Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Every year, I top my smartwatch wishlists with the same desperate plea: more battery life (please). For many users like me, multi-day battery life is the difference between a seamless experience and a stressful charging schedule, or worse, a regularly dead device.
The OnePlus Watch 3 is the newest device on my wrist, and I’m happy to say that at least OnePlus seems to be listening. I’m less happy to report that my Apple Watch Series 10’s battery performed significantly worse. I tested both devices in a one-week battery life showdown, and my go-to wearable got absolutely smoked.
Setting the stage
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Official battery life claims serve as a helpful baseline, but real-world usage often varies. Factors ranging from fitness tracking with GPS to phone call use can all impact battery life, as does enabling or disabling health tracking features. Even a watch face can affect how fast you drain a device’s battery.
For this test, I attempted to use both watches as identically as possible. I enabled each device’s always-on display and set up the same advanced health-tracking features, including identical sleep schedules. I used native watch faces and tried to mirror notification settings, though each watch is paired to a different phone. At noon on day one, I powered both watches up to 100%. Then I strapped my Apple Watch Series 10 on my left wrist and the OnePlus Watch 3 on my right.
Throughout the week, I used both watches for everything from tracking activity to checking in on my Nest cameras. I also recorded GPS workouts, used simultaneous alarm schedules, puttered around in the app libraries, and essentially doubled up on every action I could.
OnePlus Watch 3 vs Apple Watch 10
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
In 2012, I bought an overpriced NCAA national championship ticket and knowingly flew to Miami to watch my alma mater get absolutely wrecked by Alabama. I expected to lose, but watching the blowout live from the stands still hurt. The results of this battery face-off felt very similar.
| OnePlus Watch 3 | Apple Watch Series 10 | |
|---|---|---|
|
Battery claim |
OnePlus Watch 3
Up to 3 days with heavy use |
Apple Watch Series 10
Up to 18 hours |
|
Heavy use test |
OnePlus Watch 3
64 hours |
Apple Watch Series 10
31 hours |
|
1 hour GPS tracking |
OnePlus Watch 3
~2% |
Apple Watch Series 10
~8% |
|
5-6 hours sleep tracking |
OnePlus Watch 3
~6% (average of multiple nights) |
Apple Watch Series 10
~11% (average of multiple nights) |
OnePlus clearly delivered a powerhouse smartwatch with its latest model. With its dual tech architecture, massive 631mAh battery cell, and efficient Wear OS 5 platform, it’s the Wear OS watch with the best power specs available and the best longevity of any of the ones I’ve tested.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Under heavy use, OnePlus claims the battery life of its watch will last about three days. During this test, my watch landed slightly under that, but I used it about as heavily as you can. That meant multiple GPS workouts and multiple nights of tracking sleep before I needed to power up. When the watch hit 10% battery, it automatically switched into Power saver mode to eke out more time on my wrist.
Every time I looked down at both watches, I was depressed to see my Apple Watch’s power slipping away so rapidly by comparison.
According to OnePlus, battery life should stretch as long as five days with less heavy use. This definitely depends on your settings and which features you enable. If you can live without an always-on display, you’ll be in good shape. And in a tighter pinch, you can count on the OnePlus smartwatch for 16 days in Power saver mode.
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
Under the same strain and usage, my Apple Watch Series 10 lasted around 30 hours, an accomplishment made possible thanks to Low Power Mode. The Apple Watch Series 10’s battery life was quite a bit longer than the company’s 18-hour claim, but still much shorter than I’d like. Every time I looked down at both watches, I was depressed to see my Apple Watch’s power slipping away rapidly by comparison. While a short night of sleep tracking costs 10% of the battery on the Apple Watch, it only consumed about 6% of my OnePlus Watch 3’s. Likewise, a one-hour GPS workout burned much more battery life percentage on the Apple Watch than the OnePlus Watch 3.
Differing priorities
Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority
OnePlus is the king of battery life in the Wear OS field, and that’s clearly not a title it takes lightly. The company actually improved this model’s output despite shoppers (including myself) being impressed with last year’s specs already. The TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro ($349.99 at Amazon) is the closest competitor, with its unique battery-saving dual display. However, you won’t find the latest Wear OS 5 on board, and given how long Wear OS 4 took to land on it, I’m not holding my breath.
The Apple Watch’s battery life, meanwhile, remains one of the brand’s biggest shortcomings. Each year, Apple launches a flagship with an 18-hour claim, seemingly deaf to users’ requests for more. There’s the Ultra lineup for better battery specs, but those watches are also double the price and prohibitively expensive for most buyers.
Unfortunately, if you’re locked into the iOS ecosystem like I am, the Apple Watch remains your only real choice for a seamless smartwatch experience. Athletes might consider a Garmin alternative like the Venu 3 ($449.99 at Amazon), but that would mean sacrificing some key smart features. The OnePlus Watch 3 is sadly not compatible with iPhones, so while it’s a very attractive competitor, it can only taunt Apple users or convert them. Personally, I’m too deep into the ecosystem, so I’ll be sticking with my Apple Watch, just a little heartbroken.
