Tariffs Just Made The OnePlus Watch 3 More Expensive

I’m sure you’ve taken a look at the news lately, but in case you haven’t noticed, the US’ new tariff policies are wildly unpredictable and have everyone guessing on the fly how to still make a profit with their products. The immediate effect for all this will be price increases, and we’re starting to see the very first hikes.

The OnePlus Watch 3 is finally being properly released in the US, but it now has a $170 premium tacked onto the original price. It was originally launched at $329, but now, it will be sold in the US for a whopping $499. OnePlus didn’t really give an explanation as to why we’re even having this price hike, but unless fixing that typo on the back was a major expense that required charging an additional 50% on top of the original price, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the reason.

The OnePlus Watch 3 was arguably already an expensive watch compared to some other options in the market. But it is also made in China—or, should I say, meda in China. United States President Donald Trump has announced lots of tariff changes left and right, but one constant about them is that they have targeted China, specifically, heavily. Both the US and China have engaged in a “retaliatory tariff” war that has resulted in the US imposing essentially a 125% tariff on Chinese goods. Everything imported from China is more than half as expensive to bring now, which will have a direct effect on the prices of the products.

Tariffs to other countries have been mostly paused for now, but the Trump administration keeps insisting on the China tariffs. And most of the tech we use is made in China, so we’ll sadly see massive price increases on everything left and right. The OnePlus Watch 3, if anything, serves as a reminder of how fierce the actual price increases due to the tariffs will be. The solution proposed by the US government to offset the cost of the tariffs is to just make things in the United States. That will also result in a direct increase in costs since making things in the United States is more expensive than making things in Asian countries—there is a reason why things are made on the other side of the world.

As for the OnePlus Watch 3, it has had a complicated launch. Due to a hilarious typo on the back, the company decided to call off the launch for a few weeks and extend the pre-order window. It’s now available for purchase, but at the current $499 price, the amount people lining up to buy one just got way, way slimmer. There are simply other options on the market that are way less expensive and offer a comparable experience, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 series and the Google Pixel Watch 3 series—unless, of course, tariffs also force a price hike into future launches of these smartwatch ranges, which is looking increasingly likely. The only ones losing out in this whole situation are the people who have to pay more money for their tech.

The OnePlus Watch 3 is now available for purchase on OnePlus’ website. Just be mindful of that new price tag.

Source: Android Authority