Following the rumors and leaks since the mid-2020, OnePlus finally confirmed to launch its smartwatch alongside the OnePlus 9 flagship series on March 23. Now, earlier reports suggested that the OnePlus Watch might not run on Google’s Wear OS platform. In line with these rumors, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed today that the OnePlus Watch will not run on Wear OS.
In a previous report, we saw tipster Max Jambor report that OnePlus is developing a custom OS for its first-ever smartwatch. Lau confirmed this in a response to a fan question on the company’s community forum.
A user on the forum raised the question of whether the OnePlus Watch will “run Wear OS or is OnePlus planning to do a custom OS for its watch like Samsung did Tizen OS for their watches?”
Replying to this query, Lau confirmed that the OnePlus Watch will be running a “smart wear operating system developed based on RTOS.” This, if you did not know, means that the Watch will be running on a still-unnamed “real-time operating system” instead of Google’s Wear OS.
The company chose to go with a custom OS for its first smartwatch to provide users with a “smooth and reliable experience while offering a great battery life,” adds the CEO. That is one of the biggest “pain points for a smartwatch wearer” and OnePlus wants to solve this shortcoming with its upcoming wearable.
So, in a nutshell, the OnePlus Watch will not run on Google’s Wear OS platform due to its performance pitfalls. However, it will be interesting to see how the watch tackles the issue of app compatibility. We will learn all about it at the official launch later next week.
