OnePlus has confirmed that the OnePlus Watch will arrive on March 23rd alongside the OnePlus 9 series. However, it seems like the wearable won’t feature Google’s Wear OS.
In a reply to a question from a user on OnePlus’ official forums asking if the smartwatch would feature Wear OS or a custom operating system, Pete Lau, the company’s CEO, said the following:
“We chose to go with a smart wear operating system developed based on RTOS because we believe it provides you a smooth and reliable experience while offering a great battery life, covering some of the biggest concerns we’ve been hearing from people looking to buy a smartwatch.”
RTOS means “real-time operating system,” which means that OnePlus’ smartwatch will likely work similarly to Huawei’s LiteOS, an RTOS based on Linux.
This means that while the smartwatch will probably offer great battery life and the core features most users are looking for in a wearable, it will also most likely lack third-party developer support and watch faces.
I like Huawei’s LiteOS-powered Watch GT 2, but the OS’ limitations are also why the wearable isn’t for everyone, and the OnePlus Watch could suffer from similar issues.
Nearly everything about the OnePlus Watch recently leaked, including that it will come in a 46mm size and offer features like sleep, stress, blood saturation and heart rate tracking.
OnePlus’ reveal event will take place on March 23rd at 10am ET/7am PT.
Source: OnePlus
