OnePlus Watch 3 vs. Apple Watch Running Test Shocked Me

Apple Watch Ultra 2 has been my smartwatch I chose in recent months. The hardware looks fantastic, Watchos is top level software, and I have many years of data in the Apple Health and Fitness apps. But I’m always looking for something new, and last my eyes have fallen on OnePlus Watch 3.

I’ve been wearing OnePlus Watch 3 the last few days, and compared to OnePlus Watch 2I’m impressed. The hardware is not drastically different from the predecessor, but there are a few important upgrades – for example, longer battery life, new health functions and a rotating crown that interacts with the software.

As a pretty eager runner, I was particularly interested in seeing how OnePlus Watch 3 kept up with activity tracking. I found OnePlus Watch 2 quite disappointing in this regard, and delivered inaccurate activity statistics in an Barebons Health app. To see if OnePlus Watch 3 is really better, I ran with it and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and compared the results. Let’s just say I’m quite surprised at how it turned out.

I live in Michigan, and in February it means two things: cold temperatures and a lot of snow – neither contributes to outdoor running. So for this test I visited the lovely treadmill in the gym for my apartment complex.

I was wearing OnePlus Watch 3 on my left wrist and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to my right. I started a 30-minute indoor running training on both at the same time and ending each when their respective timers hit the 30-minute mark. I set the treadmill to 0.5 for the entire duration and sometimes adjusted my speed between 5, 5.5 and 6 mph.

Both smart watches have all the usual health/training features you expect. OnePlus Watch 3 has a new PPG module and LED design, as OnePlus claims provides better heart rate accuracy. I was not impressed with OnePlus Watch 2’s heart rate monitoring, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 has always been very accurate in my testing, so OnePlus Watch 3 had its work cut out for it.

How did both be watched? I’m going to dig in my mind below, but first I let you look at the results for yourself:

What impressed me most was how similar the heart rate readings were on both smart watches. I often looked at each clock during my run, and they either showed the exact heart rate measurement or were within one to two strokes per minute of each other. It is reflected in the average heart rate in the table above, where OnePlus Watch 3 recorded 162 BPM and Apple Watch Ultra 2 recorded 164 BPM.

I have continuously been impressed with the heart rate accuracy of modern Apple watches, so watching the OnePlus Watch 3 line up is so carefully quite shocking -especially considering that this was a weak point for OnePlus Watch 2. Is Safe Say OnePlus’ New Heart rate sensors do their job.

Despite the similarity of heart rate tracking, OnePlus Watch 3 and Apple Watch Ultra show 2 deviations in other calculations. OnePlus Watch 3 recorded 2.58 miles during my 30-minute race, while Apple Watch Ultra 2 reached 2.92 miles. The treadmill itself counted 2.77 miles – 0.19 miles more than OnePlus watch 2 and 0.15 miles less than Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Distance tracking is always difficult for treadmill races, and considering that both watches are about the same margin of error compared to the distance of the treadmill, I am ok with both results. That being said, I’m excited to compare the clock’s GPS skills during an outdoor race when the weather gets better.

The difference in burned calories is also interesting, although this is likely to fall on differences in OnePlus and Apple’s algorithms instead of a legitimate tracking question in one way or the other. Two smart watches rarely have identical calorie counting, so this is not surprising.

Elsewhere, OnePlus Watch 3 continues to impress. The cadal measurement is very similar to the one from Apple Watch, and more importantly, it recorded a few extra details that Apple Watch did not do.

On the clock view while driving and in the Ohealth app afterwards, OnePlus Watch 3 played significantly more running data than Apple Watch Ultra 2, such as my step length and ground contact time (GCT). A dedicated “Running Form” section houses this data and assesses your GCT and vertical fluctuation on a scale from very poor to excellent. You can even see your GCT balance, and indicate whether you are biased to the left or right foot during the run.

Apple Watch shows similar data for outdoor races, but not indoors. Like someone who runs almost exclusively indoors for four to five months out of the year, it is fantastic to have this extra data on OnePlus Watch 3. Not just that, it is presented much better than the Apple Watch.

Even when Apple Watch shows my GCT and vertical fluctuation after an outdoor race, it tells me nothing meaningful about the numbers. I can see what each one is, but I have no idea whether they are good or bad. OnePlus Watch 3, in the meantime, indicates very clearly this. I wish there was another step by giving me tips on how to improve, but it is still significantly better than Apple’s approach.

OnePlus Watch 3 also surprised me with its “Advanced Assessments” page. Here you see a breakdown of your total calories burned and how much was burnt fat versus burnt sugar. You also get an assessment of your aerobic efficiency of the current training, your fitness training (aka VO2 Max levels) and your required recovery time after training.

It is a very impressive amount of data, a significant improvement compared to OnePlus Watch 2 and a better user experience than what you get at Apple Watch.

Does this mean that OnePlus Watch 3 will be my new running watch for 2025? It has certainly become a very strong challenger. The heart rate accuracy is first class, the more advanced running statistics are presented nicely, and I appreciate extra insights such as GCT balance and aerobic efficiency that I don’t get from Apple Watch.

That said, Apple Watch still has undeniable benefits for personal use. As the Apple Music subscriber, it is far from the easiest way to access my music while driving. I also like to have LTE connection (something OnePlus sees 3 deficiencies) and the opportunity to receive texts from friends/family that is on iMessage.

I keep using OnePlus Watch 3 to see how I get along with it. Although I can eventually end up with Apple Watch, I’m still impressed with the performance of this test. If you are in the market for a new training/running clock this year, OnePlus Watch 3 should definitely be on your radar. If this test is any indication, there is a strong challenger for one of Best smart watches of the year.