OnePlus Watch 2 Hands-on Review: Ingenious new watch with two chipsets and two operating systems،
OnePlus launched its first smartwatch almost three years ago, in 2021, and since then it almost seemed like the company had given up on smartwatches.
This original OnePlus Watch received a mixed reception: users and reviewers complained about a number of bugs and choppy performance, and its sports capabilities were also lackluster. For OnePlus, it seemed like a big learning experience, so it went back to the drawing board until it could finally come up with something that seemed much more special and innovative.
It features a distinct design, but most importantly, it addresses the number one concern of smartwatch users: battery life.
Most smartwatches these days need to be charged daily, with a few exceptions. And even those exceptions are for very bulky watches with a huge battery like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro or Apple Watch Ultra. OnePlus is using a completely new approach, what it calls dual-engine architecture. The OnePlus Watch 2 has two operating systems and each of them runs on a separate chipset. The idea is simple: for basic tasks you default to the simple RTOS, while for more complex tasks you go to Google's Wear OS, so you get the best of both worlds.
Design and size
The OnePlus Watch 2 comes in one size and it's larger for a watch, and it's made of only premium materials. The body is made of polished stainless steel and you get a sapphire display, which resists scratches much better than Gorilla Glass.
It comes in two colors: black (“Black Steel”) and silver (“Radiant Steel”), and it uses a 22mm bracelet with spring bars that you can easily swap.
OnePlus describes the Watch 2 as “sleek yet sturdy” and we think that sums it up pretty well. The company says the looks are inspired by stopwatches and classic cars, and we think there's something to that.
You have two buttons on the right side: one is actually a rotating digital crown at the top and the other is a regular button that brings up the workouts menu.
The watch is also IP68 rated and US Mil 810H certified, living up to the rugged part of its description. And you can also take him swimming, but he doesn't have any special diving qualifications.
Sports and sleep tracking
You get support for over 100 exercise modes, and we'll update this section with more information about these workouts soon.
The watch also has sleep tracking with distinct insights into your overall sleep quality, breathing rate, snoring risk, and sleep stages.
More importantly, it also supports HRV (heart rate variability), a key measure of well-being and stress. And speaking of the latter, you also get stress tracking.
In terms of sensors, you have the following: accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, light sensor, eight-channel optical heart rate sensor, optical pulse oximeter. However, there does not appear to be a barometric altimeter on board.
Wear OS 4
Since the OnePlus Watch 2 fully supports the latest Wear OS 4, you get all the familiar Google apps and features:
- Google Maps
- Google Assistant
- Google wallet
- Google Pay
- Google Calendar
Yes, you get Google Assistant support, an important and great feature.
You also get support for popular third-party apps like Spotify, Strava, Calm, and Sleep Cycle.
There are also a huge number of watch faces available, so you definitely have a lot of variety to choose from.
OSanté app
The good news is that you only need one app for everything OnePlus Watch, and that app is called OHealth.
This is where you can customize the look of the watch and control various settings, and it's also a dashboard with all your activities and workouts.
Battery life and charging
The big improvements in battery life are what make the OnePlus Watch 2 special, so here are the numbers.
OnePlus Watch 2 battery life:
- Up to 12 days in power saving mode
- Up to 100 hours (4.2 days) in smart mode (always-on display off and 30 minutes of GPS activity per day)
- Up to 48 hours (2 days) in intensive use
As you can see, most users will probably fall somewhere between smart mode and “heavy use”, so in the real world we'd bet on around three days of use. While that's not entirely astonishing, it's certainly much longer than the single-day battery life of similarly sized Apple Watches and Samsung Galaxy Watches.
This longer battery life is possible because OnePlus switches seamlessly and in real time between the battery-efficient RTOS for simple use and Wear OS 4 for more advanced tasks. Additionally, each OS runs on a different chipset (RTOS runs on a BES2700 chip and Wear OS runs on a Snapdragon W5 Gen1 processor).
And being a OnePlus device, it also supports SuperVOOC fast charging. You get a day's charge in just 10 minutes and a full 100% charge takes just an hour.
Pricing and Final Thoughts
The OnePlus Watch 2 is priced at $300 in the US, but in the first few days of availability you'll be able to trade in any watch in any condition (yes, even traditional non-smart watches are eligible ) to get extra. $50 off price. So…for many people, that brings the cost down to just $250. And that's the essential price of the Apple Watch SE. Cool!
You will be able to purchase the OnePlus Watch 2 on OnePlus.com and Amazon starting March 4, 2024.
We like what OnePlus has done with the Watch 2 and it looks like a device that actually has a chance in the competitive smartwatch field.
The four-day battery life with simple use is excellent, as is the presence of Wear OS on board. The know-how is there and the rotating digital crown is a very well thought-out detail here.
We're a little disappointed that the OnePlus Watch 2 only comes in one (large) size, so it may not be the best fit for those of us with smaller wrists, but for all the world, this is a watch worth trying. And for Samsung and Apple…well, this is an opportunity to learn how a smart solution CAN actually give us much better battery life on a smartwatch.
