The unquantifiable self: Why OnePlus believes scores aren't enough
Exclusive: PULSE gets the backstory to the brand's latest tracking feature
Aligned with the launch of the smaller Watch 3, OnePlus is also evolving its ‘Mind & Body’ feature. In this week’s paid-subscriber edition of PULSE, Dr. Zijing Zeng, Head of Health Lab for OnePlus, argues that the future of wellness tracking isn't about ditching scores, but enriching them with context, cultural nuance, and crucial, real-time intervention.
In the hyper-quantified world of wearables, we’ve grown accustomed to our bodies being graded. From sleep scores to readiness ratings, our daily lives are distilled into neat, digestible numbers.
Yet, for all the data, one metric has remained stubbornly out of step: stress.
Unlike when our wearables aim to track GPS or heart rate, there is no standardized metric for the phenomenon. Everybody thinks about and feels stress differently, and, as such, so do the wearables seeking to help us contextualize it.
While the 0-100 stress score has become the ubiquitous metric of choice over the last decade, it also often fails to capture the subjective, messy reality of our mental state. Sometimes, it even adds to the anxiety it purports to measure.
Now, OnePlus is proposing a different path. It’s not a path that abandons scores entirely, but one that aims to make them more meaningful. With the launch of its new, more compact OnePlus Watch 3 43mm, the brand is evolving its ‘Mind & Body’ feature.
First introduced with the standard Watch 3 earlier this year, the latest iteration shows a deliberate pivot towards a more holistic and actionable system—a move born from a deep understanding of user psychology and cultural nuance.
Beyond the scoreboard
The philosophy behind ‘Mind & Body’ is rooted in a simple but powerful insight: a score is only as good as what you can do with it. Dr. Zijing Zeng, Head of Health Lab for OnePlus, explains that the very concept of a static grade can be counterproductive.
“I think in China, people are very sensitive to scores,” he notes, referencing the high-pressure academic environment.