OnePlus will continue its expansion beyond smartphones in the new year by releasing a cheap fitness tracker, according to a new leak.
Android Central reports that the OnePlus Band will be an affordable, $40 alternative to the OnePlus Watch, another device that’s confirmed to coming to the OnePlus lineup. The band will supposedly launch during the first quarter of 2021, which means it could debut alongside the OnePlus 9, rumored to be coming in March.
Listed features for the OnePlus Band include water resistance, an AMOLED screen and a battery that lasts several days. A $40 price tag would also make this wearable extremely cheap: most of the best cheap fitness trackers are more in the $70 to $90 range, save for the Amazfit Band 5 and the Xiaomi Mi Band series. On that note, both the Mi Band 4 and Mi Band 5 share those same three features, so OnePlus may have looked at Xiaomi specifically for inspiration.
Unlike the Wear OS-powered OnePlus Watch, the OnePlus Band could use a proprietary OS and should be much lighter and thinner, to emphasize its fitness focus. Interestingly, the Android Central report claims OnePlus will initially sell the OnePlus Band in India, though since the OnePlus Watch is apparently set for a worldwide release, and all of OnePlus’ phones have launched across the globe, you can expect the OnePlus Band will be sold elsewhere too.
In any event, a Q1 2021 reveal means we won’t have to wait long to see what makes the OnePlus Band tick. Assuming it does launch close to or together with the OnePlus 9, and variants like the OnePlus 9 Lite, it will be interesting to see if the devices can interact with each other in any special ways.
