Leak reveals OnePlus Watch 3 will have a rotating crown and support for ECG measurement

OnePlus's first smartwatch, the OnePlus Watch, wasn't a success. However, when the OnePlus Watch 2 arrived, it showed the company had learned from its mistakes as the smartwatch is one of the best WearOS watches announced in 2024. Now, leaked details of its successor, the OnePlus Watch 3, have revealed big upgrades that will give it a better fighting chance against rival smartwatches.

Starting with the design, the OnePlus Watch 3 is reported to retain the design of its predecessor save for one big addition — a rotating crown — according to SmartPrix. When the design of the OnePlus Watch 2 was first revealed, many expected it to have a rotating dial based on the way it looked. Sadly, it was just a push button.

Thankfully, this won't be the case with the OnePlus Watch 3 as the dial will work in a similar fashion to the digital crown of the Apple Watch Series 10. With the dial, owners will be able to operate the OnePlus Watch 3 easily particularly when their fingers are wet and using the touchscreen can be a hassle.

The source has also revealed that the OnePlus Watch 3 will have an ECG feature that allows users to take an electrocardiogram on the watch. This feature is expected to be available in select markets which shouldn't be surprising since it must be certified by a country's health agency. Nevertheless, the addition of ECG functionality is a plus considering the OnePlus Watch 2 lagged behind rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (curr. available on Amazon for $224.99) in terms of health tracking features.

Other details revealed in the new leak include a possible LTE variant, a Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a battery capacity of over 500mAh, and the same WearOS and RTOS dual-OS combo of the OnePlus Watch 2. The OnePlus Watch 3 is expected to launch globally in the first quarter of 2025 but it is not known if these new additions will result in an increase in price.