TWO WEEKS WITH THE ONEPLUS WATCH 2

The Android smartwatch market has just gained another contender… and Dan Grabham finds the OnePlus Watch 2 is a vast improvement on its predecessor

£269 /go.stuff.tv/OnePlusW2

DAY 01

As I unbox the Watch 2, it’s clear this is a premium smartwatch, with a smart round stainless steel case. The original OnePlus Watch was, frankly, a massive disappointment. But that was three years ago and a lot has changed, not least that OnePlus is producing a lot more high-end devices now. So for the Watch 2, the company went back to the drawing board.

As it boots up I can see it’s running Google’s Wear OS 4. The smartwatch market is full of options with proprietary operating systems but Wear OS is what powers the key rivals to this watch, in the form of the Google Pixel Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch6.

Using a second, lower-powerr chip for all the easy background stuff means the watch is able to last longer

I’ve got to talk about the price too: at £269 it undercuts the £299 Pixel Watch by a few quid, though it’s a little more than the £239 Galaxy Watch6. So it’s competitive.

The OnePlus Watch 2 looks a little chunky when you first take it out of the box –I’ve got the black steel version here –but the profile is similar to the Apple Watch Ultra 2; and when you’ve got it on, the 46mm case isn’t raised too far off the wrist –it just looks like you’ve got a large watch on. It’s also extremely light at 49g.

The only real negative of the spec list is the lack of 4G (there aren’t any 5G smartwatches yet), but that will only be important to some users. I’ve personally got used to it on the Apple Watch, and it’s a nice thing to have.

It’s apparent from day one that Wear OS is very responsive on this watch. The OS still has its quirks and at times isn’t the most intuitive, but it’s a lot better than most proprietary interfaces. Of course, the real benefit is that Google’s standard ard apps are all here. Google Maps is supremely reliable, and Googleogle Pay is also present –which is a must-have these days. You probably won’t need to downloadoad other apps, but the option is there via the Google Play Store.

The 1.43in display is lovely and bright to use, although I’ve already had one incident where I managed to switch it into sleep mode by mistake –I couldn’t work out why the display was so dim.

Donut of Truth™

01 Performance is superb: everything works really well

02 The fitness tracking is flexible and detailed

03 Best of all, the battery life is simply superb

04 There’s no fall detection, which is becoming standard

05 No 4G cellular option –it’s Wi-Fi/Bluetooth only

06 You only get two years of software updates

DAY 07

The really clever stuff is apparent from the cited 100hr battery life (that’s if you put the Watch 2into what’s called Smart mode). In reality I’ve been having to charge it every 3 days or so, but Power Saver mode should take you to over 12 days.

The only trouble with that is the reduced functionality –although you can still access features like exercise tracking, sleep tracking and receiving calls.

So how does it achieve such long life? Not only is the OnePlus Watch 2 running on a Snapdragon W5 chip that makes everything float along nicely, but there’s a second chip in there for less intensive tasks such as sending notifications. Using a lower-power chip for all the easy background stuff means the watch is able to last longer. And it’s able to switch between the two seamlessly.

DAY 08

Fitness tracking is among the best on an Android watch –there are over 100 sport-tracking modes. Over this past week I’ve taken mine on a variety of long runs and walks. Running metrics, for example, are plentiful, and tracking is precise –and of course you can set goals: that running mode has a lot of stats, including ground contact time and VO2 Max.

It also has dual-frequency GPS for more precise tracking –I’m seeing this on a lot more high-end watches nowadays.

DAY 10

Everything on the software side is handled through OnePlus’s newly redesigned OHealth app. This isn’t the slickest in the world, but it does the job OK.

And the watch charges pretty quickly: 7.5W charging can juice it up in an hour, while if you need a day’s power in a hurry it’ll take just 10mins. This is always a useful feature for me, especially on something that lasts a few days so you don’t necessarily get into a routine of charging it nightly.

DAY 14

OnePlus says it’s put the Watch 2 through military-grade testing, and that includes the sapphire crystal glass and stainless steel case. As I tend to, I’ve ended up banging the thing against various things while using it –a wheelie bin, a wall, a car door, just general day-to-day abuse. And, fair play, the Watch 2 has come through two weeks of that unscathed.

Tech specs

Display 1.43in 466x466 AMOLED

CPU Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 + BES2700 MCU 

Storage 32GB 

OS Wear OS 4 

Connectivity Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.0, dual GPS 

Battery 500mAh 

Durability IP68 

Dimensions 47x46.6x12.1 mm, 49g