Earlier this year, OnePlus launched the OnePlus Nord, the market’s first mid-range smartphone since the OnePlus X of 2015. The launch of the Nord meant a shift in strategy for OnePlus; the company is likely to return to its roots by making affordable smartphones again. But smartphones are not the only tech products that OnePlus is making right now. The company has diversified its product portfolio, with offerings in the smart TV market below the OnePlus TV line. Now it looks like OnePlus may be ready to enter a new brand: smartwatches. Apparently, the company can make a smartwatch called the OnePlus Watch.
The next day, a device with the marketing name “OnePlus Watch” appeared on the website of Indonesia’s IMDA regulatory body. The device is referred to as “Wearable Watch” with model name W301GB according to the list, but the list does not show any more information such as the specifications, software or design. Most likely, it will run Google’s Wear OS and have a Snapdragon Wear system on-chip, possibly the recently announced Snapdragon Wear 4100.
This is not the first time we’ve heard of OnePlus possibly launching a smartwatch. Back in 2016, OnePlus actually confirmed that the company was developing a smartwatch. “We had completed the design, but we still decided to scrap it. We need to be focused, ”said OnePlus CEO Pete Lau during the 2016 Converge tech conference held in Hong Kong. Like Google, OnePlus did not want to enter the smartwatch market with a half-baked product, so they apparently spent their time until they were comfortable enough with where portable tech is ahead in the industry.
We’ve heard something similar when they talk about waiting to bring wireless charging to OnePlus phones and when they talk about releasing real wireless earbuds. Maybe OnePlus now thinks Wear OS and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear platforms are mature enough to base a new product, or they’ve advanced their own tech to the point where a OnePlus smartwatch is ready for primetime. Notably, OPPO, the sister company of OnePlus under the umbrella BBK Electronics, recently launched its own smartwatch in China and India, which could be the impetus for the development of a OnePlus Watch. Interestingly, the “supplier” is named in the IMDA certification “SINOPPEL DEVICE PTE. LTD,” which is a company that was once registered as “SINGAPORE OPPO ELECTRONICS PTE. LTD.”
A potential OnePlus Watch could be launched immediately alongside OnePlus’ annual releases, which could potentially include the OnePlus 8T series and an even more affordable Nord device, and released around the same time frame on the market. However, this is just a blind gamble, as there is no evidence or reliable rumor about the launch time frame. We have reached out to OnePlus for comment on this rumor and will update this article as / when we hear back.
