What you need to know

• OnePlus launches AI PlayLab for user-driven feature testing and feedback
• New AI features YumSee and Party Up enhance user experience with translations and animated photos
• Early testers gain exclusive access to upcoming features and influence OnePlus’s AI development

OnePlus has been making some power moves lately that is making some heads turn. From ditching its long term camera partner, to now opening up its AI space to users.

In a recent community post, the company says that it’s now launching its first ever OnePlus AI PlayLab, that essentially allows people to ” test, explore, and shape the future of AI features” in the OnePlus ecosystem.

Which means if you can come up with a fun AI feature that could help users at large do things quicker or with ease, “from generating summaries of articles and audio to creating unique social media content, the possibilities are vast, and your feedback will directly guide what comes next,” OnePlus added.

It doesn’t just end there, OnePlus users who sign up by filling out quick questionnaire also get dibs on checking out new features ahead of launch. Additionally “Early testers” can also give feedback to help OnePlus fine tune or even change certain AI features to help it function better.

New AI features on the way!

Additionally, OnePlus also showed a preview of two new AI features that is currently being tested: YumSee and Party Up. Yumsee is a text translation AI feature that translates menus on the go. Imagine you’re on vacation and are having trouble understanding the cuisine.

YumSee comes into play. All you have to do is upload or take a photo of the menu, then select your preferred language and currency. YumSee uses its AI to clean and translate the text, and basically recreate the restaurant’s menu in the language you understand. Pretty cool, eh?

As of Party Up, it basically brings still photos to life, turning them into “live party-themed” videos. OnePlus adds that Party Up uses AI to animate static photos, to “gain movement, music, and magical effects.” Instead of manually editing, you can use one of its templates to turn images into short-form videos.

“We built tasteful, vibe-driven templates based on the most common celebration moments,” the post stated.

Begin by choosing an image, select the template that matches your vibe, such as “Party Dance,” “Party Cheers,” or “Birthday Party.” The AI will then detect subjects, apply natural motion, and layer in effects to create a video, which can be shared on different platforms. Users can give both these features a go via OnePlus’ AI PlayLab.

Nubia Z70 Ultra vs. OnePlus 13: Design

You won’t find two devices that look as different; the Z70 Ultra has a blocky design and feels like a brick, and although OnePlus also switched to flat sides this year, the OnePlus 13 includes beveled edges and rounded corners, and it is significantly easier to hold and use. Both devices have huge batteries, but the OnePlus 13 is lighter by 18g, and it is noticeable when using both phones next to one another.

I like the design of the OnePlus 13 quite a bit, and the blue model in particular with the vegan leather texture is terrific. It has a soft texture and doesn’t pick up any smudges, and it makes using the phone that much more enjoyable. The polished sides contrast the blue really well, and the in-hand feel is excellent. The camera island also looks cleaner this year, and the overall design is cohesive.

With the Z70 Ultra, it’s clear that Nubia wanted to make a statement. The phone isn’t as comfortable to hold thanks to the flat sides, and it is heavy at 228g. The camera island at the back is ginormous, but I will say this — it has a better design than last year, and doesn’t look quite as cluttered.

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Both devices get IP68 and IP69 dust and water resistance, and there isn’t any issue using the phones at the pool or in the shower. Nubia added a dedicated camera shutter button on the right of the Z70 Ultra, and the left side has a slider that’s akin to the alert slider on the OnePlus 13. Of these two devices, there’s no question that I like the design of the OnePlus 13 better; it just feels elegant and has a better in-hand feel.

Nubia Z70 Ultra vs. OnePlus 13: Display

The Z70 Ultra has a 6.85-inch AMOLED panel with 144Hz refresh, with the OnePlus 13 getting a 6.82-inch panel with the usual 120Hz refresh. Although the Z70 Ultra has a marginally bigger panel, the OnePlus 13 has higher resolution, and it gets brighter in regular use. I also like the colors on the OnePlus 13 a little better than the Z70 Ultra, and the phone has better customizability when it comes to adjusting the color balance.

But the biggest advantage with the Z70 Ultra is that there’s no visible selfie camera cutout. Nubia uses an under-screen camera module, and the result is that you get an immersive panel that’s ideally suited to consume multimedia and game. It is a big enough differentiator that I’d suggest getting the device if you don’t like the camera cutout that’s standard on every other phone today.

Other than that, there isn’t much to talk about. Both phones have decent stereo sound and do a good job with HDR content, and there aren’t any issues with content playback as such. Although the OnePlus 13 technically has a better AMOLED panel, I’m giving this one to the Z70 Ultra because of its uniqueness.

