If you're looking forward to grabbing the OnePlus Watch 3, there is some bad news as the price will be much higher than originally anticipated.

When the OnePlus Watch 3 was originally announced, it was expected to cost around $329.99. However, it appears that OnePlus is releasing the watch with a 52% increase over that price.

As a result, the OnePlus Watch 3 will now cost a total of $499 in the United States. This is a pretty drastic increase, and what's worse is that OnePlus gave no forewarning that it was happening.

Usually, we would expect companies to alert both the press and long-time users of price hikes. However, OnePlus has been silent on the matter, with the price increase seemingly coming out of the blue.

When asked about the hike, a OnePlus spokesperson told The Verge, "We don't have any additional comment to share at this time." We have also reached out to OnePlus for a response, but have yet to hear anything.

¿Qué está causando este aumento de precios?

Aunque OnePlus no ha hecho comentarios oficiales, una posible razón son los aranceles recientes implementados por el presidente Donald Trump en productos importados desde China. Estos aranceles pueden provocar precios más altos en muchos electrónicos, incluyendo los relojes inteligentes. De hecho, esta es una de las primeras veces que vemos un aumento significativo en el precio de un reloj inteligente debido a los ever-increasing tariffs.

Las distintas empresas han respondido de manera diferente a estos aranceles. Algunas optaron por esperar y acumular inventario antes de que los aranceles entraran en vigor. Otras, como Framework, tuvieron que retirar ciertos modelos del mercado debido a los costos incrementados.

Muchas marcas, incluyendo Nintendo y Apple, lograron acumular dispositivos en EE.UU. antes de la implementación de los aranceles, ya que estos solo se aplican cuando los productos cruzan la frontera hacia Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, es probable que OnePlus no haya podido hacer lo mismo con el Watch 3. Un error de fabricación en las unidades—que decía "Made in China" en lugar de "Made in China"— retrasó la producción y dificultó importar suficientes unidades antes de que los aranceles comenzaran a aplicarse. Como resultado, probablemente OnePlus no tuvo más opción que subir los precios o retirar el reloj del mercado, aceptando una posible pérdida been forced to pull some models.

Regardless of the reason, fans of the brand will now be faced with the difficult question of whether the OnePlus Watch 3 is worth $499. In our review, we had a lot to praise about the watch, especially the battery life.

This increase is what helped to place it on our best smartwatches for Android list. We also praised the more refined design with a larger display and the comprehensive fitness tracking with unique metrics.

The unfortunate fact is that, while these tariffs are in effect, a lot of tech will likely see price increases or, as is the case with the Nintendo Switch 2, delayed launches. For the time being, we can only wait and see what the future holds for the OnePlus Watch 3 in the U.S. market.

With this price increase in mind, are you still tempted to pick up the OnePlus Watch 3, or will you start looking at other brands like the Google Pixel Watch 3?