OnePlus Watch 2 review: two good

Published On: March 14, 2024

Two chips. Two operating systems. Dual GPS. It seems the “2” suffix in the OnePlus Watch 2’s moniker holds deeper meaning than just pointing towards the second-gen aspect of the brand’s smartwatch. Come to think of it, the OnePlus Watch 2 is so drastically different from the first one that it can’t even be called a successor in the truest sense. Upping the ante significantly, the Watch 2 comes across as more premium, and given that it runs Wear OS, more capable too. Let me dive into some more detail.

Table of Contents

Design and display

The first thing that comes to mind when you see the OnePlus Watch 2 for the first time is its classic, timeless look. It exudes class with its polished stainless steel case and 2.5D sapphire crystal glass, with the latter said to be second only to diamond in terms of resisting scratches. The Watch 2 is available only in a single case size of 46mm, so it’s quite chunky. You can opt for one in Black Steel, which comes with a smoly black case and black Fluororubber straps, or go for the Radiant Steel option which has a silver steel case with greenish straps. The straps feature classic stainless steel buckles, and are very comfortable to wear over long period. They use standard 22mm quick release pins, so can be swapped out with straps of matching width in a jiffy.

The other standout elements of the design include a portion that juts out towards the right side of the case, breaking its circular symmetry. On top of that protrusion is a crown button, while an oval-shaped multifunctional key (that launches workouts by default) sits towards the bottom. The functions of both these hardware buttons can be customised via settings. Notably, the crown button is rotatable, but rotating it doesn’t do anything. Pressing said button, however, takes you to the watch face or opens up the app drawer by default. The Watch 2 is not only IP68 rated, it conforms to military-grade MIL-STD-810H standards, meaning the build quality is sturdy enough to withstand tough conditions… adding significantly to peace of mind while using it.

Up front is a 1.43-inch AMOLED display with 466 x 466 resolution, capable of going up to a peak of 1000 nits in high brightness mode. Layered with 2.5D sapphire crystal, it’s quite responsive and outputs nice, vibrant colours. AoD is supported as well, but a slight downside is that the bezel around the display seems noticeably wide.

Features

Before I get into the details of the features offered by the OnePlus Watch 2, it’d be worth talking about its innovative tech, aimed at prolonging battery life. The smartwatch holds the distinction of using two different chipsets and running two operating systems — a 4nm Snapdragon W5 chip handles Wear OS (termed Smart Mode) while an efficiency-focussed BES2700 chip runs RTOS (labelled Power Saver mode). The BES2700 chip is always on, and manages all the background tasks, while the dragon is only woken up from slumber (so to speak) when its muscle is required to run Wear OS apps. This dual-engine architecture works seamlessly and aims to offer long battery life, which is an aspect many Wear OS-powered smartwatches usually struggle with.

Most of the health and fitness features of the watch can be handled by the BES2700 chip with RTOS, so the OnePlus Watch 2 can promise up to 12 days of continuous use on a single charge with this so-called Power Saver mode. However, it’s worth reiterating that barring Wear OS apps, most other functions, including notifications, continue to work as usual in this mode.

From a features perspective, there are the usual smarts – weather, alarms, timers, notifications, Bluetooth calling, etc. Health features include support for over 100 different sports modes, physical activity, steps, sleep, heart rate, stress and SpO2. The Watch 2 even includes features like respiratory rate tracking and assess breathing problems. However, I do miss some health features like ECG and BMI. The OnePlus Watch 2 also offers advanced metrics for tracking activities like running, badminton, tennis, and skiing, among others. Dual-frequency GPS promises faster, more accurate tracking, and there’s auto workout detection and auto pause too.

There are a bunch of watch faces that you can download and use on the watch — there’s a nice assortment of analogue, digital, classic, and funky-looking ones available. The Play Store has an extensive selection of third-party watch faces available to download, both paid and free, but each time you download and apply one, an alert pops up on the watch screen warning you that the new face will only be available in Smart mode… and that the battery life of the device can be expected to drop by one to two days.

Thanks to Wear OS, you also get built-in apps like Google Assistant, Calendar etc preloaded, and you can download more via the Play Store as well. Wear OS plays well with your Google account, so integration of Google’s own apps and services is very good. The 32 gigs of native storage should come in handy, especially if you want to download tons of apps.

UI and app connectivity

The OnePlus Watch 2 uses a standard swipe-drive interface offered by Wear OS — swipe down for quick settings, swipe up for notifications, sideways to view tiles, and press the home button to view installed apps. It’s quite intuitive once you get the hang of it. For setting up and data synchronisation, you need the OHealth app. This app is available only on Android, so if you’re an iPhone user, you’re out of luck, and can’t use the OnePlus Watch 2. If you recall, OnePlus’ first smartwatch was Android-only too.

The OHealth app is rather basic I think, but does the job, and is fairly simple to use. The interface is divided into three tabs, with the first one showing your health snapshot, a fitness tab, and a device tab that allows you to customise the watch settings. Apart from the watch faces, you get to customise tiles (widgets that display info when you swipe sideways on the home screen). The app also lets you control app notifications, and access a bunch of health and workout settings such as set goals and toggle functions like heart rate monitoring, SpO2, stress monitoring, respiratory rate tracking, etc.

Usage, performance and battery

The Snapdragon W5 chip shows its muscle here, and overall, the usage is very smooth, with nary a stutter. Even in the Power Saver mode, the watch works smoothly – no complaints there. As far the activity and health data is concerned, it seems accurate enough, and within the margin of error. Rather than the numbers it displays for specific measurements or particular days, it’s always a good idea to focus on trends as calculated over a number of days. What shines though, is the battery life. The OnePlus Watch 2 features a 500mAh battery that lasts 3 to 4 days in Smart mode on a single charge, and the Power Saver mode can easily extend that significantly. OnePlus includes a small charging base in the box that has a Type-C port, so you can use the Type-C to Type-A cable provided, or one of your own. Charging is superfast as well, thanks to support for VOOC tech.

Verdict

The OnePlus Watch 2 is priced at Rs 24,999, and delivers on quite a few aspects for its asking price. However, I think OnePlus could have done well to offer another version with a smaller case size, which could have made it appealing to those with slender wrists. An LTE model would’ve made things even more interesting, as that helps one keep their phone at home when heading outdoors for a walk or a run – you can still take calls, and use apps like WhatsApp, music streaming, etc. all without your phone. The lack of iOS support is a bit of a bummer as well.

All said and done, the OnePlus Watch 2 does offer quite a bit. Its dual-chip, dual-OS approach helps deliver good battery life, the health and fitness features are useful, the Wear OS support is handy, with seamless Google ecosystem integration and app support, and the watch looks quite nice too. The solid build quality is the icing on the cake. The OnePlus Watch 2 stands out as a compelling option for Android users looking for a premium smartwatch without burning a gaping hole in the pocket.