Rumours of a OnePlus Watch have been circling for well over a year now and, while we still don’t have concrete release information, it’s looking like the smartwatch could shy away from Google’s Wear OS.
Reliable tipster Max Jambor has been at the forefront of the OnePlus Watch rumour mill, reporting on its design and release date. Now, Jambor has placed his focus firmly on the software that the first smartwatch from OnePlus will use – with the company seemingly making the decision to ditch the much-maligned Google Wear OS platform.
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Max Jambor’s reveal of the news that OnePlus could ditch Google Wear OS – the platform most popular with Android phone-friendly smartwatches – was delivered with little fanfare or fluff:
OnePlus Watch does not run Googles WearOS pic.twitter.com/o02jn1AlJi
— Max Jambor (@MaxJmb) November 7, 2020
The move is particularly interesting as OnePlus often closely follows patterns laid out by sister company Oppo, which already makes its own smartwatches. However, Oppo does, in fact, use Google Wear OS for its current watches.
Furthermore, OnePlus is well known for its Oxygen OS take on Android – offering a near stock Android experience with some extremely useful add-ons. With this news, it seems OnePlus will be going down a different route for its first smartwatch. Whether this could mean a more integrated experience or a pared-down one remains to be seen.
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As mentioned, Jambor has carried out plenty of reporting on the OnePlus Watch already. In September, Jambor teased that we can expect a more traditional watch design from OnePlus rather than anything more reminiscent of an Apple Watch. Then, more disappointingly, revealed that the OnePlus Watch release date had been pushed back and there’s currently no word as to when the watch will eventually show up.
Despite a watch-less 2020, OnePlus has still been busy this year. Most recently, the company revealed its return to the budget market with the new OnePlus Nord N10 5G and OnePlus Nord N100.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
