OnePlus almost launched a wearable, but ditched it at the last minute

OnePlus almost launched a wearable, but ditched it at the last minute

Wearables are hot property right now, and it seems every manufacturer has something either on the market or in the works. In fact, OnePlus was in the latter camp right up until the last minute.

Techradar sat down with Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, who told us "we had a fitness tracker and Bluetooth speaker in development, but we cancelled both one month before launch."

That's a pretty last minute change of heart, and unsurprisingly the OnePlus engineers working on these products weren't best pleased when they heard the news - but Pei says all is forgiven.

Focus, focus, focus

"We asked ourselves, what is the goal? We decided we needed to focus on smartphones, to ensure we're launching quality products and leave the wearables and speakers to the people who know what they're doing."

So what can we expect from OnePlus going forward? Well it'll stick with its two product lines, the technology filled flagship series and the design-led X range - there's no desire to flood every price point with devices.

Pei also said its customer services will have noticeable improvements before the end of the year, and expects it to be running considerably better within the next 12 months, while the OnePlus team will continue to innovate its Oxygen OS.

That means we're probably in for the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus X 2 in 2016, but we'll keep our fingers crossed it changes its mind on wearables.

John McCann
Former Global Managing Editor

TechRadar's former Global Managing Editor, John has been a technology journalist for more than a decade, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He’s interviewed CEOs from some of the world’s biggest tech firms, visited their HQs, and appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC, and BBC Radio 4.

Latest in Tech
Josie and Matt laughing in front of the Google Pixel 9a
TechRadar Podcast: Is the Pixel 9a ugly? Has Apple ruined the smartwatch market? And is Samsung's One UI in trouble?
A Lego Pikachu tail next to a Pebble OS watch and a screenshot of Assassin's Creed Shadow
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from LG's excellent new OLED TV to our Assassin's Creed Shadow review
A triptych image of the Meridian Ellipse, LG C5 and Xiaomi 15.
5 amazing tech reviews of the week: LG's latest OLED TV is the best you can buy and Xiaomi's seriously powerful new phone
Beats Studio Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones in Black and Gold on yellow background with big savings text
The best Beats headphones you can buy drop to $169.99 at Best Buy's Tech Fest sale
Ray-Ban smart glasses with the Cpperni logo, an LED array, and a MacBook Air with M4 next to ecah other.
ICYMI: the week's 7 biggest tech stories from Twitter's massive outage to iRobot's impressive new Roombas
A triptych image featuring the Sennheiser HD 505, Apple iPad Air 11-inch (2025), and Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4).
5 unmissable tech reviews of the week: why the MacBook Air (M4) should be your next laptop and the best sounding OLED TV ever
Latest in News
Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con up-close from app store
Nintendo's new app gave us another look at the Switch 2, and there's something different with the Joy-Con
cheap Nintendo Switch game deals sales
Nintendo didn't anticipate that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was 'going to be the juggernaut' for the Nintendo Switch when it was ported to the console, according to former employees
Three angles of the Apple MacBook Air 15-inch M4 laptop above a desk
Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) review roundup – should you buy Apple's new lightweight laptop?
Witchbrook
Witchbrook, the life-sim I've been waiting years for, finally has a release window and it's sooner than you think
Amazon Echo Smart Speaker
Amazon is experimenting with renaming Echo speakers to Alexa speakers, and it's about time
Shigeru Miyamoto presents Nintendo Today app
Nintendo Today smartphone app is out now on iOS and Android devices – and here's what it does