Verdict
The OnePlus Watch 2 press the battery boundaries for Wear OS , which is a heavy winnings for OnePlus and for the Google platform as a whole .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The OnePlus Watch 2 is the brand ’s second attempt at making a smartwatch , and it ’s reasonable to say that , establish on its feat with the original OnePlus Watch , it had plenty of piece of work to do .
When thefirst OnePlus Watchlaunched in 2021 , it competed with smartwatches that ride below the ultra - high - levelApple WatchandSamsung Galaxy Watch . While element like the display , bombardment life , and UI were highlights , there were far more lowlights , and it was buggy at launch .
So , OnePlus is back , with a novel operating system approach , a newfangled Leontyne Price , and new hope that it has in full learned from its past mistakes .
Design and screen
With the OnePlus Watch 2 priced high than the first watch , I expected OnePlus to up things in the design section .
Let ’s start with what has n’t changed . You still only have a 46 mm instance pick to pick from , which comes in black brand or radiant steel looks and lacks some unisex ingathering based on its size of it and color choice .
At 12.1 millimeter thick , or 13.65 mm if you let in the PPG sensor around the back , it ’s chunkier than the first Watch , weighs in more ( 80 g compared to 67g-76 g ) and puzzle to a unsullied steel casing material , which give the watch some system of weights .
OnePlus has ditch the forged strap on the first watch for a fluoroelastomer one that uses a more traditional lookout man buckle , making it a fate easy to get on and off . It ’s a 22 mm removable shoulder strap as well too , so if you want to swap out that band , the bare pin mechanism makes it well-heeled to do .
OnePlus says the design of the Watch 2 has been prompt by stopwatch and automobiles , with the former stage by flattening one of the case edge . This gives it a slimly more unequalled smell , but I ca n’t help but think it still does n’t really hugely disagree from exchangeable smartwatch looks bid byHuaweiand Mobvoi . It ’s distinctly well - made , but it ’s not a look that ’s at all memorable , either .
In terms of pilot the watch , there are two physical clit , with the top one a twist form that really does n’t put that twist to work to rent you scroll through the software . The bottom flatter button is your shortcut to the sport tracking menu , something we ’ve seen adopted by other smartwatches .
You ’re get a 1.43 - column inch , 466 x 466 AMOLED exhibit to take care of everything else . That ’s the same size of it exhibit as the first Watch , though there is a bump in resolution . The display was a inviolable quality one on the original and it ’s more of the same here . It ’s sharp , colours are accurate , catch angle are more often than not full outside , it ’s nicely responsive to taps and swipes and this time an always - on modality is available at launch .
OnePlus has n’t moved on the rainproof evaluation , so this is a watch that can hold up being overwhelm in weewee up to 50 metres thanks to a 5ATM - tell on intention . I ’ve taken it swim and can affirm it ’s fit to exist in the water . It additionally pack anIP68 ratingto protect it against rubble and has the necessary military - grade certificate to handle gamy and humbled temperatures , being dunked in backbone and can wield gamy impingement if you plan to get rough and quick with it .
Performance and software
For the first OnePlus Watch , OnePlus prefer to use an RTOS - establish operating organization , like to what fellow smartwatch brand like Amazfit use . This typically leads to slick - run software and perceptibly stronger barrage life liken to full - fat smartwatches . While it did have on those panorama , it ultimately lacked in many other department on the performance front .
With Watch 2 , we ’re still drive an RTOS O , but you ’re also gettingWearOS 4.0thrown into the mix . That imply access to Google ’s apps , with some of those apps preloaded on the wearable .
In increase to having two operating system , there are also two chipsets . Essentially , you ’re stimulate Qualcomm ’s Snapdragon W5 chipset to take care of Wear atomic number 76 job like mapping and cyclosis music , for instance , and a BES2700 chip for tasks like display presentment and is call upon when the always - on manner is activated . This has some ramifications for battery performance , which I ’ll get into later .
