The OnePlus Watch 3 43mm slims down my favourite WearOS wearable
Smaller in stature, but still a battery life heavyweight
How do you make the current king of Android smartwatches even more of a terrific timepiece? Shrinking it down to a smaller package, so anyone can strap one on no matter their wrist size, sounds like a good plan. That’s exactly what OnePlus has done with the Watch 3 43mm.
Essentially a skinnier take on the OnePlus Watch 3 I gave a glowing five star score to at the start of 2025, the Watch 3 43mm swaps that model’s 1.5in circular AMOLED screen for a 1.32in panel, and ditches the numbered bezel. The result is a 10% smaller footprint, while smarter component placement has also made it 7% thinner and 24% lighter than its bigger brother.
The slimmer watch body has skinnier straps to match, with quick-release lugs and a flush fitting that should make swapping between bands a bit easier than the chunkier 45mm Watch 3. There are two strap options at launch – one black, one white – with both being made from the same rubber polymer as the regular Watch 3.
It’s still packing the same comprehensive set of health and fitness tracking sensors, including the touch-sensitive shortcut button that can take ECG readings. The functional rotating crown also makes a return, for easily scrolling through the Wear OS interface. OnePlus has expanded its mind and body tracking here, and included a female reproductive health record too.
Expect the same degree of protection from the elements, with IP68, 5ATM and MIL-STD-810H ratings so you can wear it just about anywhere, and for any sport or activity. Speaking of, it’ll track over 100 different kinds.
Power again comes from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 chipset, paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of on-board storage. OnePlus has also kept its second, lower-power CPU for maximum battery savings when in the Watch-only or always-on display modes.
That means the Watch 3 43mm should be able to manage an impressive 60 hours in smart mode, or seven days in power saver, despite OnePlus having to shrink the battery in order to squeeze inside the smaller chassis. A few days less than the larger Watch 3 can manage, sure – but still as good as, or better, than most mainstream Wear OS rivals.
The OnePlus Watch 3 43mm is on sale from today, for £269/€299 – so essentially the same as the larger model, now that post-launch discounts are easier to come by. That makes it a little pricier than the 40mm Samsung Galaxy Watch7, but a whole lot easier on the wallet than Google’s Pixel Watch 3.
There was no word on US pricing or availability at the time of writing.
Tom Morgan-Freelander
Deputy Editor 
