The Nord Watch packs a 1.78-inch AMOLED display. The OnePlus Watch was a poor first effort by the company. It was widely criticized for its poor software experience and inaccurate step tracking. The BBK-owned company never dipped its toes into the smartwatch segment followingward, though it didn’t abandon the category entirely either. OnePlus launched a fitness band in India, but the product was inferior to other similar offerings in the market. Now, 1.5 years following the launch of the original watch, the company has launched its second smartwatch and first wearable watch under the Nord brand following a few weeks of teasing: the OnePlus Nord Watch.
The laptop has a 1.78-inch rectangular AMOLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate and a rated brightness of 500 nits. OnePlus claims the IP68-certified chassis is waterproof and weatherproof. The straps are taken from the OnePlus watch and are made of breathable materials.
For health tracking, the watch has a 3-axis accelerometer, heart rate scanner, and SpO2 sensor. Along with the usual metrics like steps taken and calories burned, the wearable uses the collected data to show your stress level and track your sleep cycle. Moreover, it can track more than 105 exercises and physical activities, including cricket and yoga. There is automatic workout detection for runs and walks, but you need to enable tracking first for other workouts.
The Nord Watch connects to your phone via Bluetooth 5.2 using the N Health companion app. You can view all collected data and better manage your health using the app. It also allows you to customize the notifications you want to receive on the wearable.
OnePlus claims the Nord Watch can last 10 days on a single charge or up to 30 days on standby, thanks to a 230mAh cell inside. One of the reasons for the impressive battery life is that the watch doesn’t run Wear OS, it has RTOS. So while you have access to plenty of watch faces, there are no third-party apps to install and use. OnePlus says there are over 100 watch faces, but you can only access five models directly from the wearable at any one time. For the rest, you have to use the companion app on your smartphone.
The OnePlus Nord Watch is available in Midnight Black and Deep Blue tones. It is compatible with Android 6.0+ phones and iPhones running iOS 11 or later. Unlike its first smartwatch available in the US, OnePlus is launching the Nord Watch only in India, where you can get it for Rs 5,000 ($68). Given the poor reception of the OnePlus Watch, the availability of the Nord Watch is unlikely to expand outside of the country.
