Being the first masterpiece of OnePlus in the smart device world, it introduced the concept of a “high refresh rate” to the smartwatch industry. This made the display and touch experience on the watch smooth and natural. Moreover, it has IP68 level waterproof capability which is very rare among products within that price range. Again in 2024, three years later, OnePlus entered into the field with smart wearables by introducing a gesture control function that was only available in flagship watches previously for under $275. Users do not have to worry about pulling out their smartphones quickly when their hands are uncomfortable or busy anymore because of this feature. With a simple and elegant fist gesture, the OnePlus Watch 2 can easily complete answering calls and making calls thereby making communication more convenient and natural.
Secondly, real-time navigation technology is integrated into a wristwatch for the first time at its price point called OnePlus Watch 2. You will no longer need to use difficult text-based navigation while using navigational software. It is accurate, intuitive, and safe through panoramic map displays similar to mobile devices. That’s what a true full smart life means.
Also read: OnePlus Tablet Pro: The Ultimate Flagship Tablet Experience
Design
It is beautiful and comfortable in meter style. You can answer the phone if you make a fist! OnePlus Watch 2 review, the most versatile smartwatch under $275. This time, the packaging of the OnePlus Watch 2 has also adopted the classic white + red color scheme. It has a real rendering of the watch in front. The whole is very simple.
The front design of the watch uses a 1.43-inch AMOLED screen, relatively more delicate in details compared to the last generation; the most striking change is that a circle of fine-scale bars is added cleverly to the periphery of the dial. This design element allows not only the enrichment of visual layering but also a bit of business atmosphere for the whole watch.
The function and sports buttons on the side of the watch have changed to a circular press-type design; however, it doesn’t look abrupt when worn, and there is almost no accidental touch under normal use.
With an 8-channel heart rate sensor and a 16-channel blood oxygen sensor at the bottom, it can guarantee the accuracy of measurement data under the top-of-the-line flagship sensor.
There are also four magnetic charging contacts above the sensor.
The standard strap material for the OnePlus Watch 2 is fluoro rubber. Not taking the watchband into consideration, it will be approximately 37g; considering a fluoro rubber strap, the weight of the whole watch will be about 59g.
The OnePlus Watch further supports 5ATM waterproof and IP68 dust and water resistance.
Sports and health
High-precision sensors clearly display sports and health data.
The OnePlus Watch 2 comes equipped with flagship level 8-channel heart rate sensors and 16-channel blood oxygen sensors, so the hardware detection is top-notch. The hardware, however, is but the first step. It is augmented with the need for precision.
The OnePlus Watch 2 combines its self-developed algorithm model with the world’s first digital wrist data model bank, reducing measurement errors of the watch under a variety of skin colors and wrist conditions. It also combines massive data samples with more than 10 leading domestic medical institutions in sponsoring health research to guarantee the accuracy and authority of the measurement data.
Health Test
Continuous heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and stress level monitoring throughout the day are also standard functions of modern smartwatches.
In terms of heart rate monitoring, the OnePlus Watch 2 is powerful enough to be compared to a professional heart rate monitor. It can monitor your heart rate changes in real-time and provide you with accurate heart rate data while exercising or daily in life to better understand your health condition.
The OnePlus Watch 2 supports all-day heart rate monitoring, and users can view real-time changes of the heart rate through the HuanTian Health APP.
The rest, average, maximum, and minimum heart rate will then be recorded on the watch. Moreover, it will automatically remind the users that their heart rate is too fast or too slow, or warn that the heart rate fluctuations at the time may fall outside the normal range.
It will calculate the average value of blood oxygen saturation for a day. If our pulsimeter is lower or higher than usual, the watch will vibrate and remind us of a sound.
This design will help people know the level of their blood oxygen in time and take proper measures if necessary.
It monitors stress all day and tracks the change in the user’s physical and mental state. The watch will record the highest and lowest stress levels of the day, calculate the average, and allow a full-day stress assessment. We will be clearly shown what the daily ratio for stress is, in order to ensure that we are in real-time under too high of a level of stress, thus taking relaxation measures accordingly.
Exercise test
I mean, self-improvement in sports and health is inseparable from corporate strength, but it also relates to responsibilities involving consumer health. With only two health laboratories in China and cooperation with many authoritative institutions, our core technology will never fall into others’ hands. Top-level sensors, a dual-frequency GPS positioning system, and self-developed high-precision algorithms guarantee every health monitoring performed with the OnePlus Watch 2 gives the most accurate data possible.
After the walking test, performance on city roads was very stable, with no satellite signal interruptions or positioning loss during the whole process.
From the above picture, it can be seen that the watch records the detailed walking data, including trajectory walked, total mileage, time consumed, step rate, heart rate, calorie consumption, etc.
It also carries dual-frequency positioning of GPS, so after exercise, the watch can create a sports trajectory automatically. Compared to single-frequency GPS, it offers higher positioning accuracy with lower drift discreteness on the map, accurately recording every turn and pause.
Sleep test
In terms of assessing the risk of snoring, the OnePlus Watch 2 has reached medical standards of accuracy.
By screening sleeping quality, the OnePlus Watch 2 can assess our risk with a data accuracy rate of up to 93.9%, which is simply not inferior to the gold standard instrument for medicine: polysomnography.
