OnePlus Watch 2 First Impressions: Stylish, Premium Wear OS Contender

It has been three years since OnePlus last launched a smartwatch, and a lot has changed since then. The first OnePlus watch had a custom operating system; it was a budget offering, and OnePlus as a brand didn't have the level of clout it commands today. In the time since then, OnePlus has fully merged with Oppo and now has the resources of its mighty Chinese parent to do things it simply couldn't before. It has become a serious operator in the premium segment and has cultivated a distinct enthusiast-driven lifestyle brand image.

So, the OnePlus Watch 2 has to be different. It has to be aspirational; something that challenges the Apple Watch and Samsung's Galaxy Watch lines. Now, while I have not had the opportunity to test it for long enough to write a full review yet, I can say that the OnePlus Watch 2 certainly makes a striking first impression. Fundamentally, it is a remixed Oppo Watch X, which in its own right is a fantastic product.

It’s priced at Rs 24,999 and comes in two colours– Black Steel and Radiant Steel with sales starting from March 4 in India.

The OnePlus Watch 2 is stylish, big, and bold. And importantly, it will have you covered across an assortment of social scenarios — be it a black tie event or a more casual outing. You can have it on your wrist all the time. However, for someone like me who has slim wrists – perhaps abnormally so – this is a big wristwatch (46mm) to have on all the time. I have been known to trot out the odd Panerai, so for me, this wasn’t a big deal, but it could be for women.

My unit has an emerald shade strap, which is a carryover from the design motif set by the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus Open smartphones. It does look attractive, but I personally would’ve preferred the black option, as it is more of a universal colour.

This is a premium smartwatch with a stainless steel frame and sapphire crystal glass on top; traits usually found on a Seiko at the base level. It has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, and is said to be able to withstand submersion up to 50m for up to 10 minutes.

The OnePlus Watch 2’s display is gorgeous. The 1.43-inch AMOLED screen is a sight to behold, especially with its 1000 nits high brightness mode. It is not in the league of the Apple Watch Ultra, from a pure display quality perspective, but for this device’s price point, it is a staggering panel.

Software is what changes the game for OnePlus. The previous model was hobbled by its limited custom OS, but the OnePlus Watch 2 is a flagship-grade Wear OS 4 wearable which means it gets all the support and the app ecosystem that Google has already developed. It is also power-packed with Qualcomm’s dual-engine Snapdragon W5 chip along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. In the short time that I used the watch, it felt fluid, but I will have more to say about its performance in my full review.

Pairing the watch with an Android phone was seamless, and unlike the Apple Watch, this device will work with competitors’ ecosystems, including iOS. On Android, it tethers via the OHealth app which makes things seamless. It is a straightforward app which shows an assortment of data pulled from the device's SpO2 sensor, heart rate monitor, pedometer, and barometer.

The app is straightforward, and I found it easy enough to figure out my sleep cycle, stress levels, heart rate, and fitness activity records. I will dive deep into how this works in the review, but prima facie, things look swell.

I found the OnePlus Watch 2 to be very accurate as a pedometer; more so than the Apple Watch Series 9. It supports GPS, Galileo, Glonass, Beidou, and QZSS for location detection – no NavIC support, but that’s not surprising as the Indian standard is still relatively new.

Battery life has been a huge talking point for OnePlus — the Watch 2 has a 500mAh battery which is massive for smartwatches. OnePlus claims 100 hours of battery life on a single charge in Smart Mode and 48 hours of battery life with heavy usage. In the five days that I used the watch, I managed to discharge it fully only once. It gets juiced in less than an hour thanks to the 7.5W VOOC fast charger that comes with it. These figures are better than what the Apple Watch 2 Ultra promises as well.

Overall, this is an attractive watch and could have many takers, in both the Apple and Android ecosystems thanks to its overall design and holistic approach to functionality. For more, we will have a detailed review of the OnePlus Watch 2, coming up soon.