OnePlus Watch 2R vs OnePlus Watch 2: Save yourself some money

Okay, let's get it out of the way: the only real difference between the OnePlus Watch 2 and the OnePlus Watch 2R are the design and the price tag. 

The new OnePlus Watch 2R comes along with an aluminum case, while the OnePlus Watch 2 had a more pronounced and more premium looking stainless-steel one. There's a significant design difference in the frontal design as well: the new wearable has a monochrome dial printed up front, whereas the OnePlus Watch 2 is more subdued and reminiscent of a proper dress watch.

Thanks to the use of lighter materials, we get some significant weight reductions with the new smartwatch: it weighs just 37gr without the band, which is way less than the 49gr that the premium smartwatch weighs. Might not sound like such a major difference, but this is something that you will come to cherish once you wear the OnePlus Watch 2R to bed in order to make use of its great sleep tracking. 

Both devices are similar in terms of size: 46mm. This makes them not very appropriate for people with thinner wrists. Both feature 1.43" OLED displays that are super vibrant and crisp, but there's a major difference in what protects the display. While the OnePlus Watch 2 features scratch-resistant sapphire glass, the OnePlus Watch 2R gets plastic 2D glass, which definitely would not be that resilient. 

You can use any standard 22mm band with either the OnePlus Watch 2 or 2R. OnePlus doesn't try to reinvent the wheel with a bespoke band attachment mechanism; instead, it uses the tried and tested 22mm lug and spring system that has been around forever. 

That said, the stock bands are okay, but absolutely nothing to write home about. With the OnePlus Watch 2R, we get a grippy silicone strap with a stainless-steel buckle, which feels good and offers decent perspiration. 

The OnePlus Watch 2 one is made of fluororubber, OnePlus says, but it feels similar to the silicone one on the newer device despite the fancier name. 

One common feature of both the OnePlus Watch 2 and the OnePlus Watch 2R is that they come with two operating systems on deck––Wear OS and RTOS.

Smart Mode is what the Wear OS environment is called, giving you all the standard smartwatch features and functionalities. RTOS becomes active when you turn on the Power Saver mode. 

In Power Saver mode, you can only use a few things like keeping track of your heart rate and breathing, tracking your sleep, doing workouts, setting alarms and timers, controlling your media, and using the compass app to navigate, which is a vert barebones selection of functionalities. What's more, most third-party apps, fancy watch faces, and SOS calls are unavailable.

What you get in return is superb battery life on either device, but we will get to that later. 

You pair the smartwatches with the OHealth app on your Android phone. You can use it with any Android device, but iOS is not supported. OHealth is fairly decent; it delivers in both customization and health/workout data representation. It definitely lags behind apps like Samsung Health in terms of data management, though. 

You can also use NFC with full support for Google Wallet with either watch, which is always a cool feature to have.

Heart rate monitoring and SpO2 tracking are available; however, other health tracking options are limited. The heart rate accuracy is also not ideal. With either watch, it takes sometime before a seemingly accurate heart rate reading is achieved. 

Even when the watches are taking a reading, there's a big difference between the min and max readings. Heart rate is some 3-4bpm off the Apple Watch, which I certainly have more faith in when it comes to accurate health-related data.

OnePlus' smartwatches do a solid job with sleep tracking. While the OnePlus Watch 2R is more lightweight and comfortable to wear through the night, the sleep tracking accuracy of either device is on par with other smartwatches. You get sleep stage tracking, sleep breakdown, and a sleep score assigned to every one of your sleeping sessions.

The watch automatically activates sleep mode when it detects that you’ve fallen asleep, and from what I observed, it’s quite precise, down to the minute. It even recognizes any naps you take during the day, which is a handy feature.

After waking up, you can review your sleep data directly on the watch. It breaks down the details of your sleep and gives you an overall sleep score, allowing you to track your sleep patterns over time.

GPS Accuracy

Both the OnePlus Watch 2 and 2R come with dual-frequency L1+L5 GPS on board, just like the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch Ultra. This GPS delivers enhanced accuracy in metropolitan areas with high buildings that could otherwise obstruct the signal. Both deliver fairly accurate GPS readings during workouts, with an acceptable amount of inaccuracies on deck.

Both devices are battery champs. From my experience with both, with regular use they waste around 25% battery per day in Smart Mode, so you have to charge them twice per week at best.

Similarly, the OnePlus Watch 2 benefits from this dual-architecture setup, providing up to three to four days of battery life in Smart Mode and up to 12 days in Power Save mode, which limits features to essential functions like workouts and health monitoring. 

Honestly, for the sake of it, I'd say that using these two in Power Saver mode is more than manageable!

Both models require a reboot to switch from Power Save back to Smart Mode, which can be slightly inconvenient. Charging times are fast for both watches, taking about an hour to fully recharge, with a 10-minute charge providing enough power for a day’s use. 

Overall, these watches balance battery efficiency and performance, making them strong contenders in the smartwatch market.