The test shows sleep quality, monitors snoring risk, measures breathing rate, and tracks health indicators such as heart rate during sleep.
This will enable the generation of a monthly summary report that allows the user to view past sleep quality and assist in building good sleeping habits.
Functional experience
Gesture control
Let’s first introduce the gesture control ability of OnePlus Watch 2.
We can easily answer, hang up, mute, postpone the alarm, open an application, or switch songs by clenching our fists twice, so we make good use of the capabilities of the sensors built in.
In day-to-day life, when the call is received while driving, eating, or cooking, there is no need for the user to madly touch the screen; they can gracefully answer or hang up the phone just by clenching their fists twice.
Real-time navigation
Equipped with navigation functions, many smart watches exist, but most of them still use text navigation. Some users may not have a very good sense of direction or maybe do not know how to read a map. In these cases, in real applications, understanding the direction and route correctly and speedily would be a challenge only by textual descriptions.
OnePlus Watch 2 provides two navigation modes: text navigation and real-scene navigation. In daily use, we can switch navigation styles at will. The real-scene navigation is almost the same as the mobile phone navigation interface. You can see more comprehensive map information and location information, which can bring users a more intuitive and clearer navigation experience.
It can locate your destination in real-time for walking, cycling, or driving, which enhances the safety and convenience of your trip.
NFC
The function of a wallet in OnePlus Watch 2 is very comprehensive. One may easily activate bus cards, access cards, car keys, and other wallet functions in the watch application in more than 300 cities.
This will have to be paired with a mobile phone when used for the first time, but once added successfully, you do not need to rely on the mobile phone anymore.
Aside from that, in respect to car-machine interconnection for all Ideal series models, OnePlus Watch 2 will also support a contactless car key feature at the system level. You can use it to remotely open the door and windows, start the air conditioner, check the charge status, and honk to find the vehicle. It supports models from Ideal Auto, Leapmotor, BYD, TeNengXing, Venucia, Niu Electric Vehicles, and many more, making the OnePlus Watch 2 one of the Android smartwatches with the most compatible new energy vehicle brands.
In other words, the OnePlus Watch 2 in the smartwatch category leads in terms of new energy vehicle brands.
Third-Party Apps
Integrating a built-in app store, the smartwatch enables its users to download third-party apps independently according to their needs, thus extending the functionality of the smartwatch.
The resources in the app store include music, audiobooks, FM, news, finance, sports, travel, fitness, and navigation, among other massive categories of third-party apps, which dramatically enrich business functions and entertainment potential for smartwatches.
Charging and battery life: A full charge takes 1 hour, with an average battery life of up to 3.1 days under normal conditions. The device comes powered by a 500mAh battery fitted with UDDE Hybrid Technology 3.0, which can smoothly switch power gears to balance performance output and power-hungry activities, expanding battery life. Experience up to 12 days of battery life under light usage of the watch. Even if you are in full smart mode, then this watch lasts up to 4 days.
In addition, OnePlus Watch 2 also supports VOOC flash charging. The official introduction states that it can be used for 24 hours after 10 minutes of charging and fully charges in one hour.
At this point, a test of the charging and battery life of the OnePlus Watch 2 was also conducted by us.
Charging Test
The charge test revealed that at 18:00, its battery level was 63%; therefore, the clock started to recharge. In 5 min, the battery level was 75%, and in 10 min, 87%. So, in 10 min, I would get 24% back into the clock. This calculation means the clock can fully charge in about 42 minutes or less.
Battery life testing
For the battery life test, we activated the watch’s full smart mode, with heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen pressure, and sleep turned on 24 hours a day. We undertook a walking exercise using the GPS during the test for about 20 minutes and indicated it in its report. At the same time, we estimated the battery level of the watch over 24 hours every 6 hours using the battery scheme. We used this for sleep quality, and we turned on the 24-hour wrist-raising function to light up the screen, raising the wrist to check the time about every 3 to 4 hours, except for sleep time.
The test showed that the watch battery drained from 100% to 88%, a difference of 12%, over a period of 6 hours. After using the watch for 24 hours, the battery drained to 68%, showing a 32% decrease in battery level.
From this account, recording a walk once a day for about 20 minutes and turning on all other monitoring functions in full smart mode, the OnePlus Watch 2 can maintain a battery life of around 3.1 days.
Conclusion
If you follow the evolution of domestic smartwatches over the past two years, finding an exciting option under $275 has been challenging. However, the OnePlus Watch 2 stands out with its eSIM functionality, rich applications, long battery life, panoramic navigation, and seamless car-machine interconnectivity. Compared to its predecessor, the OnePlus Watch 1, the new model combines high performance and low energy consumption, thanks to the 4nm Snapdragon W5 Gen1 + Hengxuan 2700 dual-core setup, ensuring smooth multitasking and efficient operation.
The OnePlus Watch 2 excels in health monitoring, adding snore risk assessment, akin to having a personal doctor on standby. Its independent eSIM function enables phone-free use, and the introduction of gesture control revolutionizes smartwatch interactions, allowing users to answer calls with a simple hand gesture. Priced at $245, it offers a flagship experience at an affordable rate, making it the most comprehensive smartwatch in its price range. For those seeking all-around intelligence and superior cost performance, the OnePlus Watch 2 is the ideal choice under $275.
