OnePlus users now finally have some information about the Wear OS roadmap for the company’s newest watches. In a statement issued to the press, OnePlus announced that Wear OS 6 is coming to both the upcoming OnePlus Watch 3 and the existing model, while acknowledging a delay for its current watch in waiting for its Wear OS 5 update, which will be released soon.
What OnePlus said about Wear OS 6 for Watch 3 and Watch 2
OnePlus is promising to bring Wear OS 6 to the OnePlus Watch 3 and OnePlus Watch 2 within a single cycle window next year. The company did not share a month-by-month schedule, but the assurance applies to both models, which suggests this will also benefit owners of the older Watch 2 from being left behind when the next major platform drops.
This is significant, as multi-year platform support for wearables hasn’t exactly been ubiquitous throughout the industry. With both generation-based devices sharing a name, OnePlus is communicating that it plans to treat the two in lockstep — all of which should lower user and developer expectations.
Where that leaves Wear OS 5 on the OnePlus Watch 2
OnePlus had aimed to deliver Wear OS 5 to the Watch 2 in a third-quarter timeframe, but it missed that target. The company now says the update is “coming soon,” defining the lag as a last-mile issue rather than a full reset. OnePlus also confirmed it is still planning to deliver quarterly security updates for the Watch 2, and adds that it’s packing the latest patch behind the Wear OS 5 release so as to conduct less duplicate testing and power-tuning work.
(For owners, that should mean: one meaty package — a platform upgrade plus a fresh security level — instead of a slow drip of smaller patches.)
Why It Takes Time To Roll Out On OnePlus Watches
Over-the-air skins are not the order of major Wear OS versions. They include low-level board support packages, Google Play system modules, and updated fitness and sensor frameworks. OnePlus’ existing wearables also complicate matters further by being a dual-engine design, which fuses together a Snapdragon-based Wear OS core with a low-power co-processor to provide multi-day battery life. Each platform hop means revalidating how these chips hand off duties from heart-rate sampling to GPS tracking and sleep monitoring, without taking a step backward in battery life.
Wear OS 5 itself is also optimized for efficiency and accuracy, not least due to refreshed health services and power metrics, which vendors have to tune against their hardware profiles. It’s a delicate balance: eke out the performance and fresh APIs users demand while maintaining the headline-grabbing battery longevity that distinguished the Watch 2 at launch.
What to Expect When Wear OS 6 Finally Does Arrive
Google has yet to disclose feature-by-feature changes for Wear OS 6, but past practice suggests a familiar playbook: better performance, deeper health integrations and more plentiful developer APIs, often debuting first on Google and Samsung devices before finding their way to other partners. Feature availability may also differ based on your device’s capabilities and the regional certifications; due to certain OEM-specific apps, for example, OnePlus’ OHealth suite.
Owners can also expect a phased rollout. Major Wear OS updates typically arrive in waves, with what’s happening here is server-side approvals and transmissions, as well as a Play Store components update that breaks off chunks of the over-the-air update to non-watch components that can be updated directly via the store. It may help to give things a couple of reboots and a full charge cycle for background optimizations on the system to settle.
How OnePlus Stacks Up In The Wear OS Space
Galaxy Watch models were released running on Wear OS 5 but with their own skin, and Google’s Pixel Watch line typically drives the core platform updates. It is usually once other brands individually implement vendor features and battery profiles that third parties such as OnePlus finally catch up. Analysts like Counterpoint Research have observed that the adoption of Wear OS has increased since Samsung rejoined the platform, leading to hopes for prompt updates across the market.
With that as a backdrop, OnePlus’ commitment to bring both Watch 3 and Watch 2 up to Wear OS 6 in the same timeframe is a good piece of news. The real question remains tempo: whether it’s by a few weeks that Watch 3 leads, and then how closely behind Watch 2 follows once Wear OS 5 has rolled out properly.
Practical Advice For Watch 3 And Watch 2 Owners
Before the next updates, check the following:
- Connect your watch to an up-to-date phone.
- Ensure OHealth and Google Play system components are updated on your watch.
- Have more than 50% battery before installing.
- Back up watch data if possible.
- Expect a slight performance dip right after upgrading as the system reindexes and optimizes.
Keep an eye on OnePlus’ community channels and your watch’s system update screen for update alerts. If you count on workout tracking being mission critical, let the first wave land and report stability to the community over a few days before installing.
Bottom line: Wear OS 5 for the Watch 2 is on its way soon, and Watch 3 and Watch 2 can expect to see Wear OS 6 at some point next year. The timeline isn’t as quick as enthusiasts would like, but the commitment extends to the current lineup — and this is where it counts most for long-term owners.