In term of that software experience , OnePlus adds its own UI , which is likable on the whole . There ’s a prissy collection of watch faces , the widgets are nicely optimise for the high-pitched - quality display , and invariably , there are Wear OS elements like viewing calendar appointments and weather forecasts .
OnePlus treats the app drawer UI slightly other than from the way Google and Samsung do , where you may pinch to expose the name of app icons , which is a nice solution to keeping the UI unobjectionable until you necessitate to know what you want to interact with .
Adding Google ’s apps into the mix is a major asset . Having an app store that lets you tally in big - name apps , payment reenforcement that works and mapping and navigation support instantly makes the lookout 2 more utilitarian to have around .
The notification sustenance works well , and there ’s a dower of the 32 GB storage to pile audio onto . Support for apps like Spotify makes it nimble to download offline playlists ( if you have a Premium account ) and cook it worth pairing up your Bluetooth earphone to it — or playing it out loudly if you ’re that sort of mortal .
jell up the watch is done via the OHealth Android app , which once again means no love for iPhone drug user . This app dishes out your wellness and fitness stats on one screen , lets you track exercise via the phone from another and also let you change picket face and Tiles ( doojigger ) , as well as do actions like sync calendar effect . It ’s a nicely represent app in general and hold back things uncomplicated in places where easiness is surely welcome and ask .
Tracking and features
Like most smartwatches , OnePlus knows you care to dog your steps , runs , sleep and everything else in between . So it aim to cover most of those bases .
It promises over 100 mutant mode , with run , badminton and skiing getting extra natural process - specific metrics . There are sensors on board to track steps and detect sopor , an optical sensor to catch heart rate , tenseness and SpO2 data , and the gain of a duple - frequency GPS style . This promise to boost outdoor trailing truth like other duple - band watches from the likes of Apple , Huawei and select Garmin scout among others .
As a solar day - to - day physical fitness tracker , OnePlus assume four rings to exhibit daily step enumeration progression , nutritionist’s calorie burn , inactivity stamps and exercise time . It ’s perhaps not as sly as Apple ’s ring , but does give you something to quickly glance at during the day to gauge progress . I ’ve been wearing it alongside a few other fitness tracker , and daily pace numeration were typically within 500 - 800 steps of the other trackers , so I ’d say I was moderately satisfied with performance , and step counts never felt wildly out .
For sopor trailing , you ’ll get a nice sum-up both on and off the watch , covering time slept , sleep stage breakdown include REM sleep , a nap score and it ’ll additionally supervise respiration patterns , respiratory rate and heart rate range .
I ’ve been aim it to bed with theOura Ring Gen 3and find that there was broadly a 30 - minute deviation between sleep duration though both produced similar quietus scores . Sleep stagecoach breakdowns generated similar mystifying sleep and REM number , though there were some bigger divergence with light eternal sleep recorded on some dark . Heart rate data ranges and rest heart rate did palpate reliable , too , so the sleep tracking feel honorable overall .
exchange to sports tracking modal value , I ’ve unravel indoors and outdoors , used it in the consortium and for general indoor workouts like indoor rowing . I put the three-fold - frequency GPS to the test against a Garmin watch with similar support and found that length trailing was short , and look at the mapped routes in the app showed that part of the route was n’t captured .
On an indoor run , trailing was 4 kilometre off from another watch , and the difference was so big on my first run that it made it challenging to calibrate it to better truth . Comparing extra run prosody like average primer coat middleman time and vertical vibration , the numbers reported across the two lookout man never matched , though they were n’t wildly off either and seemed to tell a similar story about my track form .
pith charge per unit trailing during exercise was n’t heavy at all times . Up against a Polar H10 heart rate monitor lizard chest strap , ordinary heart pace readings at fourth dimension could be anywhere from 8 - 10 beats per minute out from a chest shoulder strap . For maximum heart rate , it was worse and could be up to 20 bpm off a breast strap . Monitoring tenderness rate during the day and dark outdoors of exercise generally felt more reliable , so if you ’re not putting it to more vigorous use , you might be happy with that heart rate performance .
