I’ll admit it, I’m not a born runner. Far from a graceful antelope on the plains, my natural gait is more akin to a tube man in a gale, limbs flying awkwardly, while also sweating heavily and gasping for air. But even the worst runner wants to see their stats, and for me, that’s meant I’ve played with a bunch of fitness watches and smartwatches over the years. Those fun little bits of tech have been primarily responsible for me keeping up some level of a running habit, and I love them for it.
But, the last few years have seen not one, but two beautiful bundles of joy added to my household. And as every parent knows, your personal time shrinks in inverse proportion to how small the newest human member of the family is. As such, I haven’t had much time to myself recently, and exercise has been neglected. That’s really not something you want to see as you approach your fall years, and so, when the OnePlus Watch 3 arrived, I took it as a good reason to get back out there again, and start pounding some pavements.
Did it succeed? Did the OnePlus Watch 3 keep me running, and how good is it as a runner’s watch? I took it for a spin for a few weeks.
Colorful and clear, and with plenty to see
I started a run on the OnePlus Watch 3, and I was impressed right off the bat. I’ve used a number of fitness watches and smartwatches over the years, and UI design has varied a lot. While most use color well, you can always tell when a company has a lot experience in making sure data is easily read. The OnePlus Watch 3 definitely falls on the “bright” end of this scale, and uses bold colors and strong contrasts to make your run data pop. It’s very easy to see when you glance down, and a simple swipe up or down, or roll of the crown, takes you between the different stat pages. Each of the four pages uses an outer ring as a key part of its metric, whether that’s a progress meter, how much of your heart capacity you’re using, or even if you’re favoring one foot over the other, and I really like that element of it. It prioritizes the most important piece of information, and makes it quickly understood. How far do I have left? The bar says I’m halfway. How’s my heart? In the third-quarter; better slow down. It’s concise and very well laid out.
It was the gait analysis that caught my eye though. Labelled “GCT balance”, it measures how long each of my feet spends on the ground, with the goal being to have the difference between them as close to zero as possible. A bad gait means you’re running inefficiently, which has the knock-on effect of increasing the amount of energy you’re using, and could increase your chances of injury.
I did not expect seeing that my gait was bad to change much, but boy was I wrong. Because the moment my lizard brain saw that bad stat? It lit a fire inside me that would not go out until I had righted it. And that was my goal for the next week of runs.
This is an underrated element of smartwatches for me, and it’s how data makes you feel, and how it can spur you on. It’s here the OnePlus Watch 3 really stands alone from the other watches I’d used. Because while Samsung does have GCT analysis, it’s nowhere near as attractively presented as it is on the OnePlus smartwatch. It’s shown as two stylized footsteps, side-by-side, with little to catch the eye.
My gait had previously been bad, but I hadn’t cared — and it was entirely because of how the data was presented to me. Samsung gave me the bare essentials, and it wasn’t enough to spark anything in my head. The OnePlus Watch 3 set my brain on fire, and I loved every minute.
Presentation matters, and that’s exactly where the OnePlus Watch 3 is killing it.
It’s lacking some motivation tools — but there’s an app for that
But, of course, there’s room for improvement.
Keeping with the stats, there are other metrics that caught my eye, but only after my first run. Vertical oscillation, for instance — that’s how much you travel up and down while running. Most coaches believe that additional movement is energy wasted, so you should cut it out. Great! Another element to work on. Only, I could only see the stats after my run, and even though I could technically tell the OHealth app to include an “Average vertical oscillation” face in my Outdoor Run profile, to date, it still hasn’t shown up.
I can only assume it’s a bug of some sort, and it’s a real shame, because I’d love to work on my vertical oscillation too. But when I can only see if I’m improving in my stats after my run, I can’t make changes as I go and find out what works best.
My wishlist would also include some sort of training mode where I can choose a couple of stats and have the watch badger me until I got them right; But that’s not something any watch offers, so I’m hardly going to hold that against WearOS. But one element it doesn’t have that I really think it should are running plans.
This is a mainstay of the fitness watch. Strap on a Polar or Garmin watch and you can set up a customized running plan. It’ll take your personal level into account, how often you want to run, and if there’s a specific event you’re training to tackle. Polar’s training plan is particularly impressive, which you would expect from a company geared at serious triathletes. Not only will it schedule you in runs for the week, it’ll also suggest supporting exercises to do on off days to build up your strength. Then, it’ll give you a rest period before your event, just to make sure you’re at your very best.
The OnePlus Watch 3 doesn’t have that. But it does have apps, which means it can fill in those gaps pretty well. Runna will create you a running plan and transmit it to your watch. If you’re just getting started, the C25K app can do the same. Apps help to fill the holes left in WearOS’s running abilities, and as long as you’re willing to get those apps set up and working, you won’t miss out on too much.
Did the OnePlus Watch 3 keep me running?
And so we come to the big answer: Did the OnePlus Watch 3 make me carve out time in my schedule for regular running? And the answer is … no.
But it’s not because of a lack of ability on the Watch 3’s behalf. No, it was let down by my own lack of time. I simply don’t have the free time to dedicate to half an hour of running every other day.
But even though I failed it, I’m impressed with what the OnePlus Watch 3 offers for runners, both casual and serious. There’s a broad range of metrics on offer, and while it doesn’t have training plans or schedules to really get you going, there are apps that fulfil that purpose, which gives the OnePlus Watch 3 some leeway.
Ultimately, there’s no device in the world that can persuade you into running, and keeping it up as a habit. Following something like the C25K plan or joining a club is going to be a lot more effective if you’re struggling to keep up a habit. You need the willingness and time to keep going, and that’s not generally something a smartwatch can offer by itself. But even with that in mind, the OnePlus Watch 3 did a great job at motivating me using its stats, and it’ll be the watch I reach for when I have chance to run again.
