The recently released OnePlus Watch has a sleek design and uses the company’s own interface. Meanwhile, the flagship OnePlus 9 Pro boasts a lightning-fast processor and a camera made in combination with the legendary company Hasselblad. I’m a longtime Apple enthusiast, but the combination of the OnePlus phone and watch is enough to tempt me over to Android.
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The $159 OnePlus Watch stakes a clear design path away from that of the Apple Watch. Its circular face to me is a far more attractive design than Apple’s rectangular timepiece. I love the OnePlus Watch’s look, which resembles a cross between Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active and a Swatch watch. The OnePlus Watch has an AMOLED touchscreen, a stainless steel frame, and buttons on the side. It’s only available in a 46mm case with interchangeable watch bands. You’ll have to embrace the less is more mantra if you’re comparing the OnePlus Watch to Apple’s latest offerings. The OnePlus Watch can display and respond to notifications, make and answer phone calls and play music. But you can’t load any music apps on the device. Weirdly, the OnePlus includes 2GB of internal storage for music, which you can listen to with Bluetooth earbuds. Keep in mind that the OnePlus Watch is only compatible with Android phones for now, but the company claims it’s working on iOS support. Health tracking is where the OnePlus Watch shines. You can choose from over 100 different workout types to track and automatically log runs without a phone nearby, thanks to the built-in GPS. You also can swim with this watch, the company claims. The OnePlus goes head to head with models like the Apple Watch Series 6 by measuring blood-oxygen levels on demand. The manufacturer also says the One Plus can monitor stress levels and alert you to unusually high heart rates.
Flagship Specs for the OnePlus 9 Pro
The OnePlus 9 Pro makes a mouthwatering entrance as the manufacturer’s latest flagship phone. It is understated and elegant looking and comes in a choice of colors, including morning mist and pine green. The phone’s base model (with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage) will cost $969. In addition to the Pro, OnePlus also announced the lower-end One Plus 9, which starts at $829. It’s got a smaller display with a lower resolution and a dip in camera specs, along with the same Snapdragon 888 processor as its more expensive sibling. For its camera, OnePlus teamed up with pro camera maker Hasselblad to help optimize the software. It comes with four camera lenses on the back; a 48-megapixel primary camera, a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera, an 8-megapixel telephoto camera (with 3.3x optical zoom), and a 2-megapixel monochrome camera. The 9 Pro should have the horsepower to run any application you throw at it. The phone packs the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and 12GB of RAM. It runs the newest Android 11 software and the OnePlusOxygen OS software as an overlay. The screen on the 9 Pro should compete with the best offered by Apple and Samsung. You can gaze at its 6.7-inches with a maximum resolution of 1,440x3,216 pixels. The pixel density is a ridiculously sharp 525 pixels per inch. You also can save battery life by adjusting the screen to a lower resolution. The screen is Gorilla Glass 5, which should offer a decent amount of protection if you’ve got a clumsy streak. Battery life on the 9 Pro should be decent. The phone has a 4,500-mAh battery, and it supports 65-watt fast charging, which OnePlus claims will push the phone from 1% to fully charged in 29 minutes. It also offers wireless charging, which will take the phone from empty to topped up in 43 minutes. Stay tuned for a hands-on review of the 9 Pro. I’m dying to get my hands on this sleek-looking beast.