Nubia Z70 Ultra vs. OnePlus 13: Hardware

There really isn’t much to differentiate either phone with the hardware. Both devices use the same Qualcomm silicon, and they do an amazing job in daily use as well as gaming. The Z70 Ultra gets noticeably hotter — it is the hottest phone I tested in 2025 — and it is evident during extended gaming sessions. That said, there are absolutely no issues with throttling, and although it isn’t billed as one, it doubles as a terrific gaming phone.

The only limitation with the OnePlus 13 is that it doesn’t allow high refresh gaming. OxygenOS 15 still enforces a 60fps setting, and while you get three games that technically go up to 120fps, it isn’t enough. There is noticeable throttling after the 30-minute mark, but it doesn’t affect visuals too much.

Both devices have base models that come with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and have similar connectivity. There’s also high-res audio codecs as standard, and I like the vibration motor on the OnePlus 13; it has exquisite feedback, and you can easily tell the difference when using the keyboard and navigating the interface.

Things are equitable with the battery as well; the Z70 Ultra has a massive 6150mAh battery, and I only needed to charge the device every day and a half on average. The OnePlus 13 has a 6000mAh battery, and it only lasts a day and a half. Both devices use silicon batteries and have fast charging tech, taking under 50 minutes to fully charge.

Nubia Z70 Ultra vs. OnePlus 13: Cameras

I’m not going to talk too much about the cameras as the OnePlus 13 has an outsized lead in this regard. The Z70 Ultra takes good photos, but the image quality isn’t as consistent as the OnePlus 13, and the auxiliary lenses don’t measure up. It’s still a good choice if you need usable cameras and don’t intend to take too many photos and videos, but if camera quality is a key consideration, you should get the OnePlus 13.

The Z70 Ultra has good camera modules, with a 50MP main lens alongside a 64MP tele with 2.7x optical zoom, and a 50MP wide-angle. I’ll give Nubia this; it did a much better job with the cameras this year, and while the Z70 Ultra may not be on the same level as the OnePlus 13, it does a good job in its own right.

Coming to the OnePlus 13, the device manages to take outstanding photos and videos. Hasselblad’s color tuning delivers vibrant photos without too much saturation, and it handles low-light scenarios incredibly well. There isn’t much to fault with the cameras, and the only thing I’ll point out is that the device sits one tier below the Find X8 Pro and Vivo X200 Pro — these two phones are something else entirely.

Nubia Z70 Ultra vs. OnePlus 13: Software

I’m conflicted when it comes to the software on these phones. The Z70 Ultra has a cleaner interface that’s similar to vanilla Android, and there’s no bloatware whatsoever. The interface is fluid as well, and only ASUS’s Zenfone 12 Ultra has better fluidity. However, the overall polish isn’t quite as good as what you get with other mainstream devices, and Nubia needs to add a little bit of customizability to the interface to make it stand out.

The OnePlus 13 has overt styling, and while OxygenOS 15 has a cleaner design, it somehow ends up looking like iOS. That’s down to the split notification pane and changes to the visual design, and while the phone has standout fluidity and extensive customization, I don’t like using it as much. That said, it doesn’t have any of the bugs that plagued the interface in previous years.

OxygenOS 15 also has better utilities that leverage machine learning, and the image editing tools do a good job. Ultimately, both software skins have their own plus points; I like the clean and uncluttered design of the Z70 Ultra, and the OnePlus 13 has tons of extra features that you’ll actually end up using.

When it comes to updates, however, the OnePlus 13 has a clear advantage. The phone will get four guaranteed Android OS platform updates alongside five years of security updates, whereas the Z70 Ultra will get three platform updates and four years of security updates. Nubia isn’t quick to roll out updates either, so there will be a wait before the phone switches over to Android 16.

Nubia Z70 Ultra vs. OnePlus 13: Which should you buy?

The base 12GB/256GB model of the Nubia Z70 Ultra can be bought for as low as $699 as of writing, and that is a fantastic deal when you consider the caliber of the hardware you’re getting. The design is a bit unwieldy, and the device is heavier than most other 2025 phones. That said, you get a massive battery that lasts a day and a half, the hardware is outstanding, and thanks to the unique AMOLED panel without a cutout, gaming and streaming content is immersive.

The biggest issue with the Z70 Ultra is that the cameras aren’t anywhere as good as traditional flagships. While the main camera is decent enough, the resultant shots don’t have the same detail, and you miss out on the versatility that defines the best Android phones. Similarly, the software lacks refinement, and while you get a clean interface without any bloat, there isn’t much in the way of customizability. If that isn’t an issue and you need the latest hardware without paying too much cash, the Z70 Ultra gets my recommendation.

