OnePlus Nord Watch in the works: An inexpensive smartwatch? (Updated)

Update: April 18, 2022 (3:09 AM ET): It looks like there’s more evidence for the OnePlus Nord Watch being in the works. Tipster Mukul Sharma spotted the product name on the OnePlus India website.

There’s still no word on the feature-set, but we’re guessing it will slot in between the OnePlus Band and the OnePlus Watch. Don’t hold your breath for a Wear OS watch given that the more expensive OnePlus Watch was pretty basic to begin with.

Original article: March 22, 2022 (12:55 AM ET): OnePlus’ first go at making a smartwatch gave us the $159 OnePlus Watch. But as we noted in our review, it turned out to be a glorified fitness tracker rather than a full-featured smartwatch. It seems the company is taking another stab at the wearable with a new budget-focused device in the Nord series.

According to Twitter tipster Yogesh Brar and 91Mobiles, OnePlus is planning to launch a OnePlus Nord smartwatch in tandem with the rumored OnePlus Nord 3.

At the moment, the watch is said to be coming to the Indian market with a Rs 5,000 — Rs 8,000 price tag (~$65 — ~$104). That price range will place the Nord series smartwatch just above the OnePlus Band, which costs around ~$35. It looks like OnePlus is trying to compete with the likes of Amazfit, Xiaomi, and realme in the affordable smartwatch space.

There’s no word on the specs of the OnePlus Nord smartwatch, but seeing the company’s efforts till now, we think it might be another derivative product. You can expect predictable features such as step tracking, heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen readings, sleep tracking, etc.

We really hope OnePlus has worked upon improving its barebones health app. It is one of the most disappointing things about the brand’s wearables. That said, the original OnePlus Watch was pretty good at health tracking (unlike the OnePlus Band) and it would be great if the company sticks to the same on the Nord smartwatch.