OnePlus Watch 3 is back on sale after the ‘Meda in China’ misprint, but unfortunately the US price is a lot higher than originally promised, and it’s likely due to the country of origin.
When OnePlus delayed shipping of the OnePlus Watch 3 to resolve the embarrassing error on the rear casing, it was selling the Wear OS device for $329.99.
Now it is finally back on sale, the company is selling the watch for $499.99 in the United States. Contrarily, it’s currently £50 off its original asking price in the UK, with OnePlus dropping the price to £269.
OnePlus hasn’t communicated to fans why this $170 price hike might have happened, but most folks won’t need more than a single guess – especially seeing as UK users are getting a discount.
Goods entering the United States from China currently being levied with a 145% tariff thanks the current occupant of The White House. Don’t be surprised if that rate has changed, doubled or been done away with completely by the time you read this.
OnePlus hasn’t confirmed whether that’s the case, but it’s unimaginable that Chinese manufacturers would simply absorb these costs and effectively sell devices at a loss.
A OnePlus spokesperson told The Verge: “We don’t have any additional comment to share at this time.”
It’s all rather unfortunate really, considering our own Lewis Painter called the OnePlus Watch 3 best Wear OS watch of 2025 so far.
In handing out a 4.5 star score from a possible five, Lewis concluded: “The OnePlus Watch 3 not only fixes the few complaints we had about last year’s Watch 2, but adds a swathe of new features and functionality, including a more durable design, improved tracking, multiband GPS and a boosted 120-hour battery life that perfects the Wear OS 5 experience on offer.”
Opinion
A sign of things to come
It’s about to be a rough time to buy tech in the United States. While these tariffs are in place the prices of just about everything made or assembled in China could go up significantly.
Even US manufacturers who rely on Chinese factories to build and assemble components and products – like Apple’s iPhones – are subject to the tariffs as it stands right now.
Companies are not going to sell at a loss. I can see manufacturers either withdrawing from the US market for the time being, or simply passing the tariffs onto customers as OnePlus is doing here.