The OnePlus 13 is the costlier choice by a lot, with the 12GB/256GB model coming in at $899. But you also get terrific cameras, a better design, brighter AMOLED panel, and the same great internal hardware. The software isn’t as clean, but you get extensive customizability, and more software updates. The cameras hold their own against the best that Google and Samsung have to offer, and that alone makes the OnePlus 13 a standout choice. You’ll need to pay more, but you’re also getting a better overall device.

What you need to know

• In an interview with Wareable, a OnePlus rep acknowledged that the one-size Watch 3 “remains heavy for a small wrist.”
• He promised that they will “fix” the lack of a small option this year, which could suggest a smaller OnePlus Watch 3R or Watch 4.
• He also discussed the reason why the OnePlus Watch 3 only has an LTE version in China.

As much as the OnePlus Watch 3 has impressed us so far with its incredible battery life, we don’t know how long it would last with a lighter, more comfortable case size. But based on statements from Dr. Leo Zhang, the Head of R&D at the OnePlus Health Lab, they’re “working on” a smaller OnePlus Watch that should answer that question soon.

PULSE by Wareable, which interviewed Zhang, quotes him as saying, “It’s true that the [46mm OnePlus Watch 3] remains heavy for a small wrist and that this typically affects women, but we will fix that this year. We value our customer’s voice and we’re working on that.”

As much as the OnePlus Watch 3 improved on the Watch 2, a smaller model was one of the few requested changes that OnePlus didn’t deliver this year. The Watch 3 weighs about 50g without the strap or 80g with it; that’s lighter than the 60g Galaxy Watch Ultra, but significantly heavier than the 34g Galaxy Watch 7 or 37g Pixel Watch 3 with comparable display sizes.

Given that OnePlus will “fix that” in 2025, we could theoretically see a smaller OnePlus Watch 3R this summer — a successor to the sporty Watch 2R — but the Watch 4 in 2026 seems more likely. Either way, we think plenty of people would lose a day or two of battery life and swap from a 1.5- to 1.3-inch display to make the OnePlus Watch 4 less distractingly hefty.

In this same interview, Wareable asked Zhang about the lack of an LTE option in North America and Europe.

“The technology isn’t a problem, that part is quite simple,” Zhang explained. “In China’s domestic market, we have an LTE version. In an overseas market, we need to work with the carriers—and that’s a big hurdle. We need to work with carriers so users can put in an eSIM and have a data plan.”

Zhang continued on to tell the site that they’re also “working on” adding LTE by speaking with carriers, “especially in Europe.”

Unlike his promise about a smaller OnePlus Watch, he didn’t give a timetable for adding LTE, whether to the Watch 3, Watch 4, or a later model. And based on his words, it appears OnePlus’s first priority will be to bring LTE to Europe before it focuses on the United States, where its wearable sales may be lower.

OnePlus has had a slightly messy Watch 3 launch week, given its “Meda in China” typo and a disappointingly short update promise. Despite this, we’re highly encouraged to see OnePlus prioritizing a smaller watch design, in order to make its watches more competitive with the other best Android smartwatches.

The upcoming OnePlus Watch 3 is tapped to last five days per charge, and while we don’t know its price yet, you can bet it’ll cost much less than the Apple or Galaxy Watch Ultra while lasting much longer. It’s time for OnePlus to light a fire under some big-name toes.

The OnePlus Watch 3 will officially launch on February 18 with some significant changes over the OnePlus Watch 2: a new titanium bezel, a rotating crown that’s functional instead of decorative, a faster and more efficient coprocessor, and an “optimized” GPS antenna.

What matters most is that OnePlus squeezed another day of battery life for standard use (120 vs. 100 hours) and heavy use (72 vs. 48 hours) from the same Snapdragon W5 processor within a year. Pretty impressive!

Its 631mAh capacity — a 131mAh generational boost — isn’t that different from the Mobvoi TicWatch Enduro and Atlas (628mAh), but those are both rated for 90 hours and use a very limited Essential mode to achieve extended battery life. The Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 aren’t that far behind at 590mAh and 564mAh, respectively, but they only last 60 or 36 hours with typical use.

What trick did OnePlus use to pull off this gap? Most of the credit goes to the new battery tech that it recycled from the OnePlus 13, but I think we should pay just as much attention to its new “BES2800” coprocessor — because it’ll make or break the OnePlus Watch 3 experience. And I wonder if other brands will try to emulate OnePlus’s method of success.

