Confirmed: OnePlus Watch won’t run Wear OS
Recognition: Jimmy Westenberg / Android Authority
- In an official forum post, Pete Lau confirmed today that the upcoming OnePlus Watch cannot run on Wear OS.
- Instead, the smartwatch runs on an unspecified real-time operating system (RTOS).
- It is likely that the watch has similar features (and limitations) to Amazfit / Zepp watches.
OnePlus has now confirmed a number of times that we will see the company’s first smartwatch on March 23rd. It will be launched alongside the brand’s highly anticipated 2021 flagship phones: the OnePlus 9 series.
Connected: OnePlus 9 Series: Everything We Know So Far
Today, the company’s CEO Pete Lau confirmed an aspect of the upcoming OnePlus watch that we have literally been thinking about for years. In response to a question from a OnePlus forum member, Lau confirmed that the watch’s operating system will be an unnamed RTOS, or “real-time operating system”. This is tacit confirmation that it won’t run on Google’s Wear OS, which has been widely speculated.
Here are Lau’s own words:
We chose a Smart Wear operating system based on RTOS because we believe it would give you a smooth and reliable experience while also providing great battery life. This covers some of the biggest concerns we’ve heard from people looking to buy a smartwatch.
According to Lau, the OnePlus watch’s software will likely be very similar to that of watches from companies like Amazfit and its sister brand Zepp. The software on these watches offers a very limited selection of apps that literally don’t offer any third-party app support. However, they usually see long battery life and fast performance, which doesn’t work well with Wear OS.
Wear OS haters will likely be pleased with this news, while Wear OS fans will obviously be upset. We’ll learn more about the upcoming OnePlus Watch in less than a week. In the meantime, be sure to check out our Rumor Center.
