OnePlus smartwatch plans detailed by CEO Pete Lau, could launch in 2021

The OnePlus smartwatch has been rumoured for some time now, with the company even confirming that it is working on a smart wearable during the launch of the OnePlus 8T in October. Now, the company CEO Pete Lau has revealed that OnePlus is currently working on a smartwatch that is likely going to debut next year. 

Previously, the OnePlus Watch, as it was rumoured to be called, was expected to be announced with the OnePlus 8T, but it remained a no-show. That said, we did get a glimpse of one of the earlier prototype designs that the company developed in 2015 for its smartwatch.

Talking about the company with InputMag’s Raymond Wong, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau revealed that the company is working with Google to improve WearOS connectivity between Android TV and smartphones. Both Google and OnePlus want to improve the value of a smartwatch.

“Wear OS definitely has room to improve. What we're trying to do is work with Google to try to improve the connectivity between the Wear OS ecosystem, Android TV, and Android smartphones to create this ability for better device interoperability across the ecosystems. This has been something looked at very positively from Google's side as well, so this is the direction that we're trying to develop, but we don't have more than we can share on that right now,” he said.

OnePlus Watch has been tipped to feature a circular dial design as hinted by the sketch in the teaser. However, OnePlus reportedly may have run into some production or software issues that would have led to the smartwatch getting delayed. Lau also spoke about creating an ecosystem of interconnected products where the smartphone, television and smartwatch play an important role. 

“For your smartwatch, in terms of notifications being able to seamlessly appear on the TV or using your smartwatch to also control the smart display or your smartwatch detecting that you've fallen asleep and then also eventually putting your smart display to sleep,” Lau told InputMag. Since 2020 is coming to a close, it is likely we will get to see the OnePlus smartwatch sometime next year.

Additionally, there have been several rumours now of the company launching the OnePlus 9 series earlier than usual in 2021. The company announced the OnePlus 8 series in April this year and if rumours are to be believed, we could get the OnePlus 9 sometime around mid-march 2021. The OnePlus Watch could likely make its debut alongside the OnePlus 9, however, there is no official word regarding the launch of the smartwatch yet.

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