Lite will cost £179, which converts over to $240. It’s up against smartwatches like the Amazfit Balance 2, the CMF by Nothing Watch Pro 3, and the Huawei Watch GT 6. It's available to pre-order from December 17, ready for release on December 24.

If the absence of Wear OS puts you off, we highly recommend the OnePlus Watch 3 and the OnePlus Watch 3 (43mm). Alternatively, the excellent Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is a great buy, and provided you like its simple design, the Pixel Watch 4 is Google’s best smartwatch yet.