In general, I believe the brand-new Cobalt edition is an attractive, premium-looking watch. The color mix here is subtle enough to be used for everyday wear and the products are comfy for all-day usage.

If this product will likewise age like genuine leather but it will likely not collect the same patina, its not clear. On the advantage, this implies it may appear like brand-new for longer.

As discussed before, the Cobalt edition likewise includes the standard black fluoroelastomer strap in the box, so if you plan on going for a swim with your watch you dont need to stress over destroying the leather belt.

Unlike the long, thin box of the basic edition, the Cobalt limited edition can be found in somewhat fancier packaging. You get this nice, square box with soft-touch material coating on the exterior. The lid opens up on a hinge as you d anticipate from a premium watch or fashion jewelry packaging.

I do think its rather nice and if like me you also dislike gold watches then you may likewise prefer this to standard gold surfaces.

The bottom of the watch is still constructed of plastic, like on the standard edition. Its not especially offensive because nobody will ever see it but as with the standard design you lose out on the cool touch of the metal on your wrist, which makes the entire affair feel far less premium.

Design

I do appreciate the slightly daintier appearance and width of the leather strap compared to the fluoroelastomer band however it only makes the watch appear even bigger.

OnePlus also declares that the cobalt alloy is twice as difficult as stainless steel however unless you are constantly banging your watch around this isnt going to be specifically essential.

Software

Now, the Cobalt edition is not suggested to be a super-premium version of the OnePlus Watch like the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition. Having said that, some color-matched devices is not too much to ask for. You dont even get a battery charger in package.

Considering the fiddly strap removal procedure, I do not see anybody doing it frequently, which means many people who workout routinely will likely just utilize the fluoroelastomer strap and swap to the leather strap on unique events.

Intro

Returning to the watch, the actual design of the Cobalt edition is similar to the basic edition. Nevertheless, instead of the polished stainless-steel middle frame, the Cobalt edition uses cobalt alloy, which OnePlus claims is the first smartwatch on the planet to do so.

My only problem here – just like the initial variation of the OnePlus smartwatch – is its size. At 46mm, the watchface can appear a bit frustrating and on smaller sized wrists, it appears like you have a fry pan strapped on.

The leather in our case was vegan leather. Made from synthetic or plant-based sources, this material has been made for years now and understood by various names however including vegan to whatever now earns you additional brownie points, never ever mind the reality that vegan leather might not necessarily be good for the environment. That aside, it does still feel quite extremely like real leather and even has a comparable odor to it, which I thought was fascinating.

OnePlus has also been hard at work for the previous 3 months, adding many of the features that it was slammed for. We believed this was a good opportunity to check out the new fancy brand-new finish as well as see how much development the watch has actually made since we last reviewed it.

Topping off the cobalt alloy frame is a sapphire glass for the display screen. This is a bit more useful than the 2x rigidity of the cobalt alloy body, as you are far more likely to scratch the watch face than the body but with glass this durable the only thing you have to worry about is breaking other individualss watches if you unintentionally hit them with this.

Inside, the watch is set gripped around a cushion in the. Setting it aside for a minute, package exposes a 2nd compartment below for the accessories. Theres absolutely nothing especially special about these, as they include the very same USB magnetic charging puck (in the same black color) as the standard edition, along with the fluoroelastomer strap that you get in addition to the pre-installed vegan leather strap. The strap is likewise the same black color as the Midnight Black version that we evaluated in the past and not color-matched to the Cobalt edition.

The cobalt alloy has an extremely muted gold color, which is a lot more subtle in the real life than what may appear in the images. Its closer to rose gold however is more prominently brown with just a touch of red to it.

Unpacking

Its been 3 months since the OnePlus Watch initially went on sale. For OnePlus, the watch was released to widespread critical displeasure; our own review found it to be a bad smartwatch, a mediocre physical fitness tracker, and a lackluster timepiece for the asking cost.

Not too long after the OnePlus Watch was launched, OnePlus pressed out a flurry of software application updates, one of which brought the sorely missed out on always-on screen mode. Had this shipped on the first day, the OnePlus Watch could have avoided being piledriven into the ground by the media however then we would not have all learned an important lesson about never releasing half-baked items.

