Friday, 28 August 2020

Is OnePlus making a smartwatch? Here’s what an ex-employee has revealed

Oppo Watch side profile

Credit: Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority
  • A device called OnePlus Watch was spotted on a regulatory website.
  • A former OnePlus employee has also confirmed the firm’s interest in making a smartwatch.

The “OnePlus Watch” was recently discovered in a listing on a regulatory website. Folks over at 91Mobiles spotted an IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority) certification, describing the smartwatch by its name and model number “W301GB.” Now, TechRadar claims to have spoken to a former OnePlus employee who has more or less confirmed that the company is serious about the smartwatch business.

In a one-line statement to the publication, the unnamed source said that OnePlus has “actively been looking into a smartwatch for the last year.” While this doesn’t confirm the existence of the so-called OnePlus Watch, it surely adds some weight to the regulatory listing, which we confirmed on the IMDA website. Check out a screenshot below.

OnePlus watch IMDA listing

Credit: IMDA

Rumors of a OnePlus smartwatch are not all that surprising. Back in 2016, the company confirmed that it didn’t only have plans for a smartwatch, but actually had a completed smartwatch.

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“We had completed the design, but we still decided to scrap it. We have to be focused,” OnePlus CEO Pete Lau said at the time. In fact, OnePlus Co-Founder Carl Pei had even put out some scrapped sketches for a OnePlus Watch saying, “What could have been but never will be.”

Carl Pei OnePlus Watch Tweet in 2016

Now more than ever seems like a good time for OnePlus to announce a smartwatch. Its sister firm Oppo just debuted its first Wear-OS powered smartwatch — the Oppo Watch — which got full marks in our review. It’s powered by the Snapdragon Wear 3100 which is not the latest and greatest, but if OnePlus could pull off a Snapdragon 4100 + WearOS combo, it might have a hit smartwatch on its hands.

For now, OnePlus is very quiet about its smartwatch plans. We hope to hear something when the company reveals its rumored OnePlus 8T flagships later this year.

Also read: The best smartwatches you can buy right now



from Android Authority https://ift.tt/3gzjarW

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