OnePlus Watch 3 could eclipse the Apple Watch Ultra 3 with the ‘holy grail’ of smartwatch health tech
Chinese manufacturer Oppo, which also makes the OnePlus series of Android phones and wearables, looks set to introduce a new watch next month, likely the OnePlus Watch 3. A promotional image, shared on Weibo by OPPO product manager Zhou Yibao, shows a cool new function: blood pressure monitoring, which indicates the risk of hypertension.
Accurate blood pressure monitoring via LEDs remains a ‘holy grail’ health feature for even the best smartwatches, and is proving frustratingly out of reach. The Huawei Watch D2 is the most accurate yet, including in its technology a belt full of inflatable bladders, which acts as a wearable blood pressure cuff.
However, it doesn’t look like this feature will elude smartwatch manufacturers for much longer. We reported yesterday that Apple will likely introduce this technology in September on the Apple Watch Series 11, Apple Watch Ultra 3, and perhaps the Apple Watch SE 3, but Oppo might just beat it, if this promotional image is any indication. We can’t embed the image from Weibo, but you can check it out here.
A report from Neowin.net indicates that the OnePlus Watch 3, also called the Oppo Watch X2 here, will likely launch in China next month, with an international release to follow.
Rather than wait for its blood pressure monitoring technology to gain approval from the US Food & Drug Administration or a similar governing body (FDA approval is a clear sign of quality and clears these features for medical use), it appears Oppo will follow the route that Apple is expected to follow, and use blood pressure readings as an indication that you should be examined by a medical professional.
This approach has served Apple and other smartwatch makers well in the past: the Cupertino giant’s sleep apnea detection feature, which debuted last year on its Apple Watch Series 10 and watchOS 11, also provides an indication to only consult a medical professional, instead of a doctor. clear diagnosis.
Apple normally doesn’t introduce a feature until it has a pretty good idea that it works: it will be interesting to compare these next-generation smartwatch features to a medical-grade blood pressure cuff to determine accuracy.