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
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, 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 has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.