OnePlus Watch Lite unboxing

The smartwatch market is just as competitive as the smartphone scene, and OnePlus aims to have an option at every price point. The OnePlus Watch Lite is one sleek-looking wearable that mixes top-notch health and activity tracking as well as some basic smartwatch features without being “overly smart”.

The unboxing experience is pretty straightforward. OnePlus Watch Lite ships with a two-pin magnetic charging puck attached to a USB-A connector. While we’re not fans of proprietary charging solutions, we have to admit that OnePlus does make some of the better smartwatch chargers with strong magnets, so the watch does not fiddle around. Still, we would have appreciated a detachable USB-C connector instead of the permanently attached USB-A one.

Despite the Lite moniker, this watch features a premium design, including a stainless-steel frame and a vivid 2.5D curved 1.46” OLED touchscreen with Always on Display (AOD) functionality. The panel is plenty sharp at 317ppi, and it gets plenty bright - up to 3,000 nits in Sports Mode. We have the Silver Steel colorway with us, but OnePlus is also offering a black variant for those who prefer a more subtle look.

Watch Lite ships with a nice silicone watch strap featuring vertical grooves and red stitching elements. This is a standard 22mm strap, so it can easily be swapped for a leather one if you’re going for a more formal look.

OnePlus Watch Lite

It’s pretty light for its size, too, at just under 60 grams, so it feels like wearing a regular mechanical watch. And at 8.9mm, this is the thinnest OnePlus smartwatch to date. Alongside the touchscreen, you get a digital crown dial that clicks in. The button below it is actually a touch surface for health monitoring.

Elsewhere, Watch Lite is IP68 dust-tight and water-resistant as well as 5ATM waterproof, so you can comfortably take it for a swim in the pool. OnePlus categorizes the Watch Lite as a “Fitness watch”, meaning it’s aimed at active users who want to track their workouts and key health metrics.

And it certainly has you covered with 100+ workout modes with dual-band GPS for running and cycling. You also get tracking for key well-being metrics like heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep and stress, as well as a wrist temperature sensor and arterial stiffness, which is measured via the touch sensor below the crown button.

OnePlus is quick to remind you that the health data from the Watch Lite “does not constitute actual medical advice” so you should always have that at the back of your mind when dealing with these types of wearables.

On the software side, OnePlus Watch Lite boots OxygenOS Watch 7.1, which is a far more limited experience compared to the flagship WearOS offerings from the brand. You get all of the basic apps you’d expect, as well as plenty of cool watch faces inside the OHealth companion app.

Speaking of connectivity, Watch Lite pairs via Bluetooth 5.2 and supports Bluetooth calling to your paired phones. Yes, plural, this is one of the few smartwatches that supports simultaneous pairing with two phones, running either Android or iOS. You also get a 339mAh battery, which is rated at up to 7 days of regular usage or 10 days with lighter use.

So that’s the OnePlus Watch Lite in a nutshell - a fitness-focused smartwatch with classy looks. It retails for €180/£180, though it’s currently available for €170 from Amazon.