Last but not least, theres the brand-new leather strap, which has a deep emerald color with turquoise stitching that goes well with the color of the watch. It features a butterfly buckle that opens and closes rather quickly and is also relatively simple to adapt to your wrist size. The metal buckle has the exact same color and surface as the watch, although its not clear if its the exact same cobalt alloy product as the watch.

The always-on display clocks can be tough to see sometimes

All of this makes the AOD mode on the OnePlus Watch far less than ideal. Do not get me wrong, I d still take this over not having it at all however its clear OnePlus was hyper-paranoid about battery life and has nerfed the AOD mode to the point of being nearly worthless.

Decision

The always-on mode on the OnePlus Watch has its own set of watch deals with, four to be exact (2 analog ones and 2 digital). You are still dependent on OnePlus to add more watch deals with as there is no method to create and distribute customized watch faces for the OnePlus Watch.

Aside from not being able to download watch faces, you likewise can not download any applications to the watch. There is no voice assistant on board to serve your inquiries. The watch has NFC however as of yet, there is no chance to use it for anything. The absence of cellular connectivity means the watch can only be utilized with a phone for voice calls. It stays a glorified fitness tracker.

The OnePlus Watch Cobalt restricted edition is priced at INR 19,999 ($268) in India, which is a bit more than the basic edition priced at INR 14,999 ($201). While the distinction in price isnt much thinking about the difference in products, the basic edition itself is expensive, which makes the Cobalt edition more difficult to validate. OnePlus wants to position itself as the premium alternative in this classification but Im uncertain its completely justified.

The OnePlus Watch might have been the most intelligent dumb watch, and that would have been great.

Last but not least, the AOD mode just works for the clock; you cant, for example, begin the stopwatch and have it appear on the AOD so you can passively see it without waking the watch.

Finally, OnePlus likewise added a lot of watch faces through its OnePlus Health app. There are now 54 of them in overall, which need to be plenty for the majority of people. Sadly, you are still based on OnePlus to add more watch deals with as there is no chance to distribute and produce custom-made watch deals with for the OnePlus Watch.

Now, the Cobalt edition is not implied to be a super-premium variation of the OnePlus Watch like the 18-karat gold Apple Watch Edition. The metal buckle has the same color and surface as the watch, although its not clear if its the very same cobalt alloy material as the watch.

The AOD mode is likewise untouched by the ambient light so it does not get brighter in brilliant lighting.

The always-on mode on the OnePlus Watch has its own set of watch deals with, four to be precise (2 analog ones and 2 digital). They all employ actually thin typefaces for the digital faces and thin hands for the analog faces This can make them tough to see at times; one of the analog deals with is basically worthless because of how dim the hands are.

At this moment, brief of developing your own exercise, its clear the OnePlus Watch will have you covered.

The other thing OnePlus added was a metric ton of exercise modes. One of my problems in my original evaluation was the absence of health club exercise modes in the launch firmware. Ever since, OnePlus has included a lot of exercise options that it ought to count as an exercise just to go through the entire list. Im not even going to trouble noting all of them here as it would take all day. Simply see this video rather.

The problem, I expect, is with the marketing. The OnePlus Watch could have been the smartest dumb watch, which would have been great. Rather, it ended up being the dumbest smartwatch, which is whats disappointing.

The always-on display screen works as you d expect, which is to keep the screen on so you can do cool things with your watch, like see what the time is.

Regardless of what OnePlus tells you, the OnePlus Watch isnt a smartwatch however rather a really good fitness tracker. You can get similarly good physical fitness trackers for less money or buy a proper smartwatch for a bit more. This leaves the OnePlus Watch in a no mans land and I think OnePlus should step up and own this difference for its own advantage rather than attempting to hand down this gadget for something its not.

Which stays one of the problems with the watch, which belongs to the overarching issue that this actually isnt a correct smartwatch even if this distinction alludes OnePlus.

OnePlus Watch view faces.

For OnePlus, there are far too lots of alternatives on the market today that are cheaper and in some ways much better than the OnePlus Watch. Its not a bad watch by any means and its definitely a lot better now than when we initially examined it. If you were to buy one today I dont believe you are going to be dissatisfied unless you entered anticipating a bona fide smartwatch.