In the pool , I used it against a Garmin watch and the excellentForm Swim Gogglesand found it came up a few distance short of the other two devices for lap counts . It also clock me at a deadening average pace , though middling SWOLF and nutritionist’s calorie burn identification number were similar at least .
I think there are aspect of fittingness and sports tracking that knead very well , but it does at last fall into that square bracket of smartwatches that are n’t going to better what you ’ll get from a dedicated sports watch .
Battery life
electric battery life is a big tale for the OnePlus Watch 2 . Its first watch promised up to 14 days of battery living , and it could accomplish that mostly because it was running a less power - sapping operating system . Now that WearOS 4 is in the mix , it ’s assure to agitate the boundaries of what a Google - power smartwatch can deliver on the barrage front .
The 500mAh battery can turn in up to 100 hours ( 4 days ) in smartwatch modality , though I should sum that this does n’t factor in keeping the screen on at all times . If you prefer for the 24/7 sieve option , then that number drops to two days , and you ’ll be apprise when you become that mode on .
In add-on , there ’s a power - save mode , which promises up to 12 days in which you ’ll still be capable to experience notifications , get over your fitness ( without itinerary tracking ) , and do things like continuously cut through your center rate .
In that fresh mode , OnePlus apply both chipsets , while in heavier use , the Snapdragon side of this dual setup is used .
If you ’re using this watch in what OnePlus here deems smartwatch mode , I ’ve find that day-by-day drop - off can be anywhere from 20 - 25 % . It was typically high on days I used the GPS , which is to be expect . When I shift the screen door to always - on , the battery drop was noticeably more severe , and I only got 1 - 2 24-hour interval from it .
So , if you liken that smart mode performance against other Wear OS smartwatches , like theSamsung Galaxy Watch 6and theTicWatch Pro 5 , which offers up to 80 hours in a similar manner , OnePlus really press things forward here .
The power - saving fashion impressed me as well . When the battery was running low and I exchange to the power - write mode first thing in the forenoon , I managed to get through a day of use , including track an indoor workout , and it was still running the following day .
When you do need to load , it supports fast charging from the proprietary charge place of origin , getting you 0 - 100 % from an hr of charging . The battery carrying into action is strong overall , and you ’ll certainly be charging it less than other Wear oxygen watches .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
The feeler of compact two operating systems and chipsets pays off here : The OnePlus Watch 2 has the good battery of any Wear OS smartwatch .
If you care about let a smartwatch to track your nerve rate , peculiarly during exercise , or if you require medical - course trailing , there are undecomposed smartwatch alternative out there .
Final Thoughts
This is a much better effort than OnePlus ’ first smartwatch , and the determination to sweep up two operating organisation and chipsets really pays off here . Bringing Google into the faithful without receive to contend with a short battery is a self-aggrandising praise to OnePlus for make it work out without sacrifice execution .
It ’s not a perfect smartwatch in every aspect , but there ’s raft here to make it a good one to have on your articulatio radiocarpea at a price that does make it a desirable mechanical man - only alternative to theSamsung Galaxy Watch 6and also a effective option to Huawei ’s smartwatch clan .
Trusted Score
How we test
We thoroughly test every smartwatch we review . We use industry standard examination to equate feature properly and we use the watch as our primary gimmick over the review geological period . We ’ll always differentiate you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to review a product .
FAQs
Yes , the OnePlus Watch 2 can make call when connected to your earpiece . It does n’t have LTE or any kind of cellular connexion reinforcement to make standalone calls .
The OnePlus Watch 2 has a assault and battery living of up to 100 hours ( 4 day ) in smartwatch mode . That throw to two days with the screen determine to always - on , and there ’s a power saving mode that will give you up to 12 day of barrage fire .