OnePlus’s secret weapon got even stronger

Any Wear OS watch will use the Wear OS Hybrid Interface; it relegates low-power, background tasks like heart rate and notifications to the mobile coprocessing unit (MCU) to save battery life and leave the main, power-hungry cores dormant until they’re needed for apps. But it was OnePlus that really harnessed that power on the OnePlus Watch 2 with its RTOS-running BES2700.

As effective as this system was for longevity, our reviewer found last year that this 12nm chipset seemed too slow to properly handle messages and sensor data with the same speed and reliability we’re used to with Wear OS watches.

With the Watch 3, the main SoC is unchanged for Wear OS tasks, but now we have a 6nm BES2800 that OnePlus says will “ensure an optimal balance between long battery life and intelligent functionality.”

With great power, paradoxically, comes greater efficiency. We saw with last year’s Snapdragon 8 Elite how it didn’t need efficiency cores because higher-clocked chips can hit the same benchmarks with significantly less power.

Our OnePlus Watch 3 review will be the real test, but we can assume these background RTOS tasks will now run with better efficiency on a 6nm chip than on a 12nm one. The question is, will other brands follow suit? Most current Wear OS watches have 22nm MCUs, which feels well short of the mark. But hardware aside, I wonder if relying on RTOS for certain tasks is something other watch brands should emulate.

Extra capacity and curious lab results

Smartwatches can only fit so much battery capacity before the design becomes too bulky for anyone to wear. That’s why we’ve heard so much chatter recently about Samsung and Apple using solid-state batteries: They can’t increase capacity without turning off fans of skinny, pretty watches, so they’re biding their time for a denser battery with a higher Wh/L.

While they twiddle thumbs and wait for this unproven tech, OnePlus has stuck its mobile Silicon NanoStack Battery into its watch. A silicon-carbon or standard lithium-ion battery shares the same cathode, but the former mixes silicon and graphite for the anode, making these batteries more dense and resilient against extreme weather conditions.

A 22% capacity boost is nothing to sneeze at, but even without a spec sheet, we can assume the OnePlus Watch 3 will be heavy. One of our Watch 2 complaints was the absence of a smaller, lighter model, and it doesn’t seem like that’s changed here.

Wearing a Watch 3 won’t be for the small-wristed, and it’s fair to ask how far its battery would go with the halved capacity as the Pixel Watch 3 41mm (306mAh) or Galaxy Watch 7 40mm (300mAh).

It’s also fair to point out that OnePlus’s five-day estimate has some odd caveats. The laboratory conditions had the tester only getting 6.5 hours of sleep per day, streaming music to earbuds for 15 minutes, taking one five-minute call per day, and only using watch apps for about 20 minutes per day. And it assumes the phone-watch Bluetooth connection will be disabled for 10 hours a day, for some reason.

Even the “heavy use” scenario keeps the GPS workouts, music streaming, phone calls, and other applications fairly short and limited. For comparison, the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s official 36-hour estimate includes 8 hours of LTE connection, double the GPS and music streaming and more clock checks. It feels less like they were stretching the battery life for marketing purposes.

Still, it doesn’t really matter to me if the OnePlus Watch 3 perfectly hits five days or loses a day or two with real-world activity. What matters more is having that leeway built in, counterbalancing the inevitable loss of capacity you see on watches after a couple of years.

Kicking off an evolutionary year for smartwatch battery life

Last year was already a strong year for Wear OS because Wear OS 5 put a big emphasis on battery life efficiency with current hardware. But 2025 could be even more significant because it’s the year we may finally get a new Snapdragon Wear chip.

Qualcomm’s VP of wearables said the company’s objective is to aim for “a week’s worth of battery life” using Snapdragon chips. He further suggested that a combination of custom cores and RISC-V software could help Android watches trend in that direction.

But even before this paradigm shift, OnePlus is pushing the current Snapdragon hardware as far as it can go, and I think that other brands will take more notice than you might think.

OnePlus doesn’t really compete with most other Android smartwatch brands in North America and Europe; IDC’s latest report shows a vast majority of OnePlus & OPPO watches were sold in China. But Apple Watches have a big Chinese market presence and will need to break their 18-hour barrier on non-Ultra watches eventually if rivals start to make it look inadequate.

And if Apple makes a battery life push, Samsung (and its partner Google) will focus on keeping its lead and making Android watches sound superior on paper, even if they fall short in sales.

That’s why, even if the OnePlus Watch 3 — and the OPPO Watch X2, its sibling/clone with near-identical specs — feel like niche products here, I predict that they’ll kick off a smartwatch arms race (pun intended) and nudge the bigger brands out of their battery life complacency. None of them want to look deficient and behind the times.