OnePlus lifted the covers off the OnePlus Watch during the OnePlus 9 series launch event earlier this year in March. In our review of the smartwatch, we found that it offered a premium design, great battery life, and snappy performance. But it lacked a couple of key features that are available on smartwatches that cost almost half as much. This made OnePlus's first attempt at a smartwatch a bit disappointing, but the company promised to address these shortcomings via software updates. OnePlus has now started rolling out one such update for the smartwatch, and it brings two features that should've been available at the start.
The OnePlus Watch update (version B.48) started rolling out to a handful of users earlier this week (via PhoneArena). As per the changelog mentioned in the announcement post on the OnePlus Community forums, the update includes Always-on Display support, a remote control camera function, a new Marathon workout mode, and some improvements.
As with all software updates from OnePlus, the OTA update for the OnePlus Watch will only reach a small percentage of users initially. Once OnePlus confirms that the update doesn't have any critical issues, it should start rolling out to more users.
The full changelog for the OnePlus Watch B.48 update is as follows:
- Add Always-on Display dial
- Remote Control Camera funciton
- Add Marathon workout
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Improvements
- Optimize system UI details
- Fix known issues and improve system stability
Do note that the new Always-on Display feature will keep the OnePlus Watch's display on constantly. This will affect battery life to a great extent. OnePlus notes that using the feature will reduce the battery life by about half.
If you have received the OTA update notification on your OnePlus Watch, make sure you have at least 40% charge left on the watch before you install the update. Also, ensure that you keep the watch close to your phone to avoid disrupting the Bluetooth connection during the installation process.