OnePlus Watch Teardown: Relatively easy to open and repair
The OnePlus Watch used to be just a concept. The idea was first known back in 2016 but was soon cancelled. It was only last year the product once again surfaced. Early sketches and image renders appeared and the smartwatch was officially announced back in March with a fast battery-charging. The wearable device did skip WearOS but soon received a software update. Another one was released that added the Always-on-Display. The OnePlus Watch Cobalt Limited Edition was also introduced last month.
We’re very much curious about this first smartwatch from the brand the never settles so good thing IFixit did a teardown. We have an idea now how the smartwatch will fare against the competition.
Let’s recap the specs and features. The OnePlus Watch comes equipped with a 1.39-inch display with 454 × 454 pixel resolution, 4GB internal storage, built-in GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, and the usual useful sensors–SpO2, heart rate, gyro, barometer, and accelerometer. It features an IP68 ingress protection and has water-resistance rating to 50 meters. The watch doesn’t run on Wear OS as earlier speculated but uses a custom Real-Time Operating System.
To open the smartwatch, the IFixit team used the ProTech Toolkit. The OnePlus Watch’s heart rate and SpO2 sensors are on the back just like the Apple Watch Series 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. Opening the watch is easy as there are only the standard spring bar pins holding the straps. Remove them and the four Torx screws found on the rear.
When you open the watch, you will quickly see the Li-ion battery plus a single metal bracket that hides the cable connectors. Some of the cables are not removable so please be careful.
There are some finicky metal bracket, as well as, overlapping cables that may complicate the repairs. Battery is accessible but is connected to the motherboard. The display is hard to take out without any prying tools or applied heat. The sensor flex assembly is also non-